Pastor David's Sermons

7/26/08

Joshua Part 3
From Covenant to Conquest

Great Wall of China.  At least 1500 miles long.  Would stretch from Sacramento to St. Louis; from Miami to Maine.  2,000 years old.  Through satellite technology, they have been able to detect another 600 miles of wall.  In modern terms, if the wall were built today, it would cost more than the entire national budget—about 316 billion dollars!

 

Walls: keep the enemy out

The Great Wall of China was built in order to keep away the Mongul invaders.

 

When the children of Israel came to Jericho, they were coming to a beachhead.  Jericho was a beachhead.

 

The Normandy coast, in World War II, had a huge series of bunkers, so that the German army could repel an invasion.  These bunkers were not only used by the enemy, but they were also an impediment to the Allied forces.  But through a series of miracles, D-Day became a success: the weather was in favor of the allies, and Rommel’s wife had a birthday, so Rommel left the front lines.  The rest is history.  A lot of brave, young men lost their lives on those beaches of Normandy.  But it spelt the beginning of the end of the war.

 

The children of Israel faced a fortress of evil: Jericho.  Jericho was blocking the way to the Promised Land.  THE ONLY WAY TO OVERCOME THIS FORTRESS OF EVIL WAS THROUGH RELIANCE ON DIVINE AID.

 

“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”  1 Corinthians 10:11

 

What God’s people of old went through, WE WILL GO THROUGH!  JOSHUA AND HIS EXPERIENCES WILL BE REPEATED BY GOD’S PEOPLE WHO ARE ENTERING THE HEAVENLY PROMISED LAND!

 

DIVINE AID WAS NECESSARY FOR JOSHUA AND HIS PEOPLE TO PROGRESS INTO THE PROMISED LAND.  DIVINE AID IS WHAT WE NEED TO BREAK DOWN THE WALLS THAT STAND BETWEEN US AND HEAVEN!!

 

Is there a Jericho blocking your way to the Promised Land?  Does the devil have a pagan fortress in your life, that you have felt it is impossible to overcome?  that stands as an obstacle?  Would you like to experience victory?  IT’S GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE--  BECAUSE THE DEVIL’S FORTRESSES HAVE HIGH WALLS.

 

Review

 

Before the children of Israel begin their conquest of Canaan, there is a re-establishment of circumcision and Passover.  The people need to return to COMPLETE OBEDIENCE.  IF GOD IS GOING TO WORK MIRACLES FOR YOU, THERE NEEDS TO BE A COMPLETE CONSECRATION TO KNOWN DUTIES.

 

Some of you have been praying for miracles and nothing’s happening.  DO EVERYTHING YOU KNOW HOW TO DO, TO FOLLOW EVERYTHING YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD FOLLOW.

 

Just prior to the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, when Moses was on his way to Egypt, God stopped him in his tracks, and almost took his life!  “And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the LORD met him and sought to kill him.”  Exodus 4:24

 

Why was this happening?  Because Moses was neglecting KNOWN DUTIES, AND GOD COULD NOT BLESS HIM WHILE HE WAS DOING SO.  Moses was neglecting to circumcise his son, which God had required in those days, as a sign of consecration to Him.  God was about to end Moses’ life because of his neglect.  So Moses humbly follows through with it.  Actually Moses’ wife Zipporah is the one who circumcised their son, and she was angry with Moses, calling him a “husband of blood.”  Sometimes wives stand in the way of the clear leading of God in the man’s life, and there is anger, and resistance, and discord, and lack of understanding.  This was one of those times.

 

The point here is, IF WE EXPECT GOD TO WORK POWERFULLY IN OUR LIVES, WE SHOULD DO THE THINGS HE HAS ALREADY INSTRUCTED US TO DO.  WE SHOULD INVITE GOD INTO EVERY PART OF OUR LIVES:

 

1. Our thought world.  Ask God to take control of what you think and ponder and imagine.  Our thoughts usually precede our actions, and so it is important for us to surrender our thought world to God, that we might be kept from lust, violence, hatred, and negativity—all of which things war against the soul.

 

2.  Health & Diet.  The health principles that God has taught us are meant to be adopted into our lives.  He wants to bless us and He wants us to be healthy, but it’s up to us to act on what He reveals to us.  Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we should be consuming, drinking, or using anything that will cloud the mind, clog our arteries, immobilize our immune system, or turn our blood into sludge.  Be belong to God, and we should honor God by what we eat and drink and use.

 

3.  Holy Time.  God wants us to spend daily, meaningful time with Him, reading His Word, and talking to Him as to a friend.  There is currently a movement in the American church away from Bible reading and study.  After all, there are so many ways to encounter God.  But nothing takes the place of the Word of God in the believer’s life.  Your very power and your strength come from the Word of God, and acting on the Word of God.  Also holy time includes the Sabbath hours.  This is a consecrated time that we are to set aside to be with God.  God has clearly shown us that it violates His Sabbath when we work for a living on the Sabbath, or purchase things on the Sabbath, or engage in activities that have nothing to do with our relationship with Him.

