Midrash su Giosuè 10:11

When the Lord cuts down (Deuteronomy 12:29): The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, "By your lives, I will conduct your wars and write about you that you killed them." Come and see, the acts of the Holy One, blessed be He, are not like the acts of a king of flesh and blood: [When] a king of flesh and blood goes out to war, his legions go out in front of him. If they are victorious, they come and make a crown and crown him. But the Holy One, blessed be He, does not do like this, but rather He conducts the war, and give the crown to Israel, as it is stated (Psalms 136:17-20), "Who struck down great kings, [...]. Sihon, king of the Amorites,[...]. Og, king of Bashan." But He gave the crown to Israel, as it is stated (Joshua 12:5), "Moshe, the servant of God, and Israel smote them." And so [too], with Yehoshua, what is written? "And the Lord hurled huge stones on them from the sky" (Joshua 10:11). And [yet] it is stated (Joshua 12:7), "And these are the kings of the land that Yehoshua and the Children of Israel slew." So that we inherit their land, He cut them down from the world, in order that we would enter and inherit houses filled with all good things. As all the days that Israel was present, they were swept and wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Yet they had been fitting to go up [to the Land of Israel] immediately, as it is stated (Exodus 3:17), "I will take you out of the misery of Egypt," to a good and spacious land. But they did not go in immediately. As when they left from Egypt, the seven nations [inhabiting the land] heard that [the Israelites] were coming to inherit [the land]. What did they do? They cut down the trees, stopped up the springs and destroyed the homes, such that if [the Israelites] would enter, they would find nothing [worthwhile there]. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "If I bring them in right away, they will find it desolate, and I promised them that they would find it full of all of good things." What did He do? He held them up in the wilderness forty years, such that the Canaanites disregarded Israel, saying they are not coming. [Hence] they rose and planted trees, they fixed the wells and the cities, such that Israel would come when it was built, to fulfill that which is stated (Deuteronomy 6:11), "Houses full of all good things." This is [the meaning of] that which is written (Exodus 13:17), "God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines." Once they fixed everything, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "Why are you standing? 'Go up from here, you and the people' (Exodus 33:1). Make war with them and cut them down." And Israel said to Moshe, "When do we enter the land." [His answer was:] When the Lord, your God cuts down the nations within it shall you enter.

At that very moment the wicked Pharaoh cried out: Entreat the Lord … and I will let them go (Exod. 9:28). Moses replied: You said that at the time of the first plague, and I pleaded in your behalf, but yet you did not send them away. Why should I entreat for thee and for thy servants? (ibid. 8:5). Pharaoh replied: I have sinned before the Lord your God and against you, but now I will let them go. When Moses heard that, Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread forth his hands unto the Lord; and the thunders and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth (ibid. 9:33). They were suspended in mid-air. When did they descend? Some descended upon the Amorites in the days of Joshua, as it is said: The Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them (Josh. 10:11), and the remainder will fall on Gog and Magog in the days of the Messiah. And the thunders ceased (Exod. 9:34). They, too, were suspended (in mid-air). They descended in the days of Elisha, against the camp of the Arameans, as it is said: For the Lord had made the hosts of the Arameans, to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses (II Kings 7:6).

"Stand, O L-rd, and let Your foes be scattered": "Your foes": those who are massed to attack us. "and let Your haters (those in pursuit) flee before You." They will flee, and we will not be destroyed by them. ("before You" [lit., "before Your face"]) When Your face is with us, we will not flee before them, and if not, we will fall before them. And thus is it written (Shemot 33:15) "If Your 'face' does not go, do not bring us up from here," and (Ibid. 16) "For how, otherwise, will it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your eyes," and (Joshua 10:11) "And it was, when they fled before Israel, they were on the descent of Beth Choron, when the L-rd cast upon them great stones, etc.", and (Psalms 83:115) "My G-d, make them like whirling chaff, like stubble before the wind, like a fire burning mountains."