Who Shall Be the Lord of Righteousness?
The Southern Campaign Commences
Good morning! If you would, please take your bibles and turn with me to Joshua 10. Those of you who are visiting here this morning may like to know that we have been working our way through the book of Joshua for the last several months. We have just finished what we’ve been calling the central campaign. Joshua was in charge of taking the promised land and laying siege to the peoples who inhabited that land. And after they crossed the Jordan, they began to cut a line right through the central territory of Canaan. We said that they were dividing the land in two to prevent any kind of help being roused from the north to the south.
We have just concluded this central campaign; we’ve just driven that wedge in through the heart of the land. And now we are in chapter 10. Chapter 10 covers what we’re going to call the Southern campaign. In this chapter we are going to see that several of the major cities in the Southern part of the land of Canaan are overrun and taken for the Lord and his people.
And what we are going to see, among other things, is that God cannot be stopped. And through this study we’ve said that this is a small picture of what God is doing in Christ throughout all history. He’s taking the world and laying siege to the kingdom of Sin and Satan.
[Read text...] Let's pray...
Introduction
We’ll see that in our passage today, and we will certainly see several other great lessons for our encouragement and direction in life. So let’s take a moment and give our attention to Joshua 10.
Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini was one of the Axis powers during WWII. He is famed for having said, “It is my conviction that in time of war, when the cannon speaks with its powerful voice, the less we speak the better.”
I’ve personally never known a tyrant to be silent, but I do know that they speak boldly through their weapons and machinations of war.
As we come to our text today, we see one such tyrant and his axis of evil mounting up against the Lord. If you were with us last week, you may remember we talked about the Canaanites uniting in a treaty. They were put in contrast to the Gibeonites who sought a treaty with Joshua. Well, in chapter 9 we looked in detail at the Gibeonites and how they allied themselves with the Lord and were given life in the covenant community.
This morning we are getting the scoop about the Canaanite alliance and war machine that they muster. Here we have Adoni-zedek, the ringleader. He is the Canaanite Mussolini; the Hitler of the Jesubites, you might say. The guy who wants to strike the first holocaust upon the Jewish people.
But what we find in this passage is that it doesn’t go so well for him or his cohorts. This passage records the terrific defeat of this monumental force that was brought against the Lord and his people.
Some of you may remember “Melkizedek” the guy who came out to meet Abraham in the book of Genesis. He was the King of Salem, king of Jerusalem. And Abraham paid a tenth of all he had to him. Melkizedek is held up in the Bible as a great and godly man. He’s a type of Christ.
Well here, we have a king of Jerusalem who has a similar name. AZ means “Lord of Righteousness.” But AZ is anything but righteous. He’s aligned against the Lord, who is righteousness. You may say that AZ represents a false righteousness; one that is exalted against the heavenlies.
And as we look at this battle today, and draw out the particulars of it, we have to keep in mind that this is a battle of the Lords. It is the battle which will determine who is truly the Lord of righteousness.
There are 5 points I want to draw out of our text. Let's first consider...
I. The obligation that was met [1-7]
The first 7 verses tell us that this super army came against the Gibeonites. And when they saw the danger that they were in, the Gibeonites immediately appealed to Joshua. Now remember: Joshua had made a covenant with the Gibeonites. In the last chapter they had become allies. Or, you might regard them as a vassals.
But now you see the real extent of this promise that Joshua made. Joshua is bound to respond. Think about all that they had to do. They had to march 15-20 miles. They had to engage in the battle. They would have used precious resources. They were putting their lives on the line for these Canaanite people, these scoundrels who had tricked them.
I just point this out because it really helps us to see the significance of an oath, and how binding it is. When you give your word, that agreement is your bond. You are to regard that promise as unbreakable. And you need to fulfill your obligation, even if it means it impinges upon your life in some way—even if it means it costs you somehow.
