JOSHUA 11 THE CONQUEST - THE REST After the high points in our Christian life and victories the Lord brought about, we need to return to the foundation, the root of our Christian faith. We need to remember the cross and the work of Christ on our behalf, not only when we are in difficulties that tend to discourage, but when things are good. In the shadow less light of the cross, we deal with the motives that direct our actions. It is then we search ourselves to see if the world, the flesh and the devil are showing that we are acting in pride, complacency and compromise. We need to be reminded that the weapons of our spiritual warfare are not "carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds."
Separation means we step out in faith in the word of God, and commit ourselves to obey Him. In order to do that we must refuse any strength and power the world offers. Our only Master is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Even when all the hosts of earth unite to stop the work of God, "In vain do earth and hell oppose, for God is stronger than His foes." God hears and honors those who honor Him in spite of the odds arrayed against them.
Kings from the north joined together under the leadership of Jabin, king of Hazor, to battle the Israelites who by now controlled the southern half of Canaan. Hazor was something like the capital of that area. There was obviously fear in the hearts of all the rulers involved. Yet, with the exception of Gibeon, not one looked for a way to make peace. The hearts of all of them was hardened against Israel and the Lord. One has said, "The same sun that melts the snow, hardens the clay." A great number of the kings gathered a huge force which included chariots and horses and camped at the Waters of Merom. Joshua was careful to obey all the Lord instructed him to do and God brought about victory. Joshua and the whole Israelite army attacked them by surprise. The enemies’ chariots were useless in the dense forests of the area and Hazor, the largest Canaanite center in Galilee was destroyed.
We need to trust God in every matter we face because He knows all the facts about every place, every situation and every person. Joshua finished what Moses had started. Moses predicted in Deu.6:10-12, that Israel would occupy cities they had not built. Hazor was burned though, because it symbolized the wicked culture of the area. The total destruction of the city was a lesson to all other nations around. It is not easy to pick up another person's work and complete it in the way he intended at first. In assembly life and Gospel work, much of what we do is to continue the work others started or were responsible for and continue in the work just the way it was under the direction of those who were before us.
The conquest seems to have happened quickly by the short space in the book it takes up, but actually it took about seven years. The united army of Israel from the twelve tribes moved through the land and destroyed the opposing armies and kings. They were able to keep the plunder for themselves and the cities apart from Hazor became the homes of the Israelis. We often expect quick changes in our lives and quick victories over sin. It is easy to grow impatient and feel like giving up because things are moving slowly. All the victories were won by the hand of the Lord working for Israel and He drove out the enemies with hornets and other means that indicated God was in control of all that happened in the conquest. However, the Lord left remnants of people in different areas, to test the obedience of His own people. The possessions we have must be possessed. Each tribe had to take responsibility for what God designated was theirs. Not very often do things change overnight or in a short time. Every truth we have been taught has to be personally applied after we have heard the truth.
The Anakites were the giants the Israelite spies described when they first gave their report [Num.13-14]. However, this time the people didn’t let their fear stop them from engaging the Anakites in battle and claiming the land. There were some left as Israel found out later (Goliath, of Gath). This is where united action in Canaan by Israel ceases. Their victories have been decisive. The enemy still lives there but they were beaten and scattered. God had given the whole land to His people. Now each tribe had to possess what it had potentially received through the conquest of the whole nation. Each tribe had to individually apply the lessons it had learned in united war to possess its inheritance. Their failure to take what Joshua had given and allotted to each one of them, was not a reflection on the power of God, but on them. Every truth we learn must be applied by faith and appropriated individually into our lives, or else it will mean nothing. The victory of the cross was decisive, but we only experience victory when we reflect on the truth we have received and make it personal. Joshua took the whole land – victory was complete – and he gave it to the people. Whether they received it or not, depended on their individual faith to go into it and possess it.
The land finally rested from war. The greatest source of conflict in our lives is in permitting things in our lives we know are contrary to the will of God. The moment we begin to obey, the soul rests from war. The victory the Lord Jesus won can satisfy every need. “He purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High.” [Heb.1:3]. What the land was to Israel, Christ is to us. The land rested from war – the Lord Jesus Christ sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. The victory of the cross has taken the whole territory. Jesus Christ is Lord because of Calvary. The rest of the Lord Jesus is not the rest of exhaustion, nor of inactivity but the rest of satisfaction. He sits in the full assurance; the complete expectation that the fruits of the cross will be reaped. The sacrifice of the cross has been demonstrated to be sufficient and complete for the salvation of the world.
The rest of the Savior is the calm, poise, assurance and satisfaction of a work completed – therefore, He is sat down. He is there as a man, for His fellow-men, and it is God’s purpose that we should have that rest with Him [Eph.2:6]. We now can find the result of that rest when we learn to rest in His strength so that He may mold us and let the fever and rush of life subside into the rest of the Lord. The Christian who is resting in the Lord, is not a lazy Christian. He/she is busy and committed to the work of the Lord. The peace and rest are in our hearts that storms and challenges around us cannot disturb. The Christian who is resting in the Lord is calm in the situations of life and has strength to do whatever God’s will is. When our will is no longer selfish, then our work is in harmony with the purposes of God. The Christian who is resting in the Lord, delights in the Lord and receives the desires of the heart [Ps.37:4]. Our Joshua, the Lord Jesus, has taken the whole land. All the fruit of Calvary is at the disposal of every one of His children. He is sat down on the right hand of God; the Holy Spirit is within; the Father is at the throne of grace. All of this allows us to live above the sin of the world, resting in Christ.
When sin has removed the "peace of God," that is the umpire of our soul, then we need the rest of forgiveness. That brings a sense of relief, acceptance and assurance that the long strain of strife and contention is over. That kind of rest brings about the lifting of a burden that was hard to bear. After long periods of spiritual warfare, the "rest for the people of God" is relief and joy. We may look back on those times, and trace with grateful hearts the hand of God that brought the peace and spiritual blessings for which we had prayed.