Yoshua — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 7: Ushindi wa Kaskazini & Wafalme WalioshindwaJoshua Intensive — Unit 7: Northern Conquest & Kings Defeated

Ikiwa Yoshua 6 ndiyo sura yenye msisimko na Yoshua 10 ndiyo sura ya maajabu makubwa, Yoshua 11 ndiyo sura inayopima kama kweli unaamini yale ambayo sura kumi za kwanza zilifundisha. Hakuna makuhani wanaozunguka safari hii. Hakuna tarumbeta. Hakuna kuta zinazoanguka. Hakuna mawe ya mvua. Hakuna jua linalosimama. Kuna sentensi moja tu ya kutisha katikati ya sura: "Yoshua alifanya vita siku nyingi na wafalme hao wote" (Yoshua 11:18). Mungu yule yule anapigana. Jemadari yule yule anaongoza. Lakini sura imehama kutoka kwenye muujiza kwenda kwenye uvumilivu.If Joshua 6 is the dramatic chapter and Joshua 10 is the spectacular chapter, Joshua 11 is the chapter that tests whether you actually believe what the first ten chapters taught. There are no marching priests this time. No trumpets. No collapsing walls. No hailstones. No sun standing still. There is just one ominous sentence in the middle of the chapter: "Joshua made war a long time with all those kings" (Joshua 11:18). The same God is fighting. The same general is leading. But the chapter has shifted from miracle to endurance.

Yoshua alifanya vita siku nyingi. Hakuacha neno lolote.Joshua made war a long time. He left nothing undone.

Hapa ndipo wasifu mwingi wa Kikristo unapogawanyika. Nyakati za Yeriko na Siku Ndefu ni rahisi kuzitambua. Miaka saba ambayo William Carey alikaa India kabla ya kumwona Mhindi wake wa kwanza aliyeamini akibatizwa ni migumu zaidi kuitambua. Miaka sita ambayo Adoniram Judson alikaa Burma kabla ya mwongofu wake wa kwanza ni migumu zaidi bado. Yoshua 11 ni sura ya kipindi kirefu kilicho katikati ya sura maarufu — sehemu ya vita ambapo kichwa cha habari pekee ni, alifanya vita siku nyingi.This is the place where most Christian biographies divide. The Jericho moments and the Long Days are easy to recognize. The seven years William Carey spent in India before he saw his first Indian believer baptized are harder to recognize. The six years Adoniram Judson spent in Burma before his first convert are harder still. Joshua 11 is the chapter for the long stretch in between the famous chapters — the part of the campaign where the only headline is, made war a long time.

Hata hivyo sura hii ina baadhi ya sentensi zinazoridhisha zaidi katika Agano la Kale lote. Mstari wa 15: "Yoshua hakuacha neno lolote katika yote BWANA aliyomwamuru Musa." Mstari wa 21: Waanaki — majitu ambao kuwepo kwao katika nchi kulikuwa kumepooza kizazi kizima katika Hesabu 13 — hatimaye wanakatiliwa mbali kutoka Hebroni, kutoka Debiri, kutoka Anabu. Mstari wa 23: "Basi Yoshua akaitwaa nchi yote, sawasawa na yote BWANA aliyomwambia Musa… Nayo nchi ikapumzika vita." Sura inaisha kwa utulivu. Sura zenye msisimko zinatoa mwangwi. Sura ndefu inamaliza vita.And yet the chapter contains some of the most satisfying sentences in the entire Old Testament. Verse 15: "Joshua left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses." Verse 21: the Anakim — the giants whose presence in the land had paralyzed an entire generation in Numbers 13 — are finally cut off from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab. Verse 23: "So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses… and the land rested from war." The chapter ends quietly. The dramatic chapters echo. The long chapter closes the war.

Yoshua 12 ni daftari la hesabu. Inafanya kile ambacho vitabu vya Wafalme na Mambo ya Nyakati vitakifanya baadaye kwa ajili ya ufalme: inaorodhesha kila mfalme ambaye Yoshua na Musa waliwashinda, kwa jina na mji, katika safu mbili. Wafalme wawili mashariki ya Yordani chini ya Musa. Wafalme thelathini na mmoja magharibi ya Yordani chini ya Yoshua. Inasomeka kama taarifa ya hesabu za fedha. Lakini kila mstari katika taarifa hiyo ni ahadi ya agano iliyotimizwa. Kila jina ni mahali ambapo Mungu alisema "Nimewapa," naye Yoshua, katika utii wa muda mrefu, akatwaa.Joshua 12 is the ledger. It does what the books of Kings and Chronicles will later do for the monarchy: it lists every king Joshua and Moses defeated, by name and city, in two columns. Two kings east of Jordan under Moses. Thirty-one kings west of Jordan under Joshua. It reads like an accounting report. But every line on the report is a covenant promise that has been kept. Every name is a place where God said "I have given," and Joshua, in the long obedience, took.

