After the Gibeonites deceive Joshua into making a treaty with them, an alliance of southern kingdoms forms, attacks Israel, and is destroyed. Like Ai, they strike Israel as hard as they can. Unlike Ai, they do not wait for Joshua and his army to come to them. Instead, they go on the offensive and attack first.

Don't miss the fury and fullness of this brief sketch about a long string of stunning military victories (Joshua 10:40-42). What's more, don't miss the reference to the victorious Israelites putting their enemies under their feet (v. 24), which offers us a vivid picture of the Messiah's ultimate victory over all (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; 1 Corinthians 15:25-27; Ephesians 1:20-22). In the end, everything everywhere will be in complete subjection to the Lord.

Some sceptics and critics protest that the Lord should not have commanded Israel to wipe out all these men, women, children, and animals. Do their assertions have any merit? No. First, these peoples had waged wars against each other for centuries. Second, their religions were heinous, often involving sexual slavery and human sacrifices. Third, they had spurned the Lord and tested His patience generation after generation; instead of repenting, they had become even more wicked (see Day 3). If only they had repented!

Therefore, the Lord orders the complete destruction of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Girgashites, and Jebusites, with the exception of the repentant Rahab and her family, and the believing Gibeonites.

Tragically, the Israelites do not obey the Lord fully, too, as we will see in subsequent chapters of Joshua. They will embrace wicked practices and idol worship, and tribe will fight against tribe for centuries. In the end, Israel's apostasy will split the nation into two kingdoms, both of whom will be conquered and deported to foreign lands.

Again, don't miss Joshua's amazing prayer in Joshua 10:12: ″Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon″, and the Lord's spectacular miracles in verses 13-14: ″The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!″

Like Joshua, the righteous person who obeys the Lord wholeheartedly eventually receives supernatural answers to prayer (James 5:16-18). May you and I know this experientially for the rest of our days.