Joshua 10:6–11

And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.”

So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.” Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. So the LORD routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.

Gilgal to Gibeon is about 20 miles and it’s significantly uphill. That’s pulling one heck of an all-nighter. Joshua’s response to the Gibeonite plea for help is astonishing.

Remember, Joshua was tricked into a covenant of peace with the Gibeonites. No one said anything about protecting them.

So, Joshua had every justification to say, “Serves them right for tricking us,” and let the Gibeonites and the other armies exhaust all their resources fighting among themselves. That would just make them easier pickings later. Instead, Joshua jumps into action big time. Something special is going on here.

It’s the covenant. The covenant between Israel and the Gibeonites isn’t just binding; it’s sacred.

Even though their covenant didn’t specify a treaty of mutual protection, the sacred nature of a covenant implies that automatically. This is hard for modern people to wrap their minds around.

But Joshua understands. So, Joshua honors the covenant to the fullest extent possible, and the LORD responds with a spectacular blessing. He uses a freak weather event as a weapon to help out the Israelite army. The text specifically notes that the hailstones did most of the killing.

This confirms that Joshua racing to Gibeon’s defense was the right thing to do.

An almost identical hailstorm happened in 1360, changing the course of the Hundred Years War. As the British army camped outside Chartres, France, a sudden hailstorm killed about a thousand British troops and six thousand horses. The British invasion of France was going well up to that point, but King Edward III was so convinced the storm was God’s wrath against his actions that he dismounted his horse and knelt in a prayer of repentance. Within the month, he agreed to the Treaty of Brétigny.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Monday_(1360)

It seems that Edward was mindful of this passage.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.