Sehemu hii inapitia mfululizo huo huo. Kifungu cha I kinakusanya muungano wa kaskazini chini ya Yabini mfalme wa Hazori — jeshi "kama mchanga ulioko pwani kwa wingi, pamoja na farasi na magari mengi sana." Kifungu cha II kinawashtukiza kwenye Maji ya Meromu na kumtazama Yoshua akiwakata farasi wao mishipa na kuyateketeza magari yao. Kifungu cha III kinasimama kwenye kuteketezwa kwa Hazori — mkuu wa falme hizo zote. Kifungu cha IV kinawakata Waanaki, majitu wale wale waliowahi kuikata imani ya Israeli. Kifungu cha V kinafungua dhamira ya utii wa muda mrefu — sura ya William Carey katika maisha ya Kikristo. Kifungu cha VI kinapitia daftari la Yoshua 12, wafalme wote thelathini na watatu. Hitimisho linapumzika katika sentensi ya mwisho ya ushindi: "nayo nchi ikapumzika vita."This unit walks the same arc. Section I assembles the northern coalition under Jabin king of Hazor — an army "as the sand on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots." Section II surprises them at the Waters of Merom and watches Joshua hamstring their horses and burn their chariots. Section III stands at the burning of Hazor — the head of all those kingdoms. Section IV cuts down the Anakim, the same giants who had once cut down Israel's faith. Section V opens up the long-obedience theme — the William Carey chapter of the Christian life. Section VI walks the ledger of Joshua 12, all thirty-three kings. The Closing rests in the last sentence of the conquest: "the land rested from war."

Habari za vita vya kusini zinamfikia Yabini, mfalme wa Hazori, katika vilima vya Galilaya ya juu. Yabini anaelewa kile ambacho Adoni-sedeki wa Yerusalemu alielewa sura moja kabla: Israeli lazima wazuiwe sasa, wakati bado kuna miji iliyo huru kujipanga. Anatuma wajumbe kwa kila mfalme wa kaskazini anayeweza kumfikia — Yobabu wa Madoni, mfalme wa Shimroni, mfalme wa Akshafu, wafalme wa nchi ya milima, wafalme wa Araba upande wa kusini wa Kinerethi, wafalme wa nchi tambarare, wafalme wa Nafoth-dori upande wa magharibi, Wakanaani wa mashariki na wa magharibi, Waamori, Wahiti, Waperizi, Wayebusi milimani, Wahivi chini ya Hermoni (Yoshua 11:1–3). Orodha inasomeka kama mwito wa majina ya nusu yote ya juu ya Kanaani. Muungano wa kusini ulikuwa wa wafalme watano. Muungano wa kaskazini ni nusu ya bara.News of the southern campaign reaches Jabin, king of Hazor, in the upper Galilee hills. Jabin understands what Adoni-Zedek of Jerusalem understood one chapter earlier: Israel must be stopped now, while there are still cities free to organize. He sends messengers to every northern king he can reach — Jobab of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Achshaph, kings of the hill country, kings of the Arabah south of Chinneroth, kings of the lowlands, kings of Naphoth-Dor on the west, the Canaanites of the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the mountains, the Hivites under Hermon (Joshua 11:1–3). The list reads like a roll-call of the entire upper half of Canaan. The southern coalition had been five kings. The northern coalition is half a continent.

Maandiko yanaeleza mkusanyiko huo kwa msemo unaorudia ahadi ya BWANA kwa Ibrahimu — ila imegeuzwa. Kwa Ibrahimu Mungu alisema uzao wake ungekuwa "kama mchanga ulioko pwani" (Mwanzo 22:17). Hapa, katika Yoshua 11:4, adui za uzao wake ni "kama mchanga ulioko pwani kwa wingi, pamoja na farasi na magari mengi sana." Picha ile ile sasa imesimama upande usio sahihi wa uwanja. Ahadi iliyotolewa kwa uzao wa mzee mmoja inaakisiwa katika jeshi lililokusanyika ili kuuangamiza uzao huo. Magari yenye ukingo wa chuma. Wapanda farasi. Hofu iliyokuwa imewapooza Israeli kwa miaka arobaini jangwani sasa imepangwa kwa safu kwenye Maji ya Meromu, tayari kushambulia.The text describes the gathering with a phrase that echoes the LORD's promise to Abraham — only inverted. To Abraham God said his descendants would be "as the sand which is on the seashore" (Genesis 22:17). Here, in Joshua 11:4, the enemies of his descendants are "as the sand on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots." The same image is now standing on the wrong side of the field. The promise made to one old man's descendants is being mirrored in the army gathered to wipe those descendants out. Iron-rimmed chariots. Cavalry. The fear that had paralyzed Israel for forty years in the wilderness is now drawn up at the Waters of Merom in formation, ready to charge.

Huu ndio mgogoro wa kimkakati wa vita vya kaskazini. Israeli hawana magari ya vita. Israeli wamekatazwa na Kumbukumbu la Torati 17:16 kujizidishia farasi. Jeshi linalotembea kuvuka Yordani, linaloizunguka Yeriko kwa miguu, linalotembea usiku kucha kupanda hadi Gibeoni, halina jibu kwa kipimo cha kibinadamu dhidi ya wapanda farasi wengi katika ardhi wazi. Ikiwa BWANA hatapigana vita hivi, Israeli hawatashinda vita hivi.This is the strategic crisis of the northern campaign. Israel has no chariots. Israel has been forbidden by Deuteronomy 17:16 to multiply horses for itself. The army that walks across the Jordan, that surrounds Jericho on foot, that marches all night up to Gibeon, has no answer in human terms to massed cavalry on open ground. If the LORD does not fight this battle, Israel does not win this battle.

