Chapter 6 Book of Joshua

Book of Joshua Outwit Jericho After Moses died, Joshua succeeded him as the political, military, and religious leader of the Israelites. As the leader of the new generation, his main task is to lead the Israelites to occupy Canaan.In order to capture Canaan, Moses made major changes to the military organization of the Israeli nation during his lifetime, and he also helped Joshua, who was talented in military affairs, establish a high prestige.Therefore, Joshua's succession was very smooth. He established a regular army of 40,000 in just a few months. Prepare food, armaments, chariots and horses for the war. You must inspect the troops regularly and supervise the training of the troops. Because soon we will cross the Jordan River and attack the city of Narico."

He also said to Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: "Although you already own the land, don't slack off. Only by conquering Canaan can you enjoy eternal peace. Except for women, children, and the elderly, you can Stay, and everyone else will take an active part in the war against Canaan." Joshua also established strict military regulations: anyone who disobeyed the order, no matter who he was, would be punished with death. Joshua and him trained soldiers and appointed generals. On the one hand, they used all means to collect information about the enemy.He ordered two spies to start from Shiting and go deep into the enemy's rear to understand the deployment situation.These two men disguised themselves as businessmen, sneaked across the Jordan River, and sneaked into the city of Narico. They scouted all over the city for a whole day, and got a clear understanding of the important defenses.In the evening, they came to the gate of the city, but found that the gate was closed.In desperation, they found an inn to stay and planned to rest overnight, leaving the city early tomorrow morning.

The owner of this inn is Rahab, a courtesan from Narico.Rahab was well-informed, and immediately recognized that they were not locals. She tentatively asked, "Both brothers, where are you from?" The two Israelites replied calmly, "We came to Canaan from Egypt to do business." "I'm afraid the two of you are not from Egypt, but from the other side of the river?" Rahag glanced at the two visitors, and seeing that they were a little uneasy, she continued, "Actually, you don't need to lie to me, you people from Israel The army is invincible, and it will take this city sooner or later. I see, we will be friends from now on, so that we can take care of each other. You can live here today. As for the rent and rouge fees, I will count them under your name."

In this way, the two spies were lucky enough to make a friend who was a fan and lived in her home. Besides, the people of Jericho knew that the Israelites were coming to attack their city, so they were very careful.Although the two Israeli spies were disguised and their actions were very secretive, they still leaked the news. Someone reported to the king of Narico, "Two Israeli spies entered the city today and went to the house of the prostitute Rahab." King Narigo sent a patrol to Rahab's house to search. At this time, the two spies just lay down.They heard the noise of people on the street, as if an army was running towards them.Rahab guessed that the patrol team from Nariko was coming, so she led them to hide in the hemp straw on the roof.

The soldiers of Jericho knocked on the door of Rahab's shop and immediately said, "You have two Israeli spies here, hand them over quickly!" Rahab replied wittily: "Two hours ago, two gentlemen came to the humble house. I don't know where they are from. They sound a bit like Israelis. They only drank a cup with me." Tea, I want to keep them overnight. They said they had something to do, and they left because they were afraid that the gates of the city would be closed and they would not be able to get out. Catch up." The patrol team searched inside and outside of Rahab's house and found no suspicious signs, so they hurried out of the city and chased towards the Jordan River.

After the patrol team had gone far, Rahab went up to the roof and said to the two Israelites, "I know that the LORD has given you this land. The might of your God and your valor in battle are all The knowledgeable Canaanites all know it. The courage of the Nalige people has long been frightened. You have seen and heard with your own eyes how I took the risk just now. One day, if you want to take over this city, you must be lenient to me, and you must guarantee the safety of my family's life and property." The two spies replied to her, "As long as you don't leak this matter, you have committed a capital crime, and we will die in your place. We swear to God, as long as we enter the city, we will definitely die." Repay your kindness for saving your life."

After listening to their oaths, Rahab took out a long and thick rope from the house and said to them, "My house is right next to the city wall. You two can tie this rope to this window and walk along the Slide down this rope, and you will leave the city. After you leave the city, don’t take the road, but go up the mountain, and you have to hide on the mountain for three days, and you can only go back by the road after the order to arrest you is cancelled.” The two Israelites were very grateful for her rescue and said, "After we capture this city, you should tie the scarlet rope that you let us down today to the window that was tied today. At that time, your Parents, brothers and sisters are not allowed to leave this house. In this case, if someone lays hands on you, we will bear the responsibility for shedding your blood. Anyone who goes out of your house into the street, he will be blamed We have nothing to do with our own heads. If anyone in your house lays hands on him, the crime of shedding his blood will be on our heads. Otherwise, the oath we just swore is invalid."

