The Devil Doesn't Stand A Chance

Joshua 9

 

New King James Version (NKJV)

 1 And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon—the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, 2 that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.

THE DEVIL DOESN'T STAND A CHANCE

Joshua leading the children of Israel is the best Old Testament example we have of God leading his people into the promises of his Word!  Joshua and the armies had just won two battles- one in Jericho and one in Ai.  Prior to those victories, they had already become famous among their enemies.

Look what Rahab the harlot told them when they were still only scouting the land:

Joshua 2:9b  I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you.

Now you know you've got something going on when you attract not one devil but many!  When they can't defeat you alone, they try banding together!  They were on this side of the Jordan- in the promised land and were in the process of driving out the inhabitants and taking over territory.

We are called to walk in our promised land spreading the good news. Today we are not physically removing people from our surroundings but we are translating their hearts out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.  However, as far as Israel is concerned, this is the physical land God promised them and to this day, because Israel never fully took their land, they are still fighting battles that would have been unnecessary had they done all God told them to do.

In the verses above, we see on group of kings- Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.  It says they heard about "it" and gathered together in one accord to fight against Israel and Joshua as Israel's leader.  This was not a surprise.  What was the "it" they had heard?  They had heard about Israel's victory over the first two cities in the promised land- Jericho and Ai. They had also heard of their victories beyond the Jordan.  God was with them and had been with them and as long as they had obeyed him God had fought for them.

When the bible says they heard about it, they took an action.  The devil isn't concerned about you if he can keep you in a defeated place but when he hears about your victories and about how you are defeating his kingdoms and tearing down his strongholds he will begin to strategize. If you aren't being fought, you probably aren't winning any battles! In fact the devil may have you right where he wants you- in a state of complacency.  It's the ones who are winning battles and taking ground for Jesus the devil fears and takes action against!  The bible says here they joined together in one accord to fight against Israel. 

One of the main things to note here is that all the kings joined together in one accord to fight against Israel.  You know you're feared of the devil when he has to join forces with other devils just to strategize against you.  The devil isn't omni-present or omni-powerful.  When it takes more than one devil to come against you, you know you've got something he's afraid of.  In Joshua 5 it says the hearts of the surrounding kings were melting an they had no breath in them. 

That was prior to the walls falling in Jericho.  The armies of Israel with Jesus as their captain and Joshua as their leader went on to defeat Jericho and Ai, fighting armies larger and more fortified than themselves but yet victorious in every way!

Here in Joshua 9 they had heard with their ears and actually perceived that Joshua was no ordinary leader and this was no ordinary army.  They feared their future. Surely by now they knew that the God of Israel had ordered their extinction!  No wonder they pooled together in an attempt to preserve themselves and to stop the armies of God.  They had heard about Israel's victories in both Jericho and Ai.  They knew they didn't stand a chance alone.  What they didn't know was that they didn't stand a chance even unified against Israel because Israel had God on their side!  You know you've got something about you to be feared with the devils unite forces against you! Hallelujah!

Note:  Time and space doesn't permit me to continue with more detail now but this plan of the enemies' turned out to be futile.  It was shortly after this Israel did battle these kings and it was in that battle the sun stood still for Joshua so the thing to know is that as you go forward in your purpose in God's kingdom, with God on your side, no devil, devils or other enemies can stop you!  God will fight for you even in he has to stop the sun on your behalf!  Amen!