As we continue in our series in Joshua this week, we’re going to get a serious case of déjà vu. Just as we saw massive armies being completely wrecked by the Lord and Joshua in chapter 10, we’re going to see much of the same this week. This week’s passage, all of Joshua 11 and 12, gives us an account of the northern campaign and a summary of all the kings that were defeated by the Lord and Joshua. These two chapters bring to a close the description of the major campaigns to conquer the Promised Land. So, for those of you that didn’t like all the bloodshed and destruction, the vast majority of the fighting is over after this week.

We hopefully won’t be spending the majority of our time on the fighting though. Dr. Silvernail did a great job talking about the fighting and the questions surrounding the destruction of the Canaanites last week. All of that applies to chapters 11 and 12. Rather, since these chapters bring to a close the bloody conflicts between the Israelites and Canaanites and looks back on all that the Lord has done, we too can take a step back and look at the wider narrative the Lord was writing.

What was all the fighting for? Was it so that the Israelites could have some land? Was it so that God could keep His promises? Yes, but it goes far deeper than that. I think that it ends up being encapsulated by the way in which Joshua 11 ends, with the land having rest from war. You see, the Biblical theme of rest isn’t just about freedom from war. Rather, a true, abiding rest is the end result of the whole arc of redemptive history. We had rest in the Garden and then lost it. The Bible is, in some ways, a book about getting back that rest. This week’s passage, I think, is highlighting how God is working through the events of the present and in the events of history to move His people toward an ultimate rest. So come Sunday to see how the Lord worked in the past so that we can see how He is working in the present to move and prepare us for a future rest. See you Sunday!