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Joshua 10:5-27 - Then the five kings of the Amorites--the
kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon--joined forces. They
moved up with all their troops against Gibeon and attacked it...The Lord said to
Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. None
of them will be able to withstand you." After an all-night march from
Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The Lord threw the enemy into confusion,
and defeated them in a great victory...Now the five kings had fled and hidden in
the cave at Makkedah. When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found
hidden in the cave at Makkedah, he said, "Roll large rocks up to the mouth
of the cave and post some men to guard it. But don't stop! Pursue your enemies
and don't let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into
your hand"...So Joshua and the Israelites destroyed them completely...Then
Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings to
me." When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of
Israel and said to the army commanders, "Come here and put your feet on the
necks of these kings"...Joshua said to them, "...Be strong and
courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to
fight." Then Joshua killed the kings and hung them on five trees until
evening. At sunset they took them down from the trees and threw them into the
cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large
rocks.
Do you practice "five kings in a cave" strategy? No, we're not talking about the strategy for winning a card game, and "Five Kings in a Cave" is not a new outdoor group game like "Capture the Flag" or "Paintball"! However, "five kings in a cave" does have to do with "war games"--war games in which all growing Christians are involved, whether they realize it or not. War games may actually be a misleading term because we're talking about real warfare--spiritual warfare, which is not a game! Practicing "five kings in a cave" strategy refers to the use of certain biblical principles for winning battles in spiritual warfare.
Divide and Conquer
The title "Five Kings in a Cave" comes from Joshua 10. In this
chapter Joshua and the armies of Israel literally sealed five kings inside a
cave as part of the overall strategy for conquering the land of Canaan. Under
God's command, the first step in conquering Canaan was to divide the land by
defeating the central cities of Jericho and Ai. Then the military plans called
for a southern campaign and a northern campaign to complete the "divide and
conquer" strategy. The enemy played right into General Joshua's hands when
five kings of the major city-states in southern Canaan formed a coalition to
fight against the Gibeonites, who had signed a mutual defense treaty with the
Israelis. With God's intervention (including the amazing sun-standing-still
miracle), Joshua not only successfully defended Gibeon, but defeated the armies
of all five kings in one battle! The kings themselves thought that they could
escape the Israeli war machine by hiding in a cave, but Joshua's intelligence
branch was tipped off as to their location. Rather than delay his successful
pursuit of the enemy, Joshua had the cave sealed off with large stones while the
Israeli army chased the fleeing enemy troops.
When the defeated armies were thoroughly routed, Joshua dealt with the kings themselves. The five kings were brought out of the cave and Joshua had his chief military commanders place their feet on the necks of the kings--a symbolic gesture for complete subjugation in that day. Then Joshua killed the kings and hung them on five trees until evening so that all could see that the pagan enemies of God's people had been totally defeated. In the evening Joshua had the bodies of the five kings thrown into the very cave where they had tried to hide, and it became their grave.
Why All the Killing?
Before we move on to the spiritual lessons from Joshua 10, we should discuss
the question that is probably in everyone's mind. Why all the terrible slaughter
in the book of Joshua? Why would God allow and--and even command--all this
bloodshed? Deuteronomy 7:1-5 and 20:16-18 explain why God directed His people to
kill the Canaanites. These passages (and others) clearly show that God did not
want His people contaminated and polluted with the gross idolatry and immorality
associated with the pagan nations of the land of Canaan. In fact, the army of
Israel was God's "axe of judgment" for clearing the land of its
idolatrous people and their immoral and evil practices. However, God was not
unmerciful in His dealings with the Canaanites. In Genesis 15:13-16 God told
Abraham that His people would remain in Egypt for four generations because
"the wickedness of the Amorite [Canaanite] nations will not be ready for
punishment until then." In other words, God was very patient in His
dealings with the pagan Canaanite nations. For hundreds of years He waited for
them to turn to the one true God. Faithful people like Abraham and Melchizedek
and Job retained and proclaimed the truth of God. But, typical of mankind
worldwide (then and today), the Canaanites would not turn back. They refused to
respond to the proclamation of the true God. Now judgment time had come.
The military might of the Israeli army was the means God chose to "clean house" and judge the heathen Canaanite nations. Unfortunately, the various tribes of Israel did not do a thorough job of completely clearing the enemy from the Promised Land after the initial success of the Conquest. Thus the idolatrous and immoral practices of the pagan nations remained in the Land and gradually penetrated and contaminated God's own people. What a lesson for God's people today! Many Christians are not enjoying the "Land of Spiritual Blessings" that God has given us in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and are not effective in spiritual warfare because too many of the world's principles and practices still remain in their lives (Ephesians 6:11-13).
Open Sins and Root Sins
Now what about the lessons from the five kings in the cave? Recognize that
all enemy activity in the book of Joshua represents some form of spiritual
opposition in the life of the believer today, including our battles with the
sins of the flesh. The strategy for spiritual warfare that seems to be
illustrated here involves dealing effectively with the root sins in our
hearts. As the five enemy armies had five kings backing them (even though the
kings themselves were hidden), so the open sins in our lives grow from the
hidden root sins in our lives. Think, for example, of the open and obvious sins
of jealousy, criticism of others, gossip and even revenge. The hidden "king
in the cave" behind these open sins is the root sin of pride.
Consider the many open sins of cheating in financial matters as another example.
The hidden "king in the cave" behind these open sins in the root
sin of the love of money. As 1 Timothy 6:10 says, "the love of money is
a root of all kinds of evil."
