Apparently this happened in clusters. Which, in reality, made things a bit easier for the Israelites as they could conquer a number of territories in the same battle.
The first alliance didn't attack Israel, though...they went after Gibeon, because Gibeon, being a fairly big city, had an army of good fighting men. So not only were the surrounding kings alarmed that Gibeon would not be fighting against Israel, they had some concern that the Gibeonites might join Israel and fight against them.
So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem, appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. "Come up and help me attack Gibeon," he said, "because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites." (vs. 3-4)
They all seemed to think that was a good idea, and the five of them joined forces and attacked Gibeon. Somehow, the Gibeonites got a message to Joshua and the Israelites, who were camped at Gilgal, a bit over 15 miles away. "Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us." (vs. 6)
Now, in reality, the treaty the Israelites signed with Gilgal was non-aggression; that is, the Israelites agreed to let the Gibeonites live in exchange for their services as laborers. But Joshua took the implications of the treaty seriously. He mustered the army, including his best fighting men, and left Gilgal for Gibeon. Oh, and he also had a word from God about the battle: "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you." (v.8).
Joshua and the Israelite army marched all night long and arrived at Gibeon before any word of their approach reached the attackers. They were totally taken by surprise and pinched between the attacking Israelites and the defending Gibeonites.
But that's not all; there was a cataclysm that day that figured heavily in the battle. I'm pulling verses a little out of order here, to get what I think was the chronological order. Verse 12 states On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
"O sun, stand still over Gibeon,
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon"
And it happened.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel! (vs 13b - 14).
Now, something as disruptive as the earth stopping its rotation would have an effect on the conditions around the globe. And, guess what, there was a massive hailstorm right in the midst of the battle.
When the Israelites surprised the attacking armies, The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel. (v. 10). With folks from 5 different city-states joined in battle suddenly thrust into a defensive position, it must've been hard to tell who was friend and who was foe. It wasn't long before the attacking armies fled before the Israelites.
Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. [and now, the hailstorm...] As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. (vs. 10b - 11)
Now I have no idea how the oddly long day figured into the ferocious hailstorm...but I bet it did. Who knows what God did to make those things manifest. And there were probably earthquakes and other things happening in other places that don't figure into this narrative.
But the saga of the five kings is not quite at an end. They had abandoned their soldiers and holed up in 'the cave' at Makkedah while their armies were being decimated by sword and hailstone. But the report got to Joshua that they were there, and he gave orders to "Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave and post some men there to guard it." Then they pursued the armies so that only a few of them made it back to their cities. (v.20)
Then the whole army returned to Makkedah, where Joshua had the stones removed from the cave and the cornered kings brought out and thrown on the ground. The army commanders were instructed to put their feet on the necks of the kings, and Joshua proclaimed to the army. "do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight." (vs. 25). Joshua killed the enemy kings and, as was the custom, hung their bodies on trees until evening. At sunset, the bodies were removed from the trees and thrown back into the cave and the stones rolled back over the mouth where, the author notes, they were still at the time the record was written.
While the bodies of the kings were hanging in defeat, Joshua and the army attacked and defeated Makkedah, destroying everything, and the king of Makkedah was hung on a tree just as the king of Jericho had been.
The Israelites were following God...and God was fighting for them. That's a universally applicable truth.
Am I careful to follow God's directions in my daily activities? Do I trust Him to guide me? Do I believe He will do mind-blowing impossible stuff if it is necessary for me to succeed in what He has called me to do?
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