The Book of Joshua

Word Study

"horses," Hebrew sus (סוּס). The northern kings came "with horses and chariots very many", the most advanced military technology of the age, terrifying to a people on foot. Israel had no such force, and by God's own command was never to build one: the king of Israel was told, "he shall not multiply horses to himself" (Deuteronomy 17:16). Now God commands Joshua, "thou shalt hough their horses", to cripple the captured horses rather than keep them for Israel's own use. Scripture says plainly what the horse is worth as a refuge: "An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength" (Psalm 33:17). The very sus that made the nations feel invincible was the one thing Israel was forbidden to lean upon.

"chariots," rekeb (רֶכֶב). The chariot was the striking arm of that same host, and God's word to Joshua was to "burn their chariots with fire", to destroy them rather than keep them for Israel's own use. Why? Because God will not have His people trust in the arm of flesh or in the weapons the nations trust. The lesson is written across Scripture: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God" (Psalm 20:7); "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many... but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 31:1). By destroying the horses and chariots, Israel confessed that its strength was not in military power but in the LORD. So sus and rekeb together preach where God's people must place their trust. The world puts its confidence in numbers, weapons, technology, and might; but God calls His people to hough the horses and burn the chariots, to refuse to lean on the arm of flesh, and to trust in the name of the LORD alone. Our victory is not in what the world trusts, but in the God who delivers His people.

Explanation

The northern kings muster the most fearsome force yet — a host "as the sand... in multitude, with horses and chariots very many," the tanks of the ancient world. Yet God's command after the victory is striking: "thou shalt hough their horses (hamstring them), and burn their chariots with fire." Israel was not to keep the very weapons that had terrified them. To stockpile horses and chariots would tempt the nation to trust in armaments rather than in God — the sin against which the psalm warns, "some trust in chariots... but we will remember the name of the LORD" (Psalm 20:7). Victory's spoils were destroyed to keep faith pure.

Gospel Focus

The southern kings defeated, now the north unites in a coalition far greater, "much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many." Humanly, Israel was hopelessly outmatched. But God's word to Joshua is the same steadying word as before: "Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel." The size of the enemy changes nothing when the LORD has spoken; He who gave the few cities gives the many, He who defeated five kings defeats a coalition. And He adds a command that tests Israel's faith: "hough their horses, and burn their chariots." Israel must not take the enemy's strength for its own; God will not share His people's trust with horses and chariots. Joshua obeys completely, striking suddenly at Merom, winning total victory, taking Hazor "the head of all those kingdoms," and burning it. And the section ends with a golden testimony to obedience: "As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses." There is a beautiful chain of faithfulness here, the LORD commanded Moses, Moses commanded Joshua, Joshua did it, and "left nothing undone." This is the mark of a faithful servant: not partial, selective, or convenient obedience, but doing all that God commands. For the Apostolic reader the section teaches two truths. First, no enemy is too great when God has promised victory; the multitude and the chariots are nothing to the LORD, and we must not fear. Second, our confidence must never rest in what the world trusts, its horses and chariots, its numbers and might, but in the name of the LORD alone. And like Joshua, we are called to full, complete obedience, leaving nothing undone of all that God commands.

Word Study

"rested," Hebrew shaqat (שָׁקַט). The word means to be quiet, to be still, to have rest and peace; "and the land rested (shaqat) from war." After long years of conflict, the land is at last quiet, the wars ended, the promise possessed, the people settled in their inheritance. This word "rest" is one of the great themes of the book of Joshua and of the whole Bible. God had promised Israel rest in the land: "the LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land" (Joshua 1:13). And the rest that Joshua won points beyond itself. The name Joshua is the name Jesus, and Hebrews teaches that the rest Joshua gave was only a shadow of a greater rest, using "Jesus" for Joshua (the same name in Greek): "if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (Hebrews 4:8-9). Joshua's rest was real but incomplete; the land still had enemies, and Israel's peace would not last. But the rest Christ gives is the true and lasting rest, rest from the warfare of sin, rest in the finished work of our salvation, and the eternal rest that remains for the people of God. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). So shaqat looks two ways: back to the faithfulness of God who kept every promise and gave Israel rest in the land, and forward to the greater Joshua, Jesus, who gives His people the true rest that never ends. The land rested from war; and in Christ, the soul finds rest forever.

Explanation

The summary of the whole conquest carries a sobering theological note: the nations resisted "because it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them" — the same sovereign hand that once hardened Pharaoh. And a second detail corrects any notion of an easy blitz: "Joshua made war a long time with all those kings." The conquest was neither instant nor effortless but a persevering campaign. Only when it was finished did "the land rest from war" — rest won through long obedience under God's overruling purpose.

Gospel Focus

The chapter closes with a sweeping summary of the conquest: "Joshua took all that land," from the far south to Mount Hermon in the north, taking all the kings, "he left nothing undone." Two details stand out. First, "it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle." As with Pharaoh, God in His sovereignty gave the Canaanites over to their own rebellion, so that their long-ripened wickedness met its appointed judgment. God's justice and His sovereignty work together; the nations whose iniquity was "full" (Genesis 15:16) came out to their doom under His hand. Second, and full of encouragement, "Joshua... cut off the Anakims." These were the giants, the very Anakim whose great size had terrified the ten spies a generation earlier, so that they wailed, "we were in our own sight as grasshoppers" (Numbers 13:33), and turned the whole nation back in unbelief. The giants that defeated the fathers' faith are now cut off by the children's faith. What one generation feared, the next, walking with God, overcame. The very obstacles that seem impossible to unbelief become conquered ground to faith. Then Joshua "gave it for an inheritance unto Israel," and "the land rested from war." God kept every word; the promise made to Abraham centuries before was fulfilled; the people entered their rest. For the Apostolic reader this closing is deeply hopeful. God is sovereign over the rise and judgment of nations; His justice is sure. The giants that terrify unbelief are conquered by faith; what defeated us in weakness, God gives us to overcome in Him. And the rest of the land is a shadow of the rest we have in Christ, the greater Joshua, who has fought our battle, given us our inheritance, and calls us into the rest that remains for the people of God. The land rested from war; and the soul that trusts in Jesus rests in Him.