Hallelujah, I thank God tonight as we look at the Sun that stood tall in battle here This is the 13th in our series battle of the Bible We're talking about the battle of Gideon tonight. This is April the 13th 2022, the 12th of Nisan, 5782 of the Hebrew calendar, amen. And so I thank God tonight as we look and realize that every one of us have a valuable lesson for the day of battle. Chapter 10 opens with five of the kings of Canaan joining forces to attack Gibeon because they had made a peace treaty with the people of Israel. And these five kings, they didn't know it, but they were playing right into the hand of Joshua. You see, back in Joshua chapter 9, Gideon, believe it or not, had played a good trick, the Gibeonites. They had made a treaty. It came to pass, the Bible says, when all the kings were on this side of Jordan, and the hills and the lowland and all the coast of the great sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canite, And the prince was right. The Jebusite heard about it. They heard everything that had happened at Ai. They had heard everything that had happened with the walls of Jericho falling down. They had heard all of the things that God was doing for the people, hallelujah, and they were afraid. And so what did they do? They made out like they put some old raggy clothes on. They got him some old Modi bread and old bottles of wine and they made out like they had come from afar off and they went and wanted to make a treaty, a peace treaty with Joshua and the children of Israel. And so as we look at this, uh we begin to realize that it was a thing of trickery that they did and so uh in verse 22 of chapter 9 the bible says then joshua called for them and he spoke them saying why have you deceived us saying that we are very far from you when you dwell near us you see they say we're far off they came in looking like some poor beggars that had old raggy clothes on, old moldy bread, old bottles that just looked like they were bad, and they wanted to make a treaty, a peace treaty with Israel. And so Joshua's responding in Joshua chapter 9 verse 22, he goes on in verse 23 and he says, now therefore ye are cursed and none of you shall be free from being slaves you're going to be woodcutters he said woodcutters water carriers for the house of my god and so they answered joshua and said because your servants were clearly told that the lord your god commanded his servant moses to give you all the land and destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you therefore we were very much afraid of for our lives because of you and have done this thing. And now here we are in your hands. Do with us as it seems good and right to do to us. So he did to them and he delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel so that they did not kill them. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters, water carriers for the congregation, for the altar of the Lord in the place which he had chose even to this day." That's Joshua chapter 9. Now, even though that that treaty had been made, every one of us, how does it apply to you? Well, let me tell you something. Loyalty is one of the most absolute essential things to human relationships right now. Oh, you mess around with another man or another couple of men? Oh God, ain't no loyalty there between that commitment. uh... a uh... husband you mess around with other women uh... no there ought to be loyalty there and in a relationship a human relationship somebody has forgot about that and uh... society today in america and they think that we can just go to this one that one and whatever but without loyalty nobody nobody of anyone can survive if soldiers are not loyal to their commanders What happens? Defeat. If rulers are not loyal to the citizens, what happens? Corrupt government. If people are not loyal to their government, what happens? Anarchy. And I'm going to tell you, each and every one of us, they overthrow or they replace the government. If a husband or wife are not loyal to each other, what happens? Strife, a broken relationship, divorce, deep hurt, pain for the children. Notice I said for the children. If employers are not loyal to their workers, what happens? frustrated workers, resignations, replacement costs. If workers are not loyal to their employers, what happens? Low production, low profit margins, often bankruptcy, loss of jobs. Loyalty is an absolute essential in society and in human relationship. Loyalty is the important subject of this passage tonight, that there has to be loyalty. And Joshua, even though that he made a bad choice and that he brought on and made a treaty with the Gibeonites, He has to honor that, no matter what, even though that they're cursed, they're becoming the water toters and the woodcutters for the temple. But remember that Joshua had just signed a peace treaty with the nation of Gibeon. And the Gibeonites had used deception and lies to secure a peace treaty with the Israelites. Despite the deception and lies, Joshua had led the Israelites to honor their commitment to that peace treaty. He honored the peace treaty because it had been sworn to and ratified in the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. I thank God, amen. I'm glad that when I was in the service, I swore to uphold the nation, anything that would come against this nation, that I swore that any foreign or domestic that came against this country, that I would uphold it and I would fight against it, amen. And every one of our men and women have made that same commitment, amen. Every one of us that are men and women that are