Joshua 10 is the account of five heathen kings who came against the city of Gibeon. The city had made a truce with the Israelites so they wouldn’t be wiped out as the other towns and cities. Even though they had “tricked” Joshua and the Israelites into making this truce, Joshua kept his word and let these people live on the condition they would cut wood and draw water for the Israelites forever.
These 5 kings can represent five ways that Satan comes against God’s children. When the five kings banded together to fight Gibeon, the people of Gibeon called upon Joshua and the Israelites to save them. Just like they cried out to their protector, we need to cry out to our protector, God Almighty. Gibeon can represent the “baby” Christian or one who doesn’t know how to stand against Satan yet.
Joshua and the Israelites can represent the mature believer; the one who knows who they are in Christ and knows how to fight. They know the Lord’s arm is not too short to rescue His people. They are to help the less mature Christians, those who are just learning about a relationship with Jesus.
Joshua 10: 3-4, “3 Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.”
The 5 kings are listed by name, along with the city they were king over. Here is the meaning of the names of the kings and their cities from the Hebrew Lexicon and Strong’s Concordance. And also how it can represent ways Satan comes against the children of God.
Definition of Adoni-zedek = “my lord is righteous”; Definition of Jerusalem = “teaching of peace”. False Jerusalem; So Satan comes to you quoting Scripture so you’ll think what you are hearing is from God. He tried to quote Scripture to Jesus after He had come out of the wilderness.
Definition of Hoham = “whom Jehovah impels”; Definition of Hebron = “association”. Hebron means voice of a multitude. Satan wants you to think it’s a bad thing when you stand out in the crowd for the Christian faith, when you are different than the rest of the world.
Definition of Piram = “like a wild ass”; Definition of Jarmuth = “heights”. Here it represents confusion, unclear thinking. Satan tries to get us confused and unsure of what God’s Word is telling us, and unsure of our faith, and to make unwise decisions that will lead you down the wrong road. (We are never to make a decision when we are confused. God will confirm His will to us and the direction we are to go but Satan tries to make us think we need to make a decision or else God will pass us by).
Definition of Japhia = “shining”; Definition of Lachish = “invincible”. Satan tries to get us focused on the things of the world, making them appealing and drawing our attention to them. He wants us to be so focused on the things of this world that we find walking with God dull and boring. He wants us to believe we will have to “give up” our fun in order to walk with God. God liberates us from bondage.
Definition of Debir = “sanctuary”; Definition of Eglon = “calf-like”. In Middle East countries, like Egypt it was common to worship a calf idol. In some cases, a king was depicted seated upon the calf as a way of emphasizing his divinity. This is a false oracle, satanic doctrine, false doctrine, things opposed to God.
The meaning of these kings show that the enemy uses different methods to try to trick us and keep us from having a right relationship with Jesus. If Satan can’t get you one way, he’ll try another way. If he can’t get you thrown off track by using simple things, he will eventually come at you full force, showing his true colors.
In the story of David and Goliath, Goliath day after day, taunted the Israelites. Satan does the same thing. And just like Goliath, Satan may seem mean and bad and while not wanting to undermine or minimize his power, the thing we have to remember is God’s power is far above that of the enemy. If we are Christians, we have this same power living in us, but we need to find out how to walk in that power.
Just like Goliath was a defeated foe, so is Satan. What would have happened if David had not had the courage to fight Goliath? The same thing that happens to us if we do not face Satan and fight him, we become slaves to the enemy. David had learned to walk in the power of God, and we need to do the same.
Satan is alarmed when we start thinking about giving our heart to Jesus and especially when you continue to make progress and grow in your walk with God, becoming prayer warriors or even standing up to Satan and fighting for yourself and your family. He doesn’t want us to be set free from offense, unforgiveness, hate, bitterness. He wants us to stay in bondage. He most definitely does not want us to find out the power that is available to us through the shed blood of Jesus.
Joshua 10:7-8; 7 So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour. 8. And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
Do you know how awesome that is? Do you know what that means? God gives us the assurance that we can fight the enemy and win. Satan will not be able to stand against you when you are holding onto Jesus. When you dare to find out who you are in Christ, Satan and his host of demons will run from you. The Bible tells us in James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Joshua 10:10 says “and the Lord discomfited them”. Definition of discomfited: “to move noisily, confuse, make a noise, discomfit, break, consume, crush, destroy, trouble, vex.” God will make the enemy hear things that aren’t there; He will cause confusion in the camp of the enemy. The same five kings that banded together to come against Gibeon, when the Israelites showed up, ran and hid themselves in a cave.
Joshua 10: 23-24, 23 And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 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.
This should teach us that we cannot expect everybody else to fight our battles for us. God expects us to learn how to pray, how to protect our families, how to stand against Satan. We cannot expect someone else to study the Bible for us and more importantly someone else cannot receive salvation for us. We each have to make our own decision.
As we read this story in Joshua, it shows us how Satan will try to confuse us, distract us, make us dissatisfied with what we have and get us looking elsewhere to try to fulfill the void in our lives that only God can fill. Satan will use one ruse after another, anything to keep you from giving your heart to Jesus and growing in that relationship. He doesn’t want us to learn how to “put our foot on Satan’s neck” and have the victory.
The Tricks of the Enemy