Psalm 15 talks about a righteous man and it gives several characteristics of a righteous man and it says that a man of integrity (a man who fears God) “swears even to his own hurt.” That is to say, when he makes a promise, he’s going to see that promise through no matter what. He’s going to fulfill his obligation even if it ends up setting him back financially (or maybe he ends up losing some sleep over it). A righteous man knows that a promise, is a promise, is a promise. He knows that God requires us to tell the truth, and part of truth telling is owning up to your end of the bargain.
I want you young people to take note of this. We are living in a day where promises are broken all the time, especially if it means you have to give something up. They about as unbreakable as a wet Kleenex; people break their promises and go back on their word all the time.
But you have to understand that God expects us to keep our word. When you say your marriage vows, it is till death do you part. For richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; for better or for worse, as long as you both shall live. There’s no backing out. It is a vow to give your heart and life for this person through the thick an thin. You might find that your spouse doesn’t turn out to be the Prince Charming that you hoped he’d be. As a matter of fact, he’s anything but charming.
When you take a membership vow in this church, it should be regarded as a weighty thing to you. You pledge to support the worship and work of this church body and study its purity and peace. That may mean that you have to expend yourself sometimes. If our church comes into some hardship, you may have to put some extra gas mileage on your car to try and work things out.
And I’m talking about simple promises you make everyday: When you say you’re going to clean your room, you do it, even if it means missing the ball game.
Joshua would have felt the pain of having to keep this promise. The friendship that was established between these two peoples ended up being quite inconvenient for Joshua and the people of Israel. But the bond was sworn, and the obligation was kept, setting an example for us all.
The next thing I want you to notice is the war that was waged.
II. The war that was waged [8-11]
Specifically, I want you to notice who waged the war. And this is where some of our different versions may need a little help.
Let’s start in verse 8. The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands.” So God makes a definite promise here that Joshua will have the victory.
Then you have verse 10. In verse 10 there are 4 verbs. You see there’s the words “threw them into a panic, struck them with a great blow, chased them by the way, and struck them as far as Azekah.”
The question is, who is the subject? Who is the one doing the acting? Some versions will make the Lord the one doing the action in the first verb, and then it will sound like Israel is the subject of the other verbs. I think the ESV kind of leans in that direction. The NIV definitely makes it sound like Israel.
But if you have the NKJ or the NASB, it’s probably a little more accurate. It makes the Lord the subject of all the verbs. So it is the Lord who not only throws them into a panic, but he struck them with a great blow, the Lord chased them by the way, and the Lord struck them as far as Azekah.
Now, I point this out because it gives us an understanding of God that we may not naturally gravitate towards. Here is the Lord, fighting his enemies. He’s not just making Joshua do the dirty work. He’s actively involved; he’s the one taking the battle to them. He’s the one on the front lines.
Then you go on to verse 11 and you have the hailstones being hurled down upon the Canaanite armies. You can see God in the heavens throwing giant balls of ice down in magnificent proportions. So that more died by hail than by the sword.
Keep in mind that this would have stretched for some 20-30 miles (from Gibeon to Makkedah). God is chucking hail at them for most of this distance.
What a picture this gives you of God! This is far from your meek and mild Jesus. This is a God who is a warrior.
This week I saw a Voddie Baucham clip. I think it was part of the Biggest Question DVD, with which some of you may be familiar. Baucham talks about a picture he saw of a WWII soldier. The soldier is decked out in his army fatigues. He’s got his helmet and his boots and his gun in hand. He’s also carrying a young child. He’s running to get her to safety.
Now, you can ask, “Is that soldier nice?” And the answer is an obvious yes. But he’s more than nice, isn’t he? He’s a warrior. He’s caring for the little girl, but he’s also able to inflict pain upon his enemies.
And Baucham makes the same point about the Lord. You can ask, “Is God nice?” And the answer is a definite yes. But he’s more than nice. God isn’t afraid of inflicting great pain and terror upon his enemies. He is kind, but he’s also just. And while he will pity, protect, and provide for his people, he will also prevail over his enemies and bring about their justly deserved demise.
