We come now to the well-known story of Joshua’s long day. In the previous chapter we saw Israel make a league with the Hivites of Gibeon, and here we find five kings of the Amorites combining together to fight against the Hivites of Gibeon. Let us look closely now at these five kings, and then see what Joshua does to them.
There is first the king of Jerusalem, who is the king of peace, but Amoritish peace, remember, peace-at-any-price. Next there is the king of Hebron, representing religious peace, peace-at-any-price in religion. Then too there is the king of Jarmuth, who is king of love-at-all-costs. The fourth is king of Lachish, who is king of peace-and-love in the sense of leaving undisturbed things as they are. And lastly, there is the king of Eglon, king of human love. These five kings in the name of peace and love come together to make war against Gibeon. Now Gibeon is a royal city, it stands for our traditional Christianity which we got as a result of being deceived by the Hivites rather than as a result of battle. Did we not get our traditions by fighting for them, then? No, beloved, we got them from the Hivites. The religious wars of mankind have never had anything to do with Joshua at all. Was it not Jesus who said, “If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight: but now My kingdom is not of this world.” The battles into which our Lord leads us are spiritual battles, not religious warfare. True, we are to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, but we are here seeking to gain the inheritance, and our battles are the battles of those who strive to possess that promised land.
But why do these Amorites come up against Gibeon? And why does Joshua come suddenly to help the place of the Hivites? And what does it all mean to us today in our own lives? Let us now fix our attention on Jesus and learn of Him, and be instructed. Our Lord has established His church on earth, and although His people have been deceived by the Hivites yet Jesus has allowed the traditions to remain alive among us even unto this day. Further, as we have sworn to uphold these traditions, Jesus will come to their aid if they are attacked. This thing we must see. We learn in Joshua chapter nine that these things are cursed, and we immediately conclude that we should overthrow them. But wait! Why should they be overthrown if Jesus has allowed them to live? Would He not have overthrown and destroyed them long ago if He had so desired? Yes, but surely they are opposed to us, enemies of God, reminding us only of our defeat by the deceitfulness of the Hivites? Clearly so, yet because God’s people have accepted them, have allowed them to remain among us, and are sworn to uphold them, they may not be attacked, for Joshua will come suddenly to their defense. Again, who is it who would seek to overthrow them? Strangely enough, it is not we as spiritual who would seek their downfall, but that Amoritish thing in us which is always fighting for peace-at-any-price and love-at-all costs. There is in each one of us a rooted idea that by strife we can achieve peace. We suffer from a firm deep delusion that we must fight to bring in love. This delusion is seen clearly in the world around us as history records, but it must not be allowed to breathe among God’s people, it must be stamped out of us, destroyed, exterminated completely if we are to possess our inheritance.
Look again at the five kings of the Amorites. The king of Jerusalem is the king of peace. But again our hearts deceive us. To overthrow the traditional things which the people of God have adopted and allowed to live among us would not bring us peace but strife. Next, the king of Hebron is king of religious peace. His idea is to do away with what we have foolishly allowed to remain among us, and his motive is to thus bring in the reign of religious peace for which we now clamour. That always appeals to the religious flesh in each of us, because deep in our deceitful hearts we long for the reign of religious peace, and surely by abolishing Gibeon we could achieve our ends. Then there is the king of Jarmuth, king of love at all costs. If we could only knock down the barriers between us we would have this universal love among us, he cries, and in the name of love he brings his forces against Gibeon. Fourthly, there is the king of Lachish, king of the status quo, yet he is not content to leave things as they are at all but must needs change them to keep abreast of the ever changing times, thus maintaining the status quo. And lastly, there is the king of Eglon who is the king of human love. His ideas are simply human ideas. For the sake of human peace and love he would seek to abolish Gibeon, seek to overthrow all the ancient things which we uphold to this day, because once the natural mind is told that these things are not God-ordered the natural reaction is to destroy them. And the motive? To bring peace and love into our lives. To the natural mind there is no argument, this is clearly the thing to do. Only the spiritual can grasp the message of Joshua. But know of a truth that these kings are all Amorite and Joshua will destroy them every one.
This is the chapter of Joshua’s long day. The battle has raged for centuries, sometimes seemingly won, sometimes seemingly lost. It is going ahead in our day, as the kings of the Amorites renew their attacks in this generation and we appear to be losing some ground. Joshua has fought against every attack in every generation and Gibeon still stands, but darkness threatens ever to turn the tide of battle. Therefore Joshua has called on the sun to stand still, and the moon to stay, and God has heard that plea and ordered it to be so. It is a great sight indeed, for those who have eyes to see. And if we follow the Overcomer we will be found fighting on His side and not against Him. The religious leaders of Peter’s day who wanted peace at any price, love at all costs, were advised by one to be careful “lest haply ye be found to fight against God.” It was good advice then, it is good advice today. It is God alone who gives peace, and the love among the saints is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. Study if you will the great picture in this chapter of the five kings hid in the cave to see where we get our peace and love. “Joshua smote them and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.” We saw the same picture in chapter eight, but God would enlarge it five-fold to make it abundantly plain that the way of the Cross of Calvary is the way of Joshua and of all who follow the Overcomer. “And it came to pass, at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave where they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.” No matter how men strive to change everything, the gospel of Christ remains unchanged until this very day.