Naye BWANA anavipigana. Sentensi inayofuata, ile inayoigeuza sura, ni mstari wa 6: "Usiogope kwa sababu yao; kwa kuwa kesho, panapo saa hii, nitawatoa wote wameuawa mbele ya Israeli." Wakati uliopita tena, ndani ya ujao. Nitawatoa. Neno lile lile ambalo BWANA amelitumia kabla ya kila vita katika vita hivi. Neno lile lile alilolisema huko Yeriko na Ai na Gibeoni. Magari hayabadilishi kitenzi. Idadi haibadilishi kitenzi. Nimewapa. Nitawatoa.And the LORD does fight it. The next sentence, the one that turns the chapter, is verse 6: "Be not afraid because of them: for tomorrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel." Past tense again, in the future. I will deliver them up. The same word the LORD has used before every battle in this campaign. The same word He spoke at Jericho and at Ai and at Gibeon. The chariots do not change the verb. The number does not change the verb. I have given. I will deliver.

Yoshua anafanya kile alichofanya huko Gibeoni: anatembea usiku kucha na kuwaangukia adui alfajiri. "Basi Yoshua akaenda, na watu wote wa vita pamoja naye, juu yao karibu na maji ya Meromu ghafula, wakawaangukia" (Yoshua 11:7). Wapanda farasi hawana muda wa kupanda farasi. Magari hayawezi kugeuka katika ardhi iliyovunjika-vunjika kuzunguka chemchemi. Mshtuko unaondoa nguvu ile ile ambayo muungano ulikuwa ukiitegemea. "BWANA akawatia mikononi mwa Israeli, wakawapiga, wakawafukuza" (11:8) mpaka Sidoni Mkuu, mpaka Misrefoth-maimu, na kuingia bonde la Mispa upande wa mashariki. Hakuna aliyesalia.Joshua does what he did at Gibeon: he marches all night and falls on the enemy at dawn. "So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them" (Joshua 11:7). The cavalry has no time to mount. The chariots cannot maneuver in the broken terrain around the springs. The element of surprise neutralizes the very advantage the coalition was counting on. "And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them" (11:8) all the way to greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim, and into the Valley of Mizpah toward the east. None remained.

Kisha Yoshua anafanya jambo la kushangaza. Mstari wa 9: "Yoshua akawatenda kama BWANA alivyomwamuru; akawakata farasi zao mishipa, na kuyateketeza magari yao kwa moto." Hawateki farasi kwa matumizi ya Israeli. Hayaongezi magari kwenye mali zao. Anakata mishipa ya kila farasi ili asiweze kukimbia tena kamwe, na anateketeza kila gari. Kwa mtazamo wa kijeshi huu ni upotevu. Anaharibu vifaa vinavyofaa ambavyo vingeweza kuwapa Israeli faida katika vita vinavyofuata. Kwa mtazamo wa agano ni kinyume kabisa: ni tendo la utii kwa Kumbukumbu la Torati 17:16, ambapo BWANA alikuwa ameonya kwamba wafalme wa baadaye wa Israeli wasijizidishie farasi.Then Joshua does something striking. Verse 9: "Joshua did unto them as the LORD bade him; he hamstrung their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire." He does not capture the horses for Israel's use. He does not add the chariots to the inventory. He cuts the tendons of every horse so it can never run again, and he burns every chariot. From a military point of view this is wasteful. He is destroying serviceable equipment that could give Israel an edge in the next campaign. From a covenant point of view it is exactly the opposite: it is an act of obedience to Deuteronomy 17:16, where the LORD had warned that future kings of Israel must not multiply horses to themselves.

Kwa nini? Kwa sababu farasi na magari ndiyo jaribu la kudumu la Israeli ya Agano la Kale kutumainia zana za kijeshi badala ya BWANA. "Hawa wanataja magari, na hawa farasi; bali sisi tutalitaja jina la BWANA, Mungu wetu" (Zaburi 20:7). Siku ambayo Israeli watapeleka gari la Kikanaani lililotekwa nyumbani Gilgali ndiyo siku ambayo Israeli wataanza kulitumainia gari lililotekwa kuliko Mungu aliyelitia gari hilo mkononi mwao. Kwa hiyo Yoshua anawakata farasi mishipa. Anayateketeza magari. Anaondoa katika jeshi lake jaribu la baadaye la kudhani kwamba vita vinavyofuata vitashindwa kwa kitu kingine chochote isipokuwa neno lile lile lililoshinda vita hivi: Nimewapa.Why? Because horses and chariots are the standing temptation of Old Testament Israel to trust military hardware instead of the LORD. "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God" (Psalm 20:7). The day Israel takes a captured Canaanite chariot home to Gilgal is the day Israel begins to trust the captured chariot more than the God who delivered the chariot into its hand. So Joshua hamstrings the horses. He burns the chariots. He removes from his army the future temptation to imagine that the next battle will be won by anything other than the same word that won this one: I have given.

