Week 3

3/16/2025

Spring 2025

 

  • Central Passage: Joshua 7-8, the completion of the Southern Conquest

  • Click here to see the Middle School Sunday school handout for Joshua.

  • Check out the Middle School Sunday School Resources page for other books of the Bible resources. Note: the Joshua handout will be available soon.

 

Joshua 9 provides some much-needed context for Joshua 10. The Gibeonites came to Israel, wanting to make a covenant of peace with them. However, recall that Moses had commanded Israel not to make covenants of peace with the Canaanites (Deut 7:2-4; )—they were to devote them to complete destruction (haram). The Gibeonites, pretending to be from a distant country outside of Canaan, tricked Joshua into making a covenant with them. When Joshua discovered their trickery, instead of devoting them to God for destruction, he devoted them to God for service (cf. Deut 20:10-12). The Israelites entered this ethical dilemma because “they did not ask counsel from the LORD” (Josh 9:14; cf. Num 27:21). Joshua 10 contains the fallout from this unwise covenant-making, for Adoni-zedek[1] fearfully allied himself with other Canaanite kings to attack the mighty Gibeon (Josh 10:1-5). Due to their covenant, Israel intervened in battle.

The Battle Against Five Kings Begins

            Despite Israel’s uncounseled covenant-making with Gibeon, God promised them victory in battle (Josh 10:8). But this would be another battle won by unconventional glory-displaying means. God threw the Canaanites into a panic and threw down stones from heaven, killing more than those killed by the sword (Josh 10:11). The Canaanites certainly would have interpreted this hailstorm as divine punishment (Isa 28:2, 17; Job 38:22-23 cf. Exod 9:13-33). Furthermore, instead of Baal, the storm god, Yahweh sent hail during the midsummer season when hailstorms are very rare, let alone lethal. As if these events weren’t demoralizing enough for Israel’s enemies, the following events devastate any hope for victory against God’s people.

A God-Given Omen

            Josh 10:12-14 contains a well-known but often misunderstood story. A surface-level reading might indicate that God lengthened the day for the duration of the battle. Some scientifically minded Christians have attempted to reconcile this story with what we know about the earth’s rotation. They have concluded that God temporarily slowed the earth’s rotation in order to give more sunlight for battle. However, this sounds like it could have been advantageous to either side. Furthermore, and much more importantly, the text seems to tell a different story based on common pagan understandings of cosmology and omens.

            Rather than understanding the passage as a prolonged day, scholars have debated several other theories based on textual data. The most plausible view accounts for the ancient Near Eastern lunar calendar. A proper full moon month consisted of the sun and moon opposing one another in the sky on the fourteenth day of the month. When the full moon appeared on the proper day, pagans interpreted this as a good omen of order and peace for the coming harmonious month. However, it would be a bad omen if the full moon occurred after the fourteenth day. Ancient pagans would even go into battle or refrain from battling based on these omens.

            Thus, the text indicates that the sun stood over Gibeon (to the east), and the moon stood over the Valley of Aijalon (to the west), opposing one another in the sky for a full moon day. The language used for the sun and moon “standing still” was a common way to indicate that the moon did not “retreat” from the sun or advance in the sky to avoid its full moon status.[2] Instead, they “stood still” as a clear indication that the day of the full moon had arrived.[3] Verse 13 continues: “And the sun stood in the middle of the heavens and did not hasten to leave for the whole day” (my translation). The language of “standing,” once again, refers to the full moon day, and the word used to describe the day as “whole” indicates completeness. All of these linguistic details communicate that the complete full moon day had arrived.

However, the question remains: why was this a bad omen for the Canaanites? Some believe that this full moon did not occur on the fourteenth day of the month but on the fifteenth. However, the text portrays Joshua commanding these things publicly in the presence of Israel as the dismayed Canaanites silently watched. Joshua’s command and the ensuing full moon revealed that he, on behalf of Israel, had the ear of the God of all creation. His words caused the full moon to appear such that, regardless of what day of the month it was, the fulfilled command acted as an omen against the Canaanites. Who were they to stand up to the one who commanded the full moon to appear? In their minds, the sun and moon were on Joshua’s side.

