It’s one thing to read history that shows how Joshua won battles for God’s people. It’s another thing to discover the theology of these narratives–the ability to understand how Joshua’s victories become ours. Joshua chapters 10:1–12:24 record God’s victory over a long list of kings. Chapter 12 lists 31 kings. It might be helpful to preach this lengthy section with the following theological ideas: (1) God’s people were fighting against kings or rulers or authorities who had their own warriors (cf. Joshua 10:1-5; 11:1-5; 12:1-24 for a list of kings). This is important in light of Paul’s descriptions in Ephesians 6:12 and Colossians 2:15 (notice the “rulers…authorities…cosmic powers” and “rulers and authorities” respectively). (2) 10:8-14 records the miraculous way God fought for His people, including the way He answered Joshua’s prayer for extra daylight. (3) Because the Lord fights for His people they can go ahead and conquer temptation and sin and enjoy LifePlus (cf. 10:22-25; 11:6-12, 23; 12:1, 6, 7). 10:22-25 contain the scene where Joshua commands his chief warriors to come and put their feet on the necks of the defeated kings. (4) Finally, we must ask how God makes victory possible for those who believe. You might begin by noting that on the cross Christ suffered a fate similar to the defeated kings as recorded in 10:26-27 “…Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees….and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave…and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave…” Through His death and resurrection Christ completely conquered His enemies (cf. Ps. 110:1; 1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 10:13 “waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.”). All who believe will one day experience a similar complete victory (cf. Rom. 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…”). This process shows how we can move from the victories in Joshua’s day to victories in our lives, allowing Joshua to function for the Church.