This isn’t the kind of God we often envision. But it is the God who is described in Scripture. It’s the one who truly deserves our worship.
And what may be even more shocking is that this God, mighty as he is, listens to a man. That’s the next point of our passage. In verses 12-14 we see the prayer that was heard.
III. The prayer that was heard [12-14]
Now, these verses are really interesting. They contain for us one of the most mind boggling miracles of all Scripture. We have here a wonder of cosmic proportions. I mean think about how extraordinary this is: The sun and the moon paused in the sky. Perhaps the earth’s rotation ground to a halt. We don’t know exactly the dynamic of it. But what we do know is that the day was extended well beyond the natural stretch of an ordinary 24 hour period.
Now, there are scholars who have examined this and have tried with all their might to make sense of it all. They’ve come up with different theories of how this all came about. There’s one theory is that this is exactly what I just said: the earth stopped rotating or there was some sort of radical re-ordering of the cosmos which made these celestial bodies seem like they stood still.
Of course, there are a lot of people who just can’t buy that. I mean, if the earth stopped rotating, wouldn’t that cause all kinds of havoc? (Obviously they don’t believe that God could keep that havoc from happening). But some people just can’t buy that. It’s just too fantastic. So there are others who try to explain it by means of and eclipse. But that’s a little hard to buy because Joshua says the sun is here over Gibeon and the moon is over there over the valley of Aijalon.
Some will even say that it was more about darkness than about the light. Joshua marched through the night and it could be translated, “Sun, be dumb at Gibeon.” In other words, don’t let your light shine.
There are some credible scholars that go that way. But the end of verse 13 says, “The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.” So it sounds there that there was not just a dark day, but a day when the sun took a siesta and just hung out.
So all this is to say that this was quite a thing. People are so flabbergasted at this that they are trying very hard to explain it.
But what I want you to do is look at the text again. Ask yourself, what is the author most dumbfounded by? Look at verse 14. Does it say, “There has been no day like it before or since, when the sun and the moon stood still? No. There’s never been a day like it when the Lord heeded the voice of a man.
That’s what’s really bizarre. You want to talk about something that’s really stunning? Then talk about this: The God who controls the heavens and the one who makes the earth to turn on its axis, this God listened to a man! Now THAT is impressive.
Here we are, people who are needy and have this or that concern in our lives, but we don’t take to heart the fact that there’s a God in the heavens who will hear our prayers. Jesus said, whatever you ask in my name, you’ll receive. Yet how prone are we to seek out our God and pray to him? Let’s take what is said here and listen to the words of James 4 again: You have not because you ask not.
Would that we marvel at this phenomena though. The one who lives above the sun and holds the moon in his hand hears us when we pray.
But let’s turn our attention to verses 15-27
IV. The message that was sent [15-27]
This is the part about the 5 kings who were found in a cave. Obviously, they were trying to avoid the hail and they tried holing up in an undisclosed location for protection. But, as it was, their hideout was discovered and eventually they were brought out to Joshua face the music.
And they were executed in grand style. Verses 24, 25, 26 tell us just how it all went down. Joshua commanded his soldiers to put their foot on the neck of each of the kings. And while they stood over their enemies, Joshua gave them a little pep talk before they were run through with the swords.
It may seem a little overdone. Some people may even take offense at the ceremony and say that this was such a ruthless way of taking out the enemies. But the pomp and circumstance was all done for a purpose. It was a sign of absolute domination.
Couple that with what Joshua says in verse 2. He says, “For thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight." Joshua emphasizes that this is more than just an execution. He was sending a message to his men. He wanted to communicate the fact that God would be completely victorious in this campaign. He was helping to encourage his brothers in arms that they were unstoppable. The Gates of Hell would not prevail against them because the Lord was bringing forth his Kingdom.
In the same way, there’s a similar message sent to us. We should not be scandalized by what we may at first perceive to be macho brutality. We should instead be encouraged and remember that all things are being put under the feel of Jesus Christ. Yes, this is a testimony to us that the kings of the earth who plot against us and against our Lord will bow before our God.
