What comes to your mind when you think about the Lord? When I ask you to think about God, what comes to mind? What feelings does that image evoke?
I ask because many of our modern notions about God can be…incomplete, at best, if not downright wrong. And today we have a portion of text that might challenge your view of God.
Modern portrayals of God or Jesus are often woefully less than biblical. You might see the standard catholic portrayal of Jesus who is comically Caucasian, with pale skin, flowing brown hair and a white robe. He’s soft and pillowy, almost to the point of being effeminate.
He’s portrayed as gentle and meek, which is true. However, if that’s the only Jesus you ever hear about, if you only read part of your bible, you will end up with an incomplete picture of Jesus, one that can lead you to the wrong impression, and can make you quite uncomfortable with passages of scripture that portray God as something more than that.
What we have in our text today is no modern, wimpy, limp-wristed Jesus, but a portrait of the Divine Warrior on the battle path.
Our text in Joshua 10 specifically speaks of the Lord fighting, the Lord striking down, the Lord killing, and the Lord even using the heavens as part of his battle plan.
That’s a far cry from the Jesus that is pictured on Hallmark cards. But it is part of the biblical picture.
And how that biblical picture impacts us is directly related to your relationship to God, as we will soon see. And if you’re part of God’s people, this passage goes from being terrifying, to picturing something prophetic and every encouraging.
Let’s read together Joshua 10:1-15, and then we will pick up the rest of this chapter later in the sermon.
As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction,[a] doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2 he[b] feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors. 3 So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” 5 Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.
6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.”7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.
8 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal.
10 And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who[c] struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
12 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.
15 So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
Let’s look at verses 1-11 and see our first point: the Divine Warrior. The divine warrior.
This chapter begins with another repeated theme from this book: the leaders in the land have heard what God has done. They heard what God did through Joshua and Israel’s army at Ai, and what they did at Jericho, and rather than that judgement leading them to repent of their wickedness, it hardens them.
The king of Jerusalem at the time, ironically named Adoni-Zedek, which means Lord of Righteousness, summons the other kings around and calls them to join his coalition of armies against Gibeon, because the Gibeonites had made a covenant with Israel, which we saw in the previous chapter.
So, the Gibeonites in verse 6 call for Israel’s mighty men to come and fight for them. Honor your covenant and come save us. And so Joshua and his mighty men go off to war, to fight for the Gibeonites. And on the way, Joshua gets word from the Lord. He says in verse 8 to Joshua:
8 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.”
Not a man of them shall be left standing. Total decimation of the attacking armies. That’s what the Lord promises. And when Joshua arrives, having marched all night long, the text switches from focusing on Joshua, to focusing on the Lord. Look again at verse 10. Who is doing the action here:
10 And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
The modern translators are not of one mind on how to best translate this sentence. Is it that the Lord threw the armies into a panic, but then Israel struck them and chased them and struck them?
I think the older New American Standard translation is the best, because it emphasizes who it is that is doing the fighting.
The Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, the Lord struck them with a great blow at Gibeon, the Lord chased them, and the Lord struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
Why do I think that? Grammatically, the implied subject of the subsequent verbs is “He” which would most naturally apply to the Lord. But also, contextually, the next verse emphasizes the divine action in battle:
11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threwdown large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died.
And just in case anyone thinks that Joshua and the Israelite fighters could take the credit for this battle, the author adds one more bit of evidence to clarify at the end of verse 11:
There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
No doubt who is the decisive fighter in this battle. And even the events of this story are so clearly known by the original audience that more detail wasn’t necessary.
It says “Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?” Which was apparently an extrabiblical book of stories among the Israelites, like the Book of the Wars of the Lord (Numbers 21:14), the Book of Samuel the Seer, the Book of Nathan the Prophet, and the Book of Gad the Seer (1 Chronicles 29:29).
The Lord’s works are so public that even extra-biblical sources can confirm their truthfulness, and His identity.
Who is the decisive factor in this battle? It is the Lord. The maker of Heaven and Earth. The one who spoke all things into existence, who set up the heavens as a tent, who with his very breath sets up kings and tears them down.
Who, by his power, sends hailstones from heaven to wipe out whole armies.
Who uses trumpets to bring down city walls.
Who uses waters from the Red Sea to wipe out the mighty Egyptian army.
That’s a very different picture of God than what is found in Modern conceptions of God. There is no weakness, no effeminacy, no inability, nothing stopping Him. He’s a mighty divine warrior.
This image of the Divine warrior is an important theme in this book, and in the book to follow, Judges, and in the rest of scripture. It’s not the only way that God is portrayed in the bible, but it is certainly an important one.
And let’s think about why this image is important. First, the image of God as a mighty divine warrior ought to compel the unbelievers to recognize their danger in their sin, and come to this Warrior for mercy.
