Joshua 11:16-20 Hardened Their Hearts!

 16So Joshua took this entire region: the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah, and the mountains of Israel and their foothills, 17from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death. 

18Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long period of time. 19No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites living in Gibeon; all others were taken in battle. 20For it was of the LORD to hardend their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Hardened Their Hearts

“We are told that in part, this judgment on the Canaanites was accomplished when God did harden their hearts against Israel. The hardening of men’s hearts is when God gives man up to the sin that is in his heart.

We need not think that God poured out some particular judgment upon the Canaanites. He dealt with their hearts the same way He deals with all men’s hearts, but God’s grace either hardens the heart or it softens it.” (Guzik)

Rom 1:24-28 NKJV - 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

Today we are constantly bombarded with people wanting to change their sex believing that they are something they are not. I believe after years of studying the Bible that the Lord has hardened their hearts just like the pharaoh and the Canaanites. They dishonored their bodies and “exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”.

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.”

The question we need to ask ourselves, is our heart hardened or softened?

Blessings