(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Joshua 11:15–23, “As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses. So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same; Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses. And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities. There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.”
Joshua knew the secret of success in the Lord’s service; he did everything that the Lord commanded Moses. Moses brought the people out of the land of slavery because he was willing to obey the Lord. However, Moses died before he entered into the Promised Land and the success of the entire venture depended on Joshua. Joshua was faithful to the Lord and succeeded in completing the task that the Lord had given him. It is important to notice the difference between invasion and occupation. We have seen a good example of that in the last fifteen years. The United Nations allies were able to invade Iraq but they were never able to occupy Iraq. The same was true of Joshua. His job was to invade but each tribe was individually responsible for occupying their own territory. Joshua was a success! Some people suggest that Joshua failed because he didn’t train someone to follow him like Moses did but his job was to bring the people into the land and allow each tribe to take possession of their own inheritance. This had to happen before they could unite again as a nation under another leader. We should also note: “And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.” (Joshua 24:31)
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