Rather than bowing up, rather than scoffing, rather than foolishly thinking that you can outsmart or out battle the Lord, you ought to fall to your knees and confess your sins and seek mercy. He’s a mighty warrior indeed, but he’s also not without mercy.
If you aren’t believing in Jesus Christ today, you should come to him and fall at his feet. This same divine warrior also offers forgiveness because of the death of Jesus in the place of his people. So that offer is there before you, and you should consider it.
Because if you don’t, you also need to know that this divine warrior will be returning. He’s coming back. The book of Revelation pictures Jesus on a white horse, the 1st Century image of military might, with a Sword coming out of his mouth, the image of his words of judgement coming.
He will come and send all the unrepentant men and women, all the rebellious kings, all the enemies of God’s people, down to death, and not merely the grave, but eternal death in hell.
This divine warrior, unlike any many or military general in this age, our divine king will be able to exact perfect, complete, and omniscient justice for every single sin committed. And if that’s the case, then don’t you think you should come to him and take his offer of mercy? Of course you should.
And for believers, you can also take comfort in this image of the divine warrior. Like I said last week, we are like the Gibeonites. Though we earned judgment for our sins, we were given a covenant of peace, and folded into the household of God.
And like the Gibeonites were helpless in this text, and the divine warrior takes of their fight, so too will the Lord fight for his people.
God will defend you when all others seem to forsake you.
God will be your strength and your shield.
God will never let final harm come to you.
And even if the kings of this age seem to have victory now, seem to be winning now, or even are able to take our lives now, we can rest comfortable in the knowledge that our Divine Warrior will have the final word.
His final judgment will undo all the wrongs of this age. His final judgment will make right all the injustices what we see, and that we experience, on this side of eternity.
That knowledge of our Divine warrior lets us do difficult things like love our neighbors as ourselves, or even love our enemies, like Jesus calls us to do.
It lets us forgive people who have sinned greatly against us.
It lets us be good citizens in this age, because we know that our Divine warrior is currently reigning as Lord over even the most powerful kings on earth.
We don’t have to be fearful when the kings of this age seem to be rallying against the people of God. We know that He will protect his bride. He will care for her. And that not even the gates of hell will be able to stand against the expansion of His kingdom.
And we also know that one day, we will taste of final victory, which is pictured later in our text.
But before we get to that victory, let’s read how the battle finishes. Let’s look at the second point: the miracle of prayer. The miracle of prayer. Look at verse 12:
12 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.
15 So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
In the battle, Joshua called out to the Lord. You see his prayer is written in the form of Hebrew poetry, likely indented in a special way in your bible to indicate that. He prays to the Lord asking, or really commanding, the Sun and moon to stand still.
I’ll briefly note that there is a little debate about what happens in the battle. Some people think that the Sun standing still means that they were given extra daylight in order to affect a complete rout of the enemies.
Others think that by stopping the sun and the moon in the sky, that Joshua was actually prolonging DARKNESS, rather than daylight.[1] There is some evidence for this position in the Hebrew, even through it may not be as evident in the English translation.
The argument goes, that Joshua is said to have traveled all night to the battle, and it would seem natural to pause the sun and moon, to allow the battle to be fought in the dark, or maybe at daybreak.
Giving them a competitive advantage, maybe even a surprise attack. That darkness could also be what the Lord used to throw the armies into a panic, in verse 10.
I’ll let you all read your bibles and come to your own conclusion about exactly what time of day the sun and moon stood still. Either way you land, I think the main point more than abundantly clear. The Lord delighted to perform a miracle, and delighted to do it through the human means of prayer.
And I believe this whole scene should remind us of the power and necessity of prayer. Just because the Lord had already promised Joshua victory, did not mean that he didn’t pray to the Lord for help in the fight. You could see where someone might be tempted to do that.
God has already told me I would win the battle, what need is there to pray. Victory is already assured.
But that’s not how the faithful think.
Likewise, just because the Lord has promised final victory to the church and to believers, that promise IN NO WAY removes the necessity for believers to be faithful in prayer.
That’s what flawed logic will do. Unbiblical logic would say that victory is assured, I don’t need to do anything. God has already told us what will happen, so I can just sit back and be lazy in prayer. God is sovereign, so I’m not necessary and don’t need to be responsible to do my part.
But biblical logic says this: God has promised the victory, and since our victory is assured, then we can boldly and without fear undertake our role in the fight.
Yes, the Lord is my sword and shield, like it says in the Psalms, and in the strength of that knowledge, I will pick up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, Ephesians 6.
Yes, the Lord knows what the content of my prayers will be before I do, and in the strength of that knowledge, I will endeavor to be even more fervent in my prayers, because He knows what I need even better than I do, and he delights to answer the prayers of his children.
Yes, the Lord will bring every one of his children to faith in due time, and in the confidence of that knowledge, I can go and speak of the good news of Jesus Christ, confident that God delights to use our feeble human works to bring out the eternal victory of His plan.
