Joshua 12:7-24--Kings Defeated by Joshua

Joshua 12:7-24
English Standard Version
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Kings Defeated by Joshua
7 And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, 8 in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites): 9 the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; 10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; 17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; 18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; 19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 20 the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; 21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; 23 the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Galilee, one; 24 the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

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Now this part of the chapter focuses on the Conquest during the time of Joshua.  That Conquest came in three phases as we have studied already:
1) Phase 1:  The Conquering of Jericho, Ai, and Bethel
2) Phase 2:  The Southern Campaign (this is covered in Joshua 10)
3) Phase 3:  The Northern Campaign (this is covered in Joshua 11)

There were thirty-one kings that Joshua defeated as part of what we know as the Conquest of the Promised Land.  That would be no small take to have to go up against thirty-one different kingdoms and armies to take the Land that the LORD had promised, but remember that ultimately it was not Moses or Joshua who fought or won these battles, but the LORD who won them for them.

The text also makes clear that the eastern tribes would receive their allotments that were promised to them under Moses.  We'll be talking about that next.  These eastern two-and-a-half tribes had to fulfill a vow that they made that they would go out in front and help the other nine-and-a-half tribes conquer the Promised Land, and only after all the enemies had been driven out of the Land so their brothers could safely inhabit it could they again cross the Jordan River and live in what they perceived to be safety on the east side of the Jordan River.

Not every enemy has been vanquished, but this is the end of the campaign.  In the next chapter we'll see that the LORD tells Joshua that he's now too old to keep up the fight.  It is time for him and the people to enter into the rest that He has prepared for them, though there is still work to be done in defeating some of the enemies that had not yet been defeated, and it will take until the time of King David for many of these enemies to be defeated, and it won't be until the time of King Solomon until Israel will have possession of most (but not all) of what the LORD had promised to them.  They still look forward to a better King and a better Kingdom where one day Israel will experience the fullness of the Promise that was made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the children of Israel.