God Takes Jericho

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. I'm going to ask you to please remain standing once again as we turn to God's Word, Joshua chapter 6. Joshua chapter 6. If you're using your Pew Bibles, you can find that on page 197. We're actually going to start at Joshua chapter 5, beginning at verse 13. Here now, this is God's Word.

And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked up, and behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said, Are you for us or for our adversaries? So he said, No, as a commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face and worshipped. And he said to him, What does my Lord say to his servant? Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take your sandal off your foot. for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, I have given Jericho into your hand, its king and the mighty men of valor.

You shall march around the city, all you men of war. You shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days and seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns and the priests shall blow the trumpets and it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram's horn. And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout. Then the wall of the city shall fall down flat and the people shall go up every man straight before him.

Then Joshua, the son of Nun, said to them, said to the priests, then Joshua, the son of Nun, called the priests and said to them, take up the Ark of the Covenant and let the seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams horns before the Ark of the Lord. And he said to the people, proceed and march around the city.

And let him who is armed advance before the ark of the Lord. So it was when Joshua had spoken to the people that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of ram's horns before the Lord advanced and blew the trumpets and the ark of the covenants, the Lord followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets and the rear guard came after the ark while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.

Now, Joshua had commanded the people saying, you shall not shout. or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth until the day I say to you, shout, then you shall shout. So he had the ark of the Lord circled the city, going around it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.

The seven priests bearing seven trumpets of ram's horns before the Ark of the Lord went on continually and blew with the trumpets and the armed men of war went before them. But the rear guard came after the Ark of the Lord while the priest continued blowing the trumpets. And the second day they marched around the city and returned to the camp.

So they did six days. But it came to pass. On the seventh day that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. And on that day only, they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, when the priest blew the trumpet, that Joshua said to the people, shout! For the Lord has given you the city. Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction.

It and all who are in it, only Rahab the harlot shall live. She and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. But you, by all means, abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take the accursed things and make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, the vessels of bronze and iron are consecrated to the Lord.

They shall come into the treasury of the Lord. So the people shouted when the priest blew the trumpets and it happened when the priest heard the sound of the trumpet and the people shouted with a great shout that the walls fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city and they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, oxen, sheep and donkey with the edge of the sword.

But Joshua said to the women who had spied out the country, go into the carlet's house. And from there bring out the woman and all she has, as you swore to her. And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire, only the silver and gold and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had.

So she dwells in Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord who raises up and builds this city, Jericho. He shall lay its foundation with his firstborn and with the youngest he shall set up its gates. So the Lord was with Joshua. and his fame spread throughout all the country.

Prayer for Illumination

You may be seated. Let's pray. Oh, Father, we thank you for your word. It's piercing, sharper than a two edged sword. God, we pray that you would do heart surgery on us this morning. We pray that you would work in our hearts that we might know you, love you, and follow in your ways. In Jesus's name, amen. They've crossed over the Jordan River.

Sermon

They're standing there just in Gilgal, maybe two miles away from Jericho. It seems that while all the camp is in Gilgal, the commander of the army, Joshua, goes And like Nehemiah, he goes to survey Jericho. He's going outside the camp. And here he finds something he did not expect, and yet the Lord had promised it. Here we find in chapter five, verses 13 through 15, this amazing incident where Joshua comes face to face with the commander of the army of the Lord. And here Joshua goes out to him. He's walking around Jericho. He lifts up his eyes and it says, Behold, a man was there and he's standing there and has a sword in his hand. And what's Joshua's question to him? Are you for us? Are you for our enemies? Notice how he answers. Verse 14.

No. No. The Lord is not some puppet. The Lord is for his own glory. The Lord is for his own holiness. The Lord had chosen them for the praise of his glory. And so, no, in the ultimate sense, he was not for them or for their adversaries. The commander of the Lord's army was for who? For the Lord. And insofar as the people would follow the Lord, The commander of the Lord's army would go before them in battle. And Joshua understands what he says, he says in verse 14, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. And what does Joshua do in response?

Verse 15, he does what anything human being is going to do. He falls flat on his face. He finds out there's a sovereign of the universe, the one who holds all power and who raised up the people and brought them out of Egypt by his mighty right hand. This was the commander of the army of that powerful one who is there before him. And he falls down on his face and worships him.

Now, scripture doesn't hide this here. In the book of Revelation, it's clear. When John mistakes an angel for Christ or for the Lord somehow, he falls on his face and the angel says, no, don't worship me. I'm merely a messenger. But here, this one receives this honor.