 

These are just a few examples of KNOWN DUTIES.  God wants us to do the things we know to do, before He will bless us and lead us into His land of promise, conquering as we go.

 

If you’re wanting to see the miraculous and deliverance and victory, and you are wanting to see the walls and barriers come down in your life, FOLLOW THE REQUIREMENTS THAT GOD HAS REVEALED TO YOU.  If you are willing to do what God has told you to do, you open the way for Him to do more.

 

You recall that God told His people to restore the rite of circumcision, prior to conquest.  Some people look at the things God asked His people to do back then, and they say “that’s barbaric!”  Passover was barbaric!  Well, the cross was barbaric as well, wasn’t it.  There is nothing pretty about sin, and there is nothing pretty about atonement for sin.  It takes sinless, innocent blood to atone for our sin.

 

“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter.”  Romans 2:28-29

 

Circumcision, for today’s Christian, is spiritual in nature.  Circumcision of the heart.  It has to do with surrender to Jesus Christ the things that are contrary to His will in our lives.

 

“In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”  Colossians 2:11-12

 

Spiritual circumcision is putting away the sins of the flesh, and walking in the Spirit.  It involves baptism, and it involves daily living as a child of God, in newness of life.

 

The people of Israel had crossed the Jordan River, but they were not yet ready for conquest.  CONSECRATION COMES BEFORE CONQUEST.

 

Circumcision and the Passover were reinstituted.  The people had to be once again under the blood of the Lamb, before they could proceed to victory.  Before the Israelites in Egypt were delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians, they had to be under the blood of the Lamb.  Passover was instituted, and the blood was applied on the door posts of their houses.  Families were under the blood—under the protection—of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.

 

IF WE WANT OUR HOMES TO BE BLESSED—WE MUST HAVE THE CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART—WE MUST BE UNDER THE BLOOD AND AUTHORITY OF THE LAMB—IN FULL SUBMISSION TO JESUS.

 

Jericho

 

“Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.”  Joshua 6:1

 

The citizens of Jericho, and all the surrounding cities, had sequestered themselves inside the confines of their city, out of fear.  It was the time of the first harvest, when the winter crops were harvested.  But the harvest wasn’t happening yet, because the people of Jericho were afraid to come out of their city!

 

It was at this time that the manna, which had been falling for 40 years from the sky, stopped.  It was as if God was saying, “You don’t need the miraculous any more to get your food.  Now you gather your food naturally.”  God does not provide a miracle when we have the ability to follow advice, or to gather what we need.  He gives us miracles when we cannot possibly do what needs to be done.

 

It was as if God was saying, “You need to conquer these nations if you wanna keep eating here.”  It was good incentive.

 

God instructs Joshua exactly how He wants him to proceed:

 

“And the LORD said to Joshua: ‘See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.’”  Joshua 6:2-4

 

How many in all were they to march around the city?  13.  How many people were at the Passover/Last Supper?  13.  It was the twelve apostles plus leadership: Christ.

 

There were three priests on each pole, carrying the Ark of God.  That makes twelve priests plus leadership (Joshua), which makes 13.  Then there were an additional seven priests blowing the trumpets.  So we have a total of 20.  A procession of 20 leading the people of Israel around the city of Jericho.

 

When it says “the seventh day” it is probably NOT talking about the seventh-day Sabbath.  The people probably rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment, then on the next day, the first day of the week, they marched their seven times and blew the trumpets.  Or, one of the regular, non-shouting, days was the Sabbath, and the actual conquest took place on a day other than Sabbath.  At any case, it was the seventh day of marching that the shouting took place, and the walls came down.

 

Now, the walls of Jericho were very high.  “Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven.”  Deuteronomy 9:1

 

By the way, some of you have wondered, “How can I overcome the fortresses the devil has in my life?”  They are great, they are mighty, BUT BY GOD’S POWER YOU CAN DO IT!!

 

This verse accurately describes the walls of Jericho.  It’s walls surely reached up to the sky.  There was a rampart that went around the city, and then the wall itself which stretched upward.  It was considered to be attack-proof.

 

Humanly speaking, these walls were impregnable.  This was an impossible barrier to overcome.

 

Notice that we have the priests—19 of them.  What is the modern equivalent of these priests?  According to Exodus 19:6, God told Moses:

 

“’And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”  Exodus 19:6

 

“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”  Revelation 1:5-6

 

We—believers—disciples of Jesus Christ—are a royalty and a priesthood before God.

