I’m giving a lesson on Hernán Cortés this week in homeschool history class, so I’ve got conquistadores on my mind.
Which is fitting, because I’m halfway through the book of Joshua and reflecting on how amazing God is when He shows up to fight our battles and conquer enemies on our behalf!
I read this same book one year ago, and I didn’t catch the details. I don’t remember getting much out of it. Isn’t it amazing how you can read the same thing multiple times and it just speaks to you in new ways?
So here’s what struck me.
You got these nomadic wanderers wearing worn out wilderness garb. I don’t imagine they’ve been training for warfare. They didn’t even have to work crops. You’ve got 40 year old men who perhaps haven’t worked a day in their lives, except to shepherd their livestock.
Not exactly the best picture of a manly man, ready to conquer his foes.
So basically they’re helpless.
But no fear! (No really, this is what God told them already, like 3 times.)
Because God is here!
The conquest of the land of Canaan begins at Jericho and plays out like dominos, one city then the next, then the next.
Jericho fell by walking a marathon whilst blowing trumpets.
Then God wiped out Ai, another great nation, with a quick, effective battle that took less than a chapter.
Then the Gibeonites got freaked out because they were gonna be next, and so they decided to try a preemptive strategy, by offering to become Israel’s slaves.
(That sounds familiar. Did the Bible copy the Book of Mormon? 🤔)
Then that freaks out Adoni-Zedek, the king of Jerusalem. He doesn’t feel safe with the Gibeonites entering into relationship with Israel, so he makes his own alliance with Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon!
So we’re looking at World War 1/2 starting, with all these Survivor-worthy alliances cropping up.
But no worries, God’s got it!
He’s gonna stop the sun to give them more time. Excellent warfare strategy.
Just stop the sun—no big deal! Hold that thing still, God.
Anyway that’s where I left off so I’m gonna have to leave you on a cliff hanger. Sorry!
But I was thinking.
All these miracles. God fighting the battles for them.
His chosen people were pretty dumb, basic nomads with no prior experience and very little brawn.
They really didn’t do much.
I mean, it was Josh’s idea to stop the sun, so that was pretty cool.
But when we compare the Israelite conquest to the Book of Mormon stories of the Nephites defending their liberties, their families, their land … it’s kind of interesting to reflect on.
Captain Moroni is every fifteen year old Mormon boy’s idol.
He’s awesome. He has HUGE muscles. He rips off his clothes. He writes inflammatory, accusing letters filled with false accusations.
He’s always coming up with really clever strategies to gain victory over the Lamanites.
He is the hero of the story.
So much so, that they kind of forget to mention God.
No wait, they fought for their religious liberty. So God was mentioned once. (I think the American Constitution maybe copied him.)
But really, this guy is the hero!
I don’t recall a hero in the Israelite conquest. 🤔
Oh yeah, it was God!
The one doing all the miracles!
When in the BOM war chapters does God slay the enemy?
But that would be boring.
I would much rather read about Moroni building up heaps of earth and timbers.
And it’s much sexier and thrilling to read about Teancum sneaking into the Lamanite King’s tent and shoving a javelin into his heart!!
Teancum is another hero.
My great-Grandpas are literally named after these dudes—Moroni and Teancum. No lie.
See?
Anyway.
I hope you’re seeing my point.
The Book of Mormon war stories are so fun to read because the warriors are buff and courageous and SMART!!
But in the Bible, the little guys win.
Again and again.
And no, they didn’t have a strategy. Besides asking God to stop the sun.
They didn’t get their enemies drunk.
They didn’t make flags and American constitutions out of their coats.
They didn’t stack up huge tree trunks to make fortifications.
(They forgot to get witty warfare advice from the imaginary Joseph Smith!)
There’s no Gettysburg address. There’s no FDR- or JFK-like motivational speeches.
ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country!
Yeah, Joshua ran with a javelin, but like, he didn’t even use it. All he did was run with it and the enemies turned and fled.
They set the city on fire. That was cool.
But I mean, they weren’t brilliant. They were pretty ordinary guys.
The glory goes to God!
When you take little, ordinary guys, you end up with miracles on full display.
I mean, this guy thought he could stop the sun! 😂
Can you imagine the memes making fun of him?
But God was like, “Ok, I can work with that. Good idea, let’s do it!”
And just like every other Bible story, God provides. God did it!
Jehovah Nissi fight your battles!
This video won’t embed. Shoot. But seriously go listen to this. All the glory goes to JEHOVAH. There ain’t no captain to brag about here but Him.
All I Possess 