Strength For The Battle
Text: Joshua 5:13-6:27
Introduction
1. Illustration: Some of the most devastating defeats in military history are the ones that are unexpected. At Pearl Harbor, the reason we were so devastated is that we did not believe that the Japanese would not attack us. As a result, we were unprepared and shocked when they did.
2. Likewise, we set ourselves up to attack from Satan when we refuse to recognize that we are at war.
3. 1 Pet. 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
4. The truth of the matter is that in order to take the land, we have to realize that the devil is not going to give in without a fight.
a. He has held the land and will not wish to give it up.
b. We will have a fight on our hands.
c. However, the good news is that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
5. Read Joshua 5:13-15
Proposition: We are in a spiritual battle, but following Jesus, our captain, we cannot lose.
Transition: We must realize that...
I. It Will Take Seeking the Lord’s Help (13-15)
A. Commander of the Army of the Lord
1. As Joshua and the people are nearing their first conquest, he is surprised to look up and see "a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand."
a. This was a threatening sight to Joshua; one that he did not expect.
b. Imagine that you are a commander of an army, and you come across someone armed for battle who you do not recognize.
c. As you might expect, Joshua was a little alarmed.
d. Naturally, Joshua asked whose side he was on.
2. At first glance, his answer seems a bit odd. He says "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."
a. Actually, in Hebrew it reads "No."
b. With his no he was stating that his interest was not the same as Joshua’s, which was to know if this man was for him or against him.—(New American Commentary)
c. The point here is that He was not a part of any human army, but He was far greater than anyone Joshua had ever seen before.
3. The phrase "commander of the army of the LORD," is what scholars call a theophany.
a. Now, I know some of you are saying, "come on Pastor, we are still trying to learn your last name. What in the world is a theophany?
b. A "theophany refers to an ‘appearance of God’ to man." (Ferguson, S. B., & Packer, J. 2000, c1988. New dictionary of theology (electronic ed.) . InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL)
c. In other words, this is was none other than Jesus himself.
4. We can see from the text, that Joshua now recognizes this because he "fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"
a. Joshua now knew that he was in the presence of God himself.
b. He knew that they would not be fighting alone, but that the armies of heaven would be fighting for them and with them.
5. Notice what the commander of the Lord’s army tells him, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy."
a. Joshua is being taught a lesson about priorities.
b. The battle that he was about to face was a spiritual battle, and needed to be fought with spiritual power.
B. Stand in the Power
1. Illustration: When Hitler and the Nazi’s invaded in 1939, the Polish army fought valiently against them. However, they efforts were in vain, because they were fighting again tanks with horses. Although their efforts were noble, their means were outclassed.
2. It is the same with us, when we try to fight the devil with non-spiritual means.
3. 2 Cor. 10:3-4 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
a. All too often, we lose our battles with the devil because we are trying to fight a spiritual battle with physical weapons.
b. In order to fight a spiritual battle, we have to fight with spiritual weapons.
4. We also need to realize that we are not alone, and we cannot fight our battles alone.
a. Eph. 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
b. It doesn’t say be strong in yourself, it says be strong in the Lord!
c. It doesn’t say be strong in your power, it says be strong in His power.
5. We have access to the Lord and His power, so:
a. We need to stop running from the fight
b. We need to get up out of the dirt
c. We need to stand strong in the Lord and the power of His might.
Transition: If we do this, we will win, but...
II. It Will Take Standing In Faith (1-16)
A. I Have Delivered
1. We can see from the very start of chapter 6 that this is not going to be easy. Verse 1 says, "Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in."
a. This was a problem for the Israelites, since their task of taking the city was made all that much harder because of this. —(New American Commentary)
b. Jericho was a fortress.
c. The walls, made of mudbrick on stone foundations, were ten to twenty-five feet wide and perhaps thirty feet high. (Matthews, V. H., Chavalas, M. W., & Walton, J. H. 2000. The IVP Bible background commentary : Old Testament (electronic ed.) . InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL)
d. They also included steep earthen slopes (some reaching fifty feet) at the foundation of the walls and a ditch around the outside dug to bedrock.
e. This place was shut up like Fort Knox!
2. Again, the Lord asked Joshua to do something that didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
a. He told him to order the people to take the Ark and march around the city once a day for six days.
b. Then he told him on the seventh day to march around the city seven times, and then tell everyone to shout.
c. Kind of makes Joshua sound like a cheerleader at a football game.
