“Back away.” Caleb stepped forward and looked in the pack.
“That bread was warm and fresh when we left our home.” The man put his hand on the wineskins. “And these new and filled.”
Caleb tore off a piece of bread. After a taste, he spit it out. “Dry. Moldy.” But he still didn’t trust them.
“We’ll make a treaty with you.”
Joshua and most of the elders were in agreement.
Caleb was not so easily convinced. “The Lord said to make no treaties.”
“Yes.” Joshua grew impatient. “But we must not be too quick to judge and wipe out people. The Lord meant no treaties with those of the land. These men are from a distant country. We have no reason to be at war with them.”
“Then why do I feel this unease in my gut?”
Joshua slapped him on the back. “Perhaps it is the bread you just ate.”
Others laughed, friends of old. Overruled, Caleb kept silent.
The delegation left soon after the treaty was made. Three days later, Israelite warriors sent to scout out the land returned, red-faced and raging. “They’re Hivites from Gibeon! Those clothes they wore were a ruse. We did not attack because we signed a treaty with them.”
Caleb exploded in anger. “They made fools of us!”
“Of me.” Joshua was pale with mortification. “I did not inquire of the Lord. I did what I thought was right.”
“Well, you had better pray now, my brother, because we are in trouble. The people are not happy about what we’ve done.”
The people grumbled. “God said not to make a treaty with these people!”
“What were you thinking?”
“They’ll be a thorn in our sides from now on!”
The leaders argued among themselves over what to do.
“They lied!”
“We don’t owe them anything!”
The tribe of Simeon was eager for blood. “I say we march on their cities and kill every last one of them!”
Those representing the other tribes were as eager for revenge. “That’s what the Lord told us to do in the first place.”
Joshua shook his head. “We must keep our oath.”
Caleb listened to the others all talk at once. They were afraid, and with good reason. The people were angry and casting blame. “Be still!” He spoke loudly, and the others quieted. “We made a mistake in not asking God who those men were. We must not make another. My heart cries out for vengeance just as yours does, but vengeance belongs to the Lord. Listen to Joshua!”
They waited for God’s chosen to speak.
“We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. If we break our oath, we will bring God’s wrath down upon us.”
“So what do we do about them?”
Joshua called the people to order and told them the way of the Lord.
And then he summoned the Gibeonites. “Why did you lie to us?”
“We did it because we were told that the Lord your God instructed his servant Moses to conquer this entire land and destroy all the people living in it. So we feared for our lives because of you. That is why we have done it. Now we are at your mercy—do whatever you think is right.”
Whatever you think is right. Caleb seethed. These people knew the oath could not be broken without incurring God’s wrath. The Gibeonites had counted on it.
The people grumbled. A wave of fury could be felt until Joshua reminded them that the Lord would hold the nation to their oath. He faced the frightened Gibeonites. “You are under a curse. From this day forth, you will never cease to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” They bowed before him and departed.
The camp was quiet that night.
God’s enemies would now retain a toehold in the land for generations to come.
Summoned by messenger, Caleb hurried to Joshua’s tent. One look at Joshua’s face and Caleb knew something was wrong. “What’s happened?”
“The Gibeonites have sent word they need our help. The Amorite kings of Jerusalem, Kiriath-arba, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon have moved against them.”
“It’s bad enough that we have to allow those people to live. Now we have to defend them?”
They gathered the entire Israelite army and marched all night to rescue Gibeon. In the morning they took the attacking armies by surprise.
“Look,” Caleb cried out. “The Lord is with us!” The enemy was in confusion, bumping into one another in their haste to flee. The battle raged.
“Joshua! Joshua!” A young warrior panted before him. “The kings! I saw all five of them go into a cave.”
“Roll large rocks up to the mouth of it and post guards. Don’t stop fighting! Pursue your enemies. Attack them and don’t let them reach their cities.”
Frustrated, Caleb assessed the numbers and the lay of the land. There were not enough hours in the day to complete the work God had given them. He sought out Joshua, who stood on the highest hill overlooking the battle, and voiced his concern. “We won’t have the time to finish them. The sun is already overhead!”
Joshua shared his agitation. “We need more time! More time!” He raised his hands and cried out in a loud voice, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, Lord, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon!”
They joined the battle. As Caleb swung his sword from the right to the left, Amorites fell before him like stalks of wheat before a reaper. He kept on, cutting down any man who came against him, until he could no longer number those he had killed. His arm did not weaken, and the sun seemed to remain overhead! But how could this be? Hour after hour, the sun remained in the middle of the sky, blazing down upon the battlefield.
“The Lord! The Lord, He is with us!” Exultant, Caleb let the fire within him blaze. Surely all the nations would see that the Lord God of Israel had power not only over all creation but over time itself. No one could fight against God and win!
The Amorites fled, and Caleb and Joshua raised their swords. “After them!”
The Israelites pursued the enemy up to Beth-horon, but before they caught up with them, the Lord cast hailstones the size of a man’s fist from heaven. Caleb saw men struck in the head and back, crashing to the ground. Battered and bloody bodies lay along the road. So many were strewn along the way that Caleb knew the Lord had killed more by hail than he and the others had killed by the sword.