And it’s not just our physical foes. It is every ruler that is vaunted against the Kingdom of God. For instance, in the book of Romans Paul says, “God will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
Then in the book of 1 Corinthians he says that all things are put under the feet of Christ, and he says that even includes death itself. The grave, which is that last great foe of ours—that too sits under the divine toes of King Jesus.
So this is a reminder to us. It is a sign which communicates the complete domination that our God shall have. Even though we might not see it now. Even though we are embroiled in the thick of the war, we may have the confident expectation that the kingdom of God is an everlasting kingdom which will eventually cover the earth.
The last thing I want to mention is the victory that was achieved.
V. The victory that was achieved
And what I want to do is simply point out how significant this battle was. You may have heard of the battle of Watterloo. You may have heard of Gettysburg or something like that. These were historic battles an they are well known because they were battles that changed the world. If the Duke of Wellington had not beaten Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo, then we’d all probably be speaking French. Napoleon would have dominated all of Europe and been the de facto Emperor of the world.
This battle is not as well known. But when you think about it, it was the scene of some of the greatest miracles God had ever done. God halted the cosmos and kept the sun right in its place for a whole day. And before that, God rained down deadly hail upon the Axis powers.
We don’t see a ton of miracles throughout the Bible’s history. There are lots of miracles, don’t get me wrong. But usually they are spread out over time. That you have two grandiose miracles occurring right here in one day says something about how great this battle was.
You will probably not read about this in the history books, but let me tell you: This battle was truly historic. This was one of those battles that changed the course of history. Because if Joshua would have lost this battle, he would not have taken the promised land. If these Canaanite forces had overwhelmed Joshua’s army, there would not be any more story to write. If Joshua were defeated, Judah would never have taken this portion of the inheritance (they are fighting on what was to be Judah’s land). And if Judah never had this land, then the greater Joshua would never have been born. And if that were the case, we’d still be in our sins. It’d be like we’d all be speaking Canaanite.
That’s why God unleashed his power like he did. He knew he had to defeat Adoni-zedek, the Lord of false righteousness, so that the true Lord of righteousness might come into this world. This battle changed history because it made it possible for Satan’s head to be crushed once and for all.
We have just concluded this central campaign; we’ve just driven that wedge in through the heart of the land. And now we are in chapter 10. Chapter 10 covers what we’re going to call the Southern campaign. In this chapter we are going to see that several of the major cities in the Southern part of the land of Canaan are overrun and taken for the Lord and his people.
And what we are going to see, among other things, is that God cannot be stopped. And through this study we’ve said that this is a small picture of what God is doing in Christ throughout all history. He’s taking the world and laying siege to the kingdom of Sin and Satan.
[Read text...] Let's pray...
Introduction
We’ll see that in our passage today, and we will certainly see several other great lessons for our encouragement and direction in life. So let’s take a moment and give our attention to Joshua 10.
Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini was one of the Axis powers during WWII. He is famed for having said, “It is my conviction that in time of war, when the cannon speaks with its powerful voice, the less we speak the better.”
I’ve personally never known a tyrant to be silent, but I do know that they speak boldly through their weapons and machinations of war.
As we come to our text today, we see one such tyrant and his axis of evil mounting up against the Lord. If you were with us last week, you may remember we talked about the Canaanites uniting in a treaty. They were put in contrast to the Gibeonites who sought a treaty with Joshua. Well, in chapter 9 we looked in detail at the Gibeonites and how they allied themselves with the Lord and were given life in the covenant community.
This morning we are getting the scoop about the Canaanite alliance and war machine that they muster. Here we have Adoni-zedek, the ringleader. He is the Canaanite Mussolini; the Hitler of the Jesubites, you might say. The guy who wants to strike the first holocaust upon the Jewish people.
But what we find in this passage is that it doesn’t go so well for him or his cohorts. This passage records the terrific defeat of this monumental force that was brought against the Lord and his people.