married, we've made a commitment to that marriage, amen, that we're not going to be disloyal to one another, but we're going to have honesty among ourselves. And despite the lies and the deceptions and the treaty that had been kept, Joshua said, I'm going to keep this no matter what. And so tonight, Joshua's loyalty was to be tested. The Gibeonite nation was to be attacked by other Canaanite forces. What would Joshua's response be? Would he be loyal to his word? Would he keep his promise made in the peace treaty, even though trickery and lies were involved? A peace treaty that had been secured by deception and lies? Joshua chapter 10 tonight. The sun that stood tall in battle is a passage of scripture that teaches us the great importance of loyalty that we have for one another. Amen. Amen. As a pastor, I'm going to be loyal to the congregation. Amen. I'm not going to try to get out here and mess with all these other women behind the backs and scenes. Amen. I'm going to be truthful to the deacons and the deacons' wife. I ain't got a scheme or a plan going on that would devise any other way. I'm a man of God that I'm supposed to be able to have loyalty. Amen. Hallelujah. And the congregation, the same. Amen. I'm not the only one in a glass house. We're all in a glass house. And when you have the title of a Christian, no matter who you are, you might be called a Gibeonite because you lied about something. but we're from the house of Jesus. Amen. And there's an importance of loyalty in this Bible study tonight. And so this is what I'm talking about. The importance of being able, here is a conquest of a Southern coalition. As we look tonight, We realized that the conquering of Canaan was by a three-pronged attack. It started out with a central part, and of that central part that they were to do, Ape Man, I thank God, of their campaigns, Ape Man, it included the destruction of Jericho in the central part, Ape Man, and the destruction of Ai. the covenant of peace with Gibeon, piercing Canaan in the middle split, the powers of Canaan, and I thank God this eventually prevented a united attack upon Israel by all the Canaanites. And so the first thing was the central part of Canaan of the three-pronged attack of conquering Canaan, amen. The second one was the southern part of Canaan. Now, I thank God, this basically included how that Kadesh Barnea, even under Gaza, and all of the country of Goshen, not Egypt's Goshen, even under Gibeon, was included in this in verse 41 of chapter 10 tonight that we're going to read. Then the northern part of Canaan. That we realize of that three-pronged attack that joshua had planned a man. I thank god here We're going to realize that joshua came against them by the waters of miram in joshua chapter 11 later on in verse 7 and he completed the main conquering of the land over when we get into joshua chapter 11 of the the of the three-pronged attack of conquering canaan that's before us tonight and so As we look at this tonight, here we begin to see that we're right here in Joshua 9 and 10 of Gibeon. We dealt with Jericho and Ai back before all of this. We're counting it down. And I thank God as the battles continue on in the battles of the Bible, amen, that we're going to look at the time frame of this thing. And as we look at 1406 BC and the time frame of Joshua chapter 9 and chapter 10, Joshua and the Gibeonites against the Amorite kings. Josiah and the five kings, the central Canaan campaign that we're talking about, the nine-day ban. And so it deals with the Israelites commanded by Joshua, the Gibeonites possibly commanded by Joshua, and then they're going against the five Amorite kings Adonai Zenich of Jerusalem, Hohem of Hebron, Piram of Jarmath, Japhia of Lachish, Debir of Eglon, and all that was summoned by King Senech of Jerusalem, that he brought them together, that you're gonna be reading in verses one through five. Now, remember the five kings of the battle, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmath, Lachish, and Eglon. We start out where we were at Ai, in Jericho, Jericho AI Gilgal. Gilgal became the camp that was set up that they could go back and have a place of a camp. I thank God that you better have a perimeter camp somewhere or a base camp that you could set up to replenish and get some sleep after the battle because I guarantee you when you're plum tuckered out after fighting the enemy you better have somewhere to go to And so I thank God from that point that they were able to go from Jebus to Jerusalem, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Lachish, of Eglon, and also of Jarmath, that each one of these that it dealt with, amen, in this battle of the five kings that will go through all the way down to verse 28. And I thank God tonight, the son that stood tall in battle, the battle of Gibeon that we're talking about tonight. I thank God as we realize tonight in chapter 10, the embarking on the campaign, the embarking on the campaign, amen. I thank God as we look at this and begin to realize this tonight. that each and every one of us, one of the longest days that there's ever been, the understanding that if you remember that you see battles that are in reality in life, but we never have to face them alone because the spiritual battles that we're going through, our duty tonight is to remind you that our lives will be filled with battles. Every one of us. These battles are not really physical battles. They're battle, and they're not battles with other people. They're spiritual battles. And so one of the very first things that takes place is our battles are spiritual battles. