September 20th, 2026: Joshua Fights for God | Joshua 11:6-9, 16-23

Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. 

(Psalm 108: 13).

Have you ever heard of a man named Paul Harvey?  He was an American radio  newsman from 1951-2008. In his news programs he would deep dive into information and ended each broadcast with the tag line “now you know the rest of the story.”  “The Rest of the Story” became its own stand alone radio series in 1976. Paul liked to dig deeper into his topics and find the obscure facts, the back story, if you will, to events that most everyone knew at least a little something about. There was always more than met the eye, and he made it his duty to remind us of the details.  

Today’s lesson is Joshua leading the fight to conquer the Promised Land for the children of Israel.  This young nation is finally ready to step into the land that God had promised their father Abraham, way back in the book of Genesis.  Many dispute, in today’s culture, the rightfulness of this conquest.  But just as with any other story, there is indeed a back story.  

Joshua 11: 6-9

And the Lord said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.

So how did we get here?  Let’s go way back to Genesis chapter 9. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. (Genesis 9:25-27). 

You remember the story.  Noah has landed the Ark. He has planted a vineyard and is now drunk and asleep in his tent.  He is naked and his son Ham sees him.  Before you cast too much condemnation on Noah, the man did just endure the most catastrophic  earth-changing worldwide flood in the history of mankind. Cut him some slack! 

His son Ham has not kept quiet on his father’s condition. When Noah wakes up he curses Ham’s son. Notice he didn’t curse Ham.  He cursed his grandson Canaan. Many scholars have many opinions on what happened here.  The truth is simply that we cannot add to or take away from what we are given.  It is pointless to argue our thoughts because we only know for a fact what scripture tells us. Canaan is cursed.  Noah prophesies. As with any other prophecy, God knows exactly what He is talking about and what He says is true.  

At the time of our lesson, It had been almost 900 years since the flood; since Noah prophesied about Canaan.  Canaan’s family has blossomed into seven nations spread across the Promised Land. Moses has written instructions about the generations/inhabitants of Canaan.  

When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 7:1-6).

Joshua is a master military strategist with God as his commander.  The initial attacks will devastate water supplies. God will deliver the people into Joshua’s hands to  disable their horses, their weapons, burn their chariots and promote fear as the inhabitants  hear of victories.  Keep in mind, the  victories of the Promised Land did not happen in one fell swoop.  Notice that Joshua and all of Israel are to be in it for the long haul.  Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. (Joshua 11:18)  Our victories rarely happen overnight. One failure of the nation of Israel will be that they tire of the fight.  They will eventually stop conquering and start compromising.   May we all be strengthened, strong and of good courage as we fight our own battles in faith! Compromise is never the answer. 

Joshua 11: 16-23

So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same; Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses. And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities. There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

We see the Hivites also called Gibeonites trick Joshua.  Claiming to have traveled far, appearing poor, and willing to be servants of Israel,  they act to avoid destruction and choose rather to be servants under the protection of Joshua.  The Anakims were the giants.  Banished to Gaza and Gath, we will see them again - especially the one from Gath. (Goliath).  The Lord hardened the hearts of the remaining Canaanites, just as he had Pharoah in Egypt to accomplish His purpose. As a side note, Jewish tradition says the Gergashites fled from Canaan and went into Egypt when they heard that Joshua was coming to take the land. 

The conquering of the promised land had a two fold purpose.  It was divine judgement on the land of Canaan and it established a home for the descendants of Abraham, as the nation of Israel.  This was not God being unfair, or unkind, or even unjust. The descendants of Canaan had turned completely away from God.  They offered child sacrifices.  They worshiped Satan and demons in the form of Baal and Asteroth.  They practiced sorcery and witchcraft.  They were completely against the one true God that their fathers Noah, Ham and Canaan had known. 

Was it resentment? Did the descendants of Canaan feel they had a right to turn away from God?  Did they simply prefer their own way? Human nature hasn’t changed much. We see them as those in the Garden of Eden, disbelieving the word of God.  We can see the same wrong headed thinking in our world today.  In fact, there are many that want to condemn God for the taking of the Promised Land.  Look at the destruction.  Look at the lives lost.  How could a just God do such a thing?

How could a just God not do such a thing? As with sin today, there is a wrathful judgement coming.  Wrongs will be made right. We are all either on the Lord’s side or we are not. What God knew in Genesis, in His long suffering and loving kindness he allowed for almost 900 years.  It started with human anger and jealousy and turning away from God.  It grows into the destruction of many people who chose to deny the God who created them.  

Because Israel tired and stopped fighting  we will see many of the names of these groups show up again throughout scripture. By not removing them all out of the land, even today, we still see the descendants of Canaan at work. 

Have you tired from the fight? Joshua fought under the protection and direction of God.  Do you fight the same?  Find salvation in Jesus. Hear the word of God.  See the results of what happens when you choose anything else other than Him.  The plan of salvation, created before the foundation of the world, is available.  Now you know the Rest of the Story!

Thank you for studying with us! God bless!