Saturday - Joshua 11 - Canaan Subdued

Not all of the Canaanites were killed during the days of Joshua - nor afterward either, for that matter. Joshua 11:22 even specifies some of those enemies that remained and where they lived. However, the time of war did indeed come to an end during the days of Joshua. In other words, when Joshua was done leading the conquest there were no sizable military threats left in Canaan to come against Israel. The only thing left for them to do was to possess the land that was there before them.  Sadly, they never did that.  And, because they did not take the land which was given to them, eventually the locals rejuvenated their own collective strength and gave the Jews much grief for the many ages that were still to come... even until today.

But, the land did rest from war. How relieving it must have been to be able to settle into a safe and secure routine. To establish homes and families and to live in peace... it is a God-given dream of the human heart. Sadly, we will soon discover that when the people got comfortable, they lost sight of their God. After the death of Joshua, many generations of Jews were destined go through many cycles of rebellion and revival.