Introduction
In chapter 10 we read how the Lord helped the Israelites defend the Gibeonites from five kings from the southern part of Canaan who joined forces against Gibeon. And in chapter 11 we read how the Lord helped the Israelites defend, not the Gibeonites this time, but themselves against many kings from the northern part of Canaan who joined forces against them. And after defeating those kings with the help of the Lord, our narrator concluded by saying in verse 23 that Joshua took the entire land and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions.
Chapter 12 brings to a close the narrative of Israel’s conquest of the land which began back in chapter 5 with the fall of Jericho. In this chapter, our narrator lists the kings they defeated and the territory they conquered and it makes clear that the Lord their God kept the promise he made to Abraham way back in Genesis 12 to give the land to Abraham’s descendants.
Verses 1–6
Verses 1 to 5 refer to the land which they conquered on the eastern side of the river Jordan in the days of Moses. Verses 1 is the introduction to this part of the passage. And in verses 2 and 3 our narrator mentions Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the narrator then outlines the extent of his kingdom. Then in verses 4 and 5 our narrator mentions Og, king of Bashan, and he then outlines the extent of his kingdom. And in verse 6 he tells us that Moses conquered these two kings and he gave their land to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Manasseh. So, those lands are now part of Israel’s inheritance.
Do you remember the background to this? Back in the days of Moses, when the Israelites were making their way to the land of Canaan, these two kings attacked Israel. But Israel defeated them and, as a result, took over their land. The people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of Manasseh, who had large herds and flocks, looked at the land they had taken and saw that it was suitable for their livestock. And so, they asked if they could settle there. The Lord agreed to their request so long as the men of those tribes were willing to cross over the Jordan and fight alongside the rest of the Israelites against the Canaanites. So, their families could remain on the land, with their livestock. But the fighting men had to help their fellow Israelites until they’d taken possession of the Canaan. And now that they’d defeated the Canaanites, the fighting men of those three tribes could soon return to their families.
Verses 7 to 24
So, verses 1 to 6 refer to the land on the eastern side of the Jordan. Verses 7 to 24 refer to the land on the western side of the Jordan. Verses 7 and 8 form the introduction to this part of the passage. In these two verses the narrator outlines the territory they conquered under Joshua’s leadership. And in verses 9 to 24 we have the names of the thirty-one kings they defeated, beginning with the kings of Jericho and Ai and ending with the king of Tirzah.
Judgment
There’s not a lot in this chapter. However, there are perhaps four lessons to learn from it. The first is that it foreshadows the judgment to come. God sent the Israelites into Canaan to punish the Canaanites for their wickedness. Instead of worshipping the Lord and doing his will, the Canaanites worshipped false gods and idols and they did what was wicked in his sight. God had given them years to repent. But instead of turning from their sins, they continued in them. And so, the Lord sent the Israelites to punish them. And from this chapter we see how effective the Israelites were and how the Lord helped them to conquer all these kings and their people.
And the day will come when the Lord Jesus will return to earth in glory and with power to sit in judgment on the nations of the world and to condemn the wicked for their wickedness. We read about the day of judgment in several places in the New Testament, including in Revelation 20, where it says:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened…. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
The day is coming when the Lord will judge the people of the nations according to what they have done. And we would be among those will be condemned if it were not for the Lord’s kindness to us in sending the Saviour into the world to pay for all that we have done wrong and in sending his Spirit into our lives to enable us to believe in the Saviour for forgiveness and peace with God. If it were not for the Lord’s kindness to us, we would be among those who are condemned, because we too are sinners who disobey the Lord in thought and word and deed every day. If it were not for the Lord’s kindness to us, we would be like the Canaanites, worshipping false gods and idols, instead of worshipping the one, true and living God. And if it were not for the Lord’s kindness to us, we would be like the Canaanites, doing evil all the time. But God came into our lives and enabled us to believe in him and to trust in his Son and to receive salvation as his free gift to us and to enable us to obey him.
And so, when we read a chapter like this one, we should turn to God and give thanks to him for his mercy and grace towards us in Christ Jesus and for saving us from the coming wrath and giving us the hope of everlasting life.
Faithful
Secondly, we learn from this chapter that the Lord is faithful to his promises. Way back in Genesis 12, the Lord commanded Abraham to leave his father’s household and go to the land the Lord will show him, where the Lord will bless him. And Abraham believed and obeyed and went.
And when he came to the land of Canaan, the Lord appeared to him and said: ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ Later, when Abraham and his nephew Lot separated, the Lord again spoke to Abraham and he said to him: ‘Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring for ever.’ God promised to give Abraham and his descendants the whole of the land.
In the days of Joseph, Abraham’s descendants had to move from Canaan to Egypt, where they became slaves. But in the days of Moses, the Lord rescued them and he brought them through the wilderness. And after Moses died, the Lord appointed Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land. And with the help of the Lord, they conquered the land and were able to settle there.
One of the commentators (Davis) refers to the list of defeated kings in verses 7 to 24 as the lyrics to a song of praise to God. He refers to it as Israel’s version of ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’. The Lord is indeed faithful: he kept his promise to Abraham and he enabled Abraham’s descendants to conquer the land.
The Lord is the one who is always true to his word and we can therefore count on him to keep his promises to us. Hasn’t he promised to forgive us for the sake of Christ who died for us? Hasn’t he promised to take care of us so that we don’t need to be anxious about anything? Hasn’t be promised to be our shepherd and to be with us always to help us? Hasn’t be promised to give us his Spirit to make us holy? We can count on the Lord, because he is the God who is true to his word and who always keeps his promises.
Better country
Thirdly, we know from the book of Hebrews that Abraham understood that the Promised Land of Canaan was not the true Promised Land. It was only a foretaste of the better country to come. It was to make do until God brings of all his believing people into the heavenly country, where we will live with God for ever and for ever in perfect peace and rest and happiness.
And so, while we rejoice to read how the Lord enabled Joshua and the Israelites to conquer the land and to receive it as their inheritance, we’re to remember and believe that what God has in store for us is far, far better, because he has in store for us eternal life in the new heavens and earth. They inherited life in the land of Canaan, but we are looking forwards to inheriting eternal life in the presence of God. And for this, we give thanks to God.
God takes his time
And the fourth lesson we learn from this chapter is that God takes his time. God takes his time. God promised to give the land to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12. And Abraham’s descendants had to wait hundreds of years before the Lord’s promise was fulfilled. God takes his time. He is never in a rush. If you read 2 Peter you’ll see that some sceptics were asking, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised?’ It seemed to them that the Lord was never going to come, because one day was the same as the previous one. They thought that the world is just going to keep going and the Lord is not going to come again. But Peter reminded his readers that with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. In other words, God’s perspective on time is different than ours. We might want him to hurry up and get on with things. But he takes his time. He’s promised that Christ will come again, but he’s in no hurry and Christ will come when the right time comes. And in the meantime, we’re to be patient and we’re to remain faithful to him just as he is faithful to us.
