In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; And they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty. 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, Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel”, and in chapter ten and verse five of the book of Joshua, we learn how “the five kings of the Amorites … gathered themselves together” where we read,
Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.
The verse reads, “Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “therefore the five kings” which means “wherefore, then and on this account the five royal rulers and leaders” “of the Amorites” or “belonging to the Amorites whose name mean a sayer”, “the king of Jerusalem” which means “the royal ruler and leader belonging to Jerusalem whose name means teaching of peace and is the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split”, “the king of Hebron” or “the royal ruler and leader belonging to Hebron whose name means association and was a city in south Judah approximately twenty miles south of Jerusalem and approximately twenty miles (30 km) north of Beersheba and near where Abraham built an altar”, “the king of Jarmuth” which means “the royal ruler and leader belonging to Jarmuth whose name means heights and was a Canaanitish city in the lowlands of Judah with a king and located between Hebron and Lachish”. Joshua or the writer shared how the five royal rulers of “Jerusalem, Hebron and Jarmuth” along with two others did the following.
The verse goes on to say, “… the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.” Joshua or the writer continued with the words, “the king of Lachish” which means “the royal ruler and leader of Lachish whose name means invincible and is a city lying south of Jerusalem on the borders of Simeon and which belonged to the Amorites until conquered by Joshua and allotted to Judah”, “the king of Eglon” or “the royal ruler and leader belonging to Eglon whose name means calf-like and is a royal city in Canaan that opposed the conquest; located in the low lands of Judah”, “gathered themselves together” which means “collected and assembled their own selves with one another”, “and went up” or “and shot forth and ascended”, “they and all their hosts” which means “they, the five royal rulers, and each, every, the whole and everyone of their, the five kings, troops and armies”, “and encamped before Gibeon” or “and pitched tents and lay siege in front and in the presence of Gibeon whose name means hill city and was a Levitical city of Benjamin, modern 'el-Jib', which lies five miles or eight km from Jerusalem”, “and made war against it” which means “and waged battle and fighting in opposition to it, Gibeon”. Joshua or the writer shared how the royal rulers of “Lachish and Eglon” assembled with the other three royal rulers, and they all ascended along with their armies to lay siege in opposition to “Gibeon”.
When we consider the words in this verse, we learn how the five Canaanites royal rulers assembled themselves with one another along with their armies, ascended to the front of the “Gibeon” and lay siege in opposition to it. They were going to battle against them if no one intervened. However, they were without the knowledge of Jehovah God aligning with the people of Israel, and rather than defeat them one at a time, God gathered these pagan “kings” together in one place. We shall see more about this in our next verses, but for now, let us consider that God also knows our future and our foes as well. He loves us, and He proved His love toward us when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. When He raised Him from the dead after three days, He made the way through faith and trust in Him to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and provided with His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and go before us any time opposition rises up against us in battle. (See Ephesians 6:12)
Next time we learn how, “the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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