We worship God for He is worthy of our praise and honor. We worship God with songs. We worship God with prayers, and we worship God with His Word! So let’s continue our listening and learning from God’s Word from the Book of Joshua. Before reading chapter 6, let’s look back to the beginning of chapter 5. Joshua 5:1
And so, we have noted that even though the Israelites have not yet gone to battle, the victory was already won by God (Joshua 5:1).
Let us learn more with what happened when the Israelites did go to battle. Read along with me Joshua 6….
v1: Canaanites were so fearful that they locked up their walled city.
v2: Joshua was reminded again that victory was already won by God for him and the Israelites!
v3-5: God gave specific instructions to Joshua and the Israelites.
v6-15: Joshua and the Israelites followed God’s specific instructions!
v16-17a: Joshua led the people both physically and spiritually! Joshua reminded the people that everything is to be devoted to God!
v17b: the promise to Rahab (a Canaanite) was kept!! A non-Jew was saved because of her faith in God (Hebrews 11:31).
In v18, we also note godly leader Joshua reminding people not to sin! And look again at the last part of v18….
The sin of one in God’s family brings a liability to the whole family!
v19: Treasury for the Lord must be established for future work.
Now, the walls of Jericho were built to protect the City from invaders; a person could not just jump over or climb the wall! How deep and tall do you think those walls were??
Archaeologists have found that the walls around Jericho were actually double walls in an embankment. The walls around the City of Jericho were likely 6 feet deep and the highest height 46 feet! Could those walls just collapse with noise? Noise is about vibrations and perhaps with time the walls could have vibrated enough to collapse. But all indications tell us that the walls collapsed immediately after the Israelites gave a loud shout!
It was just one loud shout and the walls came a tumbling down immediately!
How did the Walls of Jericho collapse??
God said He will bring down the walls of Jericho if the Israelites followed His instructions. v20: God brought down the walls of Jericho immediately after the Israelites obeyed His instructions so that the city can be overtaken!
v21-27: Except for the precious metals for God’s treasury and Rahab and her family, the whole city of Jericho was cleansed for God!
There are so many biblical principles in this story to apply to our lives; let us summarize the major ones: As they went to battle, Joshua reminded the people that God already won the battle for them.
1. We are to remind one another that God has already won the battle of sin and death for us!
How do we do this??
God gave instructions to the Israelites and they obeyed and succeeded!
2. Does God still give specific instructions for people today to succeed? How??
Are we listening and obeying to succeed in life and eternal life? And let us add that Rahab, a non-believer at first, succeeded as well as she listened and obeyed God! God calls every person to succeed in life and eternal life by listening and obeying the Bible!
3. Believers of God are to devote everything to God! How do we apply this to our Christians lives today? The Israelites claimed a whole city for God for it was promised to them. The Promised Land for Christians today and the future is heaven itself! Christians may not have a specific land on earth to claim, but as we noted last week, because God lives in Christians, wherever Christians go is Holy Ground! Christians are to claim for God wherever they go!
How do we do this?
a. Claim for God our own personal lives first of all! Claim 1 John 1:9 daily!
Cleanse your heart daily, actually continuously!
What is the next thing we need to claim for God??
b. Claim your home for God!!
c. Claim your work or school for God!
d. Claim your neighborhood for God!
e. Claim your country for God!
Be reminded of our Church Motto from Matthew 28:19!!