God’s meticulous sovereignty, whether over the sun and moon or over the simple prayers of a toddler, in no way undermines but actually encourages faithful human effort. That’s the uniform pattern of the bible.
Does your life match this pattern? Do you take the confidence of Divine victory and let it propel you into faithfulness in prayer?
Or do you let the doctrine of divine sovereignty become an excuse for laziness and apathy?
Fatalism is no virtue of faith, but rather is a mask for unbelief.
True, vibrant faith, manifests itself through good works, and one of the most powerful of those good works is prayer.
Be encouraged in your faith, by hearing again that God has promised final victory for his church, and in the confidence of that knowledge, be willing to go courageously into the spiritual battle, and do mighty deeds of faith, like saying prayers that can move mountains, or even stop the sun in the sky.
Confidence in the coming victory. That’s what fuels our obedience now. And that confidence is what is illustrated in our final point: the Picture of Victory. The picture of Victory.
Pick up in verse 16.
16 These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. 17 And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”18 And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, 19 but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.”
20 When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21 then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.
22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
24 And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. 25 And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”
26 And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening. 27 But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.
28 As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.
So in the middle of the battle, when the 5 kings saw things weren’t going well, they run off and hide in a cave. Joshua tells the men, don’t worry about those kings. Just roll some big stones in front of the cave, and continue on with the battle.
And after they finish the battle, they come back to the cave. They roll away the stones, bring out the 5 kings, and Joshua calls the leaders of Israel.
He says to Israel’s leaders, “put your feet on the throats of these 5 kings. Remember what the Lord said to us at the start of this journey in chapter 1. He’s telling you again: Do not be afraid; be strong and courageous. Do you see your feet here in the throats of earthly kings, this is what the Lord will do to all the enemies of Israel.”
And then it says Joshua struck the kings, put them to death, and hung them on 5 trees, the biblical image of being cursed under the Judgment of the Lord. Incredible scene. It would be a powerful scene in a movie. The lesson is unmistakable.
When the Lord promises victory, it is assured. Nothing can stop his victory march. Not even powerful earthly kings can stop it.
Further, God delights in using not only the prayers of His people to bring about His Judgment, but he sometimes even uses His people as the means of judgment.
Think about what the New Testament says in this vein. The church as an institution is not called to be the instrument of physical death and judgment in the same way as Israel was, but we will be used as part of God’s judgment nonetheless.
Remember what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6? He says that believers will be a part of the judgment of angels. We will judge angels.
That’s certainly not referring to the good, sinless angels, but to the fallen ones. We will be a part of God’s judgment upon the fallen angels who turned away from Him and followed after Satan in rebellion.
That’s an incredible picture. We, weak and frail humans, now resurrected and standing in glorified bodies in heaven, taking part in the judgment of God on His enemies.
But the New Testament doesn’t stop there. We can go one step further. Remember what remarkable word God gives to his people through Paul in Romans 16? He says in 16:20 that “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
It’s as if God in the gospel has pulled the king of this world out of his cave, and put your foot on his throat, and says this is what I am going to do to your biggest enemy, and to every enemy you have. So trust in me. Don’t be afraid. Be strong and courageous.
The seed of the woman has come and crushed the head of the serpent. And in Him, we are part of the final scenes of that victory.
Believers, don’t fall for the lies of Satan that would have you believe that he has won. That he has power over you. That he will succeed in tearing down what God has built.
No bad news can undo the church’s coming victory.
No political uncertainty can undermine Christ’s mission.
No disappointment or discouragement should make us feel hopeless.
The church should retain confident hope throughout all of this age, because our divine warrior has already promised us victory.
And that victory is secure. Nothing can shake it. Nothing can undo it.
And why is that victory so secure? Because it was bought with perfect blood. Christ’s victory came, not on the battle fields in Palestine. Not using a physical sword.
His victory came when the divine warrior laid down his life and gave it up for the people he loved. The seed of the woman had to have his heel bruised, as Genesis 3:15 reminded us. He had to suffer, in order to have victory.
He was willing to be treated like one of the rebellious kings on this battlefield in Joshua, cursed on a tree, so that His people might escape their curse of sin and death.
Indeed, He’s the true king of Jerusalem, the city of peace. He’s the true Adoni-zedek, the Lord of righteousness. He was faithful in every way.
And because he was faithful, we can be successful. Because he was put to death, we can have life.
That’s the good news of the gospel, and the source of every believer’s confidence. The glorious victory of our king came at the cost of his own life. See in that victory the depth of his love for your.
No earthly king would give up his life for his people. In fact, it’s usually the opposite. But Christ is not like any earthly king. He’s the heavenly king. The divine warrior, who lays down his own life for His bride.
That’s good news, and I hope it is a source of strong assurance for you.
[1] Dale Ralph Davis, Joshua: No Falling Words (Fearn: Christian Focus, 2010), 89.
