Joshua 11
McGeeCHAPTERS 11 AND 12THEME: The northern campaign and the roster of conquered kingsChapter 11 contains the campaign in the north and the conclusion of Joshua’s leadership in war.
Joshua 11:1
Jabin of Hazor in the north seems to have been the organizer. He sends out word to all the folk in that area to come against Joshua, because it is obvious now that he has overcome in the south and he is going to move to the north. And if he moves to the north, he will invade their landwhich, of course, is exactly what he did. As we have seen, Joshua’s strategy was to split the land in two, then move into the south (which couldn’t get help, you see, from the north). Now the northern kings come together.
Joshua 11:7
Joshua’s strategy, after dividing the land in two, was to come upon the enemy suddenly. You will see that Alexander the Great and also Napoleon used these same tactics.
Joshua 11:18
It was a long and bitter campaign. Now in chapter 12 we are given the names of the kings which Israel conquered. Frankly, a chapter like this is not very exciting to me. But the thing that impresses me is the detail that the God of this universe has given in items like this. We would think that He would constantly be dealing with great issues in grandiose terms, but God gets right down to the nitty-gritty where you and I live. There is a lesson for us here. You and I sometimes hesitate to take to God in prayer the little details of our lives. We think, I ought not to talk to Him about things like that. Well, friend, talk to Him about those things. He wants to hear them. A professor who was very liberal in his theology, said to me one time, “You take the Bible literally.” “Yes,” I said. “You certainly don’t believe that God has books up there that He is going to open and look at.” I think I shocked him when I said, “I sure do.” He keeps the record, friend. Here is a chapter about these kings. I know nothing about them, but God does. He has the record. He has two books: the Book of Works and the Lamb’s Book of Life. Your name is written in one of them, my friend. It is written in the Book of Life when you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. Your name will never be written there by your own effort. If your name is in this book, you have eternal life in Christ. There is also a Book of Works. It records the details of everything you have ever done. It is going to be embarrassing for many people when they discover that all they did was give a cup of cold water that cost them nothing. Recently a dear brother, a retired preacher with plenty of time on his hands, wrote me a twelve-page letter. I read it and much of the contents were meaningless to me. It mentioned places, people, and a church I knew nothing about. But God knows everything about that man and his life. He has it all written down. It is interesting to God. It adds real dimension to this life to realize that each little detail about His children is important to Him.