Five Dead Kings


Joshua 10:16-28
16 These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. 17 And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” 18 And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, 19 but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” 20 When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21 then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel. 22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from 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 when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. 25 And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26 And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening. 27 But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day. 28 As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

While the sun stood still, and the armies of the five kings were defeated, the kings hid themselves in a cave. Not exactly the epitome of good leadership. They are, of course, found by the Israelites and a giant stone is rolled in front of the cave. Now the kings are trapped and await Joshua’s leisure. Those must have been some difficult hours spent in the dark as they awaited Joshua’s judgment.

After the battle is over, it’s time to deal with the kings. They are brought to Joshua and in a display of victory and subjection, Joshua has his commanders place a foot on the neck of the kings. The humiliation is complete. With this object lesson, Joshua shows Israel that God will give them victory if they but follow Him. Luther uses this graphic picture as one of the Christ’s victory over death. It is certainly an interesting comparison.

Thus death is overcome in Christ and strangled. But since Christ did this not for himself, but for us, and since he has made us a present of this overcoming of death in baptism, consequently all believers in Christ must be masters over death; death must be their subject, indeed, their criminal, whom they must judge and execute, exactly as they do when they die and on the Last Day. Through the gift of Christ death has become guilty against all to whom Christ has presented this gift. Behold, this is what we mean when we talk about being beautifully and happily redeemed from death through Christ; these are the spiritual wars of Joshua against the heathen of Canaan, notably the five kings, upon whose necks the princes of Israel trod by his command.
Luther, Martin. (AE 52:156)

Paul brings this concept home with just a few words in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 16:20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Death has indeed been defeated through the blood of Jesus. Although Satan would try to convince us otherwise, we are victorious in Christ and his neck is beneath our feet. Sometimes we forget that, and allow Satan to ruin us, but he is living out a lie, for we are indeed the victors. I guess we get to decide if we’re going to live as victims or victors each and every day.

Joshua also displays the dead bodies of the kings on spikes. It was a very common thing for the victorious army to do and Joshua holds those dead kings up for the entire nation to see. But, he takes the bodies down just before the sun sets. There is a reason for that.

He applies this law of Israel even in the case of heathen kings, showing his respect for the sanctity of all human life. The curse of God rests upon a man hung or impaled on a tree and leaving the body on it for a longer time would desecrate the land, which is to be kept sacred as the place where the holy God dwells with his people.
Harstad, A. L. ©2004. Joshua (p. 434). Saint Louis, MO: CPH.

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