When the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land, they immediately faced 5 kings who were determined to stop their progress. Joshua and his army warred with them and eventually defeated them, but 5 of the kings fled the scene and hid in a cave. When they were found, Joshua commanded that they be brought out and that the feet of his leaders be put on their necks and they be killed.

He told his men not to be dismayed but be strong. Why would he say that? The word ‘dismayed’ actually means to ‘tear down’ or ‘fall apart’. It’s possible that these Kings were taunting those who were going to kill them. Joshua is saying ignore this, don’t let yourselves be torn down by their words. I can imagine them shouting out that if you kill us our brothers will come back and get you.

We too can be afraid when standing against our enemy the Devil. We can be scared to take Him on because of His taunts and lies. He can shout out all sorts of threats like “you are going to die,” “this problem will never go away.” Satan is actually afraid of us and knows we have the power to resist Him in Jesus name. He wants to rob us of our blessing, our inheritance, our Promised Land.