The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 4 · Section 106 – Section 107
SECT. CVI.
THe five Southern Kings being thus deſtroyed, all the reſt of the Northern Kings combined together againſt the Iſraelites, and with them Joſhua had a long War, [ſee verſ. 18.] which laſted till about the end of the ſixth year of his Government, by which time He ſubdued them. Very obſervable was the Providence of God, that he did not ſuffer all the Kings of the Canaanites at once to joyn their Forces together againſt the Iſraelites, but ordered it ſo that only ſome of them fought againſt Iſrael at one time, and ſome at another; by which means the Iſraelites were heartned with frequent Victories, and had leiſure to refreſh themſelves between them. And though Joſhua's wonderful Succeſſes and Victories are ſuccinctly related in this Chapter one after another, yet theſe Wars laſted a great while after the Battel of the waters of Merom; and there were about ſix years ſpent in the ſubduing theſe Nations, as may appear by conſidering Caleb's age, of which more afterwards, ſee Ch. 14. from verſ. 6. to 15. 'Tis true, God could have ſubdued theſe Nations in a ſhorter time, but he was pleaſed to have it done by degrees, that the greater Oppoſition and Difficulty the Iſraelites met with in the Work, the more they might own his Power and Providence in carrying them thorow All. The Lord alſo hereby exerciſed their Faith and Patience, and ſtirred up the Spirit of prayer in them, and drew forth their Dependance and Reliance on Himſelf. And hereby alſo He diſcovered the obſtinacy of the Canaanites, which rendred them the more inexcuſable. The Lord alſo had determined that they ſhould drive out theſe Nations by little and littl… and not conſume them all at once, leſt the wild Beaſts might increaſe upon them for want of people to inhabit the Land, ſee Deut. 7.22. And we may add this as a reaſon to all the former, why the War continued ſo long; namely, God leaving theſe Canaanites to the hardneſs of their own hearts, none of them beſides the Gibeonites deſired to make Peace with the Iſraelites, but deſperately and obſtinately reſolved to fight with them, and to oppoſe them to the uttermoſt; and God did judicially thus ſuffer them to harden their hearts more and more, that ſo they might have no favour, but be utterly deſtroyed, verſ. 20.
But to return. The Northern Kings that had combined againſt Iſrael were Jabin King of Hazor (a City lying in the upper Galilee, not far from Kadeſh,) who ſent to Jobab King of Madon, (i)A City near Dan.and to the King of Shimron, (k)A City in Zebulun near Mount Carmel, call'd Shimron-meron, Ch. 12.20and to the King of Ackshaph, (l)In Aſher near Accho or Ptolemais.and to the Kings that were towards the North on the Mountains, and thoſe that were in the Plains, that lay on the South-ſide of the Country of Cinneroth, called afterwards Tiberias and Genne-ſereth, and in the Valley or low Grounds, and in the Borders of Dor, (m)A City and County in the Tribe of Manaſſeh, on the Coaſt of the Mediterranean-Sea.on the Weſt, and to the Canaanites that dwelt both on the Eaſt and Weſt, and to the Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, and Jebuſite in the Mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon (a Hill in the North of Canaan) which were another ſort of Hivites much differing from thoſe of Gibeon, who had ſubmitted to Joſhua. All theſe upon Jabin's Sollicitation combined together, and went out againſt Iſrael with a mighty Army, (even like the ſand that is upon the Sea-ſhore for multitude; that is, with ſuch a vaſt number as was not eaſily to be numbered,) and they had Horſes and Chariots very many. They pitched together at the waters of Merom to fight againſt Iſrael. Joſhua might poſſibly be now in ſome apprehenſion how the Iſraelites that were all Foot ſhould be able to encounter ſo vaſt an Army as this, which conſiſted ſo much of Horſe, and had ſo many Iron-Chariots. But the Lord bad him not be afraid of them, for on the morrow by that time he would deliver them up into his hands, and He ſhould hough their Horſes, (that is, cut their hamſtrings, and ſo make them unſerviceable, either in War, or for any other uſe,) and burn their Chariots. Accordingly Joſhua very early next morning fell upon them with his whole Army, probably before they were in any Order, and made a vaſt Slaughter among them, and chaſed them to Zidon *The Metropolis of Phaenicia. Tyre is call'd the Daughter of it: Iſa. 53.12.the Great, and to Miſrephothmaim, a place near Zidon, and to the Valley of Mizpeh near Mount Hermon, and they ſmote them till they left none of them remaining in the Field. And Joſhua did unto them as the Lord commanded him, both as to houghing their Horſes, and burning their Chariots. (n)In future times the Iſraelites made uſe of Horſe and Chariots in War, and that without ſin; but God would not allow it at this time, that the leſs provided they were for the Conqueſt of theſe Nations, the more his Power might appear in the ſubduing of them, and the leſs cauſe would they have to glory in themſelves.Then Joſhua turned back with his Army and took Hazor the Head of all thoſe Kingdoms, and ſlew the King thereof, and the Inhabitants thereof, and burned the City. (o)Concerning the rebuilding of this City, and another, Jabins reigning in it, and mightily oppreſſing Iſrael, ſee Judg. 4.2.And the reſt of the Cities of thoſe Kings that combined againſt him Joſhua took them, and utterly deſtroyed them, as Moſes the Servant of the Lord had commanded, Numb. 33.52, 53. Deut. 7.2. & 20.16, 17. But as for thoſe Cities that yielded themſelves, or were not beaten down and ruined by the violence of War, in the taking of them the Iſraelites burned not, but reſerved for their own uſe. So Joſhua in the compaſs of about ſix years took all the places of Canaan before-mentioned, and the Hills, and all the South-Country, and the Land of Goſhen, (ſituate in the mountainous parts of Judah, famous for the Land about it,) and the Valley and the Plain, and the Mountain of Iſrael, and the Valley of the ſame, that is the Mountain where old Jacob once lived (and ſo called from Him) and the Valley thereunto belonging. He took all the Land from the Mountain Halak that goeth up to Seir (which is the Frontier of Edom) unto Baal-Gad in the Valley of Lebanon, which lieth under the Hill Hermon.
Joſhua, Ch. 11. from 1. to 21.
SECT. CVII.
JOſhua having now ſo far ſubdued the Land, that none of the Inhabitants durſt any more take up Arms againſt them, though there were ſome Places that the Canaanites had ſtill in their poſſeſſion, (as is ſhew'n, Ch. 13.) yet they durſt not ſtir againſt the Iſraelites. So that now the Land had reſt from open Wars, therefore in the Twelfth Chapter there is preſented briefly as in a Table or Map the ſeveral Countries and Kings vanquiſhed by Moſes, Joſhua, and the Iſraelites, that ſo beholding them all together, Gods goodneſs and faithfulneſs to his people might the more eminently appear. In that Chapter 'tis ſaid, That Moſes took two Kings on the Eaſt-ſide of Jordan, viz. Sihon and Og, and diſpoſed of their Countries to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the Tribe of Manaſſeh; and that Joſhua took 31 Kings on the Weſt-ſide. Of theſe ſome were not mentioned in the Victories before related, which ſheweth that not every particular, but only the general Heads of things were touched before. Now whereas here are mentioned 31 Kings ſubdued by Joſhua, many of which reigned over divers Towns, beſides their chief Cities; this may ſhew us the wonderful fertility and fruitfulneſs of this Soil, that in ſo ſmall a compaſs of Land, which was but an 160 miles in length from Dan to Beerſheba, and only 60 in breadth from Joppa to Jordan, there ſhould ſuch a vaſt multitude of people ſo plentifully be provided for.
Joſh. Ch. 12. whole Chapter.