Funzo la kiuanafunzi liko juu kabisa. Baadhi ya zawadi ambazo Mungu anaziweka mkononi mwako siku ya ushindi ni zawadi alizokupa uzitumie. Nyingine ni zawadi alizokupa kwa muda wa kutosha tu ili umtii kwa kuziharibu. Israeli walipewa farasi kwa muda wa kutosha tu kuwalemaza. Yoshua, akiwa na miguu ambayo bado imelowa kutoka chemchemi za Meromu, alijua ni aina gani ya ushindi aliyokuwa amekabidhiwa. Aliwakata farasi mishipa.The discipleship lesson sits right on the surface. Some of the gifts God puts into your hand on the day of victory are gifts He has given you to use. Some of them are gifts He has given you only long enough for you to obey Him in destroying them. Israel was given the horses long enough to disable them. Joshua, with feet still wet from the springs of Merom, knew which kind of victory he had been handed. He hamstrung the horses.

Kisha Yoshua anageuka na kuutwaa Hazori wenyewe. Maandiko yako sahihi kuhusu jambo ambalo halijawa sahihi hivyo kabla: "Yoshua akarudi wakati huo, akautwaa Hazori, akampiga mfalme wake kwa upanga; maana Hazori hapo kwanza ulikuwa ndio mkuu wa falme hizo zote" (Yoshua 11:10). Katika miji yote ya kaskazini — na maandiko yanaorodhesha mingi — ni Hazori peke yake unaoteketezwa kwa moto (11:13). Miji mingine inaondolewa wakazi wake lakini inaachwa imesimama. Hazori unasawazishwa na ardhi.Joshua then turns and takes Hazor itself. The text is precise about something that has not been precise before: "Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms" (Joshua 11:10). Of all the cities of the north — and the text lists many — only Hazor is burned with fire (11:13). The other cities are emptied of their inhabitants but left standing. Hazor is leveled.

Sababu iko katika msemo huo mmoja: "mkuu wa falme hizo zote." Hazori haukuwa mji mwingine tu. Ulikuwa mji mkuu wa eneo hilo. Wanaakiolojia wamethibitisha hilo: katika kilele chake katika Enzi ya Shaba ya Mwisho, Hazori ulienea karibu ekari 200 — mara kumi ya ukubwa wa Yeriko — na makadirio ya idadi ya watu yanafikia 20,000. Ulikuwa mji mkubwa zaidi wenye ngome katika Kanaani. Ulidhibiti njia za biashara kutoka Misri hadi Mesopotamia. Kuuacha Hazori umesimama kungemaanisha kuacha kiini cha kimkakati na kisiasa cha Kanaani ya kaskazini kikiwa tayari kuuzalisha upya muungano ule ule ambao Yoshua alikuwa ametoka kuushinda.The reason is in that single phrase: "the head of all those kingdoms." Hazor was not just another city. It was the regional capital. Archaeologists have confirmed it: at its height in the Late Bronze Age, Hazor occupied roughly 200 acres — ten times the size of Jericho — with population estimates running to 20,000. It was the largest fortified city in Canaan. It controlled trade routes from Egypt to Mesopotamia. To leave Hazor standing would have meant leaving the strategic and political nucleus of northern Canaan ready to regenerate the very coalition Joshua had just defeated.

Kwa hiyo Yoshua anautendea Hazori kama daktari mpasuaji anavyoutendea uvimbe wa saratani. Miji mingine inaweza kuondolewa wakazi na kutumika tena; kichwa lazima kiondolewe. Anamuua mfalme wake kwa upanga. Anauteketeza mji mpaka chini. Anatekeleza herem ya BWANA (kuweka wakfu kwa maangamizi) juu ya kitovu cha kimkakati, hata huku akiyaacha majengo ya miji midogo kwa matumizi ya baadaye ya Israeli.So Joshua treats Hazor the way a surgeon treats a tumor. Other cities can be evacuated and reused; the head must come off. He kills its king with the sword. He burns the city to the ground. He executes the LORD's herem (the devotion to destruction) on the strategic center, even while sparing the structures of the secondary cities for Israel's later use.

