“Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah, he said, “Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. But don’t stop; pursue your enemies! Attack them from the rear and don’t let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.”
So Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely, but a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities. The whole army then returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one uttered a word against the Israelites.
Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.
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.” Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening. “ Joshua 10:18-26
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.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “ John 10:10
Our enemy Satan wants to rob us of our peace, our joy and our confidence. He says things like, “You are unworthy, you’ll never have victory.” We need to know that in Christ; our destiny, our victory, is assured, but we need to go out and fight for it. Just like the Children of Israel we given the land but they still had to claim it.
In these verses in Joshua 10 we see that Joshua told his men to first go to the cave and bring these 5 kings out and kill them. They needed to do something about the situation. It wasn’t all done by God. The victory needed to be enforced by them.
The fact that there was a cave and that there were 5 Kings in this story is very significant. Caves would be symbolic of the strongholds of the mind that the enemy hides in. There are thought patterns hiding in our minds that are affecting our lives. ‘Stinking Thinking.’ The Devil’s thoughts from within are shouting out to us, all sorts of misinformation. The cave needs to be entered and the ‘stinking thinking’ dealt with.
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
It’s also interesting to note that these 5 Kings were then hung on trees, v25. This would be speaking to us of how Jesus dealt with our enemy at the cross when he was hung on a tree. It was on Calvary’s Tree that Satan was defeated and our sin hung on the cross.
“Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 3:14-15
We often don’t realise how powerful an enemy stronghold can be until we try and step out in faith. Getting out of our comfort zone. When we leave the safer place, and head toward the Promised Land there are enemies that come against us. Thoughts that try and stop us. We need to step out in faith but this causes the Devil to challenge and taunt us. Like He did to Eve in the Garden when He said, “Has God said?” He tries to put doubts in our minds.
If He can’t stop you getting saved, He will try and stop you entering into your Canaan Land, your destiny. Look at what Pharaoh said to Moses when he wanted to bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt. He said that they could go but not very far. Then he said that they could go but you’ll have to leave your children behind. Then he said later that they could go but leave you animals behind.
“We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he commands us.” “Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. “Exodus 8:28
At first Pharaoh said they could go but not very far. Then he said they could go, but must leave their children behind. In the end he had to let them all go otherwise the nation of Egypt would be completely destroyed through the plagues of God. Our God wants us to go all the way, no compromise.
Joshua’s soldiers were to take these 5 Kings and deal decisively with them by putting their feet on their necks and killing them, then hanging them on a tree.
The fact that there are 5 Kings is very significant. These 5 Kings are symbolic of our 5 senses, that we have to subdue if we want to enter into the fullness of our inheritance in Christ. We have 5 senses that connect us to this fallen world. Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste and Smell.
When we step out on our journey of faith, we need to realise that even though we need these 5 physical senses to live in this world, they can be a hindrance to our receiving from God in the spiritual realm.
Right from when we get first saved, we needed to step out in faith and ignore our feelings otherwise it was impossible to please God. You are saved by faith. This also applies when it comes to our present-day healings as well.
Praise God there is a 6th sense and that is Faith. Unfortunately, many of God’s children don’t know how to fight these 5 kings and are dismayed by their taunts when confronted by them. We need to walk by faith, and not to walk by our feelings. To walk by your five senses is to be called a ‘Carnal’ Christian.
There are so many Carnal Christians out there who are locked into this world. Living off the world, walking by feelings instead of by faith. So many need their fix from the world every day, instead of from the word of God. They’d rather listen to the bad news than feed off the Good News. We can be saved but still ruled by our 5 senses. These 5 Kings still need to be dealt with otherwise we’ll never enter into our Canaan Land this side of Heaven. We can live our lives by ‘knee jerk’ reactions and only end up going so far and no further. The answer is to have our minds renewed.
The longer I live the more I realise how much I have been robbed in the past by the enemy. I have been ruled by my emotions, and my feelings instead of by faith. This has kept me away from so many blessings; one of them being to walk in divine health, which I now enjoy.
