TITLE: WALLS
SCRIPTURE: JOSHUA 6:1-5
(Some text used from Rev. Shawn Drake message and expanded upon)
The narrative of Joshua leading the Israelites to bring down the walls of Jericho is a powerful account that demonstrates the faithfulness and might of the lord. This narrative is part of the fulfillment of the greater promise that God made to the Israelites that they indeed would enter the Promised Land. Before Moses died, he declared that Joshua would be his successor and lead the Israelites into this land Flowing with Milk and Honey. Upon crossing the Jordan, Jericho is the first city the Israelites conquer with Joshua as their leader.
• This ancient biblical passage is full of relevance for believers today
The name Jericho means “Fragrant.” It is also called “The City of Palms.” Jericho is located 5 MILES WEST OF THE JORDAN RIVER AND 7 MILES NORTH OF THE DEAD SEA. Jericho stood opposite of Mount Nebo. It was surrounded by a wall and ruled by a king. Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. In the winter it became a resort town for people fleeing the colder weather of the Palestinian Hill Country. The presence of many springs made Jericho a very green and plush area.
Jericho was the gateway city to Canaan that the Israelites came to when they entered the Promised Land. The city of Jericho was surrounded by walls so that no one was able to get in, and the walls served as solid protection against enemy attacks. Here in our text, the gates are now found to be locked to keep the Israelites out.
God had given Joshua very specific instructions on what to do to cause the walls of Jericho to collapse, so the Israelites would defeat Jericho and claim the city as their own. faith in God is essential to salvation, to those who would do God’s work, to the Christian life. We must believe that God is powerful, and God acts in mysterious ways. This was the first place Joshua and Israelites had attacked; and God’s method of fighting did not make any sense.
• Joshua had to trust God in faith and the Israelites had to have faith in following Joshua
• Not only did God tell them to do something strange; but He also stretched it out over 7 days
• Many times, God takes much longer to work than what we think He should
• God is on His own time – He is not subjected to ours
• We like to sing that old song – “He May Not Come When We Want Him To, But He Is Always Right On Time”
• But we don’t really believe that
• When God does not show up according to our timetable we catch an “attitude” with God!
Can I tell you this morning, follow God, even if the journey seems impossible or unexpected. The walls of Jericho should have been impenetrable. What Joshua and the Israelites were up against may have seemed impossible to overcome. But they followed God anyway with full trust and hope in His promise, and faithfulness that He would indeed fight for them to claim the land that was promised to them. All believers can rest assured that even if the path seems impossible, or is not what we expected, when we prayerfully follow God’s good plans for us, it will be worth every step of the way. This biblical narrative reminds us how crucial it is to lean on God and put our trust in Him, because that is when the impossible can happen.
When we listen, we can hear God speaking to us. A radical component to this biblical narrative is God spoke to Joshua. and Joshua listened. Because Joshua took the time to listen to God and seek His direction, he heard clearly from the Lord what steps to take. Christians today learn a valuable lesson about the importance of making the space to hear from God. When we stop and take the time to listen – READING SCRIPTURE - SPENDING TIME IN PRAYER - BEING STILL - WORSHIPPING - AND JOURNALING – we may hear from God and discern how the Spirit is guiding our steps.
• PSALM 119:105 - “THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET, AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH”
God is purposeful, not random. God did not instruct Joshua and his army to storm the city upon arrival. He had meticulous steps for them to take to achieve the desired outcome of victory. God was very specific and purposeful in how He orchestrated the walls of Jericho falling. If God is that purposeful about helping the Israelites claim the city, we can be confident that god is also that purposeful in each of our lives. The ups and downs of life may feel unexpected and catch us off guard, but God knows what is coming and will make good out of all circumstances for those who love Him.