Kanuni kwa maisha ya Kikristo ni sahihi kabisa. Si kila vita vinapiganwa kwa namna ile ile. Dhambi nyingine katika maisha yako zinaweza kuondolewa, na majengo yakaachwa yamesimama ili BWANA ayatumie kwa kusudi jipya. Dhambi nyingine ni Hazori. Ndizo mkuu wa falme zote zilizo ndani yako. Mpaka kichwa kiteketee, kila mji mwingine "uliouondolea wakazi" utawakusanya tena wakazi wake wa zamani. BWANA ana hekima kuhusu majengo gani anayoyaacha na yapi anayoshikilia yasawazishwe. Yoshua anatambua tofauti hiyo kwa usahihi. Magari yanateketea Meromu. Mji unateketea Hazori. Miji mingine inangoja chini ya umiliki mpya. Yoshua hakuacha neno lolote.The principle for the Christian life is exact. Not every battle is fought the same way. Some sins in your life can be evacuated, the structures left standing for the LORD to repurpose. Some sins are Hazors. They are the head of all the kingdoms inside you. Until the head burns, every other city you "evacuated" is going to gather its old inhabitants back. The LORD is wise about which structures He spares and which He insists on leveling. Joshua reads the difference correctly. The chariots burn at Merom. The city burns at Hazor. The other towns wait under new ownership. Joshua left nothing undone.

Mistari ya 21 na 22 inastahili kifungu chake chenyewe kwa sababu inaponya jeraha lililokuwa wazi kwa miaka arobaini. "Kisha Yoshua akaenda wakati huo, akawakatilia mbali Waanaki, katika nchi ya milima, katika Hebroni, katika Debiri, katika Anabu, na katika nchi yote ya milima ya Yuda, na katika nchi yote ya milima ya Israeli; Yoshua akawaangamiza kabisa, pamoja na miji yao. Hapakusalia hata mmoja wa Waanaki katika nchi ya wana wa Israeli."Verses 21 and 22 deserve their own section because they close a wound that has been open for forty years. "And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakim from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly with their cities. There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel."

Ili kuhisi uzito wa mistari hiyo miwili unapaswa kurudi Hesabu 13. Huko, miaka arobaini kabla, wapelelezi kumi na wawili walikuwa wametumwa katika nchi ile ile. Waliiona miji ile ile — Hebroni hasa. Waliwaona watu wale wale. Na kumi kati ya wale kumi na wawili walirudi na taarifa iliyolivunja taifa: "Tena huko tuliwaona Wanefili, wana wa Anaki, waliotoka kwa Wanefili; tukajiona nafsi zetu kuwa kama mapanzi; nao ndivyo walivyotuona sisi" (Hesabu 13:33). Taarifa ya mapanzi. Waanaki walikuwa wakubwa mno, wa kutisha mno, hata Waisraeli wakahitimisha kwamba nchi isingeweza kutwaliwa. Sentensi hiyo moja iliwagharimu Israeli miaka arobaini ya kutangatanga jangwani na kizazi kizima cha makaburi.To feel the weight of those two verses you have to go back to Numbers 13. There, forty years earlier, twelve spies had been sent into the same land. They saw the same cities — Hebron in particular. They saw the same people. And ten of the twelve came back with the report that broke the nation: "There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight" (Numbers 13:33). The grasshopper report. The Anakim were so large, so fearsome, that the Israelites concluded the land could not be taken. That single sentence cost Israel forty years of wilderness wandering and an entire generation of graves.

Sasa, katika Yoshua 11, Yoshua yule yule aliyekuwa mmoja wa wapelelezi wawili waaminifu anasimama Hebroni na kuwakatilia mbali Waanaki. Mji ule ule. Jamii ile ile ya majitu. Yoshua yule yule. Mkubwa kwa miaka arobaini. Hofu iliyokipooza kizazi chake haimpoozi yeye. Anawaangamiza kabisa pamoja na miji yao. Mapanzi, kumbe, ndio waliokuwa wavunaji tangu mwanzo.Now, in Joshua 11, the same Joshua who had been one of the two faithful spies stands in Hebron and cuts off the Anakim. The same city. The same race of giants. The same Joshua. Forty years older. The fear that paralyzed his generation does not paralyze him. He destroys them utterly with their cities. The grasshoppers, it turns out, were the harvesters all along.

Huu ndio mstari ambapo maisha yote ya Yoshua yanaeleweka. Kwa nini Yoshua, pamoja na Kalebu, ndiye kati ya wale kumi na wawili wa awali aliyeokoka jangwani? Kwa sababu BWANA alikuwa amemhifadhi kwa ajili ya saa hii. Mtu aliyekataa kujiita panzi akiwa na miaka ishirini alipewa fursa, akiwa na labda miaka themanini, ya kuwakata majitu wale wale ambao jina lao lilikuwa limekimaliza kizazi chake. Hapakusalia hata mmoja wa Waanaki katika nchi ya wana wa Israeli. Hofu ya wapelelezi haikuwa na neno la mwisho. Ahadi ya BWANA ndiyo iliyokuwa nalo. (Yoshua anauacha Hebroni wenyewe, ambako baadhi ya Waanaki walikuwa wamerudi, kwa ajili ya Kalebu — tutamwona Kalebu akiudai yeye mwenyewe katika sehemu inayofuata.)This is the verse where Joshua's whole life makes sense. Why was Joshua, alongside Caleb, the one of the original twelve who survived the wilderness? Because the LORD had reserved him for this hour. The man who refused to call himself a grasshopper at twenty was given the privilege at perhaps eighty of cutting down the very giants whose name had ended his generation. There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel. The spies' fear did not have the last word. The LORD's promise did. (Joshua leaves Hebron itself, where some Anakim had retreated, for Caleb — we will see Caleb claim it personally in the next unit.)

