The book of Judges 1:1–7 tells the story of a wicked king in the Bible named Adoni-Bezek. After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel asked the Lord who should lead the first fight against the Canaanites. The Lord responded and said Judah should go first because He had delivered the land of Canaan into Judah’s hands. Judah beckoned Simeon, his brother's tribe, to support them in the war against the Canaanites. Simeon agreed and they both went out to fight.
When they got to the battlefield, they fought the Canaanites and Perizzites, and the Lord gave them a great victory. They engaged in a fierce battle against Adoni-Bezek, the king of the Canaanites, and killed ten thousand men in Bezek. Seeing that Isreal was winning the fight, Adoni-Bezek fled the war front, but the Isrealites pursued after him and caught him. Then, they proceeded to cut off his thumbs and big toes. This may seem unexpected and callous, but once they do this, a rather chilling revelation unfolds. Adoni-Bezek cried out, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” This statement gives insight into the depths of wickedness of Adoni-Bezek perpetrated while he was king. Thumbs are essential for holding things, but particularly for a king, who also needs to be a warrior, they are critical to hold weapons like swords and shields in war. Big toes are required for running, and when cut off, make running harder. Adoni-Bezek was so wicked that he cut off the thumbs and the big toes of seventy kings of the cities around him so that they could no longer wield weapons against him or run from him. He also subjected them to eating crumbs under his table and ensured that they were always oppressed under him. Adoni-Bezek’s behaviour is wickedness personified! His wickedness was eventually brought to check, and he was later taken to Jerusalem, where he eventually died.
Friend, there are people like Adoni-Веzeк in the world today who are wicked, demon-possessed, and conjurers of evil spirits. These people use satanic power to subjugate others by rendering them useless so they cannot fulfill their purpose in life. In the spiritual realm, they cut off people’s thumbs and big toes to make them stagnant in their endeavors and unable to fight against their challenges or run from them. There are a couple of things to learn from this story.
- There are battles we have to face, but God is with us.
- There are people whom God has placed to help us win our battles.
- There is great power in God to overcome every battle we need to fight.
- There are people who choose to be intentionally wicked and have a goal to oppress others.
- The wicked ones can oppress many people.
- There is divine retribution against the wicked ones.
- To win our battle against the wicked ones, we need to fight through spiritual warfare and depend on God by seeking his face for wisdom on how to win the fight (just like the Israelites did).
How to Overcome
Just last month, I wrote an article titled “Fight Back” and it goes into the approach you should take to overcome the wicked ones sent by the devil: you need to "Fight back!" Here’s a short excerpt from that post: “As a believer in Christ, you need to fight back, pray, and use your authority in the name of Jesus to wage a spiritual battle against the devil and his host of wickedness. Fast and pray, and the Lord will give you victory”. I go into more detail on this in the article, so you can go ahead and read it. God bless you.
You will always win your battles and overcome the wicked ones in Jesus' name.
'/%3e%3c/svg%3e){kind=small}
