“Do not be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.” Joshua 10:8 NLT
These war stories, although gory and brutal, are not the focus of the grand story God is telling in the Old Testament, but they are critical. Here’s a few things I noticed.
One: there really IS a war going on, not “wars” but a war of good verses evil. A war of Satan using men like pawns, promising them great riches and power. And all these up and coming men of worldly positions had to do was be ruthless, hungry and destroy everything that got in their way. They existed then, they still exist today. There still is A war, and men and women want to play the same game and cause as much death and amass as much control over humans as possible. These stories are not stories of patriarchal power by the way, they are about rebellion, of which men and women both clamor for.
Two: It is difficult to wade through these ancient stories where we have no comprehension or understanding of the culture at that time. We have no real sense of the brute force and unmerciful actions of these kings nor their kingdoms. And each one of these cities mentioned have their own intricate culture, a bloodthirsty DNA so to speak. The leaders created and maintained these deep cultures that ran through several generations of children, who’s little boys and girls would naturally turn into mean, nasty men and women. A couple of highlights to note: King Adoni-zedek made the first move and sent word out to all the other Amorite kings. Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon. “Come and help me destroy Gibeon,” he urged them.
Three: God spoke to Joshua promising a win. Joshua asked God for an extraordinary miracle – more daylight to get the job done! “On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” The five kings fled their cities and met up to hide in the caves, “During the battle the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah.” Joshua had men block the cave entrance until he had complete control over the cities. Then he returned and brought the five kings out for a public trial and punishment. “So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. When they brought them out, Joshua told the commanders of his army, “Come and put your feet on the kings’ necks.” And they did as they were told.” Joshua promised that this is what God would allow them to do to all their enemies.
Four: Right here there is a picture, an object lesson that is repeated throughout both Old and New Testament. “THE” enemy of God and all creation, THE rebellious one, THE liar and deceiver will find his neck under the foot of one meek, humble, innocent person far into the future – when that enemy convinced humans to crucify the messiah thinking it would crush God’s plan to finally end the war and rebellion over the entire Earth. (Gen 3:15, Ps 47:3, 1 Cor. 15:25, Eph. 1:22). Then Joshua had them spiked and displayed for all to see and later buried in the cave they had hidden in.
Five: There will be a final day of justice and there will be an end to brutality. When we see our society struggle with inequalities and misappropriated power, we want to blame men, or political systems, or even an entire race. Look deeper, follow the promises and lies behind those powers – you’ll find a puppet-master of sorts, pulling the strings of hatred, chaos and mayhem. Just make sure you know the real enemy and the very real war.
PRAYER
Dad,
One of the things I can’t stand the most, speaking as an enneagram nine, is the misplaced blame of judgment on the wrong people for the wrong problem. People are people. We are weak and imperfect. We makes mistakes and listen to lies and worse, believe liars. Help us get the story straight. Help us understand the real war and the real enemy here. It’s not each other at all. I can’t wait for your justice to be finally and forever delivered.