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And so our weapons that we use must be spiritual. And Ephesians 6.12, our weapons that we use of our warfare, they're not carnal, but they're mining through God to the pulling down of strongholds, every one of us that we realize. And so I thank God as we go through life today, a lesson about the things of life that we're going through. One of the very first things that we're gonna see in embarking on this campaign is that there's gonna be a supernatural aspect of our battle. The first thing that we come to, these are times when the Lord just comes to your aid. And he fights the battle for you that you couldn't fight. You probably realize that there's been battles going on around in the scenes behind you. And all of a sudden, the Lord made up the difference in your life. And so there are three, every one of us have a picture of truths that are revealed about how our savior does for us in the day of battle. And I'm going to talk about that in just a minute. I'm going to tell you tonight as we look at this and realize that as we bark on our campaign, we're embarking on a campaign that we see first of all the attack of the kings in verses one through five that we're going to read. The lesson here is when you associate with God's people, there's always going to be opposition. Amen? Or that old goody two shoes, that old holy roller over there, you're going to have opposition a lot of times. I'm glad that God will get us through the times that we're going through today. He'll help us in these times that we have right now. And so I thank God, each and every one of us as we go through life, that God wants to provide and give us the greatest blessing that he could ever give us, amen. And so here, one of the first things that we see is that we see that Joshua's loyalty in keeping his word, keeping his promises, and keeping his commitment in verses one through actually seven, That we're going to see in this because net what you're going to see right here is where one of the very first times That the word Jerusalem is mentioned in the Word of God You say hang on now look over here the first time that it was mentioned it wouldn't Jerusalem It was Salem in Genesis chapter 14 verse 18. This is the very first time Jerusalem is appearing in the scriptures That's a big deal Because I thank God, Jerusalem, as they've always been wars, there's always been conflict throughout the years, even though that it's the lowest one, it's the 29th out of 30 of all the countries that have had the most wars, Israel's had 15. Listen, now it came to pass when Adonai Zedek, king of Jerusalem, had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, as he had done to Jericho and her king. So he had done to Ai and her king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them." Huh. And so we see, it goes on, that they feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, listen, as one of the royal cities. And because it was greater than Ai and all the men thereof were mighty. And notice how I paint out these ones that are coming again. Wherefore Adonai Zenich, the king of Jerusalem, the first of the five, sent unto Hohem king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmah, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debar king of Eglon, saying, listen, here it is, you got the five. that goes up through here. And so, 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. So you see, Joshua was in a predicament. Is he going to keep his loyalty and his treaty that he made with them? And so Joshua was loyal in keeping his word, his promise, his commitment. The king of Jerusalem and his people were stricken with terrible fear over the Israelite military advance into the promised land of Canaan. And they had heard all of the good news, amen. The king of Jerusalem took action. He formed a coalition of five southern Amorite kings. that you're seeing right here. Let me continue on. And therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmath, the king of Lachish, the king of Egalon, gathered themselves together and they went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gideon. and made war against it. And so we see the situation. The king of Jerusalem had taken action. He formed a coalition of the five southern Amorite kings, amen, and the purpose was not to attack Israel. Listen. But it was to attack and recapture Gibeon as a strategic defense against Joshua and the nation of Israel, amen. And so here, he was keeping his loyalty, amen, that he had promised to do, amen. And so here, as we look and realize of this advance of them hearing this, man, the five kings, they moved their armies and they laid a siege around Gibeon. And they began to send wave after wave attack against the city of Gibeon. But they were unable to immediately conquer the city. Somehow the Gibeonites were able to sneak a messenger out through the enemy lines to appear and get to Joshua for some help. The messenger reached Joshua and he pleaded with him to honor the treaty between their two nations that he had made with Gibeon and he appealed for Joshua to come as quick as they could to save them from this military coalition that had attacked the city that we'll fix in a read in verse 6. and the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal saying, slack not thy hand from thy servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. And so the loyalty of Joshua, he kept his word. He kept his promise and he kept his commandment. or his commitment, excuse me. And so he marched