Matumizi ya kiuanafunzi ni mazito. Hofu zinazokipooza kizazi kimoja si lazima ziwe hofu zinazokipooza kizazi kinachofuata. Mtazamo wa kujiona panzi ni uongo unaoweza kusimama kwa miaka arobaini. Lakini BWANA anaudumu kuliko huo. Anawainua akina Yoshua wanaorudi Hebroni na kuwakata Waanaki kwa majina yao.The discipleship application is heavy. The fears that paralyze a generation are not necessarily fears that paralyze the next generation. The grasshopper view of yourself is a lie that can stand for forty years. But the LORD outlives it. He raises up Joshuas who walk back into Hebron and cut down the Anakim by name.

Yoshua 11:18 ni mstari mmoja na ni mojawapo ya sentensi zenye moyo wa kichungaji zaidi katika kitabu chote. "Yoshua alifanya vita siku nyingi na wafalme hao wote." Vyovyote vile nyakati zenye msisimko za ushindi, sehemu kubwa yake ilikuwa uvumilivu. Vita vingine vilikuwa Yeriko — siku moja ya kuzunguka. Vingine vilikuwa Ai (mara ya pili) — mvizio mmoja. Vingi vilikuwa kazi ndefu isiyo ya kuvutia ya mji baada ya mji baada ya mji, msimu baada ya msimu, Yoshua akiwa mbele na BWANA akiwa Jemadari. Vita vilivyoanza kwa kuvuka Yordani na kuisha kwa raha ya nchi huenda vilidumu miaka saba (Kalebu, katika Yoshua 14:10, anaonyesha umri wake wakati huo kuwa miaka 85, na kuvuka kwake kuwa akiwa na miaka 78 au 79).Joshua 11:18 is one verse and one of the most pastoral sentences in the entire book. "Joshua made war a long time with all those kings." Whatever the dramatic moments of the conquest, the bulk of it was endurance. Some battles were Jericho — a single day of marching. Some were Ai (the second time) — a single ambush. Most were the long, unspectacular grind of city after city after city, season after season, with Joshua at the head and the LORD as Captain. The campaign that began with the Jordan crossing and ended with the rest of the land probably ran seven years (Caleb, in Joshua 14:10, dates his entry at age 85, and his crossing at 78 or 79).

Sura hii inawaita waamini kusoma maisha yao wenyewe jinsi Yoshua 11 inavyosoma maisha yake. Alifanya vita siku nyingi ni maelezo, si malalamiko. BWANA hapimi uaminifu katika nyakati ambapo ukuta unaanguka tu. Anaupima vivyo hivyo katika vipindi ambapo ukuta hauanguki na mwamini anaendelea kutembea hata hivyo. William Carey alikuwa na miaka thelathini na miwili aliposafiri kwa meli kwenda India. Alikaa miaka saba huko Bengali kabla ya kumwona Mhindi aliyeamini akibatizwa. Alikaa huko miaka arobaini mingine. Wakati alipokufa alikuwa ametafsiri Biblia au sehemu zake katika lugha zaidi ya thelathini za India. Kichwa cha sura juu ya maisha yake ni kichwa kile kile cha sura cha Yoshua 11: alifanya vita siku nyingi. Adoniram Judson alikuwa na miaka thelathini na minne alipofika Burma. Miaka sita kabla ya mwongofu wake wa kwanza. Miongo ya kifungo, ugonjwa, kufiwa na wake wawili, kufiwa na watoto. Kichwa cha sura ni kile kile: alifanya vita siku nyingi.The chapter calls believers to read their own lives the way Joshua 11 reads his. Made war a long time is a description, not a complaint. The LORD does not measure faithfulness only in the moments where the wall falls. He measures it just as much in the seasons where the wall does not fall and the believer keeps marching anyway. William Carey was thirty-two when he sailed for India. He spent seven years in Bengal before he saw an Indian believer baptized. He spent forty more years there. By the time he died he had translated the Bible or portions of it into more than thirty Indian languages. The chapter heading on his life is the same chapter heading as Joshua 11: made war a long time. Adoniram Judson was thirty-four when he reached Burma. Six years before his first convert. Decades of imprisonment, sickness, the loss of two wives, the loss of children. The chapter heading is the same: made war a long time.

Ni nini kinachodumisha utii wa muda mrefu? Mambo matatu, na sura hii inaonyesha yote matatu.What sustains the long obedience? Three things, and the chapter shows all three.

Kwanza, neno lililo wazi kutoka kwa BWANA lisilobadilika. Lile lile "Nimewatia mikononi mwako" ambalo Yoshua alilisikia kabla ya Yeriko ndilo neno analoendelea kulisikia kabla ya Hazori. Ahadi haijatolewa upya kwa kila vita. Haijaongezwa. Ni neno la awali, bado lina nguvu, bado linafanya kazi yake katika mwaka wa saba. Utii wa muda mrefu unaendeshwa na ahadi ya jana pamoja na ya leo.First, a clear word from the LORD that does not change. The same "I have delivered them" that Joshua heard before Jericho is the word he is still hearing before Hazor. The promise has not been re-issued for each battle. It has not been topped up. It is the original word, still in force, still doing its work in year seven. Long obedience runs on yesterday's promise as well as today's.

