16 But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a
cave at Makkedah.
17 And it was told
Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah.
18 And Joshua said,
Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep
them:….
22 Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and
bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave.
23 And they did so,
and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of
Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon….
26 And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them,
and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the
evening.
27 And it came to
pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that
Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the
cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day. (Joshua 10:16-18,
22-23, 26-27)
In Joshua 10 is told of the five kings that combined
to fight against Joshua and Israel. The kings’ forces were discomfited and the
kings fled and hid in a cave, and the Israelites were commanded to put stones
over the mouth of the cave to keep them in there until the battle was
over. Once the battle was done, Joshua had
the kings brought out, and he staged a foot-on-the-neck demonstration to show
the Lord would help Israel conquer the land of Canaan. Then he had the five
kings killed, hung in the trees until sundown, then thrown back in the cave and
great stones laid in the cave mouth.
It seemed to me that what happened to the five kings was
a sort of twisted type of Christ, though slightly out of order and in two
parts.
First part:
Kings. Kept in a cave (like a tomb), with great stones to prevent them
from getting out. With men set by to keep them there. And then they are brought
out alive.
Second part: Kings hung on trees until sundown, then
put in the cave with great stones over the cave’s mouth.
As you can see, the parts are out of order, so it isn’t
a perfect type, but it is still recognizable how it anticipates the crucifixion,
the entombment, and resurrection of Christ. And too, Joshua as the high priest
orders all of this to happen, taking the part of the Jewish and Roman
authorities who condemned Christ.
0 comments:
Post a Comment