The Enemy Is Under Your Feet

Putting The Enemy Under Your Feet

In Joshua chapter 10, we find the account of a powerful enemy alliance which was forming. The kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon were angry about the treaty the Gibeonites made with Israel, so they decided to go to war against Gibeon (Joshua 3:4-5). Fearful of their lives, the Gibeonites sent word to Joshua:

Joshua 10:6 (CSB)
6 Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t give up on your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us.”

At the direction of the Lord, and because of Israel’s covenant with Gibeon, Joshua responded by launching a night-time attack against the enemy alliance. As the enemy fled before Israel, their armies were supernaturally slain by great hailstones that God rained down upon them and the sun and moon stood still until God’s people had adequate time to avenge themselves upon their enemies.

The five kings of these enemy nations hid themselves in a cave, but Joshua sent Israelite soldiers to capture them:

Joshua 10:22–26 (CSB)
22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings to me out of there.” 23 That is what they did. They brought the five kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon to Joshua out of the cave. 24 When they had brought the kings to him, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the military commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks. 25 Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Be strong and courageous, for the LORD will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

26 After this, Joshua struck them down and executed them. He hung their bodies on five trees and they were there until evening.

“Put your foot on the enemy’s neck,” instructed Joshua, “Because this is symbolic of what God wants to do to every enemy that rises up against you!”

Before Israel could advance to claim everything God had for them, they had to learn some important lessons and the story in Joshua 10 is one of them. God is saying the same thing to us as Joshua said to Israel. We must bring the enemy out of hiding, identify him, then put our feet upon his neck, and conquer him!

During the coming month, you will learn strategies for winning the battle of life and dynamic tactics for defeating Satan drawn from over fifty years of my personal study and teaching of spiritual warfare principles. We will also spend time meditating on one of the greatest behind-the-scene revelations concerning spiritual warfare, the Book of Job.

As we begin this exciting month of spiritual revelation, God’s promise to us is the same as that given to Israel by Joshua:

Joshua 10:25 (CSB)
²⁵Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Be strong and courageous, for the Lord will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

Journey Into The Promised Land

Joshua 10:1–25 (CSB)

THE DAY THE SUN STOOD STILL

10 Now King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed it, treating Ai and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living among them. ²So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³Therefore King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon, saying, ⁴“Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon, because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.” ⁵So the five Amorite kings—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces, advanced with all their armies, besieged Gibeon, and fought against it.

⁶Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Don’t give up on your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us.” ⁷So Joshua and all his troops, including all his best soldiers, came from Gilgal.

⁸The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you.”

⁹So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night from Gilgal. ¹⁰The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹As they fled before Israel, the Lord threw large hailstones on them from the sky along the descent of Beth-horon all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hail than the Israelites killed with the sword.

¹²On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,

and moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

¹³And the sun stood still

and the moon stopped

until the nation took vengeance on its enemies.

Isn’t this written in the Book of Jashar?

So the sun stopped

in the middle of the sky

and delayed its setting

almost a full day.

¹⁴There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to a man, because the Lord fought for Israel. ¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

EXECUTION OF THE FIVE KINGS

¹⁶Now the five defeated kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷It was reported to Joshua, “The five kings have been found; they are hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and station men by it to guard the kings. ¹⁹But as for the rest of you, don’t stay there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Don’t let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has handed them over to you.” ²⁰So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities. ²¹The people returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. And no one dared to threaten the Israelites.

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings to me out of there.” ²³That is what they did. They brought the five kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon to Joshua out of the cave. ²⁴When they had brought the kings to him, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the military commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Be strong and courageous, for the Lord will do this to all the enemies you fight.”

These are the words Joshua spoke to the captains of his army following a great victory over the Amorites (Joshua 10:24-25). During this battle God had supernaturally delivered their enemies into their hands. He rained down hailstones upon them and caused the sun to stand still until they were able to defeat their enemies. Joshua and his army slaughtered the Amorites and those who had survived were running from them in fear.

The five kings of the Amorites were hiding in a cave and Joshua sealed it up and posted guards outside. Knowing the battle would not be won until they had pursued and totally annihilated their enemies, Joshua told his soldiers: “But don’t stop! Pursue your enemies, attack them from the rear and don’t let them reach their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand” (Joshua 10:19, NIV).

After they had totally consumed the army, the soldiers returned to Joshua and he instructed them to open the cave and bring the five kings to him. When they did this, he called all the men of Israel together and said to the captains of the army: “Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings.” This act was a sign of triumph over the conquered enemy. Joshua wanted the Israelites to see that God had caused them to be victorious and made their enemies subject unto them.

There, in the sight of all the men of Israel, the captains came forward and put their feet upon the necks of the five conquered kings. Joshua said to them: “Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight” (Joshua 10:25).

Jesus has already conquered Satan and his principalities. At Calvary, He destroyed the works of Satan, stripped him of his power, and put His foot on his neck. He bruised Satan’s head in fulfillment of prophecy: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Through this victory God gave us authority over all the power of the enemy and, like the captains in Joshua’s army who put their feet on the necks of their enemies, Christ wants us to put our feet on the necks of all our enemies. Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).

Make this declaration:

I have power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.

*Adapted from MCWE email – Journey Into The Promised Land by Morris Cerullo

The Enemy Is Under Your Feet – 10/1

Putting The Enemy Under Your Feet

Journey Into The Promised Land