Joshua 10 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Joshua 10 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land began around 1450 B.C., which places the events of Joshua 10 in approximately 1450-1449 B.C.

CHARACTERS:

• Joshua - Moses’ assistant while he led the people in the wilderness. God selected Joshua to lead the Israelites into Canaan after Moses’ death.

• The Gibeonites – In Joshua 9, they used deception to make a peace treaty with Israel.  

• 5 Amorite Kings – These kings allied together and attacked the Gibeonites after learning about their peace treaty with Israel. 

WHERE:

• The Israelites were camped at Gilgal.

• Israel fought 5 Amorite kings near the city of Gibeon.

• In this chapter, the Israelite army travelled to several locations, conquering new territory as they went. A list of these cities and territories is found in the third section of the outline.  

OUTLINE:

• THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL (10:1-15):

  • When Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard about the destruction of Ai and the peace treaty between Israel and the Gibeonites, he was afraid because the Gibeonites were warriors.

  • The king of Jerusalem decided to attack the city of Gibeon and he enlisted the help of the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.

  • When the Gibeonites learned about the 5 kings coming to attack them, they sent to Joshua for help.

  • Joshua and the army marched all night from Gilgal to Gibeon and attacked the 5 kings.

  • God threw the armies of the 5 kings into a panic and the Israelites routed them.

  • God caused “large stones” to fall from heaven and kill Israel’s enemies.

  • At Joshua’s request, God made the sun and moon stand still so the Israelites would have daylight to pursue the retreating soldiers from the armies of the 5 kings. 

• THE 5 KINGS ARE CAPTURED (10:16-27):

  • The 5 allied kings hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah.

  • When the Israelites found them, they rolled a stone in front of the cave while they finished pursuing the enemy forces.

  • After they wiped out the enemy army, the army of Israel returned to Joshua at the cave.

  • The 5 kings were brought out, killed, and hung on a tree until evening.

  • As the sun went down, their bodies were thrown into the cave and the entrance was sealed.

• CONTINUED CONQUEST OF THE PROMISED LAND (10:28-43):

  • The end of Joshua 10 lists a series of kings and territories the Israelites conquered as they pressed further into Canaan. 

  • The following territories and cities were conquered by Israel’s army: Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir, Goshen, Gibeon, Kadesh-barnea, Gaza, the hill country, the Negeb, the lowlands, and the slopes.

  • All these territories and cities were “devoted to destruction” by Joshua and the Israelites.

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

APPLICATION:

• The primary purpose of the Bible isn’t to tell us about miracles, supernatural phenomenon, and heavenly oddities.

• If it were, the text would have spent a lot more space talking about the giant stones that fell from heaven and the sun and moon standing still (10:11-15).

• The Bible is meant to tell us the story of how God is saving the world.

• Yes, miracles are a part of that story, but God didn’t write this book just to entertain people with a curiosity for the supernatural.