Joshua 11

Joshua 11 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

Let’s set the backdrop. Joshua has just led Israel in defeating the cities in the south. News travels fast. The northern kings are becoming restless at the dominance of Israel. Specifically, Jabin of Hazor. He seems to be the “alpha male” of the north. So, Jabin begins to assemble his team. His response shows you just how seriously he was taking the Israelite forces. He calls forward his normal crew. But then he summons for backup by inviting those in the hill country, those along the Jordan, and those as far as Mt Hermon to come fight as well (v. 3).

The kings of the north are looking to overwhelm and outnumber Israel.

Meanwhile, back at Israel’s camp, we can see the divine strategy that God is revealing to Joshua. Joshua is an obedient leader, but he’s also human. He needs encouragement. He needs confidence. He needs to know that God is with him. What would have happened if God would not have spoken to Joshua that night?! But He does.

God gives Joshua the assurance he needs to secure the victory, but, there is still a strategy that’s put into place. God wanted Joshua’s full trust, and now that He’s got it, the plan was hatched to shock the enemy with a surprise attack. Joshua and his forces take a good chunk out of Jabin’s backup which leaves Hazor unprotected. Israel conquers the city and Joshua burns it to the ground.

Excavation of Hazor has shown several destructions in the Late Bronze Age, one from about 1400 B.C. that could easily be attributed to Joshua.

Nelson’s New Illustrated Commentary

So Joshua conquers everyone and the chapter is over, right? There is one other detail.

Joshua did to them what the LORD had commanded: he crippled their horses and burned their chariots. 10 Joshua then turned back, captured Hazor and killed its king. (At that time Hazor was the most powerful of all those kingdoms.)

Joshua 11:9-10 GNB

In between beating down his first batch of enemies and heading to the headquarters of Hazor, Joshua, in obedience to God, decides to cripple himself. He cripples perfectly good horses (poor horses). He burns perfectly good chariots. Joshua is about to fight the strongest enemy in the north and he decides to disable himself. Does that make sense?

God had warned Israel before about trusting in horses instead of Him.

Those who go to Egypt for help are doomed! They are relying on Egypt’s vast military strength—horses, chariots, and soldiers. But they do not rely on the LORD, the holy God of Israel, or ask him for help.

Isaiah 31:1 GNB

It takes total trust to cripple yourself when it makes absolutely no sense. What if God is asking you to quit that job you love or stay at that job you hate? What if God is asking you to work less, make less money, or stop saving for retirement? I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with those things. Don’t miss the point.

Obedience to Jesus means we trust Him with everything. We are an open book. We don’t just assume that God agrees with every direction we want to go in life. In fact, sometimes God will ask us to do something that contradicts logic and experience. Every military commander in the world would have taken those horses and chariots and used them. What allowed Joshua to have that kind of trust and faith in God?

Hope. Vision. Victory. God pulled back the curtain and assured Joshua the battle was won. Sound familiar? Jesus has done the same thing for you and I. We have hope, vision, and we share in Christ’s victory. We have the Holy Spirit. That means that we, like Joshua, are able to hear God in the moments that require us to do something that seems crippling. We are given spiritual eyesight as we share a glimpse of the upside-down counter-cultural Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus so often spoke of.

We have hope. We have vision. We have victory.