Complete Domination:
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Message begins at approx. the 15 min mark
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There were 5 Canaanite kings who banded together to create a formidable force. Their goal was to overwhelm the Israelites and end their ability to take the land.
That however was not to be the case. We saw that the Lord intervened in amazing ways. He extended the day by holding the sun in its place. That way Joshua and his army could continue to advance and get the victory. But we also saw that the Lord rained down hail upon the Canaanites. As they were fleeing, over the course of 20 or so miles, the hail came down and ended up crushing them. The text said that more died from the hail than the sword.
And you will remember why this battle was so important. This was starting the Southern campaign and if it was lost, there would be no Bethlehem. There would be no Jerusalem. Judah would not have settled in his land and, as a result, there would be no Messiah and we would be left in our sins.
That is why God used this galactic force against this pagan alliance. The whole cosmos was involved because it was such an important moment in redemptive history.
Well, this morning we are going to read about the completion of the Southern campaign. I remind you again of the map here. The cities that are on this map are mentioned in our text today and you can see where the battles which we are going to read about took place.
Let’s now give our attention to the Word of God. [Read text...]
Let's pray...
Introduction
Perhaps you notice that most of the cities that are mentioned here in this battle campaign are the cities that belong to the 5 kings which had just been defeated. Joshua had these 5 major kings who had made an alliance killed. And now Joshua is advancing against their cities.
It makes sense from a strategic standpoint. Their back had been broken, so to speak. Now it is only logical to move in for the kill. With their armies having been defeated and their defenses broken, they take the attack to their cities. These cities, having lost their warriors, are (for the most part) easily taken. (It does say that one of the cities may have put up a little fight. For it took two days to bring it to its knees).
But all in all, as you read this section, what you find is that the whole of the southern region is not just taken, but it is completely dominated by Joshua. As a matter of fact, this passage reads quickly and it sounds like it all was carried out in a single day. That’s not the case, of course. This is just a summary of the swift action that was taken. It certainly would have occurred over the following days and possibly even weeks. But it is enough to say that all of these cities fell to the armies of Joshua and they were completely overrun. It was a complete domination.
But I want to talk about this domination today. For there are several things that may be beneficial. There are 4 basic headings which I would like to cover. We may break it down by considering the plan, the process, the power, & the purpose. Let’s begin by talking about the plan for domination.
I. The plan: domination by means of extermination
When you look at this passage and when you hear what is said here, what becomes evident is that the plan is domination by means of extermination.
Look at verse 28. What did he do to Makkedah? It says that Joshua “struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining.”
Then he went down to Libnah and what does it say happened there? It says in verse 30 that he “struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it.”
Then he strolled over to Lachish. We give the people of Lachish some credit because it took two days to take this city. But when it fell, what did he do? Verse 32 says he “struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it.”
The People of Gezer came down and it says he left none remaining (33).
They went against Eglon and “devoted every person to destruction.”
How about Hebron? Every person in it, not one was left remaining. (37)
Can you guess what happened to the people of Debir? (39) destruction every person in it; he left none remaining.
Finally you get down to verse 40 and it says that he devoted to destruction all that breathed.
You cannot escape the fact that this was a massive genocide.
And you know that there are many people get highly offended at this. They will say things like, “I’m thankful that I don’t believe in the God of the Old Testament. I believing the God of the NT; he’s a god of love and mercy.”
There are people who have turned away from Christianity because of what we read here. They simply cannot come to terms with the fact that God was wiping out whole populations and eliminating everything in his path. And they will either try to explain this away or simply reject it outright.
But what do we do with it? We remember that this was part of God’s plan. That’s what verse 40 reminds us. All this killing—all this taking of life, was done just as the Lord commanded. Back in the book of Deuteronomy, God had commanded the Israelites to wipe the people out and not spare any.