3. The amazing this here is that Joshua did exactly as the Lord commanded him.
a. He didn’t argue
b. He didn’t laugh
c. He didn’t hesitate
d. He just did it
4. The other amazing thing here is the number 7.
a. It occurs four times in v. 4 alone and fourteen times in the chapter.
b. “Seven” is the number of totality, completion, and perfection in the Scriptures; and its predominance in this chapter emphasizes the completeness of Yahweh’s victory on Israel’s behalf.—(New American Commentary)
5. Even though what God was asking Joshua and the people to do seems silly, they obeyed because they believed what the Lord had said "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands..."
a. Thus, the extensive marching, blowing of trumpets, and shouting that the Israelites were to engage in is shown to be essentially ceremonial because God was giving the victory.—(New American Commentary)
b. When you take God at His word, and obey His commands, it’s is all over but the shouting match.
c. Heb. 11:30 “by faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days”
B. Believe In Victory
1. Illustration: "Faith enables us to understand what God does. Faith enables us to see what others cannot see. As a result, faith enables us to do what others cannot do."
2. 1 Tim. 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith.
3. We can fight the good fight of faith and believe that we will win because:
a. His word says we will overcome
b. His word says we can do all things
c. His word says that the victory has already been won
4. God’s word tells us that we can stand against the devil in the power of His might, but we have to stand on His word in faith and do it.
5. Jesus said that his followers would have the power to cast out demons, so let’s believe that in faith and cast the demons out of Marrow Co.
Transition: It will take faith, but it will also take...
III. It Will Take Walking In Holiness (17-19)
A. Keep Away From
1. Joshua’s next set of instructions to the people were that "The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD."
a. Things “devoted to the LORD” were off limits to the Israelites because they were to be completely destroyed, as an offering of sorts to the Lord.
b. This is so that the Lord, and not the Israelites, would receive the glory for the victory (Butler, 71).
2. We can see in the next verse that God takes holiness very seriously when it says "But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it."
a. Certain items were to be set apart for destruction, and if they were not, Israel itself would be subject to the same fate; Israel itself would become “a devoted thing.” —(New American Commentary)
b. To take one of these things devoted to the Lord would bring a curse not only on the individual, but on the entire nation.
c. This shows us how seriously God takes holiness and sin.
d. Disobedience to God is like rust on a car; eventually it will eat away at everything.
3. This concept of holiness is further demonstrated in verse 19, where it says, "All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."
a. The treasures of Jericho were to be set apart for the Lord, since they were sacred, that is, holy.—(New American Commentary)
b. The word holiness means "to be set apart."
c. As God’s people we are to be set apart to the Lord, and our lives are to reflect that fact.
B. Be Holy
1. Illustration: "Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervors, or uncommanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God thinks, and willing as God wills."
2. Lev. 11:44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.
3. We serve a God who is holy in:
a. All He Thinks
b. All He Says
c. All He Does
4. As His people, we need to be holy in all we think, say, and do because we are to be like Him in regards to holiness.
5. We need to be holy in:
a. What We See
b. What We Hear
c. What We Do
6. We should wake up in the morning and say "Lord, today help me to love what you love and hate what you hate.
Transition: If we seek the Lord’s help, stand in faith, and walk in holiness, we will live in victory.
IV. It Will Bring Victory (20-27)
A. The Wall Collapsed
1. Verse 20 is evidence of what happens in spiritual warfare when we do things God’s way. It says "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."
a. This walled fortress simply collapsed because of divine intervention.
b. Notice also that the walls neither fell out or in, but down.
c. This enabled the Israelites to simply walk right in and take the city.
2. Scholars and archeologists alike have tried to explain this in human terms.
a. The most popular view is that it was an earthquake.
b. However, whether one views as an earthquake or not, the simple truth is that it was an act of God.
c. The people did as they were commanded to do and God kept His promise.
3. However, we must also notice that even after the miraculous intervention the Israelites continued to obey the Lord’s commands.
4. It says "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."
• One we have achieved victory we must continue to walk in obedience.
• We must never lower our guard.
• We must never rest on our accomplishments
• We must always seek to please the Lord in all that we do.
• We must always move forward.
B. Victory
1. Illustration: "The reason why many fail in battle is because they wait until the hour of battle. The reason why others succeed is because they have gained their victory on their knees long before the battle came...Anticipate your battles; fight them on your knees before temptation comes, and you will always have victory.” Torrey, R.A.
2. In order to win in spiritual battle we must be prepared ahead of time.
a. Prepared in prayer
b. Prepared in the word
c. Prepared in faith
d. Prepared in obedience
3. In order to win in spiritual battle we must be willing to stand and fight.
a. Fight with the belt of truth
b. Fight with the breastplate of righteousness
c. Fight with the gospel of peace
d. Fight with the shield of faith
e. Fight with helmet of salvation
f. Fight with sword of the Spirit
g. Fight by praying in the Spirit
4. If we acknowledge that we are in a spiritual battle and fight it God’s way we will win.
5. 1 Cor. 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Transition: We have victory in Jesus!
Conclusion
1. In order to have victory we must:
a. Seek the Lord’s help
b. Stand in faith
c. Walk in Holiness
2. Where are you at today?
3. What do you need to do to gain victory?