Some of you may remember “Melkizedek” the guy who came out to meet Abraham in the book of Genesis. He was the King of Salem, king of Jerusalem. And Abraham paid a tenth of all he had to him. Melkizedek is held up in the Bible as a great and godly man. He’s a type of Christ.
Well here, we have a king of Jerusalem who has a similar name. AZ means “Lord of Righteousness.” But AZ is anything but righteous. He’s aligned against the Lord, who is righteousness. You may say that AZ represents a false righteousness; one that is exalted against the heavenlies.
And as we look at this battle today, and draw out the particulars of it, we have to keep in mind that this is a battle of the Lords. It is the battle which will determine who is truly the Lord of righteousness.
There are 5 points I want to draw out of our text. Let's first consider...
I. The obligation that was met [1-7]
The first 7 verses tell us that this super army came against the Gibeonites. And when they saw the danger that they were in, the Gibeonites immediately appealed to Joshua. Now remember: Joshua had made a covenant with the Gibeonites. In the last chapter they had become allies. Or, you might regard them as a vassals.
But now you see the real extent of this promise that Joshua made. Joshua is bound to respond. Think about all that they had to do. They had to march 15-20 miles. They had to engage in the battle. They would have used precious resources. They were putting their lives on the line for these Canaanite people, these scoundrels who had tricked them.
I just point this out because it really helps us to see the significance of an oath, and how binding it is. When you give your word, that agreement is your bond. You are to regard that promise as unbreakable. And you need to fulfill your obligation, even if it means it impinges upon your life in some way—even if it means it costs you somehow.
Psalm 15 talks about a righteous man and it gives several characteristics of a righteous man and it says that a man of integrity (a man who fears God) “swears even to his own hurt.” That is to say, when he makes a promise, he’s going to see that promise through no matter what. He’s going to fulfill his obligation even if it ends up setting him back financially (or maybe he ends up losing some sleep over it). A righteous man knows that a promise, is a promise, is a promise. He knows that God requires us to tell the truth, and part of truth telling is owning up to your end of the bargain.
I want you young people to take note of this. We are living in a day where promises are broken all the time, especially if it means you have to give something up. They about as unbreakable as a wet Kleenex; people break their promises and go back on their word all the time.
But you have to understand that God expects us to keep our word. When you say your marriage vows, it is till death do you part. For richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; for better or for worse, as long as you both shall live. There’s no backing out. It is a vow to give your heart and life for this person through the thick an thin. You might find that your spouse doesn’t turn out to be the Prince Charming that you hoped he’d be. As a matter of fact, he’s anything but charming.
When you take a membership vow in this church, it should be regarded as a weighty thing to you. You pledge to support the worship and work of this church body and study its purity and peace. That may mean that you have to expend yourself sometimes. If our church comes into some hardship, you may have to put some extra gas mileage on your car to try and work things out.
And I’m talking about simple promises you make everyday: When you say you’re going to clean your room, you do it, even if it means missing the ball game.
Joshua would have felt the pain of having to keep this promise. The friendship that was established between these two peoples ended up being quite inconvenient for Joshua and the people of Israel. But the bond was sworn, and the obligation was kept, setting an example for us all.
The next thing I want you to notice is the war that was waged.
II. The war that was waged [8-11]
Specifically, I want you to notice who waged the war. And this is where some of our different versions may need a little help.
Let’s start in verse 8. The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands.” So God makes a definite promise here that Joshua will have the victory.
Then you have verse 10. In verse 10 there are 4 verbs. You see there’s the words “threw them into a panic, struck them with a great blow, chased them by the way, and struck them as far as Azekah.”
The question is, who is the subject? Who is the one doing the acting? Some versions will make the Lord the one doing the action in the first verb, and then it will sound like Israel is the subject of the other verbs. I think the ESV kind of leans in that direction. The NIV definitely makes it sound like Israel.
