The Temptation that Comes with Confidence...

As a church, we are in the middle of a sermon series, entitled restart. During this series, we have been looking at some timeless principles on how to deal with the frustration, the tension and the trouble that we can experience when we try to restart our lives that are found in a letter in our Bibles called the Book of Joshua. And as we jump back into this story, we will see God reveal for us another timeless principle that is necessary when it comes to restarting our lives. So let’s begin by looking together at Joshua 11:1:

Then it came about, when Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon and to the king of Shimron and to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were of the north in the hill country, and in the Arabah-- south of Chinneroth and in the lowland and on the heights of Dor on the west-- to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpeh. They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. So all of these kings having agreed to meet, came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.

As we enter back into the story of the Jewish nation’s effort to restart their lives, we are introduced to the response of the nations and cultures of the Northern part of the Land of Canaan to the news of the Jewish nations’ victory over the armies of the 5 kings of the Southern part of the Land of Canaan. Upon hearing the news of the Jewish army’s total and complete victory, Jabin King of Hazor sent word to the other kings that comprised the nations and cultures of the northern part of the land of Canaan regarding what had happened to their counterparts in the south.

And as a result of God’s activity in the lives of the Jewish people that resulted in their complete victory in the south, the nations and cultures that lived in the north agreed to form an alliance in order to defeat the advancing Jewish army. The armies which formed this northern alliance came together at a place called the waters of Merom. We are told that this military force was as many people as the sand that is on the shore, with many horses and chariots.

And while this may sound like a vast exaggeration, there is extra biblical literature that gives us insight into the size of the army that the Jewish nation was facing. Josephus, who was a Jewish historian who lived during the first century, estimated that the armies of this northern alliance numbered upwards of 300,000 infantry, 10,000 Calvary, and 20,000 chariots.

What was just as significant as the sheer numbers of soldiers that this army possessed was their weaponry. The horses and chariots would provide this northern alliance an incredible strategic advantage because God had forbidden the Jewish people to possess horses and chariots for military battle in another letter in our Bibles, called the book of Deuteronomy 17:16. The Jewish army was facing a united enemy that seemed to be supported by superior firepower. We see God’s response to the enemy that the Jewish people faced in verse 6:

Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire."

Once again, we see God provide Joshua a promise and a plan to deal with the armies of the northern alliance. God explains to Joshua that there is no reason the fear this massive force that has far superior firepower because God will fight for the Jewish people and destroy the armies of the Northern alliance.

God then provided Joshua with another battle plan that involved two specific commands. First, after God leads the army to victory, the Jewish people were commanded to hamstring the horses, which would make them incapable of running or being used as a military weapon. However, the horses would still be able to be used for farming and other domestic purposes. Second, the Jewish people were commanded to destroy the chariots that were used as a weapon against them in battle by burning them.

Now a natural question that may be running through your mind at this point is “why hamstring the horses and burn the chariots? I mean, these weapons would provide the Jewish army with additional tactical and strategic support and options in future battles. So why destroy what could be used for their advantage?” It just doesn’t seem to make sense, does it?

You see, God commanded the Jewish people to hamstring the horses and burn the chariots because He did not want to Jewish people to place their trust in anything other than the Lord. The strategic and tactical advantage that these weapons would provide could easily cause the Jewish people to place their trust in those weapons and in their activity to bring them into the Promised Land instead of in God and His activity.

We see this theme of placing ones trust in the Lord instead of horses and chariots echoed by the Jewish nation’s greatest military leader, King David, in Psalm 20:7:

Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.

We then see Joshua’s response to God’s plan and commands revealed to us in Joshua 11:7-9:

So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and attacked them. The LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, so that they defeated them, and pursued them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim and the valley of Mizpeh to the east; and they struck them until no survivor was left to them. Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

Joshua responded to God’s plan and commands by leading the Jewish people on a surprise attack that occurred by the town of Merom. This surprise attack neutralized the effectiveness of the horses and the chariots of the armies of the northern alliance, as the terrain of this region was uneven and rocky and provided no room for maneuverability. With God’s deliverance of these armies into the hands of the Jewish people, the defeated armies of the northern alliance fled northeast and northwest of the battle and out of the Promised Land.

Joshua and the Jewish people then faithfully follow God’s command to hamstring the horses and destroy the chariots. After defeated the army of the alliance of the northern kingdoms, Joshua then begins a second phase of the Jewish nation’s campaign to take over and possess the northern part of the Promised Land, which we will look at tomorrow.

In the meantime, is there something in your life that you place your confident trust in other than God? Position? Possessions? Intelligence? Appearance?