Text: Joshua 10:1-15; Joshua 9:14-18

What a wonderful picture of God’s kindness and grace! Remember the Gibeonites had tricked Joshua and the elders, as recorded in the previous chapter, to sign a peace treaty. Leadership was guilty of not seeking the counsel of the Lord (cf. Joshua 9:14) which then eventually brought a national schism: “But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders” (Joshua 9:18 ESV).

Now that the Gibeonites were in trouble how easily it would have been for the congregation to misinterpret the Amorites possible destruction of these tricksters as the judgment of God for their cunning, after all Israel was to destroy all the inhabitants of the land according to Moses’ instruction (cf. Joshua 9:24). How natural it would have been to think the Lord could have left Joshua and the leaders to themselves to battle since they had erred in executing the treaty days before—you know, the aged-old adage, “you’ve made your bed now sleep in it.” But God didn’t abandon His people.

First, the Lord spoke words of encouragement to Joshua, assuring him that Israel would be completely victorious over the five kings. Then, after Joshua and his soldiers marched all night, the Lord ‘routed’ the armies of the five kings. A good part of this ‘routing’ consisted of the Lord casting down ‘large hailstones’ on the enemy soldiers, killing more of them ‘than the children of Israel killed with the sword’.   And victory was granted.

The truth is many times we may have failed to seek the Lord and found ourselves in difficult situations of our own making. However be encouraged today, if that is the case, and let the grace of God lift your heart knowing that He has seen it all and knew the intent of your heart from the very beginning. Pray for His mercy, pray for His compassion, pray for His grace. Embrace God’s sovereignty as seen in Paul’s letter to the Romans, “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16 ESV). Amen