And this all goes back even further to what the Lord says in the book of Genesis. In the book of Genesis God made a promise to Abraham that he would give him this land. And God’s allowed to do with his property whatever he wants, right? But when God made this promise, he said, “Not yet.” He said, “Abraham, you can’t have it yet because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”
When Abraham’s children came out of Egypt hundreds of years later, their iniquity had come to the brimming point. And that’s why there’s all this killing. This is the apocalypse for these Canaanite people. Their population and their culture had become so depraved that God had to destroy it.
That’s the fact that needs to be understood. The Lord our God is holy and he deals with sin. Death comes in a lot of ways, and sometimes it comes by the sword. But it is God’s judgment upon sin.
That’s why this is a paralleled to the future when Jesus comes again to judge the peoples of the earth. People will face their Maker and give account for how they have lived their lives. All this is, ultimately, is a further testimony to the fact that the wages of sin is death.
And this is what you need to understand, even if you have just one sin you cannot stand before God. You may not be as bad as a Canaanite, but even the least infraction against God’s law deserves his wrath and curse.
But when you look at all the death that takes place here you shouldn’t say, “O what a terrible God.” You should say, “Oh what a holy God he is.” And you should be roused to think that if it were not for Jesus Christ, I would be right there among the dead. I’d be condemned along with them.
What I’m saying is that you should not judge God on the basis of your standards. If you do not see God as holy and man as a sinner deserving death, then this will be one of the ugliest chapters in the Bible. It will force you to turn away from God or force you to clip it right out of your Bible.
This is the problem with men. We want to say that we are better than God. We want to make God into the monster rather than admit that we are the ones who are morally twisted.
But we’re to acknowledge that these slayings were perfectly just. They were a part of God’s plan, and it has every right to be part of that plan because He is holy.
It’s domination through extermination. But let’s talk about the process.
II. The process: Initial domination and gradual occupation
What I want you to notice here is that though there was a complete domination there was no immediate occupation.
The Israelites conquered these cities and slew its people, but they did not inhabit the cities, at least not right away. They did not let of their Israelites families stay behind and dwell in the cities. What we are going to read next time is that they immediately started the Northern campaign.
And I mention this because some of you will read the book of Judges and you’ll read about how Judah (once his land had been allotted to him) had to go and fight to take his territory. What you read is that some of these cities had to be re-taken. They had to fight some of these battles again.
What probably happened is that while the Israelites were conducting the northern wars, some of the Canaanites moved back and settled in these cities again. So the tribes had to come and fight some of these battles all over again.
So there is a process to the taking of the land: There was a definitive victory here at the outset. Joshua and his army dominated the land such that the Lord’s flag could be raised over it. But, despite this victory, there was some mopping up that still needed to be done.
I point this out because I want you to understand that this process is indicative of God’s normal way of working. It’s really what we see going on in history today and this is the way you should think of evangelism.
There was a definitive victory that was gained in the death and resurrection of Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus, at the cross, triumphed over the powers and authorities (i.e. the demonic realm). Satan was defeated at the cross. Or, to use the language of Jesus, the strong man was bound. Now we are plundering his house. Ever since the book of Acts, the gospel has been gaining ground throughout the world. Nothing can stop it either. The Lord is now dispossessing Satan of his claims upon the earth and the gates of Hell cannot prevail.
That’s why we shouldn’t be fearful in evangelism and disciple making. We’re just involved in the smaller battles that are part of the mopping up. The victory has been won, and we’re just advancing that victory.
We also see this in our own lives. This is what we call the sanctification process. And this is part of the way you know that Christ lives in you. You continue to see the growth process of God’s grace in your life.
The moment you were converted, there was a triumphant victory that occurred in your life. The Lord came in and defeated sin. He brought the victory of the cross to bear on your life. No longer are you dominated by sin, but its power has been definitively broken and Christ now rules over you.
But you still sin, right? There are still battles to be fought. You are still susceptible to temptation and you still have sins that you need to fight against. But these areas of weakness are merely part of the process of subduing the flesh. The victory has already been achieved. It’s just a matter of bringing the victory to bear these pockets of sin that are holding out.
