Jos 10:1-5 | KingComments | STEP | The five kings mentioned ( ) unite to form a powerful army to punish apostate Gibeon. When Joshua gets the request to help, he is at Gilgal. From there he leaves ( ) and the LORD gives him a great victory. Then he goes back to Gilgal. Even after he has taken several cities in southern Canaan, he returns to Gilgal ( ). Gilgal is the place where the people have been circumcised ( ). For us it means that the Lord Jesus bore the judgment we deserved. To go from victory to victory, we must always remember what the Lord Jesus did for us. Otherwise we will rely on ourselves and the defeat will come. Joshua is heard in a way no one has ever experienced ( ). We can also receive such hearing if we trust that the Lord Jesus will fight for us. In Joshua 10 Joshua comes to our attention in a special way. It is a different Joshua from the failing Joshua of the previous chapters. He shows here the Divine power that characterizes him so much and in which he looks so much like the Lord Jesus in His acting through the Holy Spirit. With this he is also a picture of the individual believer who can come to powerful acts of faith through the Holy Spirit. After his failure in Joshua 7 he goes to battle against Ai in Joshua 8. He stretched out his hand with the javelin until all enemies are defeated ( ). The same order we see in Joshua 9-10. After falling into Gibeon’s stratagem in Joshua 9, in Joshua 10 he uncompromisingly attacks the enemy in spiritual power. Joshua is the head of the people. In this chapter they will gain experiences that they would never have had if they had not been weak, such as the standing still of the sun and the stopping of the moon and God’s use of hailstones to defeat enemies. After weakness come the greatest victories and experiences of faith. That is no excuse for weakness and unbelief. Nevertheless, grace proves itself stronger afterward. That is typical of grace. God did not want the fall into sin either. Yet thereby His grace shines in a way that would not otherwise have been possible. We may experience this in our lives. After the Gibeonite trick, the enemies unite and form a large army. This is the result of the weakness of God’s people shown in the previous chapter. But God knows how to use the failure of His people and even the wicked actions of man to His glorification. “But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, and they do not understand His purpose; for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor” ( ; cf. ). Adoni-zedek – which means ‘lord of justice’ – the king of Jerusalem, takes the initiative to form a common army to fight Israel. He heads the enemy allies. Here for the first time Jerusalem is mentioned, apart from Genesis 14, where Melchizedek – which means ‘king of righteousness’ – the king of Salem, is mentioned ( ). Melchizedek blesses Abraham, unlike Adoni-zedek who heads the enemies of Abraham’s offspring. Adoni-zedek is a picture of the antichrist who will also be king of Jerusalem. The application for us is that the further we get into the land, the more we meet an enemy that defends itself more and more, making the fight more and more fierce. Those who do not know the heavenly blessings, do not know any struggle in the land. Often the reason for not knowing the blessings is that one does not want to make an effort to get to know them. The believer has to make spiritual things his own. To be aware that the spiritual blessings are there is something else than to really know them. Gibeon is a big city, its men are heroes and want to stay alive. Therefore they have entered into the people of God with deceit. This requires a certain amount of courage. They don’t belong to the people, but neither to the world, which is now hostile to them. They are never really happy. First they are afraid of Israel, now they are afraid of their former friends.

‏ Joshua 10:1-5

Introduction

The five kings mentioned (Jos 10:3) unite to form a powerful army to punish apostate Gibeon. When Joshua gets the request to help, he is at Gilgal. From there he leaves (Jos 10:7) and the LORD gives him a great victory. Then he goes back to Gilgal. Even after he has taken several cities in southern Canaan, he returns to Gilgal (Jos 10:43).

Gilgal is the place where the people have been circumcised (Jos 5:2-9). For us it means that the Lord Jesus bore the judgment we deserved. To go from victory to victory, we must always remember what the Lord Jesus did for us. Otherwise we will rely on ourselves and the defeat will come.

Joshua is heard in a way no one has ever experienced (Jos 10:14). We can also receive such hearing if we trust that the Lord Jesus will fight for us.

In Joshua 10 Joshua comes to our attention in a special way. It is a different Joshua from the failing Joshua of the previous chapters. He shows here the Divine power that characterizes him so much and in which he looks so much like the Lord Jesus in His acting through the Holy Spirit. With this he is also a picture of the individual believer who can come to powerful acts of faith through the Holy Spirit.

After his failure in Joshua 7 he goes to battle against Ai in Joshua 8. He stretched out his hand with the javelin until all enemies are defeated (Jos 8:26). The same order we see in Joshua 9-10. After falling into Gibeon’s stratagem in Joshua 9, in Joshua 10 he uncompromisingly attacks the enemy in spiritual power. Joshua is the head of the people. In this chapter they will gain experiences that they would never have had if they had not been weak, such as the standing still of the sun and the stopping of the moon and God’s use of hailstones to defeat enemies.

After weakness come the greatest victories and experiences of faith. That is no excuse for weakness and unbelief. Nevertheless, grace proves itself stronger afterward. That is typical of grace. God did not want the fall into sin either. Yet thereby His grace shines in a way that would not otherwise have been possible. We may experience this in our lives.

The Amorites Unite Against Gibeon

After the Gibeonite trick, the enemies unite and form a large army. This is the result of the weakness of God’s people shown in the previous chapter. But God knows how to use the failure of His people and even the wicked actions of man to His glorification. “But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, and they do not understand His purpose; for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor” (Mic 4:12; cf. Rev 17:17).

Adoni-zedek – which means ‘lord of justice’ – the king of Jerusalem, takes the initiative to form a common army to fight Israel. He heads the enemy allies. Here for the first time Jerusalem is mentioned, apart from Genesis 14, where Melchizedek – which means ‘king of righteousness’ – the king of Salem, is mentioned (Gen 14:18). Melchizedek blesses Abraham, unlike Adoni-zedek who heads the enemies of Abraham’s offspring. Adoni-zedek is a picture of the antichrist who will also be king of Jerusalem.

The application for us is that the further we get into the land, the more we meet an enemy that defends itself more and more, making the fight more and more fierce. Those who do not know the heavenly blessings, do not know any struggle in the land. Often the reason for not knowing the blessings is that one does not want to make an effort to get to know them. The believer has to make spiritual things his own. To be aware that the spiritual blessings are there is something else than to really know them.

Gibeon is a big city, its men are heroes and want to stay alive. Therefore they have entered into the people of God with deceit. This requires a certain amount of courage. They don’t belong to the people, but neither to the world, which is now hostile to them. They are never really happy. First they are afraid of Israel, now they are afraid of their former friends.