Explore the Bible By Douglas K. Wilson, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
COMMITMENT KEPT
Joshua 10:6–14
What happens when God gives you specific instructions and then you disobey by making a promise in His name? This is the dilemma wherein Joshua was caught in the chapter prior to this passage.
In no uncertain terms, God forbade Israel to make covenants with the inhabitants of Canaan (Deut. 20:16–18). To do so would be to become partners in their idolatry. Yet the Gibeonites deceived Joshua into believing that they had traveled a great distance in order to barter a deal, a truce, with the invading armies of Israel (Josh. 9:3–13).
Joshua looked at the circumstances without asking the Lord for discernment, a poor example which we often follow. He listened to the Gibeonites’ story, examined their food and clothing, then concluded that Israel would make a covenant with this people in the name of the Lord (9:14–15). Only after the fact did Joshua discover their ruse.
In keeping with a covenant in God’s name — not a contract made void through a bad faith agreement — Joshua listened to the elders and honored his commitment to the Gibeonites, allowed them to live and hired some of them as wood cutters and water fetchers (9:19–26).
A Commitment Remembered (6)
Five area kings heard that Gibeon had made a covenant with the marauding Israelites. They also were aware that Israel had conquered Jericho and Ai. So these Amorite kings agreed to a preemptive strike against Gibeon on the grounds of national and community security. When Gibeon heard of the Amorite conspiracy, they sent a message to Joshua, reminding him of the covenant between their two peoples.
Staying True to His Word (7–8)
Joshua was true to his word. Israel’s covenant included more than “we will not kill you.” By entering into this covenant arrangement, they agreed to protect and defend one another in the event of emergency. This qualified. The Amorite call to war required the Israelites to look after their Gibeonite neighbors.
God was true to His Word. When Joshua was commissioned God said, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you or forsake you … do not be frightened” (Josh. 1:5, 9). The Lord reminded Joshua in this current passage.
Divine Intervention (9–14)
What happened on the battlefield? Verse 12: “Sun, stand still.” Verse 13: “and the sun stood still … the sun stopped in the midst of heaven.” Not only is this event recorded in the Book of Joshua, but it also was written in the extra-biblical book of Jashar. Throughout history, various interpretations of the intended meaning of the text have been proposed, both physical and figurative.
How did it happen? Evidently, the same God who spoke the universe into existence intervened in the natural realm to cause an extraordinary phenomenon to occur.
Why did it happen? Amazingly, this is the simplest of the questions to answer. The text clearly indicates that God listened to Joshua’s request. So unique was the event that the narrator writes, “There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord obeyed the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel” (10:14).
Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus the Anointed One) is our Deliverer. Greater than Joshua the son of Nun, our Master laid down His life at the crucifixion and took it up again in the resurrection. Ultimately He will usher us into eternal rest (Heb. 4:8–11).
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