And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
Joshua and the children of Israel have come into the promised land. They’ve conquered Jericho. They’ve conquered Ai. They’ve conquered the five kings of the Amorites: Adoni-zedec, Hoham, Piram, Japhia, and Debir. They conquered the cities of Makkedah, Libhah, Lachish, Eglon, and Debir.
Well.. now they’ve done it!
More kings have risen up against Israel; Jabin and Jobab; the kings of Shimaron and Achshaph, the kings of the mountains, the kings of the plains, the kings of the valley, the kings of the east and the west; the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Hivites. They’re mad now! If Joshua and the Isrealites had a reason to be scared, now was the time.
They didn’t come to have a welcome party. They came to fight. They came to kill and destroy. Of course, why would you come and fight against a people that you knew had been delivered from the mighty hand of Pharoah, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, just killed Sihon and Og (a giant) and their kingdoms, just brought the entire city of Jericho down to ruins by just simply shouting, Hung five of the strongest kings in the land on a tree?
A little sense might have told them, “Maybe it’s not a good idea to go up and fight against these Israelites? Everybody seems to die that goes up against them. Maybe we should do like the Gibeonites and put on poor clothes instead of war clothes?” Nope.
Instead, “Let’s go fight!” But truly, what were they supposed to do? If someone waltzes into your land and says their god has given your land to them, guess what you will most likely do? You will fight! And if the battles doesn’t go well, you will dig in and fight harder. You will acquire more firepower, more armies. If the enemy comes in and sweeps up the floor, then it’s gonna be a fight for your very existence.
Think about that evil spirit, that was gone out of a man. The bible says, “Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:26) It’s just natural to expect the enemy to bring in reinforcements when things don’t go well. We’d do the same thing.
The old flesh, the devil, and this world is not going to lay down their arms. The more victory you have against them, the harder they’ll fight. So if you don’t take active steps to subdue the enemy, your enemy will eventually subdue you. There is no rest until the war (not the battle) is over.
Now you are in one of two states. You are either in the flesh and friends with it; or you are out of the flesh and struggling against it. And likewise, you are either in the Spirit and friends with Him, or out of the Spirit struggling against the Spirit of God. The bible says “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh…” (Genesis 6:3) When you are in the flesh, your struggle and fight is against the Spirit of God. When you are in the Spirit, your struggle and fight is against the flesh. The bible says “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other…” (Gal 5:17) So which ever one you are in will determine which one you’re fighting against, and which one you’re fighting with. So when a lost person get’s saved, his struggle with the Holy Spirit has ceased and he’s made peace with God. Now listen carefully, a saved person can never get lost. Therefore his struggle with the flesh will never cease and there will never be peace with the flesh, until that glorious day when we lay it down. Bless the Lord. The Computer Logic of Romans
So put on the full armour of God. Truth! Righteousness! The Gospel! Faith! Salvation! And the Word of God! Put it on. For they came to fight…
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