All these kings and their laud did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord . .. fought for Israel.
Divine sovereignty
I. God has an indisputable right to dispense his favours to what persons and in what proportions he pleases. As the sole proprietor, it is His to dispose of.
1. Worldly goods. One is accordingly born to affluence, while another is cradled in poverty. Before they existed they could, of course, have no claims or demerits; and therefore the difference in their tot must be owing to His sovereign disposal of events.
2. Bodily constitution and health. As variety marks all other of God’s works, so here it happens that one is naturally robust, another sickly, a third deformed, &c. Who is it that maketh the strong, the beautiful, &c., to differ? The answer may be found in 2Sa 22:30; 2 Samuel 22:35.
3. Mental qualifications. “The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding.” Much, it is true, depends on personal application. But much depends on natural capacity; given “to one five talents, to another two, and to another one”; and much on the opportunities, instructors, &c., which God either gives or withholds.
4. Spiritual privileges. Mankind soon began to have greater or smaller advantages in this respect, as they descended from families more or less holy; and the case is the same to the present day. Instance the Israelites and heathens formerly; Christians and pagans now.
II. God has an equal right to resume or to transfer his favours.
1. We have seen that whatever we possess is of free favour at first, from the original proprietor of all. Such the acknowledgment of the psalmist, “Of Thine own have I given Thee.”
2. No person becomes a proprietor of his possessions merely because he has long enjoyed them. Every blessing is a loan resumable at pleasure; and instead of gaining a right by holding it, the holder is becoming more and more indebted. The property is still God’s (Psalms 24:1; Psalms 24:10; Psalms 12:1-8.
3. On this ground He took His own land of promise from the Canaanites and transferred it to Israel. And He still puts down one and raises up another as it pleases Him.
III. God may justly punish every voluntary transgression of his righteous and equitable laws. Here we remark--
1. That His intelligent and moral creatures are what they are is owing to His sovereign pleasure. Thus Elihu (Job 35:10-11).
2. Since they are such, and capable of moral government, their nature requires a law, as a test of their obedience and for the exercise of their capabilities; and it is His prerogative, who is not only the sovereign Lord, but infinitely wise, to say what is right, to enact such law.
3. In order to make the law efficient it was necessary it should be guarded and enforced by penal sanctions. Whence it follows--
4. That truth requires, while sovereignty authorises, the just punishment of disobedience to His righteous and equitable commands.
IV. In executing his righteous purposes God may employ what agency or instrumentality he pleases. He doubtless can and may work immediately on any and every part of His creation. Yet He seldom does so. Oftentimes He employs angels, as in the case of Sennacherib or Herod. And oftentimes storm, pestilence, earthquake, &c. Deists do not object to these. Yet they cavil at God’s employing the sword of Israel; a difference merely in the circumstance of instrumentality. Let the subject teach us--
1. Reverence. “Forasmuch as there is none like unto Thee, O Lord,” &c. (Jeremiah 10:6-7). The opposite disposition is reproved (Romans 9:20), and threatened (Isaiah 45:9-10).
2. Dependence. We enjoy no more or longer than He blesses us, and live no longer than He sustains (Psalms 90:3,14; Psalms 104:27-29).
3. Humility. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,” &c. (Jeremiah 9:23-24; 1 Corinthians 4:7).
4. Gratitude. Who maketh thee to differ? (Sketches of Sermons.)
Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal--
The old camp and the new foe
It must have been a great rest and refreshment for the weary warriors to come to such a camp from time to time. It would be to them a Sabbath amid their arduous labours. From this place they would after each visit go more boldly out to deal harder blows against the uncircumcised Canaanites. And it is the same with us in the war which we wage against the inner and the outer foe. We have our headquarters too, a visit to which should stimulate us even more than a visit to Gilgal did the Israelites. What is our Gilgal? The Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That remains always our centre. We should come back to it at all times; not only when driven there by defeat, in order to have shelter, but also after every victory, in order to give thanks. Thus shall we maintain faith and a good conscience. Then issuing from such headquarters, so safe, so restful, so hallowed, so purifying, we shall be filled with a holy enthusiasm and unconquerable strength, and march like Israel from victory to victory. When Joshua had come back to the old headquarters word was brought to him of the gathering of a new foe. This was the most numerous army that had as yet been gathered against him. And it was the most powerful, as well as the most numerous army which Joshua had encountered. For the first time in this campaign we hear of war-horses being used, and the war-chariots of iron which were such a terror to the ancient infantry. This army is also better led than any other that had taken the field. Jabin was the commander-in-chief. One of his successors is called king of Canaan (Judges 4:2-24), and therefore he would in all likelihood have been the head of the great confederacy. The word “Jabin” is not a name, but a title borne by the kings of Hazor, and signifies “The Wise,” just as Adoni-zedek means “Lord of Righteousness.” Therefore, as we have seen the religious head of the Canaanites marshalling the southern army, so here we see the wise head of the Canaanites marshalling the northern army. The southern might be called the coalition of the priest; the northern the coalition of the sage. How graphically is the spiritual experience of the Christian depicted by these conflicts! No sooner is one set of foes subdued than another arises. There is no rest here. There is also a similarity in the kind of opposition which we have to encounter. As the advance of Israel was opposed now by Adoni-zedek and now by Jabin, so the advance of truth is opposed now by apostate Christianity and now by pompous philosophy. As it is with the Church collectively so is it with the individual. He may lay his account sooner or later to face these two, often in the same order. First comes superstition, with its high-sounding titles, its endless genealogies, its imperious claims, its elaborate ritual, its sensuous will-worship, its irrational bondage. It is resisted, it is overcome. Then comes rationalism, and it cries, “Well done. You have routed these infernal hosts. Now come with us. Finish the work you have so well begun. Cast from you the remaining rags of superstition. Follow the light of Reason. Shake off the remaining fetters and be free.” Then the sage who argues thus will, like Jabin, muster whole hosts of imposing arguments. How quickly they come at his bidding: from north, south, east, and west, like the sand that is on the seashore for multitude. And when he reviews them, how imposing is their array I It is a critical time for the soul when he stands gazing on that imposing array, if he is not assured that the Lord is on his side; if he hears not, as did Joshua, the words, “Be not afraid because of them, to-morrow will I deliver them up all slain before Israel.” But for faith in the Divine presence and this sure word the soul is in a sad case, and with quaking heart and tottering knees will quit the high places of the field. Alas! alas! how many in our day are dazed by the hosts of unsanctified science! The Christian soldier is not worthy of his name who is not ready with unfeigned faith in the truth of God to proclaim it boldly, whether men hear or forbear, to oppose all the glittering phalanxes of false philosophy with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. As we look at this new army mustered to oppose Joshua, we cannot but renew our wonder at the infatuation of the Canaanites. What a solemn thought it is that the greatest miracles will not in themselves lead the heart of man to subjection! Yet, after all, why should we wonder at these Canaanites, when we have greater cause for wonder in the unbelief of many around us? What were all the miracles of which these Canaanites were cognisant compared with those with which we have been familiar since our childhood? (A. B. Mackay.).