Rahab said, "Okay, we will definitely do it when the time comes." Three days later, the two spies returned to Shittim, reported all the situation to Joshua, and finally said to him, "Our lord, act quickly, the LORD has indeed given us this city, where The residents of the city have long been overwhelmed by our sound deterrence." Joshua carefully studied the information brought back, and he believed that the time was ripe, so he decisively sent an order to the three armies: launch an attack in three days. Three days later, the horn of the march was sounded, and tens of thousands of troops set off in a mighty manner.Joshua let the Levites carry the ark of the covenant to go first, 1,000 hours away from the main army.

At that time, it was spring, and the snow and ice on the high mountains melted, and the river was swollen. Although the Shiting Ferry was a shoal, it was still not easy to wade across the river. When the Israeli soldiers were worrying about crossing the river, they saw that as soon as the feet of the Levites carrying the ark entered the water, the river stopped in the distance and surged there, forming a mountain of water. and it became a dry land.The Levites carried the ark and stood in the middle of the river, keeping the river bed dry while the army passed. The Israelites finally set foot on Canaan, the land of milk and honey that God promised them.

After all the Israelites had crossed the river, Joshua ordered each of the 12 tribes to send a person to the bottom of the river bed at the foot of the Levites to pick up a stone and bring it to the camp for the night. So 12 Israelites, from different tribes, each picked a stone from the middle of the river bed and came ashore. 12 After all the men had come up, Joshua ordered the Levites to carry the ark ashore. After the ark came ashore, the river resumed its swollen momentum. That night, the Israelites set up camp at Gilgal, east of the city of Narico, and used Gilgal as their base camp.

Joshua erected 12 stones from the bottom of the Jordan River in Gilgal as a memorial to the descendants of the Israelites, and told them that the Jordan River was cut off to make way for the Israelites. The day of crossing the Jordan River happened to be the tenth day of the first lunar month in the Jewish calendar.After Joshua erected a stone as a memorial, he ordered the circumcision of all the males of Israel.It turned out that when they were in Egypt, the Israelites still insisted on circumcision.But after Exodus, due to wandering in the desert, the circumcision system was gradually relaxed, and the babies born after Exodus were never circumcised again.Except for Joshua and Caleb who were born in Egypt, the soldiers who came across the Jordan River were all new generations of Israelites born in the desert, and they were all uncircumcised. According to God's oracle, Joshua made a flint knife and held a collective circumcision for all Hebrews for the second time. (The first was held by Abraham.) The Israelites stayed in Gilgal for several days, waiting for their wounds to heal. On the fourth day of the recovery period, which is the fourteenth day of the first lunar month in the Jewish calendar, it is the fortieth Passover and the first Passover they spent in Canaan.On that day, they ate unleavened bread and other rich foods made from the grain produced in Canaan.From then on, they never had to eat manna to satisfy their hunger.This further inspired the determination of the Israeli soldiers to capture Narigo. The Amorites living in Jericho had long been terrified by the miracles God had shown the Israelites and the bravery of the Israelites. This time they heard about the miracle that the Jordan River was blocked. The officials and the people of Narico became even more timid. They did not dare to launch an active attack, and even when all the Israeli men were circumcised and had painful wounds, they did not release a single soldier to attack the camp. After the wounds of the Israelites had healed, Joshua ordered the attack on the city.Although the Amorites lost their combat effectiveness, their city defenses were still very strong, and it was difficult to break through without a siege ladder. Joshua understood the timidity of the Amorites, and in order to minimize casualties, he adopted outmaneuvering tactics. Joshua ordered the army to circle the city once a day.He let a group of soldiers with weapons walk in the front, followed by 7 priests, holding 7 shofars, blowing as they walked, and finally followed the ark of God.In this way, they circled the city silently every day, and each time they circled the city, they were just far enough away from the city that the people on the city wall could see clearly, and their slingshots and arrows would not hurt their kidneys. In this