All it takes is one bad apple to spoil a barrel of the freshest fruit. It is as a snake that must be removed from its head. We have to be willing to cut away the bad in order to hang onto the good.
Joshua was judge over Israel. He was God’s man. In Joshua 11:1-11, Israel was the barrel of fresh apples, flush with God’s victory over the five kings of the Amorite Confederation.
However, a rotten apple was about to drop into their barrel. Jabin, the king of Hazor, was a snake. He had heard of Israel’s success, and he began to stir up trouble. He sent messengers to the local kings, to the kings north of the mountains, and to those near the Sea of Galilee. Not satisfied, he sent still more messengers to the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Hittites.
They all came and more with horses and chariots to despoil the freshest apples in the barrel. Joshua and Israel didn’t have a horse or chariot to their name. From the world’s standpoint, this was no contest. Israel was already defeated, and the battle hadn’t even started.
Yet, Israel had something Jabin and his hoards didn’t. Israel had the fist of the Almighty God raised and ready to strike.
God said unto Joshua, “Be not afraid. Tomorrow I will destroy your enemy totally.”
And so it happened. All the kings Jabin had gathered around him were routed, and their armies were utterly vanquished.
The rotten apple still lived, though. Jabin had to be destroyed.
After Joshua burned all the chariots of the enemy with fire, he turned to the kingdom of Hazor, and with a sure and swift sword, Jabin and all that he had built was wiped away. The head of the snake had been removed from its body.
When the evil one works his way into our lives, we must cut him out with the decisiveness of God’s Word. Only then will God be able to keep us pure before him.
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