I saw this to give you some encouragement in these things. If we understand the process and take to heart how significant the victory really is, we have real hope for the rest of the battles.
Which leads me to my next point. We’ve noted the plan and the process, but let’s talk about the power.
III. The power: domination by means of cooperation
If I were to ask you who fought these battles, what would you answer? If you were to look at the text how would you fill in this sentence: “The one who is responsible for the victory is…”?
Some of you will likely say Joshua and his armies. After all, they were the ones laying siege and brandishing their swords. The text tells us that Joshua struck the Makkedah with the edge of the sword. He struck Libnah with the edge of the sword. He devoted them to destruction. He left none remaining among them. Joshua was very much active in these wars.
But there might be some others who say that it was the Lord who gave them the victory. After all, it says in verse 30 and 32 that the Lord gave these cities into the hand of Joshua and the passage ends by saying that it was the Lord God of Israel who fought for Israel.
So what you have is a both/and type of answer. There is an interplay that exists between the armies of Israel and God. God is obviously sovereign. He’s working by means of his all supreme control of life’s affairs to bring about the victories. Yet it can be said that Joshua and the armies of Israel are the ones doing the fighting and engaging in the war.
There is, as we may say, domination by means of cooperation.
As we saw last time, we saw God’s providence demonstrated in a miraculous fashion. He threw hail down upon the land and the armies were defeated by an obvious act of God. God, you may say, was the sole actor in this case. God fought for Israel. But in this case, Joshua and the Israelites were not involved.
In this passage we have something very much different. Yes, the Lord God fought for Israel. But we do not learn this until the end. Up until this point Joshua was the one doing the fighting. We learn at the end that the fighting of Joshua was simultaneous with the fighting of God. When Joshua put his sword into the sternum of a Canaanite, God was there. The Lord was somehow actively involved as Joshua was waging war.
I point this out again, because it reminds us to the unlimited power that is at our disposal at all times. God is not far off, lounging on his celestial throne. God sovereignly rules and reigns, to be sure. But that rule is close at hand and involved in every detail of our lives. That’s what gives us the optimism and hope that we need in going about the Christian life.
I know I need this kind of encouragement. You know, I have this habit that every time I walk into the kitchen I put something in my mouth. I don’t know what it is, other than a gluttonous reflex. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I immediately feel hungry and feel like I need to eat something. I may have just finished lunch, but the urge strikes as soon as I walk through that door. I don’t know why I can’t feel like doing dishes. I tell you, I feel powerless to fight that temptation to shove some chips in my mouth or grab a handful of Grandma’s homemade granola.
How can this urge be resisted? There’s really only one way. It’s by looking to the Lord and putting my trust in his supreme demonstration of power in me.
This is good news for you moms who are starting up another school year. You might be nervous about jumping into all the rigmarole all over again. You might be thinking, “I just can’t do it.” It’s too overwhelming. (Granted, some moms try to do too much and it is overwhelming). But when it come to the workload and the discipline here’s encouragement for you: the unlimited resources of God are right here. He’s doing battle in and through you to bring those kids up in the fear of Him.
Joshua’s battles were domination by means of cooperation, and the battles we face as Christians are no different.
There’s one last item that I want to quickly bring to your attention. That is the purpose.
IV. The purpose: domination with a view towards consummation
This is domination with a view towards consummation. Or, you might say, the realization of God’s promises.
We are not given any details about these battles. We have in just a few verses the complete domination of the southern portion of the land of Canaan. Now, we spent at least one whole chapter dealing with Jericho. We spent 2 chapters dealing with Ai. The Gibeonites take up two chapters as well. If you think about it we are about halfway through the book of Joshua and we’ve only dealt with 3 cities. Now in less than 20 verses we conquer the whole of the southern territory.
Why the discrepancy? It all comes down to this: God is fulfilling his promises. Joshua and his army were virtually invincible because God was giving them the land that he had promised.
The eyes of God’s people were on the consummation of those promises. And that’s where our eyes should be too. God is giving us a land. He’s working towards bringing us into heaven and giving us a land without sin and evil. And we can have the assurance that the kingdom of sin and Satan will most certainly fall.
