Deuteronomy 11
Joshua 11 records the northern campaign led by a coalition of Canaanite kings, especially Jabin king of Hazor. After the southern campaign in chapter 10, Joshua now faces a large northern alliance with horses and chariots. The chapter ends with a summary of major conquest activity and the statement that the land had rest from war.
1verseTherefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
2verseKnow this day—for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm,
3versehis signs, and his works, which he did in the middle of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;
4verseand what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day;
5verseand what he did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place;
6verseand what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben—how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the middle of all Israel;
7versebut your eyes have seen all of the LORD’s great work which he did.
8verseTherefore you shall keep the entire commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess;
9verseand that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10verseFor the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;
11versebut the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky,
12versea land which the LORD your God cares for. The LORD your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
13verseIt shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14versethat I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
15verseI will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.
16verseBe careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them;
17verseand the LORD’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD gives you.
18verseTherefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
19verseYou shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
20verseYou shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates;
21versethat your days and your children’s days may be multiplied in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.
22verseFor if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him—
23versethen the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
24verseEvery place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border.
25verseNo man will be able to stand before you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you.
26verseBehold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
27versethe blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today;
28verseand the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
29verseIt shall happen, when the LORD your God brings you into the land that you go to possess, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30verseAren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?
31verseFor you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you shall possess it and dwell in it.
32verseYou shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.
The Northern Coalition (Verses 1–5)
Jabin of Hazor gathers numerous kings and forces from the north. Their army is described as vast, with many horses and chariots. The scale of the opposition highlights the seriousness of the threat facing Israel.
God's Command and Israel's Victory (Verses 6–15)
The LORD tells Joshua not to fear, promising victory. Joshua attacks suddenly at the waters of Merom, defeats the coalition, hamstrings the horses, and burns the chariots according to the command. Hazor, the leading city of the coalition, is burned.
Summary of the Conquest (Verses 16–23)
The final section summarizes Joshua's campaigns across the land and emphasizes that he acted according to what the LORD commanded Moses. Although later passages in Joshua and Judges show that possession and settlement still have further developments, Joshua 11 presents the major campaigns as reaching a decisive conclusion.
Points for Reflection
- What does it mean to act with courage when the opposition appears overwhelming?
- How does the chapter connect leadership with careful obedience to prior instruction?
- Why is it important to distinguish between the summary of conquest and the later process of settlement?
Applying It to Yourself
- When facing a large challenge, reflect on the guidance and commitments that should shape your response.
- Consider how faithfulness can mean continuing a task steadily until its proper stage is complete.
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