Going In Circles Series

Going in Circles

Preached - Friday May 30, 2003 - The YPWW Crusade Night Two

Free Deliverance Tabernacle Holiness Church - Prophet Henry Frye, Jr.

100 B Water Street - Camden, Alabama

Scripture: "And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go around about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day shall compass the city seven times, and the priest shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpets, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him."

Joshua 6:3-5

Introduction

Tonight, I want to talk about "Going in Circles". The New International Version of the text says this: "March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound along blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in." "Going In Circles."

My brothers and sisters, saints and sinners, bond and free children of the Most High God, all of you that love the Lord, and to all of you in your respectable places. We do greet you in the name of the unparalleled, incomparable, and matchless name of Jesus, and do share with you his word of inspiration, wisdom, and hope. For his word is rich and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that we might be equipped for every good work.

Going In Circles

Do you sometimes feel you are just going around in circles? Do you feel like your life is taking you to New York when you’re trying to go to California? Are you sailing west trying to get to the East? Often we doubt our life’s direction and questions whether we have made the right choices. These are the times when we feel as if our best efforts are fruitless because we are no closer to our goals today than we were two years ago. Even the repetitions themselves start to irritate us after a while as we search for ways to break the monotony of doing the same things all the time with very little prospect of change. Going in circles often suggests confusion, frustration and loss of direction.

Many people spend their entire lives doing a lot of everything but accomplishing little or more truthfully nothing. They have no goals or direction. A person without a goal is like a ship without a rudder. Each will drift and not drive. Each will end up on the beaches of despair and despondency.

There are many ways to go around in circles. People who have fallen in love despite their best efforts often fell like they are going in circles. Parents who fail at motivating their children to do their best often feel they are going in circles. Business efforts that see more dead ends than runways often go in circles. Anytime our efforts seem to be fruitless; we have a tendency to feel we are going in circles.

Yet, there are times when the circles we travel are divinely inspired. These are times when something inside of us keeps leading us in a direction totally opposite from that which we desire. It is frustrating because we can’t see the purpose. It is troublesome because it seems an endless, thankless, unrewarding spiral that has no known purpose or direction.

As Christians, we have resolved to let God lead us. We have pledged to follow his direction regardless. Wherever he leads me, I will follow… I go with him all the way!

Exposition

When the Holy Spirit shines his light on this text, we see the people of Israel as they marched in circles around the walls of Jericho.

God promised Joshua and the people that he would give them the victory if they proceed into Canaan and followed his instructions. That took a great deal of courage because the city’s of this country was well fortified and filled with skilled soldiers. Israel’s soldiers were untrained and untested in battle.

God told the people that he would provide the victory, but he did not tell them how! They simply were to march forward on faith alone.

God’s instructions were that the entire army would march around Jericho once a day for six days. Half the army would lead the way as a front guard. They would be followed by seven priests, each blowing on a shofar, a trumpet made out of a ram’s horn. Priests carrying the ark of the Lord would come next, and then the rest of the army would serve as a rear guard to complete the procession. On the seventh day that processional would continue seven times around the city. At the end of those seven times the priest were to give an extra long blast on the shofars, and then the entire nation, all two million people, were to shout at the top of their lungs. God promised that the walls would collapse, which would make it easy for the soldiers to get into the city.