And it came to pass when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it, that he had done to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them,
Joshua 10 opens with a king in Jerusalem hearing news. Two cities are destroyed, and a third, Gibeon, has gone over to Israel. His fear does not send him to God. It sends him to the other kings of Canaan, and the Bible names Jerusalem here for the first time.
In the previous chapter Israel made a treaty with Gibeon without asking God. That mistake did not settle the land. It pulled the remaining kings into one army. Even so, the outcome stayed in God's hand.
What had just taken place did not check the threatened alliance of the Canaanite nations. It completed that alliance and aimed it at Gibeon… So Gibeon becomes the target of attack. But Jehovah carries out His purposes. This is a great and gracious consolation. There is never ground to distrust the Lord, no matter what the circumstances may be. We may have been foolish, hasty, and drawn into a snare, but we are never justified in distrusting Him.
The kings did not march on Israel's camp. They marched on the city that had changed sides. Gibeon now lived among Israel as their servants, and war followed at once.
Gibeon was no help to Israel. They became the reason the remaining kings of Canaan joined forces. Those kings wanted revenge on a city that in their eyes had turned traitor. Gibeon, now the servants of Israel, call on their masters for protection. This alliance brings immediate war. Satan resents that Gibeon has submitted to the word of God and to the people of God. He gathers his forces against them. But this only displays, in greater glory, the presence of the great Captain of the armies of Israel.
Jerusalem enters the Bible here, and the setting matters.
This is the first time the Bible mentions the name Jerusalem… It comes in connection with war, and the next time we find Jerusalem on fire (Judges 1:8). We may take this as a prophecy of that city's history. Yet something better is in store for Jerusalem. Adoni-zedec is here the King of Jerusalem. His name means "lord of righteousness." He stands as the counterfeit king, set against Jerusalem's true King, the true Melchizedec, King of righteousness and King of peace. He is a type of Antichrist.
Long before, another king ruled the same place under almost the same name. The title survived. What stood behind it had gone.
The king of Jerusalem, Adoni-zedec (the Lord of Righteousness), had a title much like that of the king before him, Melchizedek (King of Righteousness). In that day Jerusalem (peaceful possession, or possession of peace) was called Salem (Peace)… In those days people honoured the living God in Salem… But now Hebron receives the first call to fight against Israel. So by the time of this alliance of kings, the nations of Canaan had thrown off the fear of the Most High. They worshipped the sun and the moon, Baal and Ashtaroth (Judges 2:13). Their iniquity was full. Their harvest had passed, their summer had ended, and the wrath of God was about to fall on them.
Israel now has to fight to protect the very people they should have destroyed. One writer sets this failure beside the earlier one at Ai.
Note the difference of the ways of God. At Ai there is real sin. Lust is at work in the camp. So God will not go out with the army. He will not excuse sin and strengthen it by letting it pass unnoticed. At Gibeon there was false self-confidence after blessing. They did not consult God, so they are bound to their enemies. Now they must defend, and save from destruction, the very thing they ought to have destroyed or taken for themselves.
Joshua could have broken the treaty and walked away. He kept his word instead, and God met him.
Joshua seems to have understood that his hard situation came from their failure. Adding more failure, by breaking his word, was not the right way to go. Again we see God's mercy after failure when there is an upright heart. He says to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you" (v. 8).
- Heard — News of Jericho, Ai and Gibeon reached Jerusalem. The king answered with fear, and fear hardened into an alliance instead of submission.
- Feared — Canaan once honoured the living God at Salem. By now the nations had thrown that fear off. Their iniquity was full, and judgement was due.
- Counterfeit — Adoni-zedek means "lord of righteousness." He is a false king in the city whose true King is the real King of righteousness and peace.
- Consequence — A treaty made without asking God left Israel defending what they were meant to destroy. Failure costs more than the moment it is made in.