Pili, kukataa kuhifadhi nyara. Farasi waliokatwa mishipa. Magari yaliyoteketezwa. Yoshua anakataa kuruhusu ushindi wa jana kuwa sanamu ya kesho. Mwamini anayeokoka vita virefu ni yule anayeendelea kuyaharibu magari ambayo Mungu alikusudia yaharibiwe, hata baada ya vita vilivyoyazalisha kwisha.Second, a refusal to keep the trophies. Hamstrung horses. Burned chariots. Joshua refuses to let yesterday's victory become tomorrow's idol. The believer who survives the long campaign is the one who keeps destroying the chariots God meant for destruction, even after the battle that produced them is over.

Tatu, utayari wa kuendelea kupita nyakati zenye msisimko. Maandiko yanaandika tu kwamba vita viliendelea. Hayaombi radhi kwa kukosekana kwa fataki. Sehemu kubwa ya maisha ya Kikristo ni Yoshua 11. Lizoee hilo, na sura hii inakuwa rehema. Likatae, na kila kipindi kisicho na Siku Ndefu kinaonekana kama kushindwa.Third, the willingness to keep going past the dramatic moments. The text simply records that the war continued. It does not apologize for the lack of fireworks. Most of the Christian life is Joshua 11. Get used to that, and the chapter becomes a mercy. Refuse it, and every season without a Long Day looks like failure.

Yoshua 12 kwa mara ya kwanza inaonekana kama sura inayochosha zaidi katika kitabu. Ni orodha. Mistari ishirini na minne, safu mbili. Safu ya mashariki ya Yordani inaorodhesha wafalme wawili ambao Musa aliwashinda chini ya amri ya Mungu kabla hajafa — Sihoni mfalme wa Waamori huko Heshboni, na Ogu mfalme wa Bashani, wa mabaki ya Warefai. Safu ya magharibi ya Yordani inaorodhesha wafalme thelathini na mmoja ambao Yoshua aliwashinda, kwa jina na mji, kwa mpangilio wa kijiografia kutoka Yeriko upande wa kusini hadi kaskazini ya Galilaya. "Wafalme wote ni thelathini na mmoja" (Yoshua 12:24).Joshua 12 looks at first like the dullest chapter in the book. It is a list. Twenty-four verses, two columns. The east-Jordan column lists the two kings Moses defeated under God's command before he died — Sihon king of the Amorites at Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, the last of the Rephaim. The west-Jordan column lists the thirty-one kings Joshua defeated, by name and city, in geographical sweep from Jericho in the south up through the Galilean north. "All the kings, thirty and one" (Joshua 12:24).

Hii si sehemu ya kujaza nafasi. Hii ni hati ya umiliki ya ushindi. Kila mstari ni ahadi ya agano iliyotimizwa. Mungu yule yule aliyemwambia Ibrahimu katika Mwanzo 15, "Uzao wako nimewapa nchi hii," ndiye Mungu ambaye daftari lake Yoshua sasa analifunga katika sura ya 12. Kila jina katika orodha ni ushahidi mmoja zaidi kwamba BWANA hajasahau alichosema. Kila mji ni tofali moja zaidi la ushahidi kwamba utii wa muda mrefu ulizaa kile hasa kilichoahidiwa, bila upungufu wowote.This is not filler. This is the deed-book of the conquest. Each line is a covenant promise that has been kept. The same God who said to Abraham in Genesis 15, "Unto thy seed have I given this land," is the God whose ledger Joshua now closes in chapter 12. Every name on the list is one more proof that the LORD has not forgotten what He said. Every city is one more brick of evidence that the long obedience produced exactly what was promised, with no shortfall.

Sura hii pia ni ukumbusho wa kiuanafunzi kwa msomaji. BWANA anaweka kumbukumbu. Anaweka kumbukumbu za miji uliyoitwaa, kwa jina lake, kwa neno lake, katika vita vyako mwenyewe virefu. Anaweka kumbukumbu za magari uliyoyalemaza, Hazori ulizozisawazisha, Waanaki uliokataa kuwaita tena kuwa wewe ni panzi mbele yao. Sura hii inachosha tu kama huamini katika mtunza hesabu. Ukimwamini, Yoshua 12 inasomeka kama sura inayotia moyo zaidi katika ushindi, kwa sababu inasema: hakuna kilichosahauliwa. Kila vita kilihesabiwa.The chapter is also a discipleship reminder for the reader. The LORD keeps records. He keeps records of the cities you have taken, in His name, by His word, in your own long campaign. He keeps records of the chariots you have hamstrung, the Hazors you have leveled, the Anakim you have refused to call grasshoppers anymore. The chapter is dull only if you do not believe in the bookkeeper. If you do, Joshua 12 reads like the most encouraging chapter in the conquest, because it says: nothing was forgotten. Every battle counted.