Here, I'm going to give you a big theological word and we can give you two of them, actually, you get a two for one sale today and we could talk about it downstairs over lunch if you want. Theophany and Christophany. Theophany and Christophany, God appearing or Christ appearing. Theologians will argue about this all the time. Is this a theophany?

Because what does he say? How does Joshua respond to this? What does my Lord say to his servant? Somehow Joshua understands that the one standing before him is his Lord. Somehow he knows that this commander of the army of the Lord, is the one who is going to give them victory in the battle. This is exactly what God had promised.

I don't know about you, but I didn't remember this promise. I was kind of surprised when I was reading about this passage, Exodus chapter 23. Look with me all the way back in the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 23, verse 20. God had promised that he would send this angel. Exodus 23 verses 20 through 33. Behold, I send an angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared before.

Beware of him and obey his voice. Do not provoke him. For he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. But if you indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak, I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

For my angel will go before you and bring you into the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I will cut them off. But you shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do anything according to their works, but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. So you shall serve the Lord your God. And He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land.

I will fulfill the number of your days. God had promised them He would send this commander of the army of the Lord. And just like He had promised Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 that this land was going to be theirs, He brought them up out of Egypt. He's been fulfilling His promises, fulfilling His promises, fulfilling His promises, fulfilling His promises. And here is fulfilled another one of his promises.

The commander of the army of the Lord is in front of him. He's going to do the Lord's work, but interestingly, what does he say in verse 15? Take off your sandals. For the ground upon which you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. Once again, we see Joshua's life mirroring Moses's life. This is the exact same phrase that God had when He appeared to Moses in the flaming bush, told to Moses, take off your sandals for the ground in which you are standing is holy. Now, let's make one thing absolutely clear here. Where God is, that is holy.

But notice the ground upon which Joshua is standing is more holy than Joshua himself. Joshua is the one who has come into the presence of the Holy One of Israel. And it's Joshua who has to represent that. It's Joshua who has to acknowledge that. It's Joshua who has to bow himself here. Take off his sandals and recognize that the Lord was over him.

They could have all the military strategy in the world. They have all the all the ideas that they would possibly want of how they would conquer Jericho. But without a reverence for the holiness of their God, they would fail. Indeed, we're going to find out in just a chapter or two.

That's exactly what happens. We must recognize that our God is holy. And not just holy, He is holy, holy, holy. that the seraphim with their six wings cover their face with two wings and cover their feet with two wings, and with two wings they fly, and with their voices they cry out day and night, holy, holy, holy. Do you get it? The angels in heaven are consumed with one idea of God. He is holy.

Is God windy to you? Is God weighty to you. The idea of holiness, Kabod is the idea of weightiness. When you think about God, do you tremble? Or has your heart become too used to him? Do you draw into his presence in a cavalier way? Or do you live your life knowing that you stand before a holy God?

The commander of the army of the Lord needed to put Joshua's heart in the right place before they started this conquest. The leader of Israel must have a heart that is devoted to the holiness of God and to obedience. And so the commander, the Lord himself, gives him instructions in the first part of chapter six, verses one through five.

And this is this is crazy talk. OK, just to make sure you understand, this is nuts. You might have just become familiar with this story, but I'm going to show you at Chalk and Talk. Jericho is a real place. It had real walls. There were real people in it who really wanted to kill them.

And one of the least likely ways you would ever expect for a military commander to say, here's how you're going to defeat the city is stay quiet and walk in a circle one time a day for seven days straight. And on the last day, walk around for seven days and then shout. See, how were they going to take the city? How were they going to take the city?

It wasn't going to be by their own strength. It wasn't going to be by their own might. It wasn't going to be by their own military prowess. It wasn't going to be by their own strategies. It wasn't going to be by putting their trust in princes or in horses or in any other human thing. The only way that they were going to conquer this land is if they trusted in God.

And here was their first test. Would they really do it? And you can imagine. You can imagine what the soldiers must have been thinking. The first five verses tell us what the plan is. The second set of verses tell us that this is what they do, right? Verses 6 down to verse 14. And could you imagine?

I remember standing in ranks in the military and as we stood in ranks, well, let's just say we didn't always have the greatest deal of respect for some of the people who were leading us. We had good leaders and then you had the guys that you would go, I'm going to make sure that's actually what we're supposed to do first. And you can imagine them standing in ranks as they're supposed to march around Jericho and they hear these commands and some of the people must have had their hearts kind of looking at each other, kind of wary, like.