This was not an extended day in which God slowed the rotation of the earth or caused some other astronomical event. The real wonder of the passage comes from verse 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.” It’s strange that Joshua would request an omen. After all, Moses established in Genesis 1 that the stars and celestial bodies do not determine fate—God is both creator and providential caretaker. Rather than God commanding the precise battle rituals and arrangements as He had done previously, God gave Joshua the freedom to orchestrate the battle plan. Joshua laid out the plan to use pagan superstition about omens against them, and God graciously obliged, demoralizing the Canaanites and displaying His glory through His servant, Joshua, for all to see. The remainder of the battle is predictable.

The Battle and Southern Conquest Completed

            The Israelites captured the five kings who conspired together against Gibeon. Joshua then instructed his commanders to put their feet on their necks, an act of subjugating these enemies as their footstools (cf. Ps 110:1). Next, Joshua commanded once again to “be strong and courageous” (Josh 10:25). If it seems strange that Joshua felt the need to command this when the victory already seemed complete, recall Joshua 1:7 once again: “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you.” Joshua’s reminder to be strong and courageous, even with victory assured, was also a reminder to obey the commandments of God. They were to remember that as He gave this victory to them against five kingdoms, He would continue to do so for them if Israel would continue in obedience. Joshua then killed and hanged the five kings.[4] The remainder of chapter 10 predictably summarizes the success of the southern conquest. Seven cities are mentioned, suggesting that this is a summary of key cities rather than a report that Israel had defeated every city in the southern territory of Canaan. This anticlimactic summary reporting is testimony to God’s faithfulness in giving victory to an obedient people. However, the narrative tension escalates in the following chapter.

Chapter 11: Victory over an Old Stumbling Block

            Chapter 11 establishes tension immediately—as the verses continue, we should feel overwhelmed at the sheer number of Canaanites joining together. Will Israel again grumble against God as they did when they saw the pursuing Egyptians prior to the Red Sea crossing (Exod 14:10-12)? Will they be strong and courageous by observing God’s commandments, even when doing so is daunting in the face of such strong opposition? The pragmatic option would be to pursue covenants of peace, but the seemingly pragmatic option is not always right and proper to God’s real flourishing that He plans for His people.

            These enemies were as numerous as the seashore, a description that Yahweh had promised for Abraham’s and Jacob’s descendants (Gen 22:17; 32:12) that the wicked Canaanites seem to possess instead. Imagine the dismay of knowing this future blessing of innumerable descendants, but instead, the enemy had innumerable descendants preparing for battle. God again wanted to show Israel that He would give them victory. So, rather than pragmatically stealing their horses and chariots, God commanded them to cripple their horses and burn their chariots. God delivered them in this great battle, and Israel completely burned the third and final city in the conquest: Hazor.[5]

            The final verses of chapter 11 are brief but powerful. Remember the negative report of the ten spies in Numbers 13:28: “And besides, we saw the descendants of the Anak there” (cf. Deut 1:26-33). The Anakim were supposedly giants (Num 13:33). Few other ancient sources mention them, but an Egyptian letter does describe fierce seven to nine feet tall warriors from Canaan. These Anakim were a fearsome foe and a stumbling block that caused the first generation of Israel to forfeit their right to enter the Promised Land. Moses even prepared the second generation in Deuteronomy 9:1-2: “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’” The Anakim produced very real fear, but the question of, “Will Israel continue to be strong and courageous?” (cf. Josh 10:25) was quickly answered as God eclipsed that fear. This fearsome stumbling block only receives mention in these two final verses of chapter 11, in which God enabled Israel to utterly defeat them.