 

“You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  1 Peter 2:5

 

This world that we live in is the territory of an ENEMY.  Jericho—gateway to the land of promise—had belonged to God’s people before.  It had been KIDNAPPED by the Canaanites.  God made this world, but sin has allowed Satan to take temporary control of this world.  Satan considers this world his territory.  We should consider this world the rightful property of our God, but the temporary territory of Satan.  It is enemy territory. 

 

We should go forward conquering for Christ, bringing souls into His kingdom.  When we do so, we go out at PRIESTS OF GOD!!  And what is our weapon?  What was their weapon marching around Jericho?  It wasn’t their swords, it wasn’t their trumpets, it wasn’t even their shouting.  THEIR WEAPON WAS THE ARK OF GOD THAT WENT WITH THEM.  THEIR WEAPON WAS THE VERY PRESENCE AND WORD OF GOD.

 

“Then Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.’”  Joshua 6:6

 

Inside that Ark you had the Ten Commandments, and outside, in a pocket, you had the law of Moses, which was also considered the Word of God.  WHAT WILL GIVE POWER TO BRING DOWN THE WALLS OF THE ENEMY?  WHAT WILL GIVE POWER TO BRING DOWN THE WALLS THAT STAND IN THE WAY OF GOD’S KINGDOM IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES?  WHAT WILL GIVE POWER TO BRING DOWN THE WALLS THAT STAND IN THE WAY OF GOD’S KINGDOM IN OUR COMMUNITY?  THE WORD OF GOD.

 

The priests carry the Word of God, in the Ark.  And what do the other seven priests have in their hands?  Seven trumpets.  What is that trumpet?

 

“Cry aloud, spare not;
      Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
      Tell My people their transgression,
      And the house of Jacob their sins.”

                                  Isaiah 58:1

 

Why?  Because when we hear about sin, we go to Jesus for salvation.  So, people were to talk about sin and salvation.  What was Isaiah?  He was a prophet.  He was to lift up his voice like what?  Like a trumpet.  This is what I try to do as best I can.  Proclaim the Word of God.  THIS IS WHAT BRINGS DOWN THE FORTIFICATIONS OF THE ENEMY!

 

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”  2 Corinthians 10:4

 

“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”  Ezekiel 33:6

 

Do you know something the world does not know?  Do you know something, as a Christian, the world does not know?  Do you know something about the priorities—what’s really going to last—that the world doesn’t know?  I think you do.  And we’ve got a responsibility not to put our light under a bush, but to let the trumpet BLAST, and let people know what the truth is.

 

So the trumpet is the Word of God.

 

Notice that there are seven trumpets.  Where else do we find seven trumpets?  That’s right—Revelation.  Does the Bible tell us that before our Joshua—King Jesus—comes back, that there will be a sounding of seven trumpets? 

 

“And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.”  Revelation 8:2

 

This is happening just before Jesus returns to take the world back.  Just as Joshua came to take the Promised Land back. 

 

“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”  Revelation 11:15

 

“Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.”  Revelation 11:19

 

This is all happening when the seventh trumpet is sounding.  Just before the Second Coming.  The Ark of God is seen in the heavenly temple.  When Joshua and his men were marching around Jericho, was the Ark of God hidden from view, or was it RIGHT OUT IN THE OPEN, SO EVERYONE COULD SEE IT?  WHAT’S IN THE ARK?  THE LAW OF GOD.  WERE THEY AT ALL BASHFUL ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WHEN THEY ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND?  OR DID THEY HAVE THEM RIGHT OUT FRONT?  THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL—WERE THEY HIDING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS SOMEWHERE, OR WAS IT RIGHT OUT FRONT?  WILL GOD’S CHURCH HAVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS RIGHT OUT FRONT, AS WE APPROACH THE PROMISED LAND?  SHOULD WE BE BASHFUL OR APOLOGETIC ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?

 

A local preacher was recently talking about the Ten Commandments on the radio.  It broke my heart.  “They’re just a mirror—we don’t have to keep them—it’s just to show us our sins, so we can go to Jesus.  It’s not really required that we obey them.  We’re not under the law, we’re under grace.”

 

That’s a doctrine of devils, if ever there was one.  WHEN GOD SAYS “THOU SHALT NOT…”, IS THAT A SUGGESTION?  SHOULD WE ASSUME THAT GOD WAS HAVING A BAD DAY, IT WAS A RECOMMENDATION, BUT, YOU KNOW, NOBODY’S PERFECT.

 

It’s a command!  They haven’t changed!  AND WHEN THE CHURCH OF GOD IS APOLOGETIC AND MAKING EXCUSES ABOUT BREAKING THE COMMANDS OF GOD, AND THEY’RE KIND OF HIDING THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, THAT’S REALLY SAD.