way, they circled the city repeatedly day by day, for 6 days in a row. The residents trapped in the city of Narico saw that the Israelites just walked around the city silently, not knowing what their God was doing.The people of Narico were terrified and climbed up the city wall to watch the procession of the Israelites around the city.They commented while watching: "This is going to be too difficult." On the seventh day, Joshua ordered a general attack.Early in the morning he led the army out of the camp and sent them round the city.This time they no longer circled the city once, but circled seven times in one breath.They remained silent for the first six laps.But on the seventh lap, as soon as the Israelites heard the sound of the trumpet, they shouted loudly in unison. The shout shook the heavens and the earth, and the city wall collapsed. Treasures, copper and iron utensils will be robbed.They killed everyone in the city, regardless of age, except the family of the prostitute Rahab and her belongings remained untouched.Two spies who had been covered by her came to her house, saw the scarlet rope on the window, went in, led the people in the house to the edge of the Israelites' camp outside the city, and carried out all her belongings , still owned by her.Only the property seized by the Israeli soldiers, Joshua stipulated in advance, should be put into the treasury of the Tent of Meeting. Joshua saw that Jericho was completely destroyed, so he ordered the city to be set on fire.The fire raged for days and nights.Jericho has since been in ruins. Joshua saw the burned city of Jericho and swore: "No one will rebuild Jericho in the future, and anyone who builds this city will be cursed before the Lord. Those who build the city will die when they build the foundation. , when the gate is installed, the youngest son will be lost." (Joshua 1-6) Lead the snake out of the city of Dongkeai Taking the city of Narico outsmarted Joshua's reputation, and a kind of arrogance and underestimation of the enemy also developed among the Israelites. After the Battle of Jericho, Joshua ordered the troops to rest for a while, and at the same time sent spies to the next attack target - the city of Ai to collect intelligence.Ai was a mountain city located north of Jerusalem and not far east of Bethel.The men Joshua sent there soon returned, and they reported to Joshua, "The defense of Ai is much worse than that of Jericho, and their number is not as large as that of Jericho. I see We don't need to mobilize a large number of troops and let all the large troops go, as long as we send a detachment of two to three thousand people, we can easily take that city." Joshua listened to their words and only sent a detachment of 3,000 men to attack Ai. They did not realize that the people of Ai were braver and more fearless than the people of Narico. When they saw that the Israelites were few, they made a concerted attack and beat them to flee.During the chaos, 36 Israelites were killed by the swords and arrows of the people of Ai. The people of Ai took advantage of the victory and pursued them all the way to Shebarim. The Israeli masses in Gilgal who were anxiously waiting for the army to return from the victory were shocked and terrified when they saw 3,000 soldiers fleeing in disarray. Joshua was filled with grief and indignation when he received the report from the siege commander who had fled back in embarrassment. He tore his clothes, exposed his upper body, sprinkled ashes on the heads of the Israeli elders present and himself, and led them to the ark of the covenant in the sanctuary. He prostrated himself on the ground and prayed to God for several hours until night.He prayed to the Lord and said, "Lord, what is going on here? What crime have we committed that you are delivering Israel into the hands of the enemy? This defeat has caused my people to mourn, the Canaanites Hearing this news, they will definitely dispatch together to surround us, won't we all be finished?" God said to Joshua: "You were defeated at Ai because some of the soldiers who entered Israel sinned and violated the covenant I commanded them, and took the fire; they deceived me and took the fire hid in her own house. Therefore Israel could not stand before her enemies, and turned and fled." Early the next morning, Joshua ordered a strict search among the tribes to find out the greedy man.As a result, this man was found out among the tribe of Judah. ​​He was Achan, the son of Carmi, the great-grandson of Zerah, the grandson of Zardi, of the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Judah brought Achan to Joshua.Joshua asked him, "My son, I command that all the spoils of war be handed over to the Tent of Meeting, and belong to the Lord God. You have violated the military order and