• ROMANS 8:28 “AND WE KNOW THAT ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD, TO THEM WHO ARE THE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE”
• Our lives are meaningful and significant because God is writing each of our stories purposefully
• God is designing each Chapter of our lives
• He know our Ending from our Beginning
Can I tell you that knowing the plan and doing the plan are two different things. The plan for the conquering of Jericho was simple –
• They were to march around Jericho once a day for six days
• On the 7th day they were to march around Jericho seven times, blow the trumpets with a long blast, shout with a shout
• And the wall would fall
• All they had to do was Know the Plan and Carry out the Plan
To Joshua, the Army, and the Priests, this may have seemed like a very different approach to overthrowing the city of Jericho, the way they wanted. However, Joshua led the Israelites to do what God had instructed. The Israelites were not given permission by god to simply storm the city when they were ready.
• They had to wait seven days
• They marched, they camped, and they waited on God to move
Perhaps some of the armed men wondered as they were marching around the walls if this was really the way to claim victory over Jericho. Maybe others thought it would be best to win the city with a proven military strategy. We may find ourselves thinking similar thoughts when it comes to waiting on the Lord.
• The answer is to keep waiting on the Lord
• Juanita Bynum had a hit song – “I Don’t Mind Waiting on the Lord”
• ISAIAH 50:31 - “THOSE WHO WAIT ON THE LORD WILL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH”
• Waiting on the Lord deepens our Faith
• Waiting on the Lord increases our Trust in Him
• Waiting on the Lord builds our Spiritual Muscles
• Waiting on the Lord deepens our Relationship with God
• While we wait with faith, God will certainly transform and renew us
The Israelites could have marched around the walls of Jericho a million times, they could have blown a thousand horns, and shouted until they lost their voices, but without God’s power, the walls of Jericho never would have fallen. we are not entirely self-sufficient; we truly need God.
• We need God to win our battles
• We need God to empower us to love others
• We need God to overcome obstacles
• We need God to make a lasting impact in the world
• We need God in our friendships
• We need God in our careers
• We need God in our marriages
• We need God in our families
• We need God
• When we are tempted to think otherwise, let us find wisdom from this biblical text that we do indeed need God in all areas of our lives
If the Israelites had resisted the instructions given by God to Joshua, the walls of Jericho would not have come down. The Israelites would have lost and been forced out of the Promised Land. Their obedience to God mattered. This is still true for believers today. Living righteously according to God’s ways, rather than our own ways, makes a difference. We find encouragement from this narrative to be obedient to God and the assurance that obedience will result in blessing.
Six days of walking around Jericho without a spoken word. On the seventh day they were to walk around Jericho seven times without a word.
• No reason had been given for this silence
• The entire plan for the conquering of Jericho had been explained to Joshua
• He knew what God was doing
The hardest thing for Israel to do was to be silent, to walk around in silence. The silence of the people must have been impressive.
• How long could we do the Lord’s work in silence, without complaining, without questioning?
• We have a right to know the plan; but do we need to know the plan?
• Better still, we are to follow the plan without complaining and questioning
• That goes against the very fabric of a Baptist Church – we want to know all the details before we ever move
• We only walk by Faith and not by Sight to a certain limit
Let’s be honest this morning. Sometimes it is extremely difficult for us to keep silent. We want to be heard! To walk in greater levels of faith and power, it is important that you do not try to figure out – calculate - or reason how God is going to heal, deliver - set free - meet your needs - rather you must just believe. When you try to figure out in your mind how God is going to do something, then you are not trusting. God never told us that faith required us to figure it out; rather faith requires us to rely on the truth and integrity of God's word. Most Christians try to figure out how we are going to get what we have asked God for, or what He has shown us that He would do, because we don't really trust God.
Our figuring it out and giving God our two cents is a lack of faith. We want to develop our own backup plan, just in case God does not come through. Any time that you have a backup plan for God, then you are not believing Him, and will need to do something else. Yet, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put our confidence in our or anyone else's plan.
• PSALMS 118:8 - "IT IS BETTER TO TRUST IN THE LORD THAN TO PUT CONFIDENCE IN MAN"
• Man will let you down
• Man will Disappoint you
• Man will Lie on you
• Man will Turn their back on you
• Man will Throw you Under the Bus
Just like the City of Jericho, we are surrounded by walls. Walls that need to come down in our lives.