to face the enemy and to honor the treaty that Israel had made with the Gibeonites. Now here we see that, what does it tell us tonight? We as men and women of God, when we say something that we need to keep our word. we must keep our word and do exactly what we say because our word ought to be our bond and a person that should be able to say yes and our no should be no we should say exactly what we mean and mean exactly what we say and when we make a promise we need to keep that promise and when we make a commitment we need to keep that commitment amen a person must be able to depend upon our commitment and our promise and when we speak We should not lie or speak a promise to a person or to persons or acts upon our promise. Because when we fail to keep our word or our promise, it causes divorce, it causes loss of jobs, it causes bankruptcy, it causes accidents and diseases, and it even causes death. Because when we keep our word and our promises, and all the commitments that we make, it is very critical, important, the great lesson that we learn from Joshua tonight, amen? Because this is that great lesson that we're to learn from him, amen? He says, but let your communication be yea, yea, or nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. And so I thank God, each and every one of us, when we look and realize, He tells us, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man. He says, but above all things, my brethren, swear not neither by heaven, neither by earth, neither by any other earth, but let your yea be yea. Amen? And so I thank God, we look and we realize tonight, That as we go on, we see the appeal for help. Help, I need some help over here, these gibbonites said. And they came to Joshua. And I thank God he was a type of a savior. I'm glad that every one of us had to run to Jesus for our help. He's our savior, he's our rescuer, he's our commander in chief. Who do you feel that you could call when you're in a tough spot? Oh man, you know, I think they got these games. I don't watch them, but you know, you want to call somebody and you got to get the right answer for a million dollars. Who do you want to call? Hey, if you're in a tough situation, who are you going to call? Who are you going to get to help you? You know, I help a lot of people. I don't know about you, but I'll tell you right now, I've stretched three in every week, but I try to do the best I can. I will tell you, why don't you step out and make an effort with yourself to help somebody? Who is it that you go to for help when you get in trouble? Is it finally the church after you've done with them for so long and you finally decide, well, I need some help? Are you available to others who need your help? Do you make yourself available? You see, that's exactly what we're looking at tonight in this battle. And so he goes on, he says, so Joshua ascended from Gilgal. He and all the people of the world with him and all the mighty men of valor. Notice, let me see, I'll tell you what, I'll get back with you next week. I'll tell you what, maybe next month I'll get back with you. Joshua ascended from Gilgal. He and all the people of God, and all of a sudden, man, they stepped too. They didn't mess around. They began to do what they were supposed to do, praise God. And so each and every one of us, when it comes down to it, we need to be ready to help somebody when they need our help, because they're depending on our loyalty to them. that when we say yes, that we're gonna do something, or we're gonna say something, we're going to stick to that hallelujah. And so every one of us, Joshua was loyal in prayer. Because I thank God, as we look, we see three very descriptive verses. Verse eight, verse 12, and verse 14, talks about how that at some point Joshua began to seek the Lord in prayer. Because look with us, he says, and the Lord said unto Joshua, there you go, Fear them not, for I have delivered them into thy hand. There shall not a man of them stand before thee." And the Lord said unto Joshua, Man, I thank God. Look forward in verse 12. Look forward in verse 14. And here we begin to see the layout of this thing, of how things begin to take place, because each and every one of us, as we go forward and begin to realize that as this transpired, one of the very first things that we see here, as I get my notes ready here, is first of all, up here in this area is Gilgal. Now, when the Hebrews charged against the Amorite kings, and they came on down into this area, they had an advantage of moving slightly downhill, giving them an added momentum and penetrating power when they came down from Gilgal into this area here, and Gibeon is right in here. And so I thank God, when we look at that, we see that momentum and that power that they're coming downhill, amen. But here in number two, at Jerusalem, at one of the first, the Gibeonites, of course, joined in the fight and have their enemy, therefore, in the middle of a vice, okay? And the forces of the Amorite king down over here. we begin to realize that broke easily at the Battle of Gibeon and fled from the battlefield, being cut off from the initial approach route to the south with the Highlands, and to the north and the south, their route was bottlenecked into the valley of the northwest along the Beth-Horon Ascent, Joshua's forces that followed in close pursuit, which is right in here, okay? Right in there. And then the next thing that we saw is around dawn, because what am I trying to tell you? Joshua marched them all night. He made a loyal promise and he marched them all night and got ready immediately