Joshua, Chapter 12 - 31 Kings Defeated | Prophets of Israel

[music] >> Shalom friends, welcome to the Prophets Visceral Daily. I'm Jeremy Gimpel here with [music] Ari Abramowitz and this is chapter 12 of the book of Joshua. This series is brought to you by the Land of Israel Network at the landofisrael.com. At first glance, you look at chapter 12 and it looks like a little dry. It's just a list of defeated kings. There's no miracles, there's no walls falling, no dramatic speeches, no stories. It's literally just a list, but if you look again, this chapter is doing something very deliberate. It's documenting carefully, methodically, that promises made by God are kept. That what was promised to the people of Israel isn't just poetry. It's becoming geography. It's reality. They're real and they're in the world. They're measurable and that's true today. You see, every type of um replacement theology, someone that wants to replace Israel, they always have to turn God's promises to Israel into analogies. They spiritualize them. That's why they hate Israel and Zionism so much. They have to look at this modern country and the Jewish return to the land of Israel and come to grips with reality that God's word is true. God is alive and he's guiding the world toward its destiny and that's why there's so much hatred directed toward Israel. And on the other hand, that's why there's so much love. But Ari, I'm going to do my very best to make this list as exciting as I possibly can. Well, I appreciate the confidence there because when people hear, you know, a chapter that basically is a list of kings, those chapters appear in the Bible and the Tanakh and different the first instinct, at least mine, is often like, "All right, I'm going to turn this to two times speed, maybe 2.5." But uh but here's the truth. This list is actually really important because it isn't just a list of names. It's proof, right? Every king on this list represents a real battle, a a real city, real soldiers, real fear, a real victory, right? This is where the Bible basically paused the story and says, "Let's document what actually happened here." And and I think on a subconscious level, this is important for all of us because these are not ancient myths or tall tales. This is as real as it gets and if your heart is open in the right way, I think encountering these details really does drive that home. Exactly. And I think that's one of the main missions of this journey through Tanakh because the more the real the stories become in the book of Joshua, the more relevant they are for our own journey here in the land of Israel in our own times. So, chapter 12 is essentially a historical summary. First, it lists the kings defeated by Moses at the Jordan, on the other side of the Jordan, and then it lists the kings defeated by Joshua west of the Jordan. 31 kings in total. And why does this matter? And I think it's like exactly what Ari said, the Torah and the prophets were very careful with history. This chapter is like an unofficial record, a divine receipt, showing that the conquest of the land is real, measurable, and it's unfolding step by step. And on that note, there has never been an archaeological discovery in Israel that contradicts the Bible. Every time they've dug anywhere around the country, they find that the Bible is true and accurate 100% all of the time. And uh let's get back into the chapter. And so, it begins with writing us the story and it didn't begin with Joshua. It started with Moses and we read about the defeat of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. And those were the first two cracks in the seemingly impossible conquest of the land of Israel. And then the chapter shifts west of the Jordan and here we get the famous list. One after another. Jericho, Ai, Jerusalem, Hebron, Lachish, Hazor, Eglon, Gezer. Each name is like a milestone marker on the road toward redemption. But think about what this means. 31 independent city-states defeated. Not by a superpower empire, but by a nation that just left the wilderness. I mean, each name on that list was another battle, another entire drama, the risk, the fears, the loss. Israel had to risk it all to inherit the land and Israel won every time. And so, even then, Israel was the most revered military in the region. And somehow, the children of slaves, wanderers in the desert, who were never trained, defeated every single adversary. Wait, can we just pause for a second and take that in because it's just, you know, you read the words of the Bible black and white and so sometimes it just goes by you and the reality of it, you just got to really try to take it in. You know, 31 kings. Think about that. It really puts today into perspective. You know, this very moment we're surrounded by 22 Arab states. You know, I guess after seeing these chapters, I should say only 22 Arab states. I mean, the Israelites of Joshua's time were facing 31 kingdoms, 31 armies armed with swords, shields, chariots, soldiers. All of them were like girded and ready for battle. I mean, it's hard to wrap your mind around the sheer magnitude of it. Exactly. And that's part of the point. This wasn't one lucky battle. This was sustained, consistent, and almost unbelievable progress, which is exactly why the chapter lists every single king to make it undeniable. But there's also a spiritual layer here. I mean, notice what's happening structurally. First, Moses begins the process. Then Joshua continues it. Slowly, the land is being secured piece by piece. This teaches something profound about how redemption really works. It's rarely instantaneous. It comes step by step, battle by battle, generation by generation. The redemption is like a sunrise and slowly rising over the dark horizon, the light will shine soon. And you know, people have this fantasy about the redemption. It's going to happen all at once. Messiah will just show up one day and fix everything. 770 will fly across the sky all the way to Israel. The Messiah will magically appear and wrap things up by the afternoon. But that's not the picture that's painted by Joshua and for a matter of fact, it's not the picture painted by Ezra and Nehemiah, either, in their return to the land of Israel. So, the book of Joshua is the first of the prophetic writings and it's teaching us one of the most important principles of growth in biblical destiny. Big transformations are built out of many small victories. I mean, the book doesn't just celebrate the dramatic moments. It records every king, every city, every step forward and we look at the modern state of Israel, the parallels are striking, at least. I mean, like in Joshua's time, the return to the land didn't happen overnight. They came wave by wave, challenge by challenge, generation after generation. We've been up against impossible odds, surrounded by nations that just Joshua reminds us, 31 kings didn't fall in one day. And what looks slow in the moment will be seen historic in the long run. I want to add one more dimension to understanding this chapter. Everything in the Bible is a spiritual blueprint for our lives and I feel like this chapter is teaching us all a lesson. Maybe today your progress feels small. Maybe your journey feels unfinished. But Joshua chapter 12 comes to tell you that the redemption is built one faithful step at a time. So, keep going. Keep building. Keep advancing. Keep track of every victory. Even if they seem small because the story that looks like a simple list today may one day be the road map to something truly extraordinary. All right, my friends, we will see you tomorrow with chapter 13 and always I want to invite you to take the next step on the journey and join our global community united by a love for Israel, inspired by [music] the Torah and biblical prophecy, the Land of Israel fellowship. You can find out more at the landofisrael.com. We'll see you tomorrow.