God is Mighty in Battle - Joshua

Well, the book of Joshua depicts a huge pinnacle for Israel -- God finally brings them into the promised land, the land that he had promised Abraham so long ago (Gen. 12:1-3).  There are many amazing details to this story, and there are many themes that come out, such as God's faithfulness, his covenant, his justice and wrath, etc.


The theme that I was most struck by, however, is that of God being mighty in battle.  Yeah, you heard me right, God being mighty in battle.  Yes, of course, he also empowered the Israelites to fight well, but there are so many examples in Johsua of God, himself, being the sole cause of a victory.   Please, allow me give you a handful of examples...

God's Might in Battle

1.  The Lord parts the waters of the Jordan so that the people (again) cross over on dry land.  Although this may not seem like a "battle", it is one of the ways that God chooses to show his might to confirm to the Israelites that he will give them the land.. check out the underlined part:

And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”   (Joshua 3:9-13, emphasis mine)

2.  When five kings attempt to attack one of Israel's allies, the Lord again displays his might by actually killing more than the mighty men of Israel did...

So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you”… And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel… And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.  (Joshua 10:7-8, 10a, 11)

3.  This summarizes a few other battles that the people fought:

And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.   (Joshua 10:42)

4.  And one last one at the end of Joshua:

And you have seen all that the Lord you God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.   (Joshua 23:3)

Now, there is one other thing I should point out relating to God's might in battle, and that is that God didn't always give the people victory.  There are examples in Joshua when the people blatantly disobey God, which results in our holy, just God separating himself from them because of their sin.  You would think that after having seen the amazing acts of God in giving them the promised land, that no one would disobey, but no, that's not how the story goes... The times when Israel disobeys ultimately show the innate rebellion inside the hearts of men, and even now our own hearts live in the same rebellion.

In my humble opinion therefore, the most mighty act of God in battle was not accomplished in Joshua's time.  It was when Jesus died on a cross, taking our sin upon himself to mightily battle the power of sin & death, which as a result of our own rebellion separates us from God.  And rising from the dead three days later proved his ultimate victory in battle - bringing us back into right standing with God.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed.  (1 Peter 2:24)

God was most certainly mighty in leading Israel into the promised land, and thus fulfilling his promise to Abraham.  But oh the depths of God's might and grace in fulfilling the other part of that promise in blessing the nations through the redemptive death of Jesus, and thus winning the battle that we ourselves could never win.