“Someday you’ll hear God’s final call to you…This could be it, my friend, if you but knew; God’s final call.” J.W. Peterson
The battle of the north against Jabin and his confederates was the last of the major campaigns. Here is Joshua’s report card: “As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses” (Jos 11:15). And as the description of the territory taken is recounted, certain details are highlighted. For example, “Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except…the inhabitants of Gibeon” (vv 18-19). There is the record. Just one city’s inhabitants (with her sister towns) was spared, because just one sought peace. However, there is an explanation. It was God’s intention to use the Israelites to execute His judgment on the wicked Canaanites. God had been keeping track a long time, and the reason for the longevity of Israel’s captivity in Egypt was linked with His longsuffering towards Canaan (see Gen 15:16). Thus, “it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them” (Jos 11:20). To harden (Heb, chazaq) could be translated “to strengthen,” and speaks of God locking in the resolve of their already stubborn hearts to fight against God. Against all common sense and in spite of the growing evidence that it was mad to battle against Jehovah, they marched nonetheless to their doom. Now the question: If there was evidence in that far-off day, what about now? The Scriptures are complete. The Savior has died and risen again. The Spirit works in every heart. Yet it is still true: “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Prov 29:1).