What the Lord Will Do
September 28, 2022
Joshua 10:25 – “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.”
We’re back in Joshua again but this time Joshua has finally led the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, and they had already defeated Jericho by the miracle. That was the story of the Israelites walking around the city walls for six days, sounding a trumpet on the 7th day and the walls came tumbling down.
Joshua is proving to be a great leader, he’s devoted to God’s word and has conquered every city that he intended to. But then he finds that he is up against 5 kings of the Amorites who join forces in opposition to Israel. They gather their armies to fight against Gibeon, who is an ally to Israel, and they send word to Joshua that they need help, and are surrounded by the enemy.
The Lord promises Joshua once again not to fear. The enemies will be defeated. So, he and his men march all night to meet them, then they panic. So God threw some huge stones from the sky to crush their opponents. Then, to top it off, God stills the sun until the fighting is finished. You can read about that in verse 13 of chapter 10.
So this is where it gets a bit gory. The king’s end up hiding in a cave, Joshua finds them, lays them on the ground and tells Israel’s military chiefs to put their feet on the necks of the kings and then he proclaims today’s verse, telling his people that this is what the Lord will do to all the enemies that they will be fighting. He then kills the kings and puts their bodies on poles to hang.
Why such a brutal ending? Well, long before the chiefs put their feet on the necks of their opponents, God promised us the One who would put his foot on the neck of our greatest foes.
So what does this mean for us? Joshua is inviting us to take our own feet and place them on the neck of our enemy… and that enemy is sin. The sin that is constantly trying to draw us in, put your foot on it. The lie that wants us to believe sin’s promises, put your foot on it. And the demonic power that is trying to deceive the world and attempts to rob us of our joy, put your foot on it.
This passage definitely doesn’t make for a kid friendly movie, but nothing more could give us hope than to know that God will always fight for us.