Mon.’s Devo - Victory

Read: Josh. 9:3-10:43, Luke 16:19-17:10, Ps. 83:1-18, Pr. 13:4 I wonder how differently this story would have gone if everyone would have done what was right? What if the men of Gibeon had humbled themselves to tell them the truth and begged for their lives and asked to be one of them? And I wonder what God would have said if Joshua had asked Him? I can only guess that God would have spared the Philistines like He did Rahab and they would have been able to live under God’s laws and not been subjected to being slaves. But, instead the Gibeon’s used manipulation and lies to save themselves, and the leaders of Israel took matters into their own hands. What a lesson to us. Truth is always the best option even if it means suffering for it. God is on the side of truth and He is a great defender of His truth. His wisdom is better than man’s greatest devises. Now the Israelites were bound by a covenant to defend Gibeon against the five nations that came to fight it. God delivered them with huge hailstones and extra light. The five kings were bound in a cave until they could spoil their cities. Jesus said in Mark 3:27 “No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.” This is a picture of what Jesus was teaching. Once they bound the kings, they could spoil their cities. Once we bind the strong man in our lives then the little demons are easy. Strong men are principalites. There are seven of them: lying, haughtiness, envy, witchcraft, error, slumber, fear, and perversity. All other demons branch off of these. (Pr. 21) Notice that before Joshua killed the kings, he put them under his feet then they were hung on trees. Jesus came to put the enemy under His feet and he did on the cross. We are to do that to the enemies in our own lives. Lord, show us the principalities that war against us that we may remember that they are already under Your feet - defeated!