implicated the whole family. You must confess your sin quickly and do not hide it." Achandan confessed in vain: "I really offended God. After I entered Jericho, I went into a rich man's house and saw a beautiful Shinar garment, 200 shekels of silver, a bar of gold, and 50 shekels, I got greedy and hid them and took them home and buried them in the ground under the tent." So Joshua sent people to tear down the tent of Achan's house, dug up the soil, and found all the belongings. According to the Israeli law, Achan was to be stoned to death.Joshua ordered the guards to take Achan to the Valley of Achor and ordered them to stone him to death.Achan fell, heaped upon him by stones thrown from the angry crowd. God saw that the Israelites had punished those who disobeyed the oracle, so he forgave them.He said to Joshua, "Don't be all afraid, and don't be dismayed. Take your great army and go against Ai. I will deliver the king of Ai and his people into your hands. After you take the city, Don't hand over all the property you get to me, you can keep it for your own use." Joshua summed up the lessons of the last failure, and he should not attack the brave and fearless soldiers and civilians of Ai City, but outsmart them.He dispatched 30,000 elite soldiers in advance to ambush in the woods after it was dark on the hill outside the city. The next morning, Joshua himself took 5,000 soldiers to the valley below Ai to challenge the king of Ai.The king of Aicheng didn't know what it was. Seeing that there were not many opponents, he thought that I couldn't take advantage of you this time and let you run away. He led the entire prison team out of the city and rushed to Joshua's position. As soon as the two armies fought, Joshua stretched out his short spear and signaled to pretend to retreat.The Israeli soldiers ran back dragging their weapons. Seeing that these troops were vulnerable, the king of Ai ordered them to pursue them relentlessly, until they were far away from the city. At this time, the 30,000 Israeli troops ambushing outside the city took advantage of the emptiness in the city and easily killed people in the city.When they entered the city, they set it on fire; and in an instant the smoke billowed into the sky. The people of Aicheng were desperately chasing Joshua and the others, and they were about to catch up. Someone looked back and saw the smoke rising into the sky in the city. Only then did the king of Aicheng know that he had been tricked, and hurriedly turned back to rescue his old lair.When they approached the city, 30,000 ambush soldiers were already waiting there. The 5,000 men led by Joshua saw that the ambushes had captured the city, and smoke was rising in the city, so they turned around and chased down the people of Ai who had retreated hastily. Under the attack of the Israelites, the Ai army scurry around in the fields like headless chickens, completely losing their combat effectiveness.The Israelites fought bravely and wiped out all the people in Ai, leaving no one behind.They also captured the king of Ai alive.Joshua had him hanged from a tree to be hanged. After killing the army of Ai outside the city, the Israelites returned to the city and slaughtered all the people who remained in the city, not a single man, woman, or child remained; and they slaughtered all day long.A total of 12,000 Ai people were killed. The Israelites killed and robbed at the same time, and took all the gold, silver, property, cattle, sheep, clocks and animals in the city, and took them for themselves. By dusk, the city of Ai was in a mess.Blood was flowing everywhere on the street, corpses were lying on the ground, and the smell of blood filled the ten miles. Joshua then ordered the city of Ai to be set on fire.The soaring fire turned night into day.The city of Ai, once an important city in Canaan, has since been in ruins. Joshua saw that the king of Ai hanging on the tree was dead, so he asked someone to take down the body and put it at the gate of the city. He piled a large pile of stones on top of the body to form a heap of stones. The ruins of the city of Ai and the pile of stones where the king was buried at the gate of the city are still the historical relics that the Israelites are proud of. After the victory at Ai, Joshua built an altar to God on Mount Ebal.The altar was built entirely of stones that had never been ironed.He led the Israelites to the altar to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God. Joshua also engraved the Book of the Law written by Moses on a stone in front of all the Israelites, and read it to the Israelites on Mount Ebal.He required all of Israel, whether elders, rulers, or judges, or strangers, to obey these regulations unconditionally. (Book 8) Gibeon People Design Survival After the Israelites