Burunche’s Blog

Joshua 10:16 – 27 Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah, he said, “Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. But don’t stop; pursue your enemies! Attack them from the rear and don’t let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.”

So Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely, but a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities. The whole army then returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one uttered a word against the Israelites. Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.

 Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening. At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the poles and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day.

During that extra – long day, Joshua and the Israelites cleanly defeated the Amorites and captured the kings of all five major cities – Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. Relatively speaking, Joshua and his men covered a lot of territory! Joshua commanded his men to make a complete end of the Amorite forces; nevertheless, “a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities.” The people of those cities must have been terrified! All five cities were royal cities with large armies. Now only a handful of men were returning to describe the fighting and the monster hailstones that had rained down on them. Why were there any survivors?

It’s likely that once the five kings were captured, many of Joshua’s men wanted to sit down and rest. After all, with the commanders in that cave, what could the rest of these armies do? But Joshua knew that God wanted to make a complete end of the Amorites; that’s why he said, “Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. But don’t stop; pursue your enemies! Attack them from the rear and don’t let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” Back in Genesis 15, God told Abraham that “the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete.” At that point, there were still honorable men left among the Amorites; however, now was the day of destruction that God had assigned for them. It’s possible that had Joshua’s men not tried to rest, they might have completely wiped out the armies of all five cities.

The symbolism of putting one’s feet on the necks of the enemies is a powerful one. Joshua wanted the army commanders to carry out this act so that they would remember how victory felt the next time they engaged in battle. Given a taste of success, these men would be far more likely to move forward, even in the face of overwhelming opposition.

APPLICATION: Evil that is not dealt with COMPLETELY will always return! There is a line from the movie “Hook.” An aging Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, has settled in London, where he has become a lawyer and has forgotten his dreams…. Until a night of horror in which his children are kidnapped and carried off to Never Never Land by his old arch – enemy Captain Hook. An over – weight, out of shape Peter Pan must return to Never Never Land to defeat Captain Hook once and for all. At one point, Hook threatens Peter, “Peter. I swear to you wherever you go, wherever you are, I vow there will always be daggers buried in notes signed James Hook. They will be flung into doors of your children’s children’s children, do you hear me?” Hook goes on to tell Peter that if he does not kill Hook now, Hook will come back for Peter’s grandchildren. Peter does kill Hook, thus saving his descendants from the particular evil that Hook represents.

Joshua’s armies did well; however, they did not completely wipe out the fighting men from the five cities. Eventually, they had to attack each of these cities separately and the conquest was difficult.

One of the temptations of aging is to retire from moral battles, giving the excuse that others who are younger should lead the fight. But many times, only age and experience can adequately prepare one for seeing the evil in apparently innocuous situations without descending into paranoia. Recently, our mission hospital had the chance to participate in a program funded from overseas donors. In the beginning, the program appeared excellent; however, as we explored the processes involved in applying for the second round of funding, we realized that the conditions for accepting these monies would compromise our stance as a mission institution. Once committed, we would not only be caught ourselves, but our further participation might be used as an example for others.

There is a saying, “As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined.” Early influences are critically important. By encouraging the Israelites to totally annihilate their enemies, Joshua was trying to set the tone for the rest of the conquest of Canaan. Those army commanders would always remember the day they set their feet on the necks of the five enemy kings and then watched them be hanged.

PRAYER: Father God, help us to realize that with Your help, we can make a complete conquest of those situations that confront us. Help us also to remember that successful endings only come from proper beginnings. We must begin as we mean to go on. Help us always to look to You, for without Your guidance, we might easily be duped by the Evil One. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

This entry was posted on February 23, 2022 at 12:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.