- Mercy — Joshua kept his word instead of adding a second fault. God answered his upright heart: "Do not fear them." A snare is never a reason to distrust the Lord.
that they feared greatly; for Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
Joshua's army has taken Jericho and Ai. Now a third Canaanite city, Gibeon, has joined Israel by treaty instead of by battle, and verse 2 shows what that news did to the king of Jerusalem: not repentance, but fear, with reasons attached.
Gibeon's peace with Israel had the opposite effect on the rest of Canaan.
What had just taken place did not check the threatened alliance of the Canaanite nations. It completed that alliance, and aimed it at Gibeon.
The verse explains the size of the alarm. Gibeon was no minor town.
The news of Gibeon's treaty with Israel greatly alarmed the other nations in the land. Gibeon counted as a prominent and important city. So the king of Jerusalem took the lead and enlisted four other kings to attack it.
Gibeon's history shows why it counted for so much:
Gibeon was the leading city of the four that tricked Joshua into making a treaty with them. They claimed they had come from far away (Joshua 9:3-17)… The city was later given to Benjamin and made a city of the Levites. In the days of Solomon, before the temple was built, the tabernacle stood at Gibeon. Solomon went there and offered a thousand sacrifices. There God appeared to him in a dream and gave him the desire of his heart — wisdom and understanding.
Verse 1 names the man who feels this fear. Both his name and his city carry meaning.
Here the Bible mentions the name Jerusalem for the first time… It comes up in connection with war, and the next time we find Jerusalem on fire (Judges 1:8). We may take this as a prophecy of that city's history. Yet something better is in store for Jerusalem. Adoni-zedec is here the King of Jerusalem. His name means "lord of righteousness." He is the counterfeit king, set against Jerusalem's true King — the true Melchizedek, King of righteousness and King of peace.
Adoni-zedec was not the first king of that city to carry such a title:
The king of Jerusalem, Adoni-zedec (the Lord of Righteousness), bore a title like that of his predecessor, Melchizedek (King of Righteousness). In those days Jerusalem (peaceful possession, or possession of peace) was called Salem (Peace), and the living God was honoured there… By the time these kings joined forces, the nations of Canaan had shaken off the fear of the Most High.
The fear of verse 2 does not stay fear. Its target is not Israel but the city that joined Israel.
Gibeon was no help to Israel. The Gibeonites became the occasion that brought the remaining kings of Canaan together. Those kings wanted revenge on a city that in their eyes had turned traitor. Gibeon, now the servants of Israel, call on their masters for protection. This alliance brings immediate war. Satan resents Gibeon's submission to the word of God and to the people of God. He gathers his forces against them. But this only shows the presence of the great Captain of Israel's hosts in greater glory.
Israel's treaty with Gibeon was a hasty mistake. The enemy's fear now turns it into the setting for God's purpose.
Gibeon becomes an object of attack; but Jehovah accomplishes His designs. This is a great and gracious consolation. There is never ground to distrust the Lord, no matter what the circumstances may be. We may have been foolish, hasty, and drawn into a snare, but we are never justified in distrusting Him.
Neither choice open to Israel was comfortable.
Suppose Israel did not go up, and let others cut the Gibeonites to pieces. That would free them from the consequences of their failure. But where would be the humbling they needed? Would it be upright towards God or man? To go up, on the other hand, would look like a settled approval of association with the world. Such dilemmas are common with Satan… The only way out of the difficulty is by simple dependence on God.
- Report. News of Gibeon's peace with Israel reached Jerusalem. It did not check the kings of Canaan; it completed their alliance.
- Fear. Adoni-zedec's fear was measured, not blind. Gibeon outranked Ai, and a strong city had changed sides.
- Counterfeit. Jerusalem appears here for the first time in the Bible, and it appears at war. Its "lord of righteousness" is the counterfeit of the true King of righteousness and peace.
- Attack. Submission to God's people draws fire. The kings turn on Gibeon, and that only puts Israel's great Captain on display.
- Overruled. Israel's hasty treaty becomes God's opportunity. A past failure never justifies distrusting the Lord. It calls for simple dependence on Him.