to do at dawn a surprise attack is what I'm telling you and what the Bible is telling us. He didn't mess around, praise God, because he knew God told him that I'm with you. And I'm glad that when God's with you, you ain't got to worry about it because I thank God each and every one of us, here's the ascent. He marched all night. He was coming down here, he go up here. What does he have to do? He's having to go uphill. Good Lord help him. He's having to come uphill up into about dawn time to be able to get up to the Beth Horon Pass. Up to where he can get to the Valley of Ajidon. And so I thank God. the real strategic military thing that Joshua comes through after the battle had turned, and we don't know all the details of it, just what we've read, but the documented that the Hebrews pursued and continued engaged to beat them and to regroup, and Joshua knew that if he eliminated the Amorites ultimately that his tactical victory on the field would not count for much in the long strategic run. And so here, The fight went on while the moon was still visible in the west, meaning they moved in the direction of the valley of Agelon for another 11 miles. And they succeeded in running by daybreak, the Amorite Kings would reach the Beth-Horon Pass right here, okay? and escape the geographic confines of the trap that they were in. Joshua, therefore, he stopped the bulk of the Amorite fighting force before this junction. And the Hebrews knew that they had to finish the enemy off before dawn broke because darkness was best for them to fight and due to the lack of armor that they had in comparison to the enemies. And so, here, the portion of this, despite reaching the threshold of the endurance, Joshua decided that to keep the momentum going was better than to fight another day. And so, the Hebrews kept fighting, and they advanced on to Aijon, right here. Then they continued as far as the Canaanite stronghold of Azedekiah, Azedekiah. And then, they went on down to Maticah. by the point of the Gibeonites that they had joined. And so as this battle was underway, we began to realize that the ascension from verses 7 and 8, the decisions were made to help the Gibeonites. They set out for a 25-mile march to Gibeon, going 4,000 feet of steep terrain with little to no rest. And when they followed the Lord, It's a step up. Are you following the Lord right now? It's a step up. Amen. Amen. And then in verse 9, Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly and went up from Gilgal, up, hallelujah, all night. That's what the Bible says. He went up all night. And the Lord disconfited them before Israel and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and spoke them to Asica and to Medica." Now, I thank God. What did I say? The Lord disconfited them before Israel. What did he do? And he slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon. What happened? Amen. There was an all-night march led to a surprise attack. The Lord threw our enemies into confusion. When we look at this, we begin to realize that extraordinary thing that happened in this campaign is, and it came to pass as they fled from before Israel and were in the going down to Beth Horan, I showed you a map of that, that the Lord cast down great stones. Notice, did you hear that? The Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them under Beth Horan. Ezekiel and they died and they were more which died with hell stones than they whom the children of Israel slew With the sword now, I'm going to tell you each and every one of us tonight When we look at this we see the assault from heaven The Lord assists his people by casting hell stones from heaven upon the enemies. In May 1, 1888, there was 250 killed in Moradab, India. In 1970, the biggest hell stone that was ever recorded was 17.5 inches in circumference and 1.67 pounds. And I'm glad that in the later time of the tribulation, in Revelation chapter 16, verses 16 through 21, when the church has already been raptured out in the tribulation, they're going to be hailstones that's going to be 100 pounds dropping during the tribulation. That's going to tear up some things. These are some of the pictures of hailstones that are some of the biggest ones that have dropped. Are you looking at this right? You get hit with one of these things, buddy, I'm gonna tell you, it's gonna take you out. That's like a cannonball falling on you. That's some big old hailstones. But listen, God said it, and I believe it. And so here's 12 again. I told you to remember the three restrictive things about the Lord. And then spake Joshua to the Lord. Pick up on that, because during the week, I hope you're talking to the Lord in your prayers. Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Son, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon. He told them, he commanded them. He's the creator. He could do those things. And the sun stood still and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? Jasher is one of those that's not a canonized book. It's it's one of maybe a historical fact, but it's not canonized. That's why it's not a part of the 66 book Unless you're maybe Catholic or something like that But anyway, it's wrote in the book of gesture And so the Sun stood still in the midst of heaven and hasted not to go down about a whole day Wow God is the Creator. God can do things no one else can do. The Son that stood tall in battle. