Five Keys to Finding Victory
Joshua 6:1-21
February 4, 2007 – Super Bowl Sunday
Morning Service
Disclaimer: Material from this message was adapted in part from messages found on the Sermon Cnetral website.
Introduction
Today is the biggest day in professional football. Super bowl Sunday and it has been completely filled with hype. Not just the game itself but even the commercials seem to be filled with hype.
How many of you have had someone ask you who was going to win the game? I have been asked that question more times than ever before. This year seems to be filled with more anticipation. Will the winner be Indianapolis or Chicago? Will the Bears be able to beat the Colts? Will the Colts offense overcome the Bears defense? These are the questions that have filled the talk I have heard about the Super Bowl. Even Condelisa Rice, Secretary of State weighed in and gave a prediction.
I am going to go out on a limb this year and actually make a solid prediction about the game. One team is going to win and one team is going to lose. Those are the facts and beyond that we cannot say. There is an absolute obsession about who is going to win the Super Bowl
The great Vince Lombardi once said: Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. This attitude seems to have penetrated our society in the area of competition. We are obsessed with winning but it seems we are focused on the wrong things.
This morning I want to share some things from scripture on the subject of victory. If you have your Bibles with you, please open them to Joshua 6:1-21. In these 21 verses we find five principles for finding victory.
Read Text
Five Principles for Finding Victory
Background (v 1)
Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
Archaeologists tell us that Jericho was not a big city, covering some 10 or so acres (a bit bigger than the size of our church property) with up to 20,000 inhabitants. It was located about five miles west of the Jordan River and was the spiritual center of moon-worship. Because of its strategic location it controlled a wide area of land and God’s people would have to deal with this city if they were to take possession of the Promised Land. Standing at the foot of the western hills of Canaan, the Israelites couldn’t go into the area with Jericho standing because they would have been attacked.
The city was built to withstand any invasion. The walls were anywhere from 30 to 60 feet high and from 12 to 45 feet thick, depending on which commentator or archaeologist you consult. We do know that the wall was so wide that one could drive a chariot on the top and that Rahab had her house there. Huge gates were reinforced with iron and were impregnable. This city was also important from a morale point of view. This was Israel’s first challenge and if they lost it would be disastrous.
We fight our battles from a position of victory (v 2)
Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.
The victory was already won before Joshua ever set his foot on the field of battle. Look again at what God told Joshua. God was declaring victory before fighting even began. Jericho was a place of incredible fortifications and had one of the best armies in the region. Jericho would be a challenge of amazing proportions.
Often we hear some athlete say that they are sure to win the game or perform a specific task, like winning a gold medal. When God tells Joshua that Jericho has been delivered it is not some statement of confidence but rather it is a statement of fact. Jericho was already delivered into the hands of Israel. All that was left was the formality of the battle.
God was giving Joshua a sure thing in this battle. The city was going to be taken. The army of Jericho was going to be defeated. The walls were going to fall. Imagine the kind of confidence that Joshua must have felt after god had spoken. The battle was already won.
As Christians, we forget that we live in a position of victory. We often give up or give in, when we should be striving on because we have already won the battle. Think about it. The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Jesus has defeated Satan and has conquered death. The final victory has already been won. The war is over and the victory has been secured.
How many of you are facing a Jericho in your life?
• A sin that you cannot overcome
• A person that you cannot find the strength to forgive
• A situation that has you completely overwhelmed
• A problem that seems to resurface over and over again
• A habit that you cannot seem to beat
As Christians, we live out of a position of victory. We are not waiting to see what the outcome will be, we already know. Jesus has beaten Satan. I saw a t-shirt once that had a huge rough looking cross on the front and on the back it said: Jesus beat Satan with a big ugly stick. Jesus has overcome the power of sin. He has defeated death. In the scope of things, we may take a few lumps and may have some failures but in the end we win. The victory is ours; we need to start living like it.
Victory flows out of obedience (v 3-5)
Every battle needs to have an effective plan before victory can become a reality. Before the battle can be won there has to be a plan to win the victory. This means that a sound and reasonable plan must be developed and then executed.