bloodbathed the cities of Narico and Ai, all the tribes living in Canaan felt terror. Some of them united and prepared to resist together, while some tribes were not good at fighting, so they thought of how to make peace with the Israelites. The tribe of Gibeon was not far from Ai.Gibeonians are not good at war, but they are very good at resourcefulness and diplomacy.They saw that the Israelites were very unified and powerful, and that none of the native tribes of Canaan was their opponent. However, if you don't make any efforts, you will sit and wait to die.So there was only one option left: make peace with the Israelites.But how would the Israelites be willing to negotiate with a small and weak tribe that was at their fingertips?The Gibeonites knew they had to figure out a way to trick the Israelites into trusting them so they could get their peace pledge.They found old sacks and old leather wineskins that had been torn and patched, and they loaded them on the donkeys; they put old mended shoes on their feet, and old clothes on their bodies; Moldy cake.In this way, they dressed themselves up as if they had traveled a long way and had come from afar. They came to Gilgal, the stronghold of the Israelites, claiming to be messengers from afar, and they needed to meet the patriarch Joshua on important matters.Yingwei sent a message to the meeting tent, and he replied after a while: "I have invited the messenger." The messengers walked from the rainway between the swordsmen lined up on the hatchback to the seat of Joshua in front of the Tent of Meeting, prostrated themselves on the ground and said in unison: "Our king greets the king of Israel. Your Majesty, we are you My servant, our country is far away from here, like the God of Israel and the king of Israel, the majesty and majesty of the king. My king has admired the majesty of the king for a long time, and I sent a servant to look up to the majesty of the king on his behalf, and I also asked the king to be gracious and make a covenant with us. ." An Israeli elder who was present walked up to Joshua and whispered to him, "I'm afraid their country is not far away. It is in Canaan. Canaan is the treasure land promised to us by God. How can we conquer it?" How about making a covenant with them?" When Joshua heard this, he asked the two messengers, "Who are you? Where are you from?" They answered, "We are your servants, Your Majesty, and we have come from far away. My king heard the great name of the LORD your God, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that the LORD your God did to the Amorites beyond the Jordan; Said: Take food in your hands for the journey, and go to meet the Israelites, and say to them, We are your servants; now make a covenant with us.When we set out to come here, the cakes we brought out from home were still warm, don’t you see, they are all dry and moldy now; and the wineskins, they were still new when we came out, now are all torn; and the new clothes we set out with are worn out now, for the road is so far away. " As they talked, they presented the food they had brought to Joshua. Joshua took a closer look, and found that the cake was indeed dry, hard and with green hairs; ;Then he passed these things on to the elders, and the elders couldn't find any flaws.Long distance and short attack have always been the logic of contenders.There is benefit and no harm in contracting with a distant God-worshipping nation.Based on this idea, Joshua agreed to sign a peace treaty with these Gibeonites. The peace treaty stipulated that since these people were people who admired God, the Israelites would not attack them or kill their people under any circumstances. After signing the peace treaty, the envoys of Gibeon and all the elders of Israel stepped into the Tent of Meeting and swore to God that they would never repent. After taking the oath, the envoy left. On the third day after signing the contract with the Gibeonites, the Israelites learned from the Amorite captives that the Gibeonites lived in Canaan, not far from Gilgal.The congregation of Israel was very angry because they were deceived. Some people who were eager to get the spoils clamored to kill the Gibeonites.When Joshua learned of the reaction of the congregation, he asked the leaders of the tribes to send a message to the people, saying to them, "As the LORD our God has sworn to allow them to live, we cannot kill them. Lest God be angry and punish us for our blasphemy. But although we don't have to kill them, we still have to lead our troops to question them and ask them to be our slaves, chopping firewood and carrying water. " Therefore, Joshua sent troops to raise the army to question the crime.When they arrived at the city of Gibeon, there was no resistance. Instead, the king of Gibeon came