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. That was that next one. And there was no day like that before or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. You see the abating of the Son. the miracle of extending the sun for it to stand tall on the battlefield. And so, as I said, that's one of those things that takes place, Amen. Matthew 7, 7 asks and it shall be given. Seek ye shall find, knock it shall be opened unto you. Mark 11, 23 tells us, for verily I say unto you that whoso shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea. And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass. He shall have whatsoever he said. Now thank God we see the abating of the sun that Joshua did not know the earth was 8,000 miles in diameter. Joshua did not know that it has 200 million square miles of surface area and 71% water. Joshua didn't know the earth traveled through space at a speed of 18 and a half miles per second. Joshua was not aware that the sun was 93 million miles from earth or its core is 30 million degrees Fahrenheit. Joshua didn't know those things, amen. Joshua didn't know any of these things, but he knowed God. Amen? Now thank God, Joshua asked for help that the sun would stand tall in the battle to defeat the enemy of the five kings of the Amorites. And Joshua had no idea that his request slowed 6.6 trillion tons of spinning gravel and water to give him victory. That God did something amazing because he's the creator. He can speak it and it'll happen. The Earth's rotation was slow where two days were combined into one and there has never been a day like this ever before or after ever. And so, if God could create the world and send plagues on Egypt, part the Red Sea, and the Jordan River, and send a worldwide flood, and use a fish to swallow a man for three days, and wipe out Sodom and Gomorrah where there ain't nothing but ashes to there today, he can slow the Earth's rotation down without a problem. You can try to doubt it and reject it all you want to, but Joshua's prayer proved the Canaanite gods were powerless, and the sun and the moon were compelled to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Listen, did anybody else record this miracle in the historical records? Yes! Yes, they sure did. Oh yeah. It was a God-given miracle, but there was other folks that was paying attention. In Chinese writings, they record a legend of a long day. The same legend recorded among the Inca Indians of Peru, Aztec Indians of Mexico. Both of these tribes worshipped the sun. Yes, the Babylonians and the Persian documents record the legend of a day miraculously extended. Yes, Herodias, the ancient historian, he recounts that while in Egypt, the priest showed him their temple records and he read of a day twice its natural length. So yes, there was others. But I thank God the Bible's good enough for me. And so the restriction, the confinement of those kings, in verses 15 down to verse 20, that we see the executions in the campaign that these kings are fixing to get their just rewards. Because of these executions, we see a Joshua returned and all Israel with him under the camp of Gilgal. Why? What did I tell you a while ago? It's the base camp. Hey, listen, you ain't never been to war. You better have a base camp. You better have it surrounded by Constantino wire and a defense. You better have a perimeter. You better have a night guard. You better have protection so your soldiers could sleep and have peace at night, not get their throats cut and be shot. Hey, he had a base camp and that base camp was in Gilgal so that his soldiers that had done all that all night stuff had went uphill. They had been so loyal and faithful to be supportive in this campaign that they needed rest. And so Joshua returned, and all of Israel with him under the camp in Gilgal. But these five kings, they fled. They hid themselves in a cave at Machedon. And so it was told, Joshua said, the five kings are found hidden in a cave in Makeda. And Joshua said, roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave and set men by it for to keep them. And stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies and smite the inmost of them. Suffer them not to enter into their cities, for the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hand. And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest, which remained of them, entered into thin cities." The annihilation of these kings. I thank God, after the battle, Joshua returns to the cave where the five kings are confined. They're brought out, and the captains make them bow to the ground, where they proceed to put their foot on their necks, because that's how they did it in those days. That you've been defeated, and I put my foot on your neck, And it was also used as an object lesson to demonstrate that God would do this to all the enemies. And I thank God the kings were then slain. They were hung on a tree, a separate tree, five different trees for these five kings till the evening. And just as the Lord, listen, subdued their enemies, He will do the same to our enemies who follow Satan. Hey, you ain't following Jesus, I don't care if you like it or not, you're following the devil. You may not like me telling you that, but I'm telling you the truth. If you ain't following the Lord, then you sure ain't following the Lord, then you're following the devil, and you're following his followers. Because when you're not in the family of God, and you ain't following after him, you can call it whatever you want to, but you ain't following the Lord, you're following the devil. You see, it's only one or the other. You can straddle a fence all day long. And so the kings were buried in the cave, the stones were used to cover the mouth of the cave. The victory was