Setting the scene: Joshua the master military strategist presenting his plan for taking Jericho to the generals - by walking around it!
The first major milestone for living a victorious Christian life is to commit yourself to God’s plan in your life by crossing the Jordan with no possibility of return.
The second major hurdle we face is the world, which stands in our way like mighty Jericho. The world is so pervasive, so present, so powerful, and so promiscuous that it seems impossible to resist or overcome. What are the Jericho’s in your life? The world system, worldly attitudes and habits-anything that stands directly in your way of serving God.
Why bother overcoming the world in our lives? Three reasons:
1. It will choke you if you don’t kill it
Mark 4:18-19 They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
2. It is either or
Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
3. We are to be dead to it
Gal 6:14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world
So today I want to look at Joshua 6 in terms of the victory that God gave Israel and as a pattern for how God gives us victory over the world - a 12 Step Program to the Victorious Christian Life.
Verse 1 - 2
Now if you are Joshua, and you are standing by this mighty wall, it’s all shut up tight and seemingly impenetrable, and God says "See I’ve give the city to you," I think you are saying - "Uh huh, and exactly how is the city ours?"
But the verb "given" used indicates the battle has already been won.
The Israelites had not encountered a walled city before and were totally inadequate to the task. How often are we inadequate to the tasks God calls us to?
So then God doesn’t explain how He has "given them the city," He just goes on with the battle plan - and it’s a doozy.
Verse 3 - 5
The walking around Jericho might have really confused the people inside and put them off their game. Sometimes just sharing the love of Jesus really takes people "off guard" and opens them up for the Lord to draw them to Himself.
God uses trumpets to announce very important things, such as the rapture of the church and the judgments against the world. Trumpets were used to call Moses into God’s presence (Exodus 19), to declare the run up to the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23), and they were used to call to battle. In Numbers 10:
Numbers 10:8-9 And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.
There in Numbers trumpets were also used to declare joy in the Lord over burnt offerings and festivals. "They shall be reminder for you before your God: I Am the Lord your God."
So hearing the trumpets was for Israel an audible reminder of who is God and that they belonged to Him, and for Jericho that judgment is coming.
Verses 6 - 14
The people in Jericho have got to be wondering what kind of strange army they are encountering. I suppose they might have even thought the Israelites were doing something magical or superstitious, though there is no indication of it. All they see are armed men, priests with horns, and the veiled Ark of the Covenant.
There is an instance where the Israelis mistook the Lord for superstition. In 1st Samuel 4 the Israelites thought that the superstitious power of the Ark would defeat the Philistines. It didn’t work, of course.
It’s not using God’s Ark for our purposes, but it’s God using the Ark for His. And God told them to take the Ark around Jericho - this was never repeated. In the same way we sometimes as Christians use the trappings of the church, thinking that they hold the answer. We go through rituals or say rote prayers without meaning or we do some thing that we have always done or just think that by going into a church that that’ll be enough. It’s not the presence of the Ark of God that mattered, it was the presence of the God of the Ark. So too it is God’s presence in your life, not some ritual or superstition that will make the difference in victory.
Verses 15 - 16
The number 7 occurs quite a few times in this chapter. It’s the Lord’s number and the number of completion, so there is a lot of symbolism here. This is God completely gaining the victory over this city. It also represents God’s grace. He gave them an entire week to repent, though they didn’t. The Ark represents God’s presence. We need to have God’s presence with us when we fight battles and seek to overcome the world in our own lives. That means 1) we invite Him into our lives and our weaknesses and 2) we act in a way that would be pleasing to Him. Winning over the world by the world’s means doesn’t work. Cutting dependence on money by cheating on your taxes doesn’t give God glory.
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think , according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Verses 17 - 19
This was a kind of first fruits victory, and so everything was dedicated to God. We need to realize that all victories in our lives belong to God, plus everything we have and are. He won’t ask that we always use everything in service to Him (even as not every city was devoted to destruction), but we need to realize He could and we should be willing to give it.
Verses 20 - 21
The fall of Jericho is a study of faith. God used it to tell them without doubt that He was the One doing the fighting. They didn’t have to lift a finger, only join in what God was doing. It was a cooperative venture.
It is also a type of the world. The world hears the loud trumpet call of the gospel warning them constantly of the danger they are in. One day God will blow a trumpet, seven trumpets actually, and the world will collapse.
As a type of the world for the believer, the walls appear so high and mighty, as our challenges and difficulties appear so insurmountable. But they are really like movie sets and false fronts. Satan is "like" a roaring lion but he has no real bite to those who belong to Jesus Christ. So too, the cares of the world appear so big but fall as we declare God’s truth and put our faith and trust in Him, rather than focusing on the height of the wall, its thickness, etc.
Verse 22 - 23
Only one part of the wall remained standing - that part by Rahab’s house.
Verse 24- 26
Jericho was destroyed by Joshua. It was rebuilt by Hiel (1 Kings 16:34). It was later destroyed in 3 BC by the Herodians. It was rebuilt again by Archelaus, which stood in Jesus’ day and was destroyed by Vespassian in 68 AD.
Explore the Book
1. The seeming folly of it ("you want us to do what?")
2. The inner wisdom of it - do what God commands, no matter how counterintuitive
3. The Deeper Meaning of it - God and man in cooperation in pulling down a Satanic stronghold
4. Utter triumph: the entire city falls with not one Israelite casualty
Lessons
Perhaps you are in Jericho. When you hear the trumpet sound it is judgment that you hear. It’s not too late to repent-to come out of the city like Rahab and declare that you belong to God.
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.
For us Christians: what are your Jericho’s? Is there an influence of the worldly system in your life that is opposed to following Jesus Christ? Is there a care or worry that keeps you from loving and trusting God? Is there a problem that you think God can’t overcome so you are trying to solve it in the world’s way?
We can have victory over the world in our lives. We need to walk around our Jericho: worldly attitudes and systems that seem so strong and survey them-realizing they are really not that much after all.
We need in our ears not the shouts of conformity from the enemy, but the Word of God, and a reminder of the reality that we belong to God and He has judged the world.
We need to see front of us, not the high walls but the Ark, the presence of God in our hearts, changing us into His image.
And then we need to shout our defiance to the world and see those things that seemed so strong come tumbling down for us to destroy.
Be willing to do things in a way that seems silly
For example: instead of confronting a situation, perhaps you pray about it only. Instead of running out and getting a third job you hold up your needs to God.
Let God’s presence go with you
When you attack the world, do it in ways that glorify God
Be silent-don’t attack the world on your own
Don’t think you have all the answers, wait on the Lord and be patient for Him to speak to you.
Let God be announced from your life first (the trumpets before the shout)
As God’s Word comes out of your pores you will find the walls of the world’s attitudes come tumbling down. It’s not your own wisdom.
Watch for the walls to come down
Sometimes we don’t recognize when God is actually moving attitudes and values are changing-that’s the time to grab the victory over that habit pattern.
Devote the victory to God
Instead of just going back to the same old patterns, fill the empty space with your relationship with God.
Finally consider this: Proverbs 3:5-10 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in our own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. ESV
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