out to meet him with all his officials. Joshua summoned the king and their subordinates and questioned them: "Why did your envoys deceive us, saying that you are very far away from us? In fact, you are our neighbors; you have committed a serious crime of deceiving God. Cursed. Your people will be slaves to Israel forever, as woodcutters and water bearers." The king said to Joshua, "My lord, be calm. For your servants have been told that the LORD your God commanded Moses his servant to give you all this Canaan and to destroy it before you. All the inhabitants of this land. That is why we are terribly afraid of dying. Now that we are in your hands, do what you think is right and right with us." Joshua did not kill them, but from then on, no matter where they were, the Gibeonites would serve as servants for the altar and the congregation in Israel, doing such menial tasks as chopping wood and carrying water. (Joshua 9) Five kings resist Joshua The news that the Gibeonites signed a peace treaty with the Israelites and would rather live as slaves among foreigners than to fight for freedom quickly spread throughout the tribal countries of Canaan.When Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard the news, he was very afraid that other Canaanite nations would follow suit. He felt that it was necessary to teach Gibeon a lesson.But Gibeon is a big city, even bigger than Ai, and there are so many residents in the city that it may be impossible for a country to fight alone.Adonizedek then sent envoys to contact the kings of the five countries including Heham, King of Hebron, Piram, King of Jevi, Japhia, King of Lachish, and Debi, King of Evanron, and said to them, "Please come up and help I, go with us against Gibeon; for they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites to be their helper against us all." After hearing this, the kings of the five countries felt that it was reasonable.To fight is to die, and not to fight is also to die; instead of letting the Israelites be defeated one by one, and sooner or later they all die together, it is better to unite and fight against them.So the five Amorite kings agreed to send troops to attack Gibeon with their leader, the king of Jerusalem. They all came to Gibeon with a large army of their own, pitched camp around the city, and besieged Gibeon. The Gibeonites were besieged in the city, and the king of Gibeon ordered to step up the defense while sending messengers to sneak out of the city at night and go to Gilgal to ask for help from the suzerain country Israel. After seeing Joshua, the messenger said to him, "Now the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Yanavi, the king of Lachish, and the king of Evanlun have joined forces to attack Gibeon. Gibeon is in danger. Gibeon is Your servant guards for you, you can't ignore it! Please send reinforcements to save us and help us." After Joshua received this urgent information, he led his large army and traveled day and night to Gibeon.It was just at dawn, and the Allied Forces of the Five Nations were sleeping soundly in the barracks. It never occurred to them that a large army of Israelis had already deployed under their noses.Joshua commanded the soldiers to attack violently, and the Amorite camp outside the city was quickly disrupted. The Allied Forces of the Five Nations were originally a mob assembled impromptu, without a unified command and discipline.They woke up from the dream and saw the lights and swords, all of them were scared out of their wits and fled one after another. When the Gibeonites saw the suzerain's army coming to relieve the siege, they also rushed out of the city, joined up with Israel, and clung to the fleeing coalition army.On the uphill road of Beth Horon, they finally overtook some of the deserters who had fallen behind and couldn't move, and went all the way to Asikah and Makedah. At this time, the uphill road has been run, and the downhill road begins.The coalition army even rolled and crawled, desperately fleeing down the slope, seeing that the Israeli army could not overtake them.Unexpectedly, at this time, on the downhill side of the mountain, heavy hailstorms fell from the sky, and the hailstones hit the Amorite soldiers. But when the pursuing Israelites ran over, the hailstones could not stop in front of them.The hail fell in front of the Israelites, on the deserters of the allied army.More than half of the Allied Forces of the Five Nations were killed by hailstones, more than the Israeli army was crucified with sharp knives. The Israelites pursued the deserters throughout the day, and when the hail stopped, it was almost dusk. Joshua was afraid that the enemy would flee in the coming night, so he prayed to God, saying, "Sun, stay at Gibeon; the moon Ah, you shall stop in the valley