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and they now summoned a strong force to repel the invaders. The
attacking army had no leader. No prayer was offered that God would
give them the victory. They set forth with the desperate purpose to
reverse their fate or to die in battle. Though untrained in war, they were
a vast multitude of armed men, and they hoped by a sudden and fierce
assault to bear down all opposition. They presumptuously challenged
the foe that had not dared to attack them.
The Canaanites had stationed themselves upon a rocky tableland
reached only by difficult passes and a steep and dangerous ascent. The
immense numbers of the Hebrews could only render their defeat more
terrible. They slowly threaded the mountain paths, exposed to the
deadly missiles of their enemies above. Massive rocks came thun-
dering down, marking their path with the blood of the slain. Those
who reached the summit, exhausted with their ascent, were fiercely
repulsed, and driven back with great loss. The field of carnage was
strewn with the bodies of the dead. The army of Israel was utterly
defeated. Destruction and death was the result of that rebellious exper-
iment.
Forced to submission at last, the survivors “returned, and wept
before the Lord;” but “the Lord would not hearken” to their voice.
Deuteronomy 1:45
. By their signal victory the enemies of Israel, who
had before awaited with trembling the approach of that mighty host,
were inspired with confidence to resist them. All the reports they had
heard concerning the marvelous things that God had wrought for His
people, they now regarded as false, and they felt that there was no
cause for fear. That first defeat of Israel, by inspiring the Canaanites
with courage and resolution, had greatly increased the difficulties of
the conquest. Nothing remained for Israel but to fall back from the
face of their victorious foes, into the wilderness, knowing that here
must be the grave of a whole generation.
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