19 Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle.
20 For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
I figured I’d delve a little into the Old Testament to remind you that God is immutable, He is the same now as He was in Joshua’s time. The Lord hardens hearts and softens hearts. He needs not explain to the creature what He does nor why He does it. This passage is just one example of what He will do to all mankind who is not chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). He destroyed the unregenerate nations totally, exterminating them without mercy. Pretty harsh wouldn't you say?
NO! Because man is a sinner and hates God (John 3:20), he is God’s enemy (Romans 8:7), and cannot please God (Romans 8:8). Since a lost man has no faith (2 Thessalonians 3:2) everything he does is sin and a stench before God (Romans 14:23). So God hardened their hearts even more. Well why did He have to harden them to start with? Answer - Because then, even as today, there are lost men who are “good people” who make deals with the Jews or with Christians because it makes good sense, or they want to “cover their bases” or hedge their bets just in case, or even because it just makes good business sense. Well God did not want the Israelites to make ANY deals with them so He hardened the hearts of leaders of the cities God wanted to SMITE to make them want to NOT make any deals with the Israelites.
Just as He rose up pharaoh for the sole purpose of destroying him and his army (Exodus 9:16, Romans 9:17), He hardened the hearts of these people so they would NOT make a treaty with Israel so He could exterminate them without mercy, like you would squash a cockroach. And since God determined the time and place for every person to be born and live (Acts 17:26), He not only knew (foreknowledge) they would never hear the Gospel, he ordained (destined, appointed) them to never hear the Gospel.
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