But if you have the NKJ or the NASB, it’s probably a little more accurate. It makes the Lord the subject of all the verbs. So it is the Lord who not only throws them into a panic, but he struck them with a great blow, the Lord chased them by the way, and the Lord struck them as far as Azekah.
Now, I point this out because it gives us an understanding of God that we may not naturally gravitate towards. Here is the Lord, fighting his enemies. He’s not just making Joshua do the dirty work. He’s actively involved; he’s the one taking the battle to them. He’s the one on the front lines.
Then you go on to verse 11 and you have the hailstones being hurled down upon the Canaanite armies. You can see God in the heavens throwing giant balls of ice down in magnificent proportions. So that more died by hail than by the sword.
Keep in mind that this would have stretched for some 20-30 miles (from Gibeon to Makkedah). God is chucking hail at them for most of this distance.
What a picture this gives you of God! This is far from your meek and mild Jesus. This is a God who is a warrior.
This week I saw a Voddie Baucham clip. I think it was part of the Biggest Question DVD, with which some of you may be familiar. Baucham talks about a picture he saw of a WWII soldier. The soldier is decked out in his army fatigues. He’s got his helmet and his boots and his gun in hand. He’s also carrying a young child. He’s running to get her to safety.
Now, you can ask, “Is that soldier nice?” And the answer is an obvious yes. But he’s more than nice, isn’t he? He’s a warrior. He’s caring for the little girl, but he’s also able to inflict pain upon his enemies.
And Baucham makes the same point about the Lord. You can ask, “Is God nice?” And the answer is a definite yes. But he’s more than nice. God isn’t afraid of inflicting great pain and terror upon his enemies. He is kind, but he’s also just. And while he will pity, protect, and provide for his people, he will also prevail over his enemies and bring about their justly deserved demise.
This isn’t the kind of God we often envision. But it is the God who is described in Scripture. It’s the one who truly deserves our worship.
And what may be even more shocking is that this God, mighty as he is, listens to a man. That’s the next point of our passage. In verses 12-14 we see the prayer that was heard.
III. The prayer that was heard [12-14]
Now, these verses are really interesting. They contain for us one of the most mind boggling miracles of all Scripture. We have here a wonder of cosmic proportions. I mean think about how extraordinary this is: The sun and the moon paused in the sky. Perhaps the earth’s rotation ground to a halt. We don’t know exactly the dynamic of it. But what we do know is that the day was extended well beyond the natural stretch of an ordinary 24 hour period.
Now, there are scholars who have examined this and have tried with all their might to make sense of it all. They’ve come up with different theories of how this all came about. There’s one theory is that this is exactly what I just said: the earth stopped rotating or there was some sort of radical re-ordering of the cosmos which made these celestial bodies seem like they stood still.
Of course, there are a lot of people who just can’t buy that. I mean, if the earth stopped rotating, wouldn’t that cause all kinds of havoc? (Obviously they don’t believe that God could keep that havoc from happening). But some people just can’t buy that. It’s just too fantastic. So there are others who try to explain it by means of and eclipse. But that’s a little hard to buy because Joshua says the sun is here over Gibeon and the moon is over there over the valley of Aijalon.
Some will even say that it was more about darkness than about the light. Joshua marched through the night and it could be translated, “Sun, be dumb at Gibeon.” In other words, don’t let your light shine.
There are some credible scholars that go that way. But the end of verse 13 says, “The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.” So it sounds there that there was not just a dark day, but a day when the sun took a siesta and just hung out.
So all this is to say that this was quite a thing. People are so flabbergasted at this that they are trying very hard to explain it.
But what I want you to do is look at the text again. Ask yourself, what is the author most dumbfounded by? Look at verse 14. Does it say, “There has been no day like it before or since, when the sun and the moon stood still? No. There’s never been a day like it when the Lord heeded the voice of a man.
That’s what’s really bizarre. You want to talk about something that’s really stunning? Then talk about this: The God who controls the heavens and the one who makes the earth to turn on its axis, this God listened to a man! Now THAT is impressive.
