“When Yavin king of Hatzor heard of it, he informed Yovav king of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Akhshaf; the kings to the north, in the hills, in the ‘Aravah south of Kinn’rot, in the Sh’felah and in the regions of Dor on the west; the Kena‘ani to east and west; the Emori, Hitti, P’rizi and Y’vusi in the hills; and the Hivi at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mitzpah.”-Joshua 11:1-3
Did you know that the city of Hazor has actually been discovered?
And wouldn’t you know it, after it was dug up, all of the remains and artifacts found confirm everything that has been written about the area.
And I’m not just talking about ancient Hebrew records.
I’m also talking about Egyptian and Mesopotamian records dating back 3500 years or more.
And what do the records testify to?
They testify to the fact that indeed Hazor was one of the largest and most influential cities in Canaan.
And when I say large, I’m not kidding.
The whole city extended over an area measuring a whopping 175 acres.
Make no bones about it, Hazor WAS the head government power in the region.
It was a major superpower and Israel now had this kingdom quaking in its boots.
Understand that Hazor was more than just some royal city.
There were a ton of so-called tinier “regal cities” sprawled throughout the land of Canaan.
It’s important to understand this in order to properly grasp just how much power and influence the King of Hazor wielded.
That’s why when we read in verse one that Yavin (the king of Hatzor at this time) requested to Yovav king of Madon and a bunch of other unnamed kings ruling over the regal cities of Shimron and Akhshaf…
…as well as the many other less powerful rulers from the smaller city-states in the northern hill countries…
…to put aside their petty differences and come together as one to fight against Israel, you had best believe his word was heeded.
To give you an idea of just how much pull Yavin had, we see that even kings from the regions of Aravah and Shefelah obeyed his call to take up arms against Israel.
The Aravah, also called “the Kinnareth” in the Tanakh, is a long and winding valley bordering the Jordan River and stretches from the Sea of Galilee all the way up to the Dead Sea.
The Shefelah is a hilly region that transitions into flat ground as it stretches from the mountains of Canaan to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Heck, even the Amorites, Hittites, Perrizites and the Hivites from the east and the west decided to join the humongous northern military coalition.
It would appear that every Canaanite and his grandmother wanted to get in on the action.
Isn’t it amazing that what was once a ragtag mob of wanderers and former slaves now had the world’s most powerful nation in a panic as they scrambled to prepare for the Israelite invasion to come?
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