That however was not to be the case. We saw that the Lord intervened in amazing ways. He extended the day by holding the sun in its place. That way Joshua and his army could continue to advance and get the victory. But we also saw that the Lord rained down hail upon the Canaanites. As they were fleeing, over the course of 20 or so miles, the hail came down and ended up crushing them. The text said that more died from the hail than the sword.
And you will remember why this battle was so important. This was starting the Southern campaign and if it was lost, there would be no Bethlehem. There would be no Jerusalem. Judah would not have settled in his land and, as a result, there would be no Messiah and we would be left in our sins.
That is why God used this galactic force against this pagan alliance. The whole cosmos was involved because it was such an important moment in redemptive history.
Well, this morning we are going to read about the completion of the Southern campaign. I remind you again of the map here. The cities that are on this map are mentioned in our text today and you can see where the battles which we are going to read about took place.
Let’s now give our attention to the Word of God. [Read text...]
Let's pray...
Introduction
Perhaps you notice that most of the cities that are mentioned here in this battle campaign are the cities that belong to the 5 kings which had just been defeated. Joshua had these 5 major kings who had made an alliance killed. And now Joshua is advancing against their cities.
It makes sense from a strategic standpoint. Their back had been broken, so to speak. Now it is only logical to move in for the kill. With their armies having been defeated and their defenses broken, they take the attack to their cities. These cities, having lost their warriors, are (for the most part) easily taken. (It does say that one of the cities may have put up a little fight. For it took two days to bring it to its knees).
But all in all, as you read this section, what you find is that the whole of the southern region is not just taken, but it is completely dominated by Joshua. As a matter of fact, this passage reads quickly and it sounds like it all was carried out in a single day. That’s not the case, of course. This is just a summary of the swift action that was taken. It certainly would have occurred over the following days and possibly even weeks. But it is enough to say that all of these cities fell to the armies of Joshua and they were completely overrun. It was a complete domination.
But I want to talk about this domination today. For there are several things that may be beneficial. There are 4 basic headings which I would like to cover. We may break it down by considering the plan, the process, the power, & the purpose. Let’s begin by talking about the plan for domination.
I. The plan: domination by means of extermination
When you look at this passage and when you hear what is said here, what becomes evident is that the plan is domination by means of extermination.
Look at verse 28. What did he do to Makkedah? It says that Joshua “struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining.”
Then he went down to Libnah and what does it say happened there? It says in verse 30 that he “struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it.”
Then he strolled over to Lachish. We give the people of Lachish some credit because it took two days to take this city. But when it fell, what did he do? Verse 32 says he “struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it.”
The People of Gezer came down and it says he left none remaining (33).
They went against Eglon and “devoted every person to destruction.”
How about Hebron? Every person in it, not one was left remaining. (37)
Can you guess what happened to the people of Debir? (39) destruction every person in it; he left none remaining.
Finally you get down to verse 40 and it says that he devoted to destruction all that breathed.
You cannot escape the fact that this was a massive genocide.
And you know that there are many people get highly offended at this. They will say things like, “I’m thankful that I don’t believe in the God of the Old Testament. I believing the God of the NT; he’s a god of love and mercy.”
There are people who have turned away from Christianity because of what we read here. They simply cannot come to terms with the fact that God was wiping out whole populations and eliminating everything in his path. And they will either try to explain this away or simply reject it outright.
But what do we do with it? We remember that this was part of God’s plan. That’s what verse 40 reminds us. All this killing—all this taking of life, was done just as the Lord commanded. Back in the book of Deuteronomy, God had commanded the Israelites to wipe the people out and not spare any.
And this all goes back even further to what the Lord says in the book of Genesis. In the book of Genesis God made a promise to Abraham that he would give him this land. And God’s allowed to do with his property whatever he wants, right? But when God made this promise, he said, “Not yet.” He said, “Abraham, you can’t have it yet because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”
When Abraham’s children came out of Egypt hundreds of years later, their iniquity had come to the brimming point. And that’s why there’s all this killing. This is the apocalypse for these Canaanite people. Their population and their culture had become so depraved that God had to destroy it.
