Are You Ready To Conquer Your Canaan? Series

ARE YOU READY TO CONQUER YOUR CANAAN?

JOSHUA 5:1-13

Verse 1 tells us that the heathen nations in Canaan saw the powerful manner in which the Lord brought His children through the Jordan and that they were totally demoralized by these events

------It would seem that they were absolutely resigned to their fate----------it would appear that this would be the perfect time for Joshua to lead the people forward into the attack

--------------------but folks—God’s timing is not ours

Instead of commanding His people to go forward into the battle, God commands them to remain at Gilgal and to do several things that, on the surface, appear very strange

-------it even appears that the things they are required to do puts them at risk before their enemies

While the ways of the Lord may appear strange to you and me, let me remind you that the ways of the Lord are not ours

Isaiah 55:8-9--“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, Declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

You see, God never gets in a hurry-----(we will see that a little later)

-------He has the liberty to take His time and do things on His schedule------While the things that happen in this chapter appear strange against the backdrop of impending battle, the truth of the matter is God is simply preparing His army to fight

God’s battles are spiritual battles------If we expect to fight in these battles and do well, then we must make the right king of spiritual preparations

II Corinthians 10:3-5

That is what the Lord is doing right here in the life of His people----it is also what He wants to do in your life and mine this morning

God knew that they would never be ready to fight and win the battle until the proper spiritual preparations had been made

Let me ask you a question-----Are you ready to conquer your Canaan?-----Expound

-------Only if you are willing to make the right spiritual preparations can you conquer your Canaan

Let’s take a few minutes this morning to consider the steps that Israel was commanded to take before they could conquer their Canaan

I)—Renewing Their Covenant with the Lord—v. 2-7

The first command the Lord gives to Israel is that all the men are to be circumcised

Genesis 17:9-11

Those men who were born during the 40 yrs. Of wilderness wandering had not been circumcised-----notice v. 5

--------expound on their wandering------they were not walking with God in the sense of being obedient

Now, before these men can claim their Canaan, they must be circumcised-------they must renew the covenant with the Lord if they wanted His blessings on them and if they wanted to be guaranteed the victory

The lesson for us is simply this-----just as Israel was required to remove from their bodies a piece of flesh as a sign that they were a part of the covenant, so too, we must remove from our lives anything that stands between us and total surrender to the Lord

Spiritual Circumcision should come after crossing the Jordan

Colossians 2:11 & 12--expound on v. 12----Colossians 3:1-3 & 5

Notice v. 2----------We use the word of God for our Spiritual circumcision-----Hebrew 4:12

Circumcision was to be the outward reminder of an inward work of faith

----anything that is displeasing to the Lord needs to be removed from your life------it needs to be cut off and put away from you forever

II)—Reaffirming their confidence in the Lord—v. 8

At this point Israel is camped in the heart of enemy territory

-----This took a great demonstration of faith and obedience because until they were healed they were setting ducks before the enemy

-----but God protected them

They had to be willing to trust the Lord to protect them until they healed ---------their faith was the secret to their success

These men had learned a valuable lesson-----that their battles would not be won by military might and by superior battlefield tactics

--------they knew that if they ever saw victory it would be because God gave it to them

-------------their’s would be a victory based wholly in faith in their God

We face times just like these men ------they had just come from a great victory and often that is the time when pride will rise up in us and we will think that we are unstoppable

-----the Lord will allow us to go through a time of testing----when we do, we must have faith in the Lord-------we need to remember that our God can and will take care of His children

Spiritual circumcision must come before conquering Jericho------

----Jericho represents our strongholds-------they must go before we can move forward in our walk with God and receive all that He has for us