Joshua 10:1-15

10:1-5 | King Adoni-Zedek heard about the treaty between Israel and Gibeon and was fearful that two such strong nations would crush his city (Jerusalem), so he made an alliance with four other kings to destroy Gibeon. These were city-states; that is, each city was ruled by its own king. This alliance actually helped Israel, because instead of waging war on five different cities, they only had to defeat one army.

10:6-8 | Joshua had not anticipated that his treaty with Gibeon would be tested so quickly, but he immediately rallied his troops for the roughly 15-mile journey to come to their aid. Even though circumstances had changed since the treaty was signed, Joshua would honor his commitment. And because he was in the will of God, God promised to help him.

10:11-12 | There is no other way to explain what happened here: this was a miracle. The Lord designated on whom the hailstones would fall, and they fell on the Amorites and not the Israelites, killing more of them than Israel had in battle. This incident recalls many of the plagues in Egypt. As part of God’s miraculous help, the sun stood still (Hab. 3:11). In other words, the army had 24 hours of daylight to fight and route the enemy. The integrity of God, which was demonstrated to Joshua in times of peace (1:3), was now demonstrated under terrible pressure.

10:12 | Joshua was constantly victorious because he sought the Lord’s direction each day – and then he did as directed. The Christian life can be reduced to one very simple guideline: whatever God says, do it.

10:13 | Because 2 Samuel 1:18 refers to a lament (song of mourning) in the Book of Jasher, scholars believe this book was a collection of historical accounts put to music. No parts of it have been found.