 

When Jesus comes back, there will be a group of people—spiritual Israel—and they’re gonna be marching WITH THE ARK OF GOD RIGHT OUT FRONT!  AMEN?  They’re not going to be apologizing for the law of God.

 

Now, these trumpets were made of ram’s horns.  A ram’s horn in the Bible represents POWER.  If you’ve ever seen two mountain rams in rutting season crashing against each other, you know that the sound of that collision carries throughout the canyons and valleys.  Power.

 

When a king or a prophet was anointed, the oil was poured from a ram’s horn.  They wanted the power of the Holy Spirit to be with them.  The ram’s horn represents the power of the Holy Spirit.  The power of the Word of God.  The priests are carrying the Word of God in the Ark.  So when those seven priests are blowing on those trumpets made of ram’s horns, IT’S THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD!  WHAT IS IT THAT’S BRINGING DOWN THE WALLS OF JERICHO?  THE WORD OF GOD.  WHAT DID JESUS USE TO FIGHT THE DEVIL IN THE WILDERNESS?  HE HAD ONE THING: THE WORD OF GOD.  “IT IS WRITTEN”.  THAT’S WHAT DEFEATED THE DEVIL, and brought down his fortress.

 

It is the Word of God that convicts us of sin, that gives us victory and power to live a godly life.  It is the Word of God that helps us conquer the darkness, and bring others to Christ.  We are to be totally saturated with the Word of God.  We are to be living epistles—living letters—living reservoirs of the Word.  That is what went before them as they were marching around Jericho.

 

Imagine those people of Jericho crowding on top of those massive walls—the walls were fifty feet across at the base, and thirty feet across at the top.  And that’s just the INNER walls.  There were outer walls as well.

 

Can you imagine the psychological effect of a silent army marching around the city one time each day, with the priest intermittingly blowing on the trumpets?  It must have been quite unnerving.

 

Joshua had given them specific instructions to remain silent all six days, and on the seventh day, to wait for the blast of the ram’s horns, and then to SHOUT! 

 

God’s people are to speak when God wants us to speak, and to keep silent when He wants us to keep silence.  Amen?

 

The is a parallel here.  There was a time when the southern kingdom of Judah, led by Abijah, was at war with the northern kingdom of Israel, led by the wicked king Jeroboam.

 

“And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.”  2 Chronicles 13:14-15

 

They got the victory when the priests blew the trumpets, and they shouted.  1 Thessalonians chapter 4 tells us that “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout.”  What did they shout, at Jericho?  There’s a very interesting prophecy in Zechariah:

 

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
      Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
      Behold, your King is coming to you;
      He is just and having salvation,
      Lowly and riding on a donkey,
      A colt, the foal of a donkey.”

                           Zechariah 9:9

 

When Jesus fulfilled this prophecy, the people shouted.  You know what they shouted?  Hosanna.  They shouted Hosanna.  “Hosanna” is an exclamation of adoration for God.  It’s a shout of praise.  It’s possible that they shouted Hosanna or something similar when they shouted. 

 

“But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: ‘Shout, for the LORD has given you the city! Now the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.’
So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.”  Joshua 6:15-21

 

The people of the city had no fight left in them.  They were so worn out with fearful expectation and all.  It’s like a baby gazelle trying to flee from a hungry lion.  Eventually it loses its footing, and lands on the ground, and it doesn’t even attempt to get back up, because it’s frozen with fear.  That’s how these people were.  The army of  Israel could walk right in, with hardly any fight to deal with.

 

There will be no fight left in the lost when Jesus comes, either.  And just like Jericho, it’s going to be a complete destruction, and utter annihilation.  It’s interesting that a recent archaeological article related that there was just one section of the northern wall that was still standing.  And that must have been where Rahab and her family were.  The ashes were three feet thick, because Joshua’s army burned everything, except the gold, silver, iron, and bronze, which were to be kept for God’s usage.

 

Notice the special instructions Joshua gave, concerning Rahab:

 

“But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, ‘Go into the harlot’s house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her.’ And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.”

                                                                     Joshua 6:22-24

 

Isn’t God faithful?  He keeps His promises, doesn’t He.  And the two spies who had been saved by Rahab had the privilege of being the ones who gathered Rahab and her family.

 

What a testimony also of the power of the family.  If you do your best to be a godly example to your household, your family members will be blessed with a practical knowledge of God.  Simply because of your example and your consistent influence, your family can be saved in God’s kingdom.  Amen?

 

What a powerful, beautiful story of God’s ability to conquer His enemies, and to protect His people.

 

Oh, how good it is to belong to the Most High, and to be fully consecrated to Him.  If that is you right now, my friend, then you too can experience the removing of the barriers to God’s kingdom, in your life, in your family, in your church, and in your community.

 

God bless you.