“Takeover”

[Jay Z calls himself J-Hova (Jehovah), might be time to reclaim that for His Kingdom as well..just a side thought]

So I’m in Joshua 10 today, and this chapter gets pretty straight the point: Joshua & the Israelites MURKED everything & everyone in their path. As the Bible puts it, they “utterly destroyed it & everyone..and left no survivors”. No chance for a comeback or retribution! The chapter lays out in detail what it looks like when God is fighting for you; He caused confusion amongst the enemy causing them to destroy themselves, He slung hail stones to kill the other side, and listened when Joshua asks for the Sun to not set so they could continue their rampage (that’s just wild to me). After defeating five of the kings, Joshua even had his troops gather around & put their feet on the necks of the kings as a sign of “what the Lord would do to all their enemies they were about to fight”.

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Takeaway[s]: After every victory and every enemy had been wiped off the land, Joshua and his troops return back to their camp in Gilgal..OUTSIDE the land their conquering (as opposed to staying in the newly conquered area to rest). I thought that interesting; he didn’t settle until the mission was fully complete!

Remember those 5 kings I told [you] about who gathered to wage war against the Israelites? Those are the kings that end up being chased into a cave, had about 50,000 feet on their necks, then ended up dead in Chapter 10! Significance of this? It’s my belief we all have a “territory” we’re called to take for GOD & His Kingdom; but “we wrestle against principalities (spiritual systems and rule[ers] not flesh & blood”, so what does that look like? I recently listened to this sermon from Bishop T.D. Jakes that talks about fighting against a system, not what’s on the surface but the unseen force behind it that established it.

The 5 kings that were defeated came from Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Elgon.

Those names, respectively, translate to:

- Master of peace (king of Jerusalem “the city of peace”)

- “alliance” (friend/colleague),

- “fear of death”

- “who walks or exists of himself”,

- “heifer, chariot, round”

So what GOD really had Joshua waging war and removing from the land were false forms of GOD (idols), and anything people would put their faith in more than Him! “False peace, false unity, the power over death, living for ourselves & not for GOD, as well as material things (armies/our numbers, what brings us wealth - although a heifer is defined as a female cow who hasn’t borne a calf, hope you catch that!”

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” - Psalm 20:7

If you find yourself in constant struggle with something, ask God to reveal what that system is and the strategy to defeat it, in Jesus’ Name!