of Ajalon." Then the sun stood still, the moon stopped, and its rapid setting stopped, and this lasted for about a day, until the Israelites cleaned up the remnants of the defeated army. The five kings ran to the mountains with the fleeing soldiers and hid in the cave of Machi.Someone told Joshua, "The five kings have been found, and they are hidden in the cave of Machida." Joshua then ordered his men: "Roll some big stones to the entrance of the cave, and post guards. The rest of you should not delay, and continue to pursue your enemies, and kill those who run behind them, and do not let them enter your cave. cities; for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand." He meant to deal with the five kings after the battle was over. After all the deserters were driven out, Joshua ordered: "Open the cave, and bring the five kings out of the cave, and bring them to me." The crowd brought the five kings out of the cave and presented them to Joshua.Joshua called all Israel together, and said to the commanders of the army under him, "Come near, and put your feet on the necks of these kings. Do not be afraid or dismayed, but be strong and fearless. For the Lord will certainly do this to what you want. against all enemies." So the army commanders around Joshua went up and put their feet on the necks of the five kings. The Israelites chased them all the way, passing through the four tribal countries of Lachish, Evanron, Hebron, and Dibi among the five states along the way, and encountered almost no resistance.In addition, they also captured several other cities along the road. On the first day they captured Makedah and Linah, and on the second day they captured Gezer.After they invaded each castle, they robbed all the property in the city, killed all the people, and left no one alive. In this way, in just two days, Joshua commanded the Israelites to occupy all the territories of the five tribal countries.Then, led the troops back to Gilgal, let the troops rest for a while to meet the new battle. (Deuteronomy 9-10) Canaan finally belongs to Israel Some small countries in northern Canaan were terrified when they learned that some powerful city-states in central and southern Canaan had fallen one after another.Among these small countries is a King Shasuo named Jabin. He is very courageous and enjoys high prestige in the eyes of the kings of other countries. Jabin decided to gather all the forces of the tribes in Canaan that had not yet been occupied by Israel to jointly resist Israel's attack.He sent envoys to various countries, lobbying the kings of various countries, mobilizing them to join the alliance and act together.All countries responded one after another, and the coalition forces were soon established.These coalitions consisted of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Hivites from the northern mountains and plateaus.All the ethnic groups mobilized all those who could participate in the battle to follow King Xia Suo, and he was under his unified command.They are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they also have numerous chariots and horses.Jabin led the mighty allied forces to camp by the Merom River, intending to fight the Israelites to the death. Facing such a powerful and more organized mountain army than the Five Kings Alliance, Joshua also found it difficult to deal with.He convened all the elders of Israel to discuss the strategy of battle, and with the guidance of Jehovah, he finally decided on the following tactics: 1. Adopt a method of surprise attack, because Jabin’s coalition army was formed not long ago, and the team was huge. It is convenient to seek victory in chaos; second, lengthen the length of the sword so as to cut off the horseshoes of the coalition cavalry and chariots; third, the enemy's chariot formation is densely arranged and can be attacked with fire. After the tactics were determined, Joshua ordered the three armies to get ready.In the twilight, the horns in the camp sounded in unison, and the sound of killing shook the sky. The army rushed across the Mirren River and went straight to the enemy camp.The cavalry of the coalition army had just mounted their horses, and the formation had not yet been set up, but the Israelites had already rushed forward.The Israelites lined up infantry armed with long knives as the vanguard. Behind them, these infantrymen were densely packed with bows and arrows under the cover of arrows, holding shields in one hand and long knives in the other. .After a while, a large group of horses with injured front hooves fell in front of the coalition. At this time, the coalition forces were already in disarray, and the Israeli archers hurried forward a few steps and fired arrows with torches at the chariot behind the horses.All of a sudden, the