Concluding Thoughts

            Many people believe that faith is belief without evidence. Though Jesus did encourage childlike faith, biblical faith certainly does not lack evidence. The continued refrain throughout Moses and the prophets is for Israel to remember the LORD, their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Joshua’s conquest continued to equip the Israelites with enough evidence to hold a firm, well-established belief that the God who went before them in these battles was worthy of their worship and praise. This God parted the Jordan River, toppled the walls of Jericho, melted the hearts of the Canaanites, defeated five kings and hordes of Canaanites as numerous as the seashore, and wiped out the fearsome Amalekites. How can Israel do anything but fall before this God in humble worship? Much more, how can we do anything but fall to our knees in confession and thanksgiving to the God who even conquered death, the final enemy? This is the essence of childlike faith. As a child confidently trusts in his or her parents to protect and provide, with good reasons established through everyday patterns, we can trust in God. Though we don’t always have the full picture, and though our limited experience often makes obedience seem foolish/counterintuitive, have strong and courageous faith in the God who killed death itself.

 

 

Sources

Croteau, David A., and Gary E. Yates. Urban Legends of the Old Testament: 40 Common Misconceptions. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2019.

Howard, David M. Joshua: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture. The New American Commentary. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 1998.

McConville, J. Gordon and Stephen N. Williams. Joshua. The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010.

Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2000.

 

[1] Adoni-Zedek means either “my lord is righteous” or “lord of righteousness.”

[2] This is known as phenomenological language. This type of language reports natural phenomena how they appear to the ancient writer and audience, rather than giving accurate scientific data. For instance, Genesis 1:16 refers to the sun and moon as “the two great lights.” The text does not make scientific claims about the universe but instead communicates theological truth according to the understanding of ancient Israel: God established the sun and moon, not to be worshipped but for our good and His glory. If we expected the scientifically accurate statement, “God created the sun while the moon simply reflects the sun’s light at varying phases due to its orbit around the earth, which rotates and revolves around the sun,” then the theology of Genesis 1 would have been buried in a scientific textbook. Instead, we are blessed to have a God who condescends to our level and communicates truth in phenomenological language.

Thus, in regard to the sun and moon “standing,” the ancients believed that the moon would retreat or advance across the sky when it was not in opposition to the sun for the full moon phase. This is phenomenological language to indicate a full moon.

 

[3] Some scholars have offered several other interpretations based on the text, though the strongest is presented in the above paragraph. (1) Some believe this was an eclipse of the sun’s light by the cloud from the hailstorm. Verse 13 uses two different verbs. The first verb, damam (דָּמַם) can mean either to be still or silent, i.e. darkened. The second verb, amad (עָמַד), means to stand or remain. Thus, they interpret the passage as “the sun remained in a darkened state.” A covering of the sun’s light would have been an omen to Israel’s pagan enemies. (2) Some believe that Joshua speaks poetically (notice the genre/format of Josh 10:12b is poetry) to accompany the surrounding narrative. The moon stopping refers to Israel’s all-night march (Josh 10:9). The sun standing still remarks on the battle’s enduring length. The verb damam can also be a play on words, indicating that the sun stood still/was silenced (damam), just as the demoralized Canaanites stood silently in despair following the hailstorm.

The first option seems to rightly understand that a demoralizing omen is at play but does not seem to use the textual data enough to explain why. The second view certainly has merit, particularly with its focus on the literary usage of the verb damam, and the author certainly used this verb intentionally as a double entendre to describe the silenced fear of the Canaanites. However, this is more than just a figurative retelling.

[4] Though the kings were already dead, see last week’s study on Joshua 8:32, 29 for a lengthier discussion on the ancient wartime practice of hanging the bodies of fallen enemy kings. But notice, once again, that they only hung them until sunset (Josh 10:26-27; cf. Deut 21:22-23).

 

[5] The Israelites also burned Jericho (6:24) and Ai (8:28). There is no explicit command to burn these cities. In fact, Deuteronomy 6:10-11 indicates that they will live in these cities and buildings, for the cities were part of their inheritance. However, Deuteronomy 13:12-16 instructed them to burn cities in which someone commits idolatry. This explains the burning of Ai, considering Achan’s idolatry. Burning both Jericho, a strong military outpost, and Hazor, probably the largest Canaanite city, reduced them to a heap, just as Deuteronomy 13:16 instructed. Since warfare was often an act of pagan worship (Jericho), and Hazor as the largest city likely consisted of prevalent, wicked pagan worship, burning these cities to a heap was ongoing testimony to Israel of the principle of Deuteronomy 13: all false worship will be reduced to a perpetual heap.