Victory in Spiritual Battles: Learning From Joshua's Triumph
Notes
Transcript
Read Josh 10:22-26
22 Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave.
23 And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
24 And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
26 And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
Tonight we have read the amazing ending of a terrifying and trying ordeal of the Children of Israel.
Joshua 10 is situated in the broader context of Israel’s conquest of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua.
One needs to remember the context
God had brought a mighty victory at Jericho - just by marching and shouting at the appointed times the walls of Jericho had fallen and a great and mighty victory was won that day.
They didn’t have social media, and blogs in that day - they didn’t have news papers and news anchors - but the news of their victory spread throughout the land of Canaan.
There was the slower and less dramatic victory at Ai - none-the-less it was a victory - and no doubt the news had spread
Joshua 10 begins by again mentioning the fear that has come over the Canaanites - not only because of what God has done for Joshua - but because Gibeon had made a treaty with Israel - You remember they came to Joshua with moldy bread and tattered clothes, and said they had come from many many miles away and wanted a treaty with Israel - and Israel fell for it - they were really Gibeonites -
This didn’t set well with the others -
And we see the recurring fear motif
10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
1 And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;
2 That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
24 And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
“The cumulative effect of these references is great” NICOT
This fear drives a five king coalition to come against Joshua and Israel
Adoni-zedek who is ing of Jerusalem (btw - this is the first time Jerusalem is mentioned directly in the Old Testament)
Gibeon’s treaty with Israel brought about fear to Adoni-zedek-
Gibeon was much larger than Ai, and their treaty with Israel no doubt brought them some security issues
The answer to this dilema was a treaty of their own - so Adoni-zedek made a coallition with:
The king of Hebron
The king of Jarmuth
the king of Lachish
the king of Eglon
Together they come against Gibeon with all of their hosts
Gibeon sends out the distress signal and Joshua and the elders honor the treaty, sparing Gibeon from destruction (Joshua 10:6-15).
God gives Joshua a great promise Joshua 10:8 “8 And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.”
Joshua responds by marching through the night and surprising the enemy at Beth-horon.
But not only that God intervenes with a hailstorm, causing significant casualties among the Amorites more than what died by the sword (Joshua 10:16-21).
Joshua's Prayer and God's Intervention (Joshua 10:12-14, 22-27)During the battle, Joshua prays for the sun and moon to stand still, extending the daylight for Israel's victory. God honors Joshua's faith and grants this miraculous sign, allowing Israel to defeat the Amorites (Joshua 10:12-14, 22-27).
These five brave kings who thought their coalition would surely be more than what Israel and Gibeon together could conquer had not counted on the power of God. They ran and hid in a cave at Makkedah and Joshua said, “Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them”
Do you know what that must have done to the pride of these men? Here they were kings and they were going to be sealed in a cave and tended to later - they weren’t even going to put a guard at the door - they were to go out and fight until “they had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter”
Now it was time to deal with the issues -
You know I suppose many applications could be made from this story - but I see here the truth of spiritual battle and victory.
It is one thing to have trouble from within - but it is another to have spiritual battle initiated from without
Spiritual warfare can take place on either front
We may have to go out and slay some things spiritually that attempt to take over our lives and bring us under the wrong leadership
We may have to put somethings in the cave and come back to deal with them
But there are also those times when it is simply victory in Jesus and he sends hailstones and confusion on the enemy
It is my understanding of the scriptures that Christians through the power of the Holy Spirit live in victory.
Now by victory I don’t mean everything is fine and dandy - unicorns and rainbows all the time -
I am talking about being able to as Eph 6:11 says “we can stand against the wiles of the devil”
But we are also fitted for spiritual battle - to wrestle not with flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places
Christians are empowered and prepared to “be able to withstand in the evil day...”
some key aspects of spiritual victory:
Victory in Jesus: The Bible assures us that God and His Son Jesus are Victors and that believers can share in their victories.
Jesus won the supreme victory at the cross. Sin was atoned for, and the power of sin and death was broken.
After Christ’s crucifixion and burial, He rose from the dead three days later, and now we share that victory
Faith in Christ: The key to achieve victory in Jesus is faith in Christ
The first step to victory in Jesus is accepting Christ as Savior
We receive the Lord by grace through faith, and we live in His victory by grace through faith as well
Overcoming the World: Victory in Jesus is real and attainable now because our Lord Jesus has defeated Satan and every evil power of the world.
We achieve victory in Jesus by resting in Christ and trusting Him to triumph for us
Living by Faith: The victorious Christian life is the life that is lived, by faith, in a moment-by-moment surrender to God
The victorious Christian life is rooted and grounded in faith
Overcoming Temptation: Part of living the victorious Christian life is properly dealing with temptation.
When a Christian faces a temptation, God will always give a clear way of avoiding the sin
Victory over Sin: The victorious Christian life naturally leads to a defeat of death itself and a glorious reward in heaven.
The chapter ends with the fate of the kings who brought such trouble to Joshua, Israel, and Gibeon -
It is in the scripture we read - lets look at that again
22 Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave.
23 And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
24 And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
25 And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
26 And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
It is here I want us to notice what happens to our spiritual enemies - if we are in contact with the Father through a relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit -
We have a greater power than anything that comes against us
I love 1 John 4:4
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Let the kings of this world make their coalitions and treaties
as H. Robb French put is
The devil may boast
And martial his host,
And march in the battle array;
With Christ in the lead
We are sure to succeed;
We’re certain to win the day.
Oh those kings may be hiding in a cave somewhere - and you may be fighting battles with the repercussions and effects of those kings - but you wait - you hold on - for those who are in Christ - we are assured of victory
There will come a day when you will be able to put your feet on the neck of those kings -
Oh I love this:
The New Manners and Customs of the Bible (10:24 Enemies, Putting Feet on Necks)
Putting your feet on the necks of your enemy was a symbol of complete subjugation, and expressed total victory over them. This was also implied by the phrase to put someone “under your feet”
(see Romans 16:20 “20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”
and 1 Corinthians 15:25 “25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” ).
I love that Joshua didn’t stand there with his foot on their neck and say - look here we have them - no he said I want all of you to come by and take your foot and put it on the neck of your enemy - if this would have happened today we would have stopped and taken a selfie - at the least we should testify about it - This wasn’t Joshua saying look how great and mighty and spiritual we are - it is Joshua saying - LOOK HOW GREAT OUR GOD IS!!!
I love the song they sang this morning
We have been given a means to the throne,
Of the One whose potential is yet to be known,
There is no limit as to what God can do,
So just keep on praying, He’s listening to you.
And prayer is just as big as God is,
Prayer is just as strong as God is strong,
Prayer can reach as far as God can reach.
Don’t ever give up, just pray,
And one day you will see the bodies of your kings hanging on the tree in testimony to the power of God