Josué 12

Josué 12

Barber comments that "as we push back our chairs and ask ourselves what we have learned from our cursory investigation of this data, we take note of the faithfulness of God. He had promised the land to Abraham and his descendants, and now His people were in possession of it. His power had been evident in giving His people the victory over forces much more powerful than their own. He had not always followed the same strategy, but showed that He could defeat His enemies by any means....Though there are many who decry God’s harsh treatment of those living in Canaan, the fact remains that they had become so hardened in their sinful ways that punishment was inevitable. And we need to take this to heart, for within our society many of the same sins are acceptable and there are many who believe that they can sin with impunity. " Irving Jensen summarizes this chapter - Kings Smitten (Joshua 12:1–24) 1. Kings of Transjordan (Joshua 12:1–6) Two kings: Sihon king of the Amorites (12:2) and Og king of Bashan (12:4). These were the kings smitten by Moses, before Israel crossed the Jordan, whose lands were allotted to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The geographical extent of this Transjordan acquisition reached from the Arnon River in the south, which was the southern boundary of Sihon’s kingdom, to the slopes of Hermon in the north, the land of Bashan, which was Og’s kingdom. 2. Kings West of the Jordan (Joshua 12:7–24) Thirty-one kings. Their cities were scattered throughout Canaan (the geography is described in Joshua 12:7–8), which explains why Israel was engaged in battle for such a long time. The kings are listed in the order in which they were engaged in battle with Joshua. (Joshua- Everyman's Bible Commentary: Rest-Land Won) David Thompson - There are some people who think that the Christian life is a life of peaceful tranquility without any conflict or confrontation. Frankly such a notion is not possible, nor is it Biblical. Certainly we all desire a life that is peaceful; but to reach that desire there are hard fought battles against real enemies. The road to peace is a road filled with conflicts and confrontations and when God’s people purpose to obey God, they will experience the victory and peace they long for. As we have been going through this book of Joshua, we have seen some important things: 1) Getting to the place where God wanted Israel to be was not easy or quick; it was a process and at times it was difficult. 2) Getting to the place where God wanted Israel to be meant she had to fight many different battles against many different kinds of enemies. 3) Getting to the place where God wanted Israel to be meant persistent obedience over a process of time. 4) Getting to the place where God wanted Israel to be meant all enemies were destroyed. As we come to Joshua 12, what we learn is that Israel had tremendous victory over every enemy who stood against her. Specific enemies were targeted and defeated. The victory was very precise according to the leading of God. But no victory was easy. Jericho was probably the easiest, but even Jericho required that when the walls came down they had to go in and take the city. Along the way, Israel was learning a lesson of obedience and she learned the lesson of fighting a good faithful fight. There is a great lesson to be learned from this chapter: REGARDLESS OF WHO THE ENEMY IS AND REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY ENEMIES WE FACE, OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO OBEY GOD AND WAGE A GOOD WAR AND ONE BY ONE THOSE ENEMIES WILL BE DEFEATED AND WE WILL EXPERIENCE VICTORY AND PEACE. Now these are the kings of the land whom the sons of Israel defeated (nāḵāh), and whose land they possessed (yarash) beyond (on the east side of) the Jordan toward the sunrise ("the east side of the Jordan" - NET), from the valley of the Arnon as far as Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah (see map) to the east - This description begins with the land east of the Jordan and is surely a Spirit inspired way of saying to the children of Israel that all 12 tribes should be unified, even though 2.5 tribes are living east of the Jordan River. Cyril Barber adds "There had always been a fear that those tribes that had been given an inheritance in Transjordan would (1) forget their ties to the rest of God’s people and in time drift away from their relational and spiritual obligations, or (2) be looked upon by their brethren in Canaan with disfavor. To safeguard against this happening and preserve the unity of God’s people the historian wisely included the victories won under Moses’ leadership." This chapter gives a complete list of the 31 kings conquered, which indicates that we have a portion of the record of the battles which Joshua waged against the Canaanites. In Joshua 12:6 Moses is credited with the conquest of Sihon and Og. This chapter is in a sense a written memorial to acknowledge the fruit of obedience (Joshua's obedience to God), but also the faithfulness of God to defeat the enemies of Israel. The great hymn To God be the Glory would be an apropos song for Joshua and Israel to sing... To God be the glory Great things He has done So loved He the world that He gave us His Son Who yielded His life an atonement for sin And opened the life-gate that all may go in Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the earth hear His voice Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the people rejoice Come to the Father Through Jesus the Son Give Him the glory Great things He has done Isn't it interesting that a popular store, Baskin-Robbins, also has a list of 31, but their list is flavors of ice cream. Not to carry the analogy too far, but undoubtedly these were 31 "flavors" of kings (varying degrees of wickedness, etc), but all had one thing in common, that they hated God and hated His people. Beloved, don't be naive, for if you are a true disciple of Jesus, you have far more than 31 people who hate you (Jn 15:19-20, cf 2Ti 3:12, Php 1:29-30, Acts 14:22)