The army camped at Makkedah, and reports began coming in from the captains. “The Amorites were destroyed. Only a few managed to make it to their cities.”
Thankful that God had given them one more full day of sunlight during which to fight, Caleb was still not satisfied with the outcome. “And those few who escaped will be a thorn in our side if we don’t hunt them down and destroy them.”
“We have the kings in the caves,” Joshua reminded him.
The order was given to open the cave and bring the kings out. When a contingent obeyed, the kings appeared, blinking at the bright sunlight. For all their grand apparel and lofty plans to annihilate Israel, they were thrown to the ground before Joshua. He called for the commanders to come forward. “Put your feet on the necks of these kings.”
Caleb motioned for Mesha to put his foot on the neck of Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem.
“Do not fear these men.” Joshua drew his sword. “They fled the battle and hid in this cave.” One by one, he struck and killed them. “Hang them on the trees until evening,” he ordered. “Then throw their bodies into the cave. Tomorrow we take Makkedah!”
Swords were raised, and the sound of triumph rang.
But Caleb wondered why nothing much was said about what the Lord had done for them that day. Joshua could talk of little else, and Caleb’s own heart sang praises. But what of the younger men, the captains and those in their charge? God had provided the people with manna and water in the desert for forty years. In all that time, their clothes and shoes had not worn out. God’s presence and protection had been with them in the cloud
and pillar of fire. Had they all become so accustomed to miracles that the Lord’s stopping the sun seemed a small matter?
Caleb wondered about the days ahead. Victory sang in the air. The Promised Land smelled sweet with the blossoms of fruit trees, fields of grain, vineyards, and olive trees. But was taking the land their only goal?
Lord, don’t let us become complacent. Don’t let us become so used to miracles that we fail to recognize and give thanks and praise for what You do for us. Sometimes You are so vast, Your ways so incomprehensible, that we fail to see You at all. And You are here. You are over us and behind us. You go before us and are our rear guard. You breathe life into us.
Let us never forget that we are but dust without You, only chaff to be blown away by the lightest breeze that may come against us.
Makkedah fell and the Israelites left no survivors. Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Kiriath-arba, and Kiriath-sepher met the same fate. The Lord’s command to destroy all who breathed was carried out. But some fled to the north and to the coastlines.
The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Hivites joined forces at the Waters of Merom.
“They have a huge army!” The scout’s eyes were dark with worry. “And thousands of horses and chariots. There are too many for us . . .”
“How many is too many for the Lord, Parnach?” Caleb drew the tent flap back. “You’re dismissed.”
The young man flushed and departed quickly.
“Perhaps we should rethink our battle plan,” said Joshua.
Our battle plan? Joshua looked tired. So were they all. They had been fighting for months, taking one city after another, putting thousands to the sword. “We never fight by our battle plan, Joshua. You know that better than any man. Inquire of the Lord. He will tell you again what we must do.”
“How many times must the Lord say to me, ‘Have no fear’ before I have no fear?”
Caleb frowned. “You are not a coward, Joshua.”
Joshua gave a grim laugh. “The Lord knows differently.”
“If you are a coward, so are we all. Not a man among us is without fear, my friend. Brave men do what the Lord commands despite their fear. As you have done, and so shall the Lord tell you to do again.”
“You are the fiercest man I’ve ever known, Caleb. I’ve never seen you waver, even when cutting down women and children.”
“Because I fear God more than men. But I am sick after every battle.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Ask Maacah. Ask Ephrah.” Killing women and children was a difficult thing to do. “I must remind myself continually of what I saw during those forty days we traveled through this land as scouts. Remember their festivals, the debauchery, the perversion, the way they sacrificed their children to their gods? Even the children acted out what they saw their parents doing. We told them the stories of our God, how He destroyed Egypt with plagues, how He provides for His people. Have they changed? When we went into Jericho, what did we find but altars like those we saw all over Canaan. Rahab said the people were afraid of us, but do they fear God? No! Forty years, Joshua. The Lord is merciful to those who repent and cry out to Him. Have these people done that?”
Caleb clenched his fist. “I have to remind myself of these things every time I draw my sword. I have to remind myself of what God requires of me. We all must remind ourselves that God is on our side. As long as we obey His Word, He will protect us and give us the victory. As long as we obey.”
“That preys upon my mind. How long will our people obey? We have seen that their hearts are easily seduced.”
“And that is precisely why the Lord told us to get rid of these people, to be a scourge and cleanse the land of them. We erred with the Gibeonites, Joshua. We must never make that mistake again.”
Joshua’s eyes shone. “We won’t. Not as long as I live. I will inquire of the Lord and we will follow Him.”
Caleb smiled.
“There is momentum in these battles, Caleb, like a great stone rolling down a mountain. The Canaanites, Amorites, and all the rest flee before us because God hardened their hearts. Their opportunity to repent has passed. And God is using us to carry out His judgment against them.”