Pride and the love of money are only two of the many "hidden king sins" or root sins with which Christians must deal. The root sin of unbelief, for example, works itself out in many kinds of open sins, such as doubt and lack of faith. Maybe the most hidden root sin of all is the root sin of idolatry. We don't like to admit it, but when anything in our lives becomes more precious or important than God, the root sin of idolatry lies hidden in our hearts.
Strategy for Spiritual Warfare
How should growing Christians deal with root sins? In spiritual warfare,
what strategies should we use to recognize, acknowledge and deal with the root
sins that lurk behind the more obvious open sins? As illustrated by sealing up
the five kings in the cave while the open enemies were hunted down and
destroyed, we start by identifying the presence of sin in our lives. Root sins
must be kept in check while we deal with the open sins. Root sins are not easily
eliminated and must be dealt in the proper way before the Lord. As Joshua's army
pursued and destroyed the enemy troops, we must do whatever it takes to hunt
down and put an end to the open sins of criticism, gossip and taking revenge,
and allow the Lord to deal with the root sin of pride in our hearts. In the same
way, the obvious sins of not repaying debts, or overcharging customers, or
"overlooking" income on our tax returns must be chased down and
eliminated. But the root of our problem with money will never be really solved
until we allow the Lord to deal with the "hidden king sin" of the love
of money.
How we should deal with the root sins is further illustrated by the way Joshua dealt with the five kings when he had them brought out of the cave. Joshua is a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus. As Joshua led God's people into the Promised Land, so the Lord leads His people into the land of spiritual blessings and spiritual battles. As Joshua called for the five kings to be brought out into the open, so the Lord Jesus wants us to acknowledge and bring out the hidden sins of our hearts before Him.
Unwilling Believers
All too often Christians are unwilling to do this. They're willing to try to
curb the open or obvious sins in order to create the appearance of godly living,
but they're unwilling to bring the root sins of the heart before the Lord for
elimination. They are content to live with the hidden "king sins" such
as pride or the love of money still harbored in their hearts. They may make an
effort--and even a great show--of renouncing the open sins in their lives while
never truly asking the Lord to deal with the root sins. Unfortunately, if the
condition of their hearts remains unchanged, all the open sins will eventually
return.
Some Christians even refuse to admit that these root sins exist in their lives. They won't acknowledge that their lifestyles are characterized by materialism or pride. Because their minds are enculturated by this world's values and attitudes, they attempt to rationalize or excuse their open sins. These Christians often feel superior to believers who don't "have it made" in the areas of success or finances as they do--a key sign that the hidden root sins of pride and love of money are still there. Sadly, these Christians are willing to live out a life that is compromised by sin rather than letting the Lord revolutionize their lives by dealing with their sin and renewing their minds. Some Christians are so blinded by their biblical knowledge and "righteous living" that they are unable to see the pride and other root sins which are hidden in the recesses of their hearts. However, the world around them easily recognizes the hypocrisy of their self-righteous lifestyle.
The Place of Death
The biblical solution to the problem of all root sins is to get to the point
in our Christian life where we are willing to let the Lord expose our
hearts and deal with these sins. Let's not continue with a policy of compromise
and peaceful coexistence with these root or "hidden king sins." As the
five kings hidden in the cave were brought to Joshua's attention (v17), so we
must be willing to acknowledge our hidden root sins and bring them to the Lord's
attention. We must allow the Lord to shine the light of His Word into the inner
recesses of our hearts, expose the root sins and clean them out. Can we say with
David, "Search me, O God, and know my heart...see if there is any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 39:23-24)?
An additional spiritual picture is seen in Joshua having the leaders of the people put their feet on the necks of the enemy kings. This action reminds us of Romans 16:20 which says, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Just as He promised victory to the Israelites in Joshua 10:8, the Lord has promised victory to us as well! Satan will use every root sin, of course, as a tool to keep us defeated in the land of spiritual blessings that the Lord has given us. The Lord wants us to see these sins for what they really are, and put them in the place of death. (See Romans 6:11 and Colossians 3:5.)
The Lord Himself, like Joshua, dealt the death blow to our sinful selves and all the hidden sins in our hearts. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24). But until we recognize this truth and appropriate it to the point of experience, the hidden sins of our hearts will still remain "alive and well." We must "walk by the Spirit" so that the hidden desires of the flesh are not carried out (Galatians 5:16).
Until we are with the Lord and have our new sinless bodies, the hidden root sins of our hearts will remain a potential problem. Unlike the kings of Joshua 10, root sins don't necessarily stay dead! Even when they have been identified and dealt with, they are still in the cave, and the possibility remains that they will again rear their ugly heads! Perhaps this spiritual truth is pictured in the fact that a new king had already "come to life" over Hebron as we see in verse 36.
What a blessing it is to realize that our Lord Jesus settled the whole problem of sin on the cross. All the root sins have been judged, and the Lord Himself has promised to help us deal decisively with those sins every day of our lives. The believer who has realized this truth can say with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). If we are determined to keep the root sins dead in the cave, we must realize and daily practice the truth that we have died and risen with Christ. Romans 6:11-12 says, "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires." As we follow this principle for godly living, we will increasingly experience the wonderful promise of Romans 6:14: "Sin shall not be master over you."
Have Galatians 2:20 and Romans 6:14 become to us more than just great memory verses? Do they characterize our Christian lives and experience? Our answer to this question is evidence of whether the enemy kings are alive and well or remain dead in the cave!
David R. Reid
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