No one wins all the time. We have all been defeated at some point or will be. It can be school or work, an enemy, your own body limitations, competition, or something else. It never feels good to be defeated. It seems to nullify your efforts making them frustrating. The frustration grows and keep you from winning. It can become an attitude toward life.
Israel could not be defeated because God was behind their success and with them every step they took. Every victory they had made the kings of the land nervous and scared. The northern kings were in the mountains where they gathered their troops. They probably felt safe up there because fighting on a mountain is very different than a valley. They had the home advantage, but Israel had God.
God told Joshua how to defeat the undefeatable mountain men. Joshua had his men burn the chariots and hamstrung the horsed. Together they were kind of like tanks today: intimidating and powerful. When the Hebrews took their source of power they were easy enough to defeat. Nothing that breathed was allowed to survive.
In the territory everyone was defeated by the Hebrews except the devious Gideonites. They began to resent the Hebrews and the treaty that they had formed to the point that they attacked the Israelites. God had allowed their hearts to go hard probably to get rid of them and allow the Hebrews to cleanse the land completely. When the entire territory was taken the Hebrews rested from war for a while.
It never feels good to be the defeated, but if you don't want things to continue to go that way ask God what He is trying to teach you. Ask Him not to harden your heart. Don't let defeat become an attitude that steals all the joy you could have in life.
Joshua 11
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