Are we really going to do that? I mean, what if they what if they start throwing projectiles at us? I mean, there's people on the top of those walls, taunting them, yelling at them. They're ready to go to war with them. He wants us to just walk around. We can't even answer their taunts. We can't even let them know that we're mighty warriors by giving our war cry. We have to zip our lips and just march.

And you can imagine, day one, they go around the city and they get back home. How would their wives, how would the conversations go with their wives when they got back home? You're really going to go back out and do that tomorrow? And maybe for the first day, maybe for the first day, everything went well.

Right. OK, we're going to do this. We're going to follow it. But imagine doing this for we haven't stood for the reading of God's word. This is not a normal thing that we've done recently. And I'm sure some of you, by the time I was getting back to the end of chapter six, you're like, oh, man, when is this going to be done so we can sit down? Imagine walking around the city the same way for six days in a row. Are we really going to keep doing this?

Every step that they took was an act of obedient faith, trusting that this was how the Lord was going to do it. This was how the Lord was going to bring victory. If the commander of the Lord's army has said this is what we must do, this is what we must do. And this was faith for them when they were going.

So what's their confidence in? Well, their confidence is right in the middle of the ranks. As you have the forward guard and the rear guard. As you have the first rank of people walking, marching, going around the city. And then you have the rear guard following up behind them. What's in the midst of the people? What's smack dab in the middle?

The ark of God himself. The visible representation of the throne of God that he was in the midst of his people. That this was the king of Israel who was marching around the city with his people. And it would be at his command that they would do this. Their confidence needed to be in the Lord. He had commanded them this multiple times. The Psalms are replete. With images like Psalm 146 verses 3 and 5, where it says, Do not put your trust in princes, nor in the sons of man in whom there is no help. Happiest he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.

Where's your confidence in life? Where is your confidence in life? Who's calling the shots? Where do you put your hope? What is something that in the deepest, darkest hours in your life, where do you go to cling and find light? In the average humdrum of life, interacting with your spouse, interacting with your children, interacting with your family members, your parents, your co-workers, Who's calling the shots? Who's giving the commands? Ask yourself in your life, who is Lord? Have you fallen down on your face?

So they do this for six days. And finally, on the last day, as they walk around the city, not once, not twice, not three times, but seven times they walk around the city, and Joshua gives this loud command in verse 16 and 17, shout, for the Lord has given you the city.

Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction and all who are in it. And there's only one family to be saved. Rahab and all who are found in her household. Now, people have a problem with this. People, we have to face this front on. We talked about this a little bit last week, but we need to deal with this ethical issue front on.

Is it really right for what it's going to say here in verse 21, that everything in the city was destroyed, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep, donkey and with the edge of the sword? Is it really right? I need you to be honest with yourself. Is it really okay for women and children to be killed? It's kind of hard to think about, isn't it?

If we're honest with ourselves, we realize we live in a very different time and age. Thank God that we are not living in this dispensation anymore, in this time period in which we are called to do this. But make no doubt about it. This was clearly known that this was going to happen. He told. He told the prophets that this was going to happen, he was known all throughout that this land deed was given to Abraham. People had time to flee. People had time to go.

In Deuteronomy chapter seven, God had said that he was driving them out with hornets. And not even honey bees, hornets. You know, you don't even get anything nice from hornets, maybe a cool nest or something. But if you've ever had hornets, you don't want to stay living where you can't get rid of hornets.

And yet these people are doggedly determined they are going to stay there. We don't care what Yahweh says. We don't believe that he's given this land. We don't trust that those are his chosen people. This is my farm. This is my land. This is it. I don't care about Yahweh.

And God has been patient with them. for hundreds of years. He told Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 that the sins of the Amorites was not yet filled. He gave them hundreds of years of patience. How patient is he with our nation? We might presume that the Lord is blessing us because we have harvest time and seed time year after year after year. But when will our own nation wake up? When will our own land wake up and realize that it's God himself who is the Lord?

We live in Jericho. We live in an obstinate land. We live in a land where we see chaos and destruction, the ruin of family, the corruption of the mind, and yet people love it. We need to be honest about the world that they lived in and the world that we live in.

We need to see that God is a just God and hates sin every day. Sometimes we fall into this ancient heresy of thinking that, oh, the God in the Old Testament is this wrathful, vengeful God, and the God in the New Testament is the gracious and loving God. No. It is Jesus Christ who is going to come again on that last great day, and His sword will be wet with blood. Flee from the wrath to come. Repent and turn from your sins.