a great one. In fact, their enemies were so afraid they wouldn't even move their tongues or speak about the Israelites. Here's another memorial that's being set up to show the power and the victory of God. And the question is, how are you fared with the battles of your life? Like the kings in this cave, do you feel like your enemy is trapped but not destroyed? Are your weaknesses, are your bad habits under control, but you still have not attained a total victory over all of those things? Perhaps you feel that your enemies have trapped you and you're struggling to have a victory on a day-to-day basis. You need to realize that Christ can set you free. He can give you a complete victory that you're looking for. Do you feel overwhelmed by the battles, the spiritual battles that you're fighting on a daily basis, the problems that you still need to face? You need to understand that Christ is our fortress and he's our shield. He's our strength and he's our peace. And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Madigan. and peace. None moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. Then said Joshua, open the mouth of the cave and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave. And they did so and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, king of Jerusalem. the king of Hebron, the king of Joramun, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon. 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 captives of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, put their feet upon the necks of them. And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed. Be strong and of good courage, for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom you fight. And I'm glad that he's fighting the battles, even though that you don't realize he is in America every single day against all this wickedness and evil that is out there. Afterward, Joshua smote them, slew them, hanged them on five trees, and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded that they took them down off the trees and cast them into the cave where they had been hid and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day. Then we see the expansion of that campaign because God delivers every one of us from our enemies. He delivers us from our sinful habits and behavior that destroys our lives. Hidden insights that are in the names of the cities reveal the enemies of the Christians that Jesus Christ helps us to overcome. And so as we look and realize that all of us, as we go through some of the most powerful times, amen, Makita, Makita, I might have been saying it wrong, but that's how you pronounce it, Makita. In verse 28, it means to blasphemy, to curse, to pierce, of piercing words. We also see Libna. Libna means whiteness. It's used to describe the corruption of leprosy and the whiteness of death. Lackish. to obstinate or have rebellion. Every one of these names of all of these five kings, the king of Horan means high spirit and lofty, a reminder of what pride does to all of us. Gezer, it means to divide, the criticalness and decisiveness of those people that what they do. And Eglon, It means calf. It reminds me of the false teaching as Israel worshiped a golden calf. Hebron, it means a confederation, a fellowship, reminded of the conformity or the yoking up with the world to worldliness, the one world order that everybody else wants everybody to go into. God ain't wanting a part of that. God didn't set us up. God put us into our nations the way that we are, and he didn't determine for us to be a one world order. No, he didn't. Uh-uh. We're the United States, and you know what? The money that we have and the democracy that we have, I don't care what they try to do, amen, or what they try to make it right with a one world order. That's what the Antichrist and all of them want, all that stuff. And you know what? Your governments and all these other ones and the United Nations, that's exactly what they want. But they're going to fit it right into the hands of the end of time, because I'm glad that the church is going to get up and get out of here before much longer. And so, Debir, it means to speak, and it's a reminder of the sins of the tongue that can be so destructive to God's servants, amen. And so here, in that day, Joshua took Makeda. And he smote it with the edge of the sword. And the king thereof, he utterly destroyed them and all the souls that were therein. He let none remain. And he did to the king of Makeda as he did unto the king of Jericho. And then Joshua passed from Makeda and all Israel with him. under Libna and fought against Libna and the Lord delivered it also in the king thereof into the hand of Israel and he smote it with the edge of the sword and all the souls that were therein he let none remain in it but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho and Joshua passed from Libna and all Israel with him unto Lachish notice just like the map just as he goes around, and he camped against it, and he fought against it, and the Lord delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of his sword, and all the souls that were therein accorded all that he had done to Libna. And then Horan king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua smote him and his people until he had left him none remaining, and from Lachish Joshua passed unto Egon, and all Israel with him, and they encamped against it and fought against it. And they took it on that day and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day according to all that he had done to Lachish. And Joshua went