And Joshua passed, and all Israel with him, from Libnah to Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it.
The five kings are dead and their armies broken, yet the campaign does not pause: Joshua marches the army on to the next fortified town. Why must a people already handed a crushing victory still besiege one more city?
Lachish is one link in a chain. The towns Israel takes are stages on the way to owning what God had promised.
From this point on nothing stops Israel's victorious progress (v. 19). They must strike the enemies until none remain. The five kings are taken and hung on five trees... Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir are their stages of victory. They take possession of their inheritance, and then "they returned to the camp at Gilgal" (v. 43).
The march from Libnah to Lachish answers the question: Israel took the victory God had just given as ground to advance from.
Israel was not to use the victory over the multitudes of Canaan in a half-hearted way. Success should only be the occasion for fresh effort. In their energy for the Lord, Israel pursued and killed until not one enemy remained. Such is the spirit of true Christian warfare. The present advantage becomes the base line for advance to further victory. Every success, properly understood, is only a spur to further conquest.
A group of kings had attacked Joshua. He could have spent the rest of the war chasing them down.
Another lesson here is this. Led by the Lord, Joshua does not let the attack of his enemies turn him aside to chase them. Nor does it stop him following the course which the Lord Himself sets before him in his conquests. He takes the cities which are on the road the Lord leads him.
Lachish was no minor village. Its king and its position on the map both explain why Joshua could not pass it by.
An Amorite city in the lowlands of Judah. Its king was one of the four the king of Jerusalem called on to join him in attacking Gibeon, which had made peace with the Israelites. But the Amorites were struck down, and Joshua took Lachish after a siege of two days. It was a fortified city on the route running from north to south.
Here Israel laid siege to the city and fought against it. Commentators tie that resistance to the strength of the place, though they differ over what the name means.
Lachish is again a difficult word. Gesenius, from the Arabic, takes the meaning "obstinate," referring to how hard it was to assault. Young makes it similar to Jarmuth — "height"... In Hebrew we can only find a meaning, it seems, by dividing it. Lach-ish may then mean "walk (as) men." In fact Lachish held out against Joshua longer than most cities of the land, though not long. It fell on the second day.
Another writer takes that same reading of the name as a picture of Christian conduct.
From Libnah they passed on to Lachish, whose name we have noted as meaning "walk as men." Its army had already lost the battle. Now the inhabitants are killed and Israel captures the city (v. 32). A true walk as men who honour God can only belong to those who are born again.
Joshua camps and Joshua fights, yet the record gives the credit elsewhere. One fact explains the speed of the whole southern sweep.
The kings conquered and killed, city after city fell fast as "the LORD gave them" into Israel's hands. So the whole of the south country — hills, valleys and springs — became their possession. "And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel." It was a very great conquest "at one time." Thinking it over can only stir soldiers of Christ to faith and zeal, and move them to act in simple obedience to the Lord.
- One stage — Lachish is a stop on the march, not the end of it. Israel presses on until no enemy remains.
- One footing — Israel uses the last victory as the base line for the next advance, never as a place to settle.
- One road — Joshua does not chase the enemies who attacked him. He takes the cities that lie on the path the Lord leads him.
- One fortress — Lachish was a fortified town on the main north–south road. It held out longer than most, and fell on the second day.
- One victor — the cities fell because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. That fact should stir faith, zeal and plain obedience today.
And Jehovah gave Lachish into the hand of Israel; and they took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah.
The long day at Gibeon is over, and Joshua now moves south through Canaan city by city — Makkedah, Libnah, and then Lachish. Here the Lord gives the city, Israel's sword takes it, and Lachish falls a day later than the rest, ending as Libnah did.
Lachish is one stage in a campaign that writers trace to God from start to finish.
The kings were conquered and killed. City after city fell quickly as "the Lord delivered them" into Israel's hands. So the whole of the south country — hills, valleys and springs — became their possession. "And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel." It was a very great conquest "at one time." Thinking about it can only stir soldiers of Christ to faith and zeal, and to act in simple obedience to the Lord.
Yet God does not act instead of His people. He gives the city, and He still sends men against its walls.
He uses His people, and in a certain sense it was gracious of Him to do so. He could now, as at the Red Sea, have done everything without them. But He chose to employ the people of God... it is short-sighted and irreverent folly to miss the honour of sharing the Lord's work at that time.
Lachish took two days, not one. Writers tie that extra day to the city's strength, and to the meaning of its name.
Lachish is again a difficult word. Gesenius, from the Arabic, takes the meaning to be "obstinate," because the city could not be stormed... In Hebrew we can only find a meaning, it seems, by dividing it. Lach-ish may then mean "walk (as) men." In fact Lachish stood against Joshua longer than most cities of the land, though not long. Joshua took it on the second day.
Its strength was not only in its walls but in where it stood.
An Amorite city in the lowlands of Judah. The king of Jerusalem called on its king, as one of four, to join him in attacking Gibeon. Gibeon had made peace with the Israelites. But the Amorites were defeated, and Joshua took Lachish after a siege of two days. It was a fortified city on the route running from north to south.
Lachish is not simply an obstacle removed. It is property handed over. That is why the verse spends no words on how the walls fell, and reports only the city struck and its people destroyed.
Do not look at the captured cities simply as strongholds of the enemy. They belong to Israel by the gift of God. Many of them appear later in Israel's history, so what they mean for us matters all the more... The account here gives no details of the assault. It records nothing except the destruction of the inhabitants. The names of the captured cities seem to be the only significant thing.
Commentators differ on where the name comes from. Those who read it as "walk as men" find a lesson in the city passing into Israel's hands.
The third city is Lachish, which we have already seen under its Canaanite king, but which we now have to see as a possession of Israel... it is a city of the land beyond the Jordan, the heavenly country. "Walk as men" is the meaning of "Lachish." How else, then, can we read it except as "walk as in the risen Man — not as of the world, but as heavenly, as Christ is"?
The same reading also shows who can walk that way.
From Libnah they passed to Lachish. We have noted that its name means "walk as men". Its army had already lost the battle. Now the inhabitants are killed and Israel captures the city (v.32). A true walk as men who honour God can only belong to those who are born again.
Lachish is a link in a chain, not a single episode. Writers read the list of cities as a route with a destination.
From this time nothing stops Israel's victorious progress (v. 19). They must strike the enemies until none remain... Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir are their victorious stages. They take possession of their inheritance, and then "they return to the camp to Gilgal." (v. 43)
- Given — Lachish did not fall to better tactics. It fell because the Lord handed it over. He fought for Israel through the whole southern campaign.
- Given, yet used — He could have done it all alone, as at the Red Sea. He chose to use His people. That is their honour, not His need.
- Given, yet resisted — this city held out two days, longer than most. Strong walls on a main road slow the advance. They do not stop it.
- Given as inheritance — the cities are not just enemy positions cleared away. They belong to Israel by God's gift. That is why their names matter more than the siege.
- Given to the risen — "walk as men" in Israel's hands speaks of a walk shaped by the risen Christ. Only those born again can walk it.