Casting Down The Fortress

A. JOSHUA 5:13-15

1. Joshua meets the "c __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of the L __ __ __ ' __ h __ __ __"

a. The "a __ __ __ __ of God?"

b. the pre - I __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Christ?

2. Exodus 3:1-5

a. another "parallel experience" with M __ __ __ __ for Joshua

b. still more e __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ for Joshua

(1) God goes before him and the people of Israel

(2) The outcome of the battle would rest neither on the shoulders of the military acumen of

Joshua nor the battlefield skills of his troops.

B. JOSHUA 6:1-7

1. v.1 indicates that Jericho ("M __ __ __ C __ __ __?") is sealed tightly shut.

2. In v.2, God informs Joshua that the "battle" is already won!

Victorious Christians have three characteristics:

a. They k __ __ __ the promises of God.

b. They b __ __ __ __ __ __ those promises by f __ __ __ __.

c. They "r __ __ __ __ __" those promises for their own lives.

(1) Romans 6:1-4

(2) "What does reckoning mean? 'Reckoning' in Greek means doing accounts, book-

keeping. Accounting is the only thing in the world we humans can do correctly. An

artist paints a landscape. Can he do it with perfect accuracy? Can the historian vouch

for the absolute accuracy of any record, or the map-maker for the perfect correctness

of any map? They can make, at best, fair approximations. Even in everyday speech,

when we try to tell some incident with the best intention to be honest and truthful, we

cannot speak with complete accuracy. It is mostly a case of exaggerations or under-

statement, of one word too much or too little. What then can a man do that is utterly

reliable? Arithmetic! There is no scope for error there. One chair plus one chair

equals two chairs. That is true in London and it is true in Cape Town. If you travel

west to New York or east to Singapore it is still the same. All the world over and for

all time, one plus one equals two.

Why does God say we are to reckon ourselves dead? Because we are dead. Let us

keep to the analogy of accounting. Suppose I have fifteen shillings in my pocket,

what do I enter into my account-book? Can I enter fourteen shillings and sixpence

or fifteen shillings and sixpence? No, I must enter in my account-book that which

is in fact in my pocket. Accounting is the reckoning of facts, not fancies. Even so,

it is because I am really dead that God tells me to account it so. God could not ask

me to put down in my account-book what was not true. He could not ask me to

reckon that I am dead if I am still alive.

Reckoning is not a form of make-believe. It does not mean that, having found that

I have only twelve shillings in my pocket, I hope that by entering fifteen shillings

incorrectly in my account-book such 'reckoning' will somehow remedy the deficiency.

It won't.

God asks us to do the account; to put down 'I have died' and then to abide by it. Why?

Because it is a fact. When the Lord Jesus was on the Cross, I was there in Him.

Therefore I reckon it to be true. I reckon and I declare that I have died in Him."

( Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life )

3. In v.3-5 God's s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ for victory is revealed.

4. In v.6-7 we see that Joshua, without so much as the slightest hint of misgiving, passes on the

c __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of God to the priests and the soldiers.

C. JOSHUA 6:8-16

1. Israel exercises e __ __ __ __ __ __ __ obedience to the commands of God.

a. This, of course, is the timeless formula for a right relationship with God. If I obey God

completely, I receive from Him the full effect of whatever blessing He has attached to that

command. If I obey partially, or half-heartedly, I might as well disobey Him blatantly.

Either way, the blessing will be completely missed and, even worse, if He has attached to

disobedience a consequence, I will receive a full measure of that.

b. Hudson Taylor described three ways to serve God.

(1) Make your best plans, then h __ __ __ that they succeed.

(2) Make your own plans, than ask God to b __ __ __ __ them.

(3) Ask God for His plans, then o __ __ __ them.

2. How could Israel march around an entire city -- especially seven times in one day?