This is what Christians are called to do. It is not the way in which the world would think this is how we were going to grow the kingdom, right? With all church growth, people will say, bring down the offense. Make it easier for people to come. Make the message a little bit less offensive. No. No destruction is at the door. Flee. Be like Rahab. Cry out to Yahweh. Trust in the Lord alone. Recognize that this world is going to fail.

And indeed, Rahab has saved her and her whole household. And as verse 25 says, she dwells in Israel to this day. She found a new family. She found a home. This is what happens when people go from sinner to saint. This is why we do church membership. By this, they will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. They brought people into the membership. They brought her into the family. You'll find out later she marries one of the prominent men of Israel. The dividing wall is taken down.

Why did it have to all be destroyed, though? God gets the firstfruits. It's the Lord who gets the firstfruits. It's the Lord's judgment that this was meant to be a sign of. It was a sign of his ownership as well. This was his land that he was giving to the Israelites, not because they were the most numerous of all people, not because they were the best of all people, but because he loved them, he was going to give them the land that was his. And so everything in that city belonged to him and he was claiming rightful ownership of it.

And so there to go. They march, they march around the city the seven times, the walls fall down after the large shout, and they go into the city and they possess it, they take it and they do what God has commanded them to do. God has commanded you. You know, you are actually commanded to kill something in the New Testament. Did you know that?

Not to go out and go for holy war. No, that's not what the New Testament commands us. Not to go and to kill a sacrifice. That's not what the New Testament commands us. Do you know what God tells us, church, to kill now? Our sin. Our sin. Make no doubt about it. You are in a life and death battle right now. Where is there sin in your life that you have not killed? I know in mine it's hard. This is an enemy that comes up time and time again as I try to put to death sinful anger. As I try to put to death lack of self-control. What is the area in your life? Is it backbiting? Is it gossiping? Is it coveting? It is hard. It is hard to follow God's ways. It is hard when we come into the reality of what God commands us and the situations in our life. But will we follow his commands?

Children, someday you might have to choose where you're going to go to college. Will you go to a place that actually has true wisdom, where they fear the Lord? Or will you go to a place where they'll teach you to sell your soul? Some of you are going to face situations in your career. Maybe just give up a little bit of your moral standards, but then you can have some more progress at work. Will you follow the way of the Lord, which might seem insane to the world, but you know is good for your soul? Children, once again, some of you are going to have to choose a spouse someday. Will you follow the world's wisdom and just follow your heart? Or will you choose a spouse? Who is equally yoked, who loves the Lord. Will you follow the Lord's ways, even though to the world that might seem foolish?

The world will tell you, read business journals. I get these articles all the time about how to be productive in your life. And one of the most productive things they'll tell you you could do in your life is on Sundays, go ahead and start working on the easy things on your to do list for work. But at the Christian heart, we say no. No, I know the most productive thing I can do for my soul, for my family, for my work is to not work on the Lord's day, to rest in the Lord, to mind my soul. to care for my family. Some of these are so simple. Some of these are so simple and yet every single step you make in your life is an act of faithful obedience or dishonest disobedience. Each one of you who is a member of the church took a vow that you would regularly read your Bible and commit yourself to private prayer.

You know how many people in the world would tell you that's insane? That you would read an ancient book, and yet this, this is where we find the commander's orders. This is how we pray and speak with our commander. And He changes our hearts. Make no doubt about it. They walked by faith. And so must you. But our ultimate foe has been vanquished. Sin and death are conquered. Jesus Christ The commander of the army of the Lord has conquered the grave. It is Jesus Christ who we get our marching orders from. It is Jesus Christ whom we follow. It is our commander who laid down his life for us and who rose again from the dead and still leads his people.

Will you listen to His words? Will you follow His commandments? Brothers and sisters, I am not trying to give you a moralistic sermon. I am trying to point your eyes to the Holy One of Israel. Follow Christ and bow to Christ. Stand before His holy presence and rejoice for the victory that He has won for us. And out of love, follow Him. Out of love for Him, walk in faith by the power of His Spirit. Go to war with your sins and rejoice in the victory that we have in Jesus Christ. Walk by faith. Follow your commander in love.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. O God, we pray. We pray that You would teach us to follow You. Father, I pray that Your Holy Spirit would be leading us, guiding us. Lord, please, lead us in the paths of righteousness. Lord, I pray for myself, but especially for each and every one of these saints, that they would love You. Lord, I pray that we would have ears to hear that we would know your commands and follow in your ways and that we would love you as we look forward to entering into that great celestial city. Lord, we pray that we would truly be your disciples in Jesus' name.

Amen. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.