By: Dale Weckbacher
Text: Joshua
10:16-28
Ephesians 6:12
For we
do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present
darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
places.
(ESV)
The year 2020 has been a year of
crisis from the global Covid19 crisis to the crisis of unrest in the streets in
the United States, but it could also be viewed as a year of distractions. While Covid19 and civil unrest are real
events requiring our attention, Ephesians
6:12 reminds us that the real enemy is spiritual and the force behind what
is occurring in the world. For this
reason, we must learn to address pressing issues like Covid19 and civil unrest
while not allowing them to distract us from taking up the armor of God and engaging
our spiritual enemy (Ephesians
6:10-20).
Israel has honored its covenant
with Gibeon with God’s intervention by throwing the Amorite armies into a panic,
throwing down large hailstones from heaven upon them, and causing the sun to
stand still giving the army of Israel time until they could take vengeance on
the Amorite armies (Joshua
10:1-15). During the panic of the
Amorite armies, the five Amorite kings had fled and hidden in the cave at
Makkedah (Joshua
10:16). This act of cowardice by the
Amorite kings did not go unnoticed and was brought to Joshua’s attention (Joshua
10:17). Joshua could have allowed the
discovery of the hiding place of the Amorite kings to distract him from God’s
command to occupy the Promised Land (Joshua
1:2-3). However, instead of allowing
the discovery of the king’s hiding place to distract him, Joshua orders his men
to roll large stones in front of the opening to the cave, set men to guard the
cave, and continued pursuing their enemies, not allowing them to return to
their cities (Joshua
10:18-19). Israel successfully
defeats the Amorite armies and occupies their cities with the remnant left entering
the fortified cities (Joshua
10:20-21).
It is not until Joshua fulfills God’s
mission for Israel to occupy the Promised Land, which in this instance meant
occupation of the Amorite cities, that he returns to deal with the Amorite
kings held captive in the cave at Makkedah (Joshua
10:22-23). As the Amorite kings are
presented to Joshua, he has the chiefs of the men of war who had just defeated
the Amorite armies put their feet on the necks of the Amorite kings. Joshua did not have his men place their feet
on their necks to kill them but to illustrate how the Lord would give Israel
victory over all their enemies and to remain strong and courageous (Joshua
10:24-25). Joshua then strikes the
Amorite kings to death, hanging them on trees till sundown and then burying them
in the cave at Makkedah (Joshua
10:26-27). Joshua then strikes down
the king of Makkedah, devoting to destruction every person in the city just
like he did at Jericho (Joshua
10:28).
The parallel in this passage is Jesus'
defeat of sin in our lives. Jesus has
totally defeated sin, holding it captive in the tomb (Romans
7:6). However, we can become
distracted by the enemy and go into the cave and bring out the sin God defeated
on the cross. Instead of going in and dredging
up past sins, we must place rocks over the opening to the cave and guard our
hearts against dredging up past sins by putting on the helmet of salvation,
knowing that our sins are totally forgiven (Ephesians
6:17). From this knowledge we can
focus on the mission of the Church, taking the message of salvation in Christ
to the world and making disciples (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).
Like Israel’s mission to occupy
the Promised Land, the Church has a mission to share the message of Jesus’
death, burial, and resurrection. Like
the potential distraction of finding the Amorite kings secluding themselves in
the cave and Makkedah, crises like Covid19 and civil unrest can consume our
attention and distract us from the mission of sharing the Gospel. Instead of becoming consumed with news of
these crises, we must focus on sharing the Gospel for Jesus Christ is the
answer to how to handle crises. A world
in crisis and despair needs Jesus and the message of the Gospel to bring hope. The challenge for the church is to remain
focused on its mission of bringing this hope to the world. The church must put on the whole armor of God,
defeating the enemy behind evil in the world.
The challenge for the Church is will it be the messenger bring hope to a
world in despair or remain in despair itself.
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