up from Eglon and all Israel with him unto Hebron, and they fought against it. And they took it and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein he left none remaining according to all that he had done to Eglon, but destroyed it utterly. And all the souls that were therein, thank God, all of these five locations that God conquered them. And Joshua returned and all Israel with him to Debar and fought against it. And he took it and the king there and all the cities thereof. Debar's down here. I'll just point out, I didn't have all those, but right down here at the last stop, down here at Debar. Amen. And he fought against it, and he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein. He left none remaining, as he had done to Hebron. So he did to Debar, and the king thereof, and he had done also to Libnah, and to her king. Verse 40, I'm getting down. This is a long chapter, isn't it? I know. So Joshua smoked all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and of all their kings. He left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed as the Lord God of Israel commanded. And Joshua smoked them from Kadesh, Barnea, Eden, and to Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, not the Goshen that he came from Egypt. Notice, this is a different Goshen. even under Gibeon. And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel, because the sun that stood tall in battle was there for them. And lastly, we see the arrival after the great victories, the Israelites returned to the place of remembrance where we come from. The place of resurrection, that's our salvation. Renunciation, forsaking all the hindrances. Restoration of our healing wounds. Realization that Christ is the captain of our life. And the revelation of the word of God. The rededication, dedicating ourselves afresh and anew. Because, and Joshua returned and all Israel with him under the camp to Gilgal. And why? Because Gilgal is the base camp. And that is where he was able to replenish and get his strength and to come back again. I'm glad each and every one of us when we go through life today, all of us, when we deal with the lessons, we realize that God out of this whole thing, he gave all of us peace. because he told them in verse eight, fear them not. God's challenge to the people was for them not to have any fear of the enemy. He gave them not only peace, but he gave us a promise. And through that promise came power. I thank God in that hail storm, when that hail dropped from the heavens, the Lord performs the greatest miracles ever recorded. And I thank God as he gives us this great blessing that he supports us. Every one of us as we conquer our enemies today, and as we go through life, we've got to fight with a determination. We've got to fight with devotion. Because if you look at what Joshua was doing, it was apparent that he was just doing what the Lord told him to do. And that's all you got to do. You just need to do what the Lord's telling you to do. Amen. If you're supposed to watch over your household, that's what you got to do. You're supposed to watch over your marriage, that's what you do. It all boils down to whose will has the priority in your life. Yours are God's which is it for you? How does one do this you cast down? Imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and you bring it into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Paul said that in 2nd Corinthians 10 5 and so eventually the battles of life will be over and the long day where the sun that stood tall in battle will be finished. And when we're saved, we're going to go home to heaven to rest in that glorious place. But in the meantime, there are enemies and there are battles that must be fought. And we can either fight them with our own weapons and lose, or we can fight them the way the Lord has shown us to win, which you'd rather have, defeat or victory. I'm gonna tell you, I don't know what you're fighting today or tonight, but I know who can help you with that battle. Are you listening to me? Bring that thing, bring that thing right now tonight to Jesus and let him get you safely through that fight. Bring that thing to Jesus tonight, whatever it is. If you're lost, listen, I wanna invite you to come. to Jesus for salvation tonight. Just make your way right through Facebook, where you're at. And if you've never made that commitment, let me turn over here real quick to the Romans Road. The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm glad that every one of us, as we go over to Romans chapter 10. The Bible tells us For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. But down in verse 13, for whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Understanding that I'm a sinner, but believing, listen, that Jesus died on the cross to free me from the punishment of my sins, I now receive you as my Lord and Savior. And from this day forward, I desire to live to please Christ and in placing my trust in him for the gift of eternal life. Just make your way toward him tonight. Show, he can show you how you can win the ultimate battle and become a child of the king tonight. Father, thank you for fighting those battles for us. Go with us, Lord, help us as we go forward. Everything that we do, we do in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Forgive us of our many sins. Thank you for being with us tonight and bless that one that's tuning us in. And Lord, I wanna thank you for standing up tall for us and fighting that battle that we could not fight for ourselves on the cross of Calvary in Jesus' mighty name, amen.