Here we are, people who are needy and have this or that concern in our lives, but we don’t take to heart the fact that there’s a God in the heavens who will hear our prayers. Jesus said, whatever you ask in my name, you’ll receive. Yet how prone are we to seek out our God and pray to him? Let’s take what is said here and listen to the words of James 4 again: You have not because you ask not.
Would that we marvel at this phenomena though. The one who lives above the sun and holds the moon in his hand hears us when we pray.
But let’s turn our attention to verses 15-27
IV. The message that was sent [15-27]
This is the part about the 5 kings who were found in a cave. Obviously, they were trying to avoid the hail and they tried holing up in an undisclosed location for protection. But, as it was, their hideout was discovered and eventually they were brought out to Joshua face the music.
And they were executed in grand style. Verses 24, 25, 26 tell us just how it all went down. Joshua commanded his soldiers to put their foot on the neck of each of the kings. And while they stood over their enemies, Joshua gave them a little pep talk before they were run through with the swords.
It may seem a little overdone. Some people may even take offense at the ceremony and say that this was such a ruthless way of taking out the enemies. But the pomp and circumstance was all done for a purpose. It was a sign of absolute domination.
Couple that with what Joshua says in verse 2. He says, “For thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight." Joshua emphasizes that this is more than just an execution. He was sending a message to his men. He wanted to communicate the fact that God would be completely victorious in this campaign. He was helping to encourage his brothers in arms that they were unstoppable. The Gates of Hell would not prevail against them because the Lord was bringing forth his Kingdom.
In the same way, there’s a similar message sent to us. We should not be scandalized by what we may at first perceive to be macho brutality. We should instead be encouraged and remember that all things are being put under the feel of Jesus Christ. Yes, this is a testimony to us that the kings of the earth who plot against us and against our Lord will bow before our God.
And it’s not just our physical foes. It is every ruler that is vaunted against the Kingdom of God. For instance, in the book of Romans Paul says, “God will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
Then in the book of 1 Corinthians he says that all things are put under the feet of Christ, and he says that even includes death itself. The grave, which is that last great foe of ours—that too sits under the divine toes of King Jesus.
So this is a reminder to us. It is a sign which communicates the complete domination that our God shall have. Even though we might not see it now. Even though we are embroiled in the thick of the war, we may have the confident expectation that the kingdom of God is an everlasting kingdom which will eventually cover the earth.
The last thing I want to mention is the victory that was achieved.
V. The victory that was achieved
And what I want to do is simply point out how significant this battle was. You may have heard of the battle of Watterloo. You may have heard of Gettysburg or something like that. These were historic battles an they are well known because they were battles that changed the world. If the Duke of Wellington had not beaten Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo, then we’d all probably be speaking French. Napoleon would have dominated all of Europe and been the de facto Emperor of the world.
This battle is not as well known. But when you think about it, it was the scene of some of the greatest miracles God had ever done. God halted the cosmos and kept the sun right in its place for a whole day. And before that, God rained down deadly hail upon the Axis powers.
We don’t see a ton of miracles throughout the Bible’s history. There are lots of miracles, don’t get me wrong. But usually they are spread out over time. That you have two grandiose miracles occurring right here in one day says something about how great this battle was.
You will probably not read about this in the history books, but let me tell you: This battle was truly historic. This was one of those battles that changed the course of history. Because if Joshua would have lost this battle, he would not have taken the promised land. If these Canaanite forces had overwhelmed Joshua’s army, there would not be any more story to write. If Joshua were defeated, Judah would never have taken this portion of the inheritance (they are fighting on what was to be Judah’s land). And if Judah never had this land, then the greater Joshua would never have been born. And if that were the case, we’d still be in our sins. It’d be like we’d all be speaking Canaanite.
That’s why God unleashed his power like he did. He knew he had to defeat Adoni-zedek, the Lord of false righteousness, so that the true Lord of righteousness might come into this world. This battle changed history because it made it possible for Satan’s head to be crushed once and for all.