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Joshua Chapter 10
December 16, 2010 — RonWe come now to the well-known story of Joshua’s long day. In the previous chapter we saw Israel make a league with the Hivites of Gibeon, and here we find five kings of the Amorites combining together to fight against the Hivites of Gibeon. Let us look closely now at these five kings, and then see what Joshua does to them.
There is first the king of Jerusalem, who is the king of peace, but Amoritish peace, remember, peace-at-any-price. Next there is the king of Hebron, representing religious peace, peace-at-any-price in religion. Then too there is the king of Jarmuth, who is king of love-at-all-costs. The fourth is king of Lachish, who is king of peace-and-love in the sense of leaving undisturbed things as they are. And lastly, there is the king of Eglon, king of human love. These five kings in the name of peace and love come together to make war against Gibeon. Now Gibeon is a royal city, it stands for our traditional Christianity which we got as a result of being deceived by the Hivites rather than as a result of battle. Did we not get our traditions by fighting for them, then? No, beloved, we got them from the Hivites. The religious wars of mankind have never had anything to do with Joshua at all. Was it not Jesus who said, “If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight: but now My kingdom is not of this world.” The battles into which our Lord leads us are spiritual battles, not religious warfare. True, we are to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, but we are here seeking to gain the inheritance, and our battles are the battles of those who strive to possess that promised land.
But why do these Amorites come up against Gibeon? And why does Joshua come suddenly to help the place of the Hivites? And what does it all mean to us today in our own lives? Let us now fix our attention on Jesus and learn of Him, and be instructed. Our Lord has established His church on earth, and although His people have been deceived by the Hivites yet Jesus has allowed the traditions to remain alive among us even unto this day. Further, as we have sworn to uphold these traditions, Jesus will come to their aid if they are attacked. This thing we must see. We learn in Joshua chapter nine that these things are cursed, and we immediately conclude that we should overthrow them. But wait! Why should they be overthrown if Jesus has allowed them to live? Would He not have overthrown and destroyed them long ago if He had so desired? Yes, but surely they are opposed to us, enemies of God, reminding us only of our defeat by the deceitfulness of the Hivites? Clearly so, yet because God’s people have accepted them, have allowed them to remain among us, and are sworn to uphold them, they may not be attacked, for Joshua will come suddenly to their defense. Again, who is it who would seek to overthrow them? Strangely enough, it is not we as spiritual who would seek their downfall, but that Amoritish thing in us which is always fighting for peace-at-any-price and love-at-all costs. There is in each one of us a rooted idea that by strife we can achieve peace. We suffer from a firm deep delusion that we must fight to bring in love. This delusion is seen clearly in the world around us as history records, but it must not be allowed to breathe among God’s people, it must be stamped out of us, destroyed, exterminated completely if we are to possess our inheritance.
Look again at the five kings of the Amorites. The king of Jerusalem is the king of peace. But again our hearts deceive us. To overthrow the traditional things which the people of God have adopted and allowed to live among us would not bring us peace but strife. Next, the king of Hebron is king of religious peace. His idea is to do away with what we have foolishly allowed to remain among us, and his motive is to thus bring in the reign of religious peace for which we now clamour. That always appeals to the religious flesh in each of us, because deep in our deceitful hearts we long for the reign of religious peace, and surely by abolishing Gibeon we could achieve our ends. Then there is the king of Jarmuth, king of love at all costs. If we could only knock down the barriers between us we would have this universal love among us, he cries, and in the name of love he brings his forces against Gibeon. Fourthly, there is the king of Lachish, king of the status quo, yet he is not content to leave things as they are at all but must needs change them to keep abreast of the ever changing times, thus maintaining the status quo. And lastly, there is the king of Eglon who is the king of human love. His ideas are simply human ideas. For the sake of human peace and love he would seek to abolish Gibeon, seek to overthrow all the ancient things which we uphold to this day, because once the natural mind is told that these things are not God-ordered the natural reaction is to destroy them. And the motive? To bring peace and love into our lives. To the natural mind there is no argument, this is clearly the thing to do. Only the spiritual can grasp the message of Joshua. But know of a truth that these kings are all Amorite and Joshua will destroy them every one.
This is the chapter of Joshua’s long day. The battle has raged for centuries, sometimes seemingly won, sometimes seemingly lost. It is going ahead in our day, as the kings of the Amorites renew their attacks in this generation and we appear to be losing some ground. Joshua has fought against every attack in every generation and Gibeon still stands, but darkness threatens ever to turn the tide of battle. Therefore Joshua has called on the sun to stand still, and the moon to stay, and God has heard that plea and ordered it to be so. It is a great sight indeed, for those who have eyes to see. And if we follow the Overcomer we will be found fighting on His side and not against Him. The religious leaders of Peter’s day who wanted peace at any price, love at all costs, were advised by one to be careful “lest haply ye be found to fight against God.” It was good advice then, it is good advice today. It is God alone who gives peace, and the love among the saints is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. Study if you will the great picture in this chapter of the five kings hid in the cave to see where we get our peace and love. “Joshua smote them and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.” We saw the same picture in chapter eight, but God would enlarge it five-fold to make it abundantly plain that the way of the Cross of Calvary is the way of Joshua and of all who follow the Overcomer. “And it came to pass, at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave where they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.” No matter how men strive to change everything, the gospel of Christ remains unchanged until this very day.
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