Muundo wa sura pia unasema jambo fulani kwa utulivu. Wafalme wawili chini ya Musa. Wafalme thelathini na mmoja chini ya Yoshua. Mtindo huu ndio mtindo unaojirudia katika kila uamsho katika historia ya kanisa: Musa anaweka masharti, na Yoshua anamaliza kazi. Wesley anaanza, na wahubiri wasafiri elfu kumi wanaifunga miji. Carey anafungua India, na watafsiri elfu moja wanamaliza alichokianza. Musa anaupa upanga alama zake mbili za kwanza; Yoshua anaupa thelathini na moja zaidi. Kitabu cha uaminifu wa Mungu kina safu nyingi. Yako itakuwa mojawapo.The structure of the chapter also says something quiet. Two kings under Moses. Thirty-one kings under Joshua. The pattern is the pattern that recurs across every revival in church history: a Moses sets the terms, and a Joshua finishes the work. Wesley begins, and ten thousand circuit riders close the cities. Carey opens India, and a thousand translators finish what he started. Moses gives the sword its first two notches; Joshua gives it thirty-one more. The book of God's faithfulness has many columns. Yours will be one of them.

Yoshua 11 inamalizika kwa mojawapo ya sentensi kuu za utulivu katika Agano la Kale: "Basi Yoshua akaitwaa nchi yote, sawasawa na yote BWANA aliyomwambia Musa; naye Yoshua akawapa Israeli iwe urithi wao, kama walivyogawanyika kwa kabila zao. Nayo nchi ikapumzika vita" (Yoshua 11:23). Kitenzi katika kifungu cha mwisho kina mzizi ule ule wa Kiebrania kama nomino Sabato. Nchi ilishika sabato. Baada ya miaka saba ya vita — mwangwi wa siku saba huko Yeriko — nchi ilipumzika.Joshua 11 closes with one of the great quiet sentences in the Old Testament: "So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war" (Joshua 11:23). The verb in the last clause is the same Hebrew root as the noun Sabbath. The land sabbathed. After seven years of campaign — an echo of the seven days at Jericho — the land rested.

Maelezo mawili mafupi yanaifunga sehemu hii. Kwanza, raha hiyo ni halisi lakini ni ya sehemu tu. Bado kuna urithi wa kugawanya. Bado kuna maeneo madogo ambayo makabila yatapaswa kuyasafisha kila moja peke yake. Kitabu cha Waamuzi kitaonyesha baadhi ya maeneo hayo yakipotea tena. Raha ya Yoshua 11 ni raha baada ya vita virefu, lakini bado si raha ya mwisho. Waebrania 4 itaichukua kamba hiyo baadaye: "Basi, imesalia raha ya sabato kwa watu wa Mungu." Raha ya Yoshua ni malipo ya awali ya raha anayoitoa Kristo.Two short notes close the unit. First, the rest is real but partial. There is still inheritance to divide. There are still pockets the tribes will have to clear individually. The book of Judges will show some of those pockets being lost again. The rest of Joshua 11 is the rest after the long campaign, but it is not yet the final rest. Hebrews 4 will pick up that thread later: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." Joshua's rest is the down payment on the rest Christ gives.

Na pili, raha inakuja baada ya vita, si badala yake. Nchi inapumzika kwa sababu Yoshua alifanya vita siku nyingi. Magari yameteketezwa, Waanaki wamekatwa, Hazori ni majivu, na hapo tu ndipo nchi inapumzika. Mkristo anayetaka Yoshua 11:23 bila Yoshua 11:18 anaomba sura isiyokuwepo. Nayo nchi ikapumzika vita ndicho Mungu anachosema juu ya vita vilivyomalizwa. Hasemi hivyo juu ya vita vilivyokwepwa.And second, the rest comes after the war, not instead of it. The land rests because Joshua made war a long time. The chariots are burned, the Anakim are cut down, Hazor is ash, and only then does the land rest. The Christian who wants Joshua 11:23 without Joshua 11:18 is asking for a chapter that does not exist. The land rested from war is what God says over a campaign that was finished. He does not say it over a campaign that was avoided.

Kwa hiyo sehemu hii inafungwa jinsi Yoshua 11 inavyofungwa. Kwa utulivu. Bila tarumbeta. Kwa ukiri rahisi kwamba BWANA alifanya hasa alichosema angefanya, na mwamini katika utii wa muda mrefu alifanya hasa kile BWANA alichosema afanye. Yoshua hakuacha neno lolote katika yote BWANA aliyomwamuru Musa. Mungu atujalie maneno hayo hayo juu ya kaburi letu.So this unit closes the way Joshua 11 closes. Quietly. Without trumpets. With the simple confession that the LORD did exactly what He said He would do, and the believer in the long obedience did exactly what the LORD said to do. Joshua left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses. God grant us the same epitaph.

Vita vya kati (Yeriko, Ai, Gibeoni)Central campaign (Jericho, Ai, Gibeon) Vita vya kusini (muungano wa wafalme watano)Southern campaign (the five-king coalition) Vita vya kaskazini (Meromu, Hazori)Northern campaign (Merom, Hazor)