Day 14: Joshua 10:16-28
Lets go!
Let’s set the context. Earlier in this chapter we are told that five Amorites kings join forces to
attack Joshua [Joshua 10:5]. Between verses 5 and 16 we read about that battle where God
stopped the sun.
Spoiler alert! The battle went Joshuas way.
Sometime during the battle the five kings abandoned their troops and sought safety in a cave.
Clever. Word of their hiding place reached Joshua, and he ordered large rocks to be rolled over
the cave entrance and for guards to keep watch. In other words, they were not getting out. Even a
King cannot escape a cave with guards and a rock to seal it, right? (Ha! #Gospels).
Whilst the kings are locked away, Joshua and his army pursued the enemy and crushed them.
Joshua then returned to deal with the kings. He instructs his men to put their feet on the kings
necks. Joshua then executes and hangs their bodies on poles until night fall, and finally instructs
his men to thrown them back into the cave in which they initially hid.
Wow. But don’t worry, I hear you shout “savage” and “How on earth does this passage link in to
my life?!”
Quickly- if you thought ‘savage’ please see Deuteronomy 20:16; 7:24; 21:22-23 for further
insights.
Anyway, RELEVANCE…
In the Old Testament, God promised His people the promised land. And God is faithful. So anyone getting in
the way is an enemy. Today, we are in a Spiritual battle (see Ephesians 6:12), and anything (sin/ temptation) getting in the way
of us making it to our promise land (eternal life), needs to be killed.
I am being vague here, because I don’t know the kings/ the enemies/ the sins, Satan is using to
fight you… but you do. We all suffer from this, I am not singling you out, but also I am calling you
to dig deeper if you think this doesn’t apply to you.
Now, let’s move on to crushing those enemies. “How?” You might ask. One word: Jesus.
Read Matthew 27:59-60; 65-66. We read of a King hung from a cross, His body thrown in a cave,
a stone rolled over the entrance and a guarded tomb.
Do you see the resemblance? But I want to quickly focus in on a key difference:
Jesus didn’t remain in the tomb as the king’s did. Jesus was not crushed by death. Death could
not hold Jesus down. The kings ended up under the feet of Joshua’s commanders, yet Jesus
came to crush death itself; the enemy is forever under His feet [Genesis 3:15].
Key point alert, Dan style;
– Jesus has won the victory over sin, forever.
– We must accept that we need Christ more than anything else.
– We must dis-enthrone the ‘kings’ in our lives and recognise that He is our eternal King.
– Then we will become like Joshua; in desperate need of God’s guidance and strength to defeat
whatever hindrances come our way in our journey towards our promise land.
Let us be strong and courageous in Jesus, for He has won. Amen.
Dan Kelland
Leadership Academy Graduate