Sunday Morning Bible Study 03/28/2010

Israel Conquers Southern Canaan

Joshua 10:1-43
I. Observation
A. Context
1. Who are the people in this passage? What do we know about them?
a. The 5 Kings of the Amorites: _____________________________________________________
b. The Gibeonites: ________________________________________________________________
c. Joshua: _______________________________________________________________________
2. When does this passage take place? Is there anything significant about when this passage occurs?
a. This passage appears to take place soon after the treaty between Israel and Gibeon in Ch. 9.
3. Where do the events of this passage take place? What do we know about these places?
a. Gibeon: city SW of Ai; made treaty w/Israel; now the woodcutters and water carriers for Israel.
b. Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, & Debir: various cities in southern Canaan that
were defeated by Israel during the southern Canaanite conquest.
B. Summary of Events
1. Five Amorite kings joined forces to attack Gibeon for making a treaty with Israel (10:1-5)
2. The Gibeonites called to Israel for help and with God’s blessing, Israel responded (v. 6-8)
3. Israel marched all night & routed the Amorite army at Gibeon, pursuing those who fled (v. 9-10)
4. The Lord hurled large hailstones and killed more by hail than Israel killed by sword (v. 11)
5. Joshua had called out for the sun & moon to stand still, so the Lord held the sun mid-sky until they
had defeated their enemies. (v. 12-15)
6. The five kings were hiding in a cave, so Joshua trapped them there while they finished off the
remaining people of their nations (v. 16-21)
7. Joshua brought out the 5 kings, had the army commanders step on their necks, then killed them and
hung them on 5 trees until evening (v. 22-26)
8. At sunset, the kings’ bodies were taken down & thrown into the cave they had been hiding in (v. 27)
9. Over the next few days, Joshua & Israel defeated the kings of Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon,
Hebron, & Debir (v. 28-39)
10. At the end of this conquest, Israel had secured southern Canaan, from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and
from Goshen to Gibeon (v. 40-43)

II. Interpretation
1. What, if anything, is significant about the Lord answering Joshua’s prayer to hold the sun up longer?
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why do you think Joshua had the commanders of the army step on the Amorite kings’ necks?
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. How are the conquests of this passage similar to those of Ai and Jericho? How are they different?
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. What does God reveal about himself in this passage? How do we see God working in this passage?
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. What are some of the principles illustrated in this passage?
_________________________________________________________________________________
6. How would you title this passage if you were writing a summary on it? What is/are the theme(s)?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

III. Application
1. God will empower you to do whatever he sets before you to do. God directed Joshua to go and
defend Gibeon and to defeat the Amorite kings. God called down hailstones and held the sun in the
sky for longer than normal in order to facilitate this victory. Neither of these things was due to
Joshua himself, but to the Lord’s hand on Joshua, enabling him to be successful in this mission.
2. Life is often difficult, but the best choice is to follow God’s leadership over leaning on our own
knowledge. These campaigns were smoother, largely in part to Israel’s focus on following God.

Teacher: Johnny Hughes (living2serve@gmail.com) MYA 2.0 is a ministry of Metropolitan Baptist Church, OKC, OK (http://www.mbcokc.org)