Joshua 10:40-43

These verses summarize the conquest of the whole southern portion of Canaan. As we shall see later, Israel did not defeat every town or kill every Canaanite without exception. However, Joshua effectively removed the military threat to Israel that the cities in the south posed. "All" (Joshua 10:40) has a limited meaning. In this context it means all parts of the land, all the kings of the cities that Joshua destroyed, and all who lived in those cities (cf. Joshua 13:1).

Goshen (Joshua 10:41) was a town on the southern frontier of Israel (Joshua 15:51). The reference is not to the section of Egypt that bore this name.

The writer emphasized God’s fighting for Israel again (Joshua 10:42).

God’s people do not have to engage every enemy that exists immediately, any more than the Israelites had to kill every individual Canaanite or attack every city immediately. At this stage in their national life God’s will was that they attack only certain selected targets. Sometimes we can experience discouragement when we look at the host of wicked people that surrounds us, or the many sins that plague us. We may think, "What can one individual do to stem such a tide of wickedness?" We may even think it is useless to do anything in view of the huge task we face (Matthew 28:19-20). In those situations we need to do what God puts before us to do day by day rather than taking on more responsibility than God wants us to assume immediately (cf. Matthew 6:25-34).