“Yes, Joshua, but we must not forget that we could share the same fate if we ever turn our backs on the Lord.”
God had told them He would bring the curses to bear upon them and they would be cut down by the sword and scattered across the face of the earth.
“For the Lord!” Caleb led Judah’s charge into battle at the Waters of Merom. Joshua was at the head of Israel’s divisions. The army of Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Hivites fell before the ferocity as the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. The allies split, retreating.
Caleb cut down all those who stood against him. His arm swung to the right and then the left, hacking through any Amorite or Hittite who came at him. He saw others run. “Pursue them!” he shouted and the Hebrews went after them.
Bodies lay all along the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east. Hamstrung horses screamed. Chariots burned. One by one, cities fell. The Israelites followed the command to leave no survivors. They left the uninhabited dwellings and cities on their mounds and moved on to Hazor and King Jabin, the man who had gathered the other nations against Israel. And the city fell.
“Here he is!” Caleb threw King Jabin at Joshua’s feet. When the Amorite king tried to rise, Caleb put his foot on his back.
“We wait—” Joshua drew his sword—“until every man, woman, and child in his domain has reaped the Lord’s wrath.”
When the city was silent, Joshua drew his sword. “For the Lord.” He sliced through Jabin with one powerful sweep of the blade. Caleb stood near enough to be splattered by the blood as the Amorite king died.
The men cheered in victory.
“Hazor has well-built walls, fine dwellings, and cisterns.”
Caleb knew what they were thinking. After years of living in tents, how easy it would be to move into those houses and live in comfort. Hadn’t he been tempted by the same things? But there were other things to consider. “There is an altar to Baal at the center and an Asherah pole. I did not enter a single household where there was not some kind of idol.”
The officer from Simeon glared at Caleb. “We can put everything through fire as we have before.”
Cattle lowed and sheep bleated as they were herded toward the valley. Israel’s flocks and herds were growing with every battle they fought. Even in their dreams, they had not imagined the wealth God had given them.
Caleb thought of the blood on the altar in the center of Hazor. “What does the Lord say about this city?”
Joshua walked away from them. When one of the men started to follow, Caleb blocked him. “Let him inquire of the Lord.”
The commanders all talked at once. What they wanted was clear.
Caleb stilled his impatience. “Jabin gathered the nations against us.”
“Jabin is dead!”
“Yes, I know he is dead. And Hazor stands as a monument to his rebellion.”
“We’ll rename the city. We can burn all the idols and smash the Asherah pole and the altars of Baal.”
“Should we bring our children to live in a city founded upon sin?”
“You would tear down every one of these towns, Caleb. You are a destroyer!”
“I saw what they did on those altars. In forty years, I have not forgotten.”
“We didn’t see it, Caleb. We aren’t plagued by such memories. We can—”
“Be silent!” Caleb commanded. Joshua was returning. “What does the Lord want done, Joshua?”
Joshua came toward them, wrath in his eyes. “Burn it. The Lord says burn it. Leave nothing standing!”
Caleb called out the order. Men ran to obey, tearing down the gates and setting a torch to them. The crackle of flames filled the air along with billowing smoke. Caleb strode through the city, making certain the
dwellings were set on fire. He shouted to several men and ordered them to help him topple an Asherah pole. The stench of burning flesh filled his nostrils until he was nauseated.
As he went out, he drew in fresh air and thanked God for leading them away from temptation. Hazor had been a place of death long before God’s wrath brought the Israelites to the gates of the city.
Caleb cleaned the blood from his sword, then began the slow work of sharpening it. How many men had he killed in the last three years? How many more would he have to kill before God’s enemies were removed from Canaan? He ran the stone along the blade in one long smooth stroke. He had met with Joshua last night and come away grim with resolve.
“The Lord has told me there are still large areas of land to be taken over,” Joshua had said.
“What areas?”
“All the regions of the Philistines and Gershurites; from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north.”
“Gaza and Ashdod?”
“Yes, and Ashkelon and Gath as well. From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, from Mearah of the Sidonians as far as Aphek where the Amorites still live, the area of the Gebalites; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath.”
The years stretched before Caleb. Would he ever plow the soil or plant seed again? Would he watch his crops grow? He couldn’t speak.
Joshua pointed as he spoke.
“The Lord Himself will drive the Sidonians out of the mountain regions from Lebanan to Misrephoth-maim. This land will be allocated as an inheritance and divided among the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh.”
Even as the fighting continued, the Israelites took possession of Canaan, dividing up the land according to the boundaries set by the Lord. The Reubenites and Gadites had received their inheritance, their clans and families establishing themselves in the area taken from Sihon and Og. The tribe of Reuben held the towns of the plateau and the area once ruled by Amorites at Heshbon. The boundary was the Jordan River.
Gad received all the towns of Gilead and half the Ammonite country as far as Aroer near Rabbah. Their territory ran up to the end of the Sea of Galilee. Manasseh’s territory included Bashan and all the settlements of Jair. Sixty towns!