That’s the fact that needs to be understood. The Lord our God is holy and he deals with sin. Death comes in a lot of ways, and sometimes it comes by the sword. But it is God’s judgment upon sin.
That’s why this is a paralleled to the future when Jesus comes again to judge the peoples of the earth. People will face their Maker and give account for how they have lived their lives. All this is, ultimately, is a further testimony to the fact that the wages of sin is death.
And this is what you need to understand, even if you have just one sin you cannot stand before God. You may not be as bad as a Canaanite, but even the least infraction against God’s law deserves his wrath and curse.
But when you look at all the death that takes place here you shouldn’t say, “O what a terrible God.” You should say, “Oh what a holy God he is.” And you should be roused to think that if it were not for Jesus Christ, I would be right there among the dead. I’d be condemned along with them.
What I’m saying is that you should not judge God on the basis of your standards. If you do not see God as holy and man as a sinner deserving death, then this will be one of the ugliest chapters in the Bible. It will force you to turn away from God or force you to clip it right out of your Bible.
This is the problem with men. We want to say that we are better than God. We want to make God into the monster rather than admit that we are the ones who are morally twisted.
But we’re to acknowledge that these slayings were perfectly just. They were a part of God’s plan, and it has every right to be part of that plan because He is holy.
It’s domination through extermination. But let’s talk about the process.
II. The process: Initial domination and gradual occupation
What I want you to notice here is that though there was a complete domination there was no immediate occupation.
The Israelites conquered these cities and slew its people, but they did not inhabit the cities, at least not right away. They did not let of their Israelites families stay behind and dwell in the cities. What we are going to read next time is that they immediately started the Northern campaign.
And I mention this because some of you will read the book of Judges and you’ll read about how Judah (once his land had been allotted to him) had to go and fight to take his territory. What you read is that some of these cities had to be re-taken. They had to fight some of these battles again.
What probably happened is that while the Israelites were conducting the northern wars, some of the Canaanites moved back and settled in these cities again. So the tribes had to come and fight some of these battles all over again.
So there is a process to the taking of the land: There was a definitive victory here at the outset. Joshua and his army dominated the land such that the Lord’s flag could be raised over it. But, despite this victory, there was some mopping up that still needed to be done.
I point this out because I want you to understand that this process is indicative of God’s normal way of working. It’s really what we see going on in history today and this is the way you should think of evangelism.
There was a definitive victory that was gained in the death and resurrection of Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus, at the cross, triumphed over the powers and authorities (i.e. the demonic realm). Satan was defeated at the cross. Or, to use the language of Jesus, the strong man was bound. Now we are plundering his house. Ever since the book of Acts, the gospel has been gaining ground throughout the world. Nothing can stop it either. The Lord is now dispossessing Satan of his claims upon the earth and the gates of Hell cannot prevail.
That’s why we shouldn’t be fearful in evangelism and disciple making. We’re just involved in the smaller battles that are part of the mopping up. The victory has been won, and we’re just advancing that victory.
We also see this in our own lives. This is what we call the sanctification process. And this is part of the way you know that Christ lives in you. You continue to see the growth process of God’s grace in your life.
The moment you were converted, there was a triumphant victory that occurred in your life. The Lord came in and defeated sin. He brought the victory of the cross to bear on your life. No longer are you dominated by sin, but its power has been definitively broken and Christ now rules over you.
But you still sin, right? There are still battles to be fought. You are still susceptible to temptation and you still have sins that you need to fight against. But these areas of weakness are merely part of the process of subduing the flesh. The victory has already been achieved. It’s just a matter of bringing the victory to bear these pockets of sin that are holding out.
I saw this to give you some encouragement in these things. If we understand the process and take to heart how significant the victory really is, we have real hope for the rest of the battles.