• Walls of Fear
• Walls of Guilt
• Walls of Anger
• Walls of Violence
• Walls of Bondage
• Walls of Suspicion
• Walls of Unforgiveness
• Walls of Self-pity
• Walls of Pride
• Walls of Depression
• Walls of Unbelief
• Walls keep us in
• Walls keep others out
• Walls create barriers between us (Robert Frost)
We all tend to build walls between us as we go through this life.
• Walls to protect us from getting hurt
• Walls to hurt the other person by withdrawing from them
• Walls to prevent others from seeing our sin
• Walls of fear of being misunderstood
• Walls to hide a deep sense of inferiority
• Walls!
• If we’re going to take new land, there will be walls – lots of walls
• Jericho is a symbol of what sin has done to this world
• Sin has turned this world into a world full of walls
God promised the Israelites this land. The fall of the walls of Jericho is a grand reminder that God fulfills what He promises. A huge amount of time passed between when God initially promised the land to the Israelites, and when they actually came to enter and claim that land.
• Regardless of how much time passes, God will always make good on His promises
• We can trust that God is faithful to His promises and be at peace while we wait for a promise to come to pass
Shouting wasn’t their strategy of God’s people – believing in God’s promise and power was their strategy. Without God, walking around the city for seven days is a pretty crazy plan. They needed God to show up or they were going to be the laughingstock of Canaan. That’s pretty much the message of the entire Bible: without God’s power and promises we’re done. The Gospel isn’t, as John Piper says, a help-wanted sign.
• Jesus didn’t come to form a salvation co-op with us
• Just as God’s mighty hand pressed down on the wall with such force that it buckled and fell, Jesus’ mighty hand did on the cross what none of us – or all of us – could ever do
The greatest wall that sin erected was a wall between us and God. Our relationship with God was bricked off and blocked and there was nothing we could ever do to tear even one brick out of that wall. When Jesus gave his life as a substitute for us, he tore down the wall of hostility between us and God, making forever peace between us.
We can’t pull down the walls that Satan and sin build in our own power. We need God’s power to do it. Now on a Sunday morning when we’re in church and feeling all spiritual, that sounds real good. But the truth is, Monday through Saturday that’s a hard truth for us to accept.
• We like control, we want to take matters into our own hands
• Just give me 3 points or 5 steps or 7 keys to tearing down the walls in my life and I’ll be on my way!
• That’s why legalism is so attractive to us: we feel like we’re doing something to get ourselves to heaven
• If I can just keep the rules, do good things, and be better than the majority of other people, God can’t help but let me into heaven.
• We would rather have control than have to trust God’s power to do it
--There will come a time in our life where there is nothing left but the shouting
--The shouts didn’t make the walls come down, they declared that God was going to do what only God could do
--The strategy God gave them was believe in Him
--It’s the same strategy for tearing down walls He gives to us today
--God – and only God! - has the power the make the walls in our lives and in our world fall down!
--There is no wall that God can’t pull down, and prayer is our greatest weapon
--Perhaps today is a day for you to shout
--Perhaps today is a day for you to patiently wait
--We have been instructed to march, pretty much in silence throughout the seven days, throughout our lives
--We do not fight
--We do not yell and scream and we don’t even slap
--But, we simply walk around in faith until our Joshua gives us the command to shout — to join in the joyous announcement of His Appearing
--And then, even we, changed into spirit—immortal—ready to fight alongside God—will watch in awe as He miraculously defeats our enemy, and gives us our inheritance in the kingdom of God.
--There will come a day where we will not Shout but the Lord will
--I THESSALONIANS 4:16 - “FOR THE LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL AND WITH THE TRUMPET OF GOD; AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST”
--Go ahead and Shout your Wall Down
--Go ahead and Shout your Problems Down
--Go ahead and Shout for your Deliverance
--Go ahead and Shout for your Healing
--Go ahead and Shout for your Miracle
--Go ahead and Shout for your unsaved family members
--Go ahead and Shout for that Promotion
--Go ahead and Shout for that New Job
--Go ahead and Shout your Sickness Away
--Go ahead and Shout
--Don’t Wait for the Battle to be over, You ought to Shout right now
--Shout for you have been Delivered – Healed – Set Free
--The Walls are Coming Down!