There were at least five ways to conquer a walled city in that day and time: by scaling the wall using ladders or ramps, by digging tunnels underneath the walls by using battering rams to break open the city gates or else to smash a hole in the walls of the city, by laying siege to the city until the people were starved into surrender, and by using some means of deception such as a truce or ambush
There can be no doubt that Joshua had something like this in mind before God lays out His plan for taking the city. Look again at verses 3-5.
3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 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. 5 When you hear them sound a long 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."
This plan looks like nothing in a standard military handbook. In fact, there is nothing ordinary about it. From a military standpoint, this plan was foolishness. It is important to remember that Joshua has already been told that he has been given the city and that the victory has already been won. God sets up His plans to accomplish His goals. Joshua just needed to follow them.
When you hear this plan, it does sound more than a little unconventional. There are times when God wants us to do things that others may think is foolish. The Apostle Paul understood this, here is what he writes in 1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
This battle plan was about getting the people of God on the same page with God. Why did God make this plan last seven days? One commentator said that God knew it would take that long before the people would fully accept His plan. Faith grows out of obedience. The people of Israel were humbled before the enemy and the people of Jericho stopped seeing them as a true threat. They were humbled before God accepting the plan He had given to them. There are times when we need to humble ourselves before we can see victory.
We need to wait for God to work
I heard about a man who was praying for patience. Here is what he said: Dear Lord, please give me patience and be quick about it.
Patience is a virtue but there are a lot of times when we would like to be less virtuous and for God to get things done more quickly. We are a society that hates to wait. We are the people of microwave meals and fast food. We want to be in and out of the stores as fast as possible. We hate standing in line and traffic jams send out blood pressure skyrocketing.
The plan that god laid out for Joshua was going to take seven days to complete and there would be no fighting until the seventh day. Over the week the people would have circled Jericho 13 times. This would have been a long process. The seventh day involved seven times around the city. This could have taken anywhere between seven to fourteen hours to complete. This would have involved a great deal of patience.
Day after day the Israelites got up and marched around the city and the walls still stood. They didn’t even budge one time. Over and over again they circled Jericho and nothing gave any sign that the plan was working.
Their walk revealed nothing to them but showed a great deal about them. The people revealed their trust in God. As the people walked around Jericho their faith was growing. They knew the battle was already won and that the city was theirs. All they needed to do was walk, watch and wait.
The same is true of us today. We need to keep walking with Jesus, watching for his work to be completed and wait for His return.
Walk – action Watch – awareness Wait - attitude
We need to be confident and quiet (v 10)
How often have you seen athletes talking trash before a game? Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals seems to be especially notorious for this. The whole thing seems to be some kind of mind game that players use against each other. It could have been easy for Israel to do something similar. They already knew the battle was done and that they were going to win. Look at what Joshua tells the people:
10 But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!"
There is a massive difference between being confident and being cocky. The Israelites were to do what needed to be done and keep their mouths shut. There was no trash talk with the people of Jericho and there was no complaining or grumbling about what they were doing. They needed to complete the work and be quiet.
How often would you be better off being quiet? We need to remember that actions do speak louder than words. There are times when we need to stand up and speak out for God. We are often better at that then being silent. We sometimes get so busy talking that we never take time to stop and listen.
One of the challenges given to us at the Gathering conference was to simply set some things aside in our calendar and make time for solitude with God. This is more than daily devotions. It is time just to spend with God away from the work environment. I believe that this is essential for our spiritual development and our maturing in faith.
We need to have faith in God (v 20-21)
20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
When we walk with God in faith, he makes the impossible a reality and we win the victory. Faith enables us to walk and live in the victory that God means for us to have. The writer of Hebrews echoes this fact: Hebrews 11:30 tells us that: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.”
The walls came down not by force, firepower or fighting…but by faith. Faith is the force and the firepower in our lives that allows us to live in victory with God.
Conclusion
Sometimes the greatest battles we face will not be against others or other things. Sometimes they are against ourselves. Have you given every area of your life over to God’s control? Are you willing to give up your plans, if needed, to get on the same page with God?
1.) With Jesus, you are in a position of victory
2.) Victory flows out of your obedience
3.) Wait for God’s timing, not your own
4.) Be confident and quiet
5.) Faith enables us to gain the victory
Celebrate the victory you have been given.