Which leads me to my next point. We’ve noted the plan and the process, but let’s talk about the power.
III. The power: domination by means of cooperation
If I were to ask you who fought these battles, what would you answer? If you were to look at the text how would you fill in this sentence: “The one who is responsible for the victory is…”?
Some of you will likely say Joshua and his armies. After all, they were the ones laying siege and brandishing their swords. The text tells us that Joshua struck the Makkedah with the edge of the sword. He struck Libnah with the edge of the sword. He devoted them to destruction. He left none remaining among them. Joshua was very much active in these wars.
But there might be some others who say that it was the Lord who gave them the victory. After all, it says in verse 30 and 32 that the Lord gave these cities into the hand of Joshua and the passage ends by saying that it was the Lord God of Israel who fought for Israel.
So what you have is a both/and type of answer. There is an interplay that exists between the armies of Israel and God. God is obviously sovereign. He’s working by means of his all supreme control of life’s affairs to bring about the victories. Yet it can be said that Joshua and the armies of Israel are the ones doing the fighting and engaging in the war.
There is, as we may say, domination by means of cooperation.
As we saw last time, we saw God’s providence demonstrated in a miraculous fashion. He threw hail down upon the land and the armies were defeated by an obvious act of God. God, you may say, was the sole actor in this case. God fought for Israel. But in this case, Joshua and the Israelites were not involved.
In this passage we have something very much different. Yes, the Lord God fought for Israel. But we do not learn this until the end. Up until this point Joshua was the one doing the fighting. We learn at the end that the fighting of Joshua was simultaneous with the fighting of God. When Joshua put his sword into the sternum of a Canaanite, God was there. The Lord was somehow actively involved as Joshua was waging war.
I point this out again, because it reminds us to the unlimited power that is at our disposal at all times. God is not far off, lounging on his celestial throne. God sovereignly rules and reigns, to be sure. But that rule is close at hand and involved in every detail of our lives. That’s what gives us the optimism and hope that we need in going about the Christian life.
I know I need this kind of encouragement. You know, I have this habit that every time I walk into the kitchen I put something in my mouth. I don’t know what it is, other than a gluttonous reflex. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I immediately feel hungry and feel like I need to eat something. I may have just finished lunch, but the urge strikes as soon as I walk through that door. I don’t know why I can’t feel like doing dishes. I tell you, I feel powerless to fight that temptation to shove some chips in my mouth or grab a handful of Grandma’s homemade granola.
How can this urge be resisted? There’s really only one way. It’s by looking to the Lord and putting my trust in his supreme demonstration of power in me.
This is good news for you moms who are starting up another school year. You might be nervous about jumping into all the rigmarole all over again. You might be thinking, “I just can’t do it.” It’s too overwhelming. (Granted, some moms try to do too much and it is overwhelming). But when it come to the workload and the discipline here’s encouragement for you: the unlimited resources of God are right here. He’s doing battle in and through you to bring those kids up in the fear of Him.
Joshua’s battles were domination by means of cooperation, and the battles we face as Christians are no different.
There’s one last item that I want to quickly bring to your attention. That is the purpose.
IV. The purpose: domination with a view towards consummation
This is domination with a view towards consummation. Or, you might say, the realization of God’s promises.
We are not given any details about these battles. We have in just a few verses the complete domination of the southern portion of the land of Canaan. Now, we spent at least one whole chapter dealing with Jericho. We spent 2 chapters dealing with Ai. The Gibeonites take up two chapters as well. If you think about it we are about halfway through the book of Joshua and we’ve only dealt with 3 cities. Now in less than 20 verses we conquer the whole of the southern territory.
Why the discrepancy? It all comes down to this: God is fulfilling his promises. Joshua and his army were virtually invincible because God was giving them the land that he had promised.
The eyes of God’s people were on the consummation of those promises. And that’s where our eyes should be too. God is giving us a land. He’s working towards bringing us into heaven and giving us a land without sin and evil. And we can have the assurance that the kingdom of sin and Satan will most certainly fall.