Put Your Foot Down!
Today’s Verse:
And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. ~Joshua 10:24
Sometimes, we have to put our foot down on matters of importance to us. This means we are telling people that we are taking a strong stand where we face resistance or opposition. We are exercising our authority and stating that something must be done or not done. Joshua told the captains of the men of war to put their feet on the necks of the Canaanite kings.
We see the adversaries.
Five Canaanite kings formed an alliance to attack the Gibeonites for surrendering to the nation of Israel. These kings were a formidable foe as they came together. They are a picture of the world, the flesh, and the devil, who seek to overthrow us. Our spiritual enemies seek to defeat, plunder, and ruin us. They seek to come against us at all times, but especially when we are weak or unsuspecting. We must not be ignorant of Satan’s devices, lest he get an advantage of us (2 Corinthians 2:11).
We see the accomplishment.
The Gibeonites called out to Joshua for help. Joshua rallied the army of Israel to travel eighteen miles through the night to take on the enemy. God had His hand on Joshua and Israel, and in addition to Israel defeating the enemy by the sword, God sent massive hailstones. In fact, more were killed by the hailstones than by the sword. The kings were sorely defeated, even to the point that Israel chased them through and down the mountains. This accomplishment reminds me of 1 John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” We do not fight for victory, but we fight in victory.
We see the authority.
We see Joshua’s authority in prayer. Joshua wanted to finish the battle before the sunset. He boldly prayed for God to hold the sun and moon still. God answered his prayer and held the sun still for an entire day. We are to pray with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit against our spiritual enemies. The kings were badly defeated and ran for refuge to a cave. Joshua commanded that stones be rolled to cover the entrance of the cave to keep them contained while Joshua and his army continued to defeat the remainder of the Canaanite armies. Upon Joshua’s return to the cave entrance, he commanded that the stones be rolled away and the kings taken out. He called upon his captains of war to place these kings prostrate, face down on the ground, and to place their feet on their necks to demonstrate Israel’s authority.
We see the action.
We can call on the God of peace to bruise Satan under our feet. We must put our foot down on Satan’s neck so that he knows that we are more than conquerors through Christ. We must put our foot down against sins of the flesh by walking in the Spirit. We must put our foot down against the world by separating from worldly behavior. It’s time to put our foot down to let our spiritual enemies know that we will not bow, bend, or burn under temptations, trial, or threats. Peter and John put their foot down when they told the chief priest, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Put your foot down and let the enemy know that through God, we shall do valiantly.
Have a courageous God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Numbers 1-2