Joshua 10:16–21

But these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in a cave at Makkedah. And it was told Joshua, saying, “The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”

So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them. And do not stay there yourselves, but pursue your enemies, and attack their rear guard. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand.” Then it happened, while Joshua and the children of Israel made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they had finished, that those who escaped entered fortified cities. And all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah, in peace.

No one moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.

What a bunch of cowards. How in the world did these clowns end up becoming kings? Maybe daddy was king and they just inherited the job. They certainly didn’t earn it.

In the hailstorm of 1360, King Edward III of England was right there getting pelted by the hailstones. That’s what drove him to repentance. He wasn’t hiding somewhere comfortable; he was on the battlefield where he got up-to-the-minute information about the war. Edward was far from perfect, but he wasn’t a coward like these guys.

The five kings have abandoned their troops and are safe and warm in a cave. Meanwhile, their soldiers are fighting and dying. Of course, they’re fighting and dying attacking Gibeon, instead of protecting their own families.

But that’s all at the direction of these five clown kings.

“A fish rots from the head first.” This political adage applies to all societies. Leaders lead. They can lead well or lead badly. This section of Joshua recounts some amazingly bad leading.

We don’t have enough backstory to know how all the people of Canaan became so wicked, but it seems to have religious roots. We quoted Deuteronomy 18:9–12 before. Here’s Deuteronomy 12:31.

You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

“Ideas have consequences. Bad ideas have victims.” — John Stonestreet

Child sacrifice is an extreme example of this. How could a people get this far removed from sanity?

Bad leaders, particularly bad religious leaders. Somehow these people fell under the spell of some incredibly evil leaders.

And never lose sight of the fact that the chief purveyor of bad ideas isn’t human.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.