positions of the coalition forces were ablaze, and the sergeants were in chaos, screaming everywhere, throwing away their helmets and armors, and just ran for their lives. Joshua led part of the Israeli army and chased and killed King Shazoo's troops all the way until the city of Shazoo.They broke through the city defenses and entered the city, cutting and killing men, women and children, leaving no living creature behind.In the bloody battle, King Nabin of Xiasuo fought bravely until his strength was exhausted, and he was hacked to death by the Israelites. When Joshua heard that there was no more shouting for killing in the city, he called for money to withdraw his troops, and then ordered people to set fire to the city of Xiasuo, so that the Israelites could dispel their hatred in their hearts. Over the next few months, the Israelites struck out on all sides, taking all the cities in the northern mountains and plateaus, and killing every native inhabitant they saw.But the Israelites never burned a single city except Shazor.They kept the cities, houses, livestock, and all the property that drove their masters, and appropriated them for their own use. I don’t know how many years, months and days passed—some people say that the war to conquer Canaan lasted for 7 years, and Joshua wiped out the original inhabitants of every place in the land of Canaan.As a result, there were no people outside of Israel in Canaan. For a long time, the nation of Israel was peaceful and there was no war. Since Israel captured Canaan, except for the two tribal nations Gibeon and Hivi, which bowed their heads and surrendered, all other nations were destroyed by force. They wiped out 31 nations in Canaan and killed 31 kings. Killed the people of 31 countries. Now, apart from Jerusalem and several city-states by the sea and in the mountains, the whole of Canaan, from the southern border to Baalgad in Lebanon in the north, is the territory of the Israelites. At this time, Joshua was old, and God commanded him to divide Canaan among the tribes of Israel according to Moses' plan.At this time, there were 13 tribes in Israel, because Israel put Joseph’s two sons—Manasseh and Ephraim—into their own names before they died. Joseph’s tribe was divided into two, and the number of tribes increased from 12 becomes 13.Because the two tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh had allotted the land east of the Jordan River as inheritance.现在迦南的土地就由剩下的九个半支派来分。这样迦南就被分成了10块：西缅、犹大和便雅悯的后代分得了最南边的土地；以法莲、玛拿西半支派、以萨迦、西布伦、拿弗他利和亚设，按次序从南往北分得他们的土地。 但的后裔人数不多，他们分得的地方位于海水和群山之间，东西两边与便雅悯和犹大支派为邻。这三个支派与非力士人为邻。他们还未与非力士人交过锋，因此，非力士人对以色列是个潜在的威胁。 利未支派是祭司阶层，摩西在世的时候没有把产业分给他们。 他们的产业就是献给以色列人的神耶和华的火祭。利未人在各个城市里负责宗教事务，担任各种教职，他们主要靠居民缴给教堂的贡赋为生。不过他们在迦南境内掌管着48座城市，还可以从事商业和畜牧业。 以法莲支派分得的领土上座落有示罗城。以色列宗教会所就设在示罗城，约柜安放在会所里。因此示罗便成了以色列的第一个京城。 摩西选定的逃城分布在迦甫境内和约旦河东岸，共有6座。从今以后，以色列人中凡是无意杀人的人逃到这些城市就可以逃避被害者亲属报仇。 约书亚本人选择了以法莲山地上的小城亭纳西拉为自己的居住地。（书11一21）约书亚的最后日子 约书亚一生征战，功勋卓越，他完成了上帝耶和华赋予的使命。他本来可以住在亭纳西拉小城的别墅里平静地安度晚年，但是他有一块心病，象大石头一样压得他寝食不安：他没有得力的接班人，他担心死后以色列人各支派会闹独立，一个统一的民族会搞得四分五列。 果然，有一天，一个令人不安的消息传到示罗：流便、迦得和玛拿西半支派的军民回到约但河东岸以后，在约但河边的山岗上自己单独设立了一个供奉耶和华的神坛。他们在示罗神坛之外另立神坛，意味着亚位拉罕创立的宗都面临着危机。 约书亚听到这个消息，非常吃惊。回想当年迦南战役完全结束以后，他打发这两个半支派回约但河以东去时，还谆谆教诲他们："你们要切切地谨慎遵行耶和华仆人摩西所吩咐你们的诫命、律法，爱耶和华你们的神，行他一切的道，守他的诫命，专靠他，尽心尽力地事奉他。 ""你们带着这许多财物，许多牲畜和金、银、铜、铁，许多的衣物，回你们的帐篷去。要将你们从仇敌手中夺来的东西与你们众兄弟同分。 " 约书亚没有想到才隔几个月，河东的支派就把自己的话当成耳边风。决不能让分裂的暗流形成气候！约书亚把各宗族的部队召到示罗，但是各支派的首领对此的态度并不一致，他们有的主张出兵镇压，有的说，以色列刚刚立国，需要与民休息，医治战争创伤。如果还未在迦南扎根的时候，以色列内部就相互残杀，必然造成两败俱伤，后果不堪设想。 最终约书亚派祭司以利亚撒的儿子非尼哈，带着10个宗族的首领，也是以色列军队的主要将领，到基列去找流便、迦得和玛拿西半支派的首领，问明情况，晓以利害，让他们停止分裂活动。 非尼哈对河东长老说："你们在示罗之外另立神坛，犯了多么大的背逆罪孽呀。难道你们忘记了，在毗耳许多人受米甸女人的诱惑，到她们的宗庙去敬奉异族的神灵所招受的惩罚吗？难道忘记了，亚干私藏当归上帝的供物，受到了什么样的惩罚吗？" 非尼哈这番谴责，使流便、迦得和玛拿西的子孙们非常恐惧。 他们连呼："大能者神耶和华，大能者神耶和华！"然后诚恳而雄辩地继续说，"您圣恩在上，必能分辨；以色列全会众也必能分辨。 我们筑坛，若有半点背逆的意思，必遭天诛地灭，比毗耳和亚干之灾更甚。我们在这里筑神坛并非无缘无故，我们是为了更好地敬神。因为上帝把约但河定为我们和以色列其他各支派的分界，我们的后人会说：上帝与我们无缘分了。这样他们就有可能不再敬奉那和华了。为了我们的子孙能够千秋万代地祭把那和华，感谢他把流着奶与蜜之地赐给我们为业，所以我们才自己筑了这座坛。 我们筑这座坛不是为了在耶和华我们的神的帐幕外献燔祭，也不是为了献素祭或平安祭，我们要把这座坛作为你我中间的证据，好让我们的子孙记住我们与你们原为一体。 " 这个机智的回答，虽然不能完全消除疑惑，但是也很有说服力，让人难以驳倒。非尼哈和10名长老找不到更多的破绽，也不愿再去刨根问底，弄得双方别无选择，非要动用武力不可。所以这场神坛之争，就大事化小，小事化了，最后以"锯箭疗伤"的方式解决了。非尼哈对流便人、迦得人和玛拿西入说："经过调查，我们知道耶和华在我们中间，你们没有向他犯大罪。" 非尼哈一行回到示罗，向约书亚汇报此事，约但河这边的以色列人完全取消了发兵攻打的计划，不再提这件事了。 流便人、迦得人和玛拿西人听到这个消息后，就把自己筑的那座坛起名为证坛。 这事以后，约书亚有两次感到自己病危，快离开人世了。第一次，他把以色列各支派的长老、族长、审判官和官长都召了来，对他们说："你们要大大壮胆，谨守遵行写在摩西律法书上的一切话，不可偏离左右，不可与你们中间所剩下的这些国民搀杂。他们的神，你们不可事奉、叩拜。你们要分谨慎，爱耶和华你们的神。你们若稍微偏离，与你们中间所剩下的这些国民联络、结亲、互相往来，他们就要成为你们的网络、机槛、肋上的鞭、眼中的刺，直到你们在耶和华你们的神所赐的这块土地上灭亡。" 第二次，约书亚是真正的病危了，众长老、族长、审判官和官长来到约书亚跟前。约书亚用尽全身的力气，把摩西的律法向他们宣读了一遍，要求他们宣誓，以后任何时候都绝不崇拜耶和华之外的神。他叫人在一棵大橡树下立下了一块石头，他指着那块石头说："你们看哪！这块石头可以作我们的见证，因为它听见了我们向耶和华表的忠心。如果你们背弃耶和华，这块石头就是见证。" "上帝赐给你们的土地，非你们所修治；赐给你们的城池，非你们所建造。你们就住在其中，又得吃非你们栽种的葡萄园、橄榄园的果子。你们要世世代代感谢耶和华，专心地事奉他，遵守他的约。" 约书亚活到110岁时死去了。以色列人将他葬在他的领地以法莲山上的亭纳西拉。（书22-25）