It’s not easy to learn to walk by faith. It can be a long road, but the rewards are fantastic. When Israel came out of Egypt they could have gone into Canaan Land by a shorter route but there would have been a lot of warfare which they weren’t ready for yet.
“Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” Exodus 13:17
The 6th Sense trumps the other 5 senses. Faith says that in spite of my 5 senses I will believe God and that everything is going to be OK. God is with me, He loves me and I am a Victor not a Victim. I choose to believe God rather than my 5 senses. Faith can taste the good word and also the power of the age that is to come.
If you are ruled by your senses, you’ll end up being the victim, for your senses will always be susceptible to what’s going on around you. Your sense can be faith killers. Your feelings can go up and down and steal your dreams, your confidence and the promises of God over your life.
When David faced Goliath, everyone was afraid of the giant, resulting in them being paralysed with fear, and that included King Saul. David was surrounded by this atmosphere as he stood before Goliath. The giant was taunting him, but the still small voice of God was telling David that there was victory for him. This 6th sense overcame his feelings. He could smell, taste, hear and feel the victory. The 6th sense has all these qualities but needs the word of God for its food.
Look at Peter when he was called to walk on water. As he looked around and saw the waves and heard the wind, he sank. Jesus had said walk on water but his 5 senses cancelled that all out and it led to failure.
Also look at Elijah when he fled from Jezebel and ended up in a cave. He wanted to hear from God. There was fire, wind and a great earthquake, all powerful impressions on the 5 senses but it says that God wasn’t in any of those. He was in the still small voice.
“Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13
We need to learn how to quieten our hearts so as to hear and believe the still small voice above the shouts of the enemy, So often we are ruled by our emotions and feelings more than what God is saying. We have a knee jerk reaction too so much in our life. It takes time to renew our minds, so let’s start today. As we feed our faith on the word of God, it will grow. It says that faith ‘comes.’ If faith can come then it can also go if we don’t feed it.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17
We need to get to the place that by default we run to the word of God. He wants us to mature and not remain as babies. For so many all the Devil needs to do is say “Boo” and we are paralysed. God wants us to learn to stand on our own two feet, and the way to do that is to be weaned from the world. Weaned from our constant dependence on our feelings to guide us in life.
It’s interesting to note that when Abraham and Sarah ‘weaned’ Isaac they threw a party. They laughed when he was born, but threw a party when he was weaned.
“So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.” Gen 21:8
The Angels in heaven rejoiced and laugh when another soul is saved, but God throws a party when we learn to walk by faith and are weaned off our 5 senses. It’s then that we really begin to live.
Folks, we need to deal with these 5 kings that we face in life. Many Christians don’t deal with them and leave them in the cave. They feed them on the world instead off starving them off. They need to have an understanding of how these Kings have already lost their power through the cross. We need to hang them on the tree. We need to crucify the flesh.
I am very careful now about what I watch as it can produce fear in my heart. I remember when the film ‘Jaws’ came out. It really had an effect on so may of us and we were scared to go in the water for a while. If you keep feeding fear it will rule your life. I personally don’t go there anymore as I’m so enjoying the liberty of living by faith. I starve my feelings and feed my faith every day on His word.
I want to close this message with one of my favourite verses from Romans. It says that to be carnally minded is death and to be spiritually minded produces life and peace. Romans 8:11-12. We often think that a carnal person is like a Viking who is indulging his flesh on wine, women and song. But in a biblical sense to be carnal is to go by your 5 senses. If you do go by them it always leads down hill. On the other hand, to be spiritually minded will lead you upwards to life and peace. The spiritual mind feeds on the good word of God.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:6-8
Our destiny is meant to be in the Promised Land here in this life and in the next. On the way there we will have to deal with these 5 Kings, our 5 senses and there is no way we can avoid it if we don’t want to stay in the wilderness. Jesus has won the victory for us already on the cross and all we need to do is enforce it. This is that which overcomes the world our faith - the 6th Sense.
