Joshua 10:19

And stay you not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them, suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the Lord your God hath deliuered them into your hand. Joshua 10:19 (KJV)

Joshua 10 records the conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership. In this verse Joshua is instructing his men to pursue and defeat the enemies they had been fighting against. The immediate historical context is a military campaign against five Amorite kings who had gathered to fight against Gibeon, a city that had made a covenant of peace with Israel. The Israelites came to the aid of Gibeon and were victorious in battle.

Throughout the chapter the narrative emphasizes that the Lord delivered the enemies into the hands of the Israelites. The victories are presented as resulting from God’s intervention rather than solely from human strength or military strategy. This highlights the importance of recognizing and acknowledging God’s role in our victories and achievements.

Joshua’s command to “stay not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them” stresses decisiveness and determination in carrying out God’s commands. The Israelites were not to show mercy or allow the enemy to escape, but to relentlessly pursue and defeat them. The instruction to prevent the enemies from entering their cities serves to deny them any chance to regroup or seek refuge in fortified places, symbolising complete destruction and subjugation.

The broader account shows that the Israelites prevented the defeated enemies from regrouping by striking them down in the field and denying them refuge, thereby ensuring a complete victory. This teaches that we must be proactive and decisive in pursuing what is right, preventing evil from taking root, and fully overcoming the strongholds of sin in our lives.

In conclusion, Joshua 10:19 reminds us of the importance of recognizing God’s intervention in our victories, the need for decisiveness in pursuing righteousness, and the necessity of fully overcoming the enemy’s strongholds in our lives.