7-6-12. Joshua 6. THE CONQUEST OF JERICHO

Kevin Jesmer NIU  Friday, July 6, 2012

Joshua 6:1-27
Key Verse: 6:2

“Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.”

Dear Lord, thank you for holding everything together in our lives. Without you nothing would hold together…everything will be separate. You, Jesus, are the glue in my life. Thank you for being there. Help me to accept your word in my heart. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: “I Have Delivered Jericho” (1-19).
Verses 1-19, “Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. 2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” 6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” 7 And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD.” 8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout! ” 11 So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there. 12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. 15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 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. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.”

The city of Jericho was impregnable, a symbol of power and strength. Its destruction would put the fear of God into the heart of every Canaanite and show that Israel’s God was superior to the Canaanite gods. God told Joshua that Jericho was already delivered into his hands. The enemy was already defeated! This gave Joshua great confidence. Although we fight many spiritual battles every day, some of which seem impossible, we have the assurance that the war has already been won by Jesus. We do not have to be paralyzed. We can overcome through Christ’s power.

I guess the question that I need to ask myself is, “What is the impregnable fortress that God wants me to overcome?” The big fortress in my life now is to make my home a fellowship of God’s love. It is not like that at present. I ask myself, “How can I ever raise disciples of Jesus if there is not an atmosphere of love and worship among us?” Creating this atmosphere of Koinia, (Christian fellowship) among us is very important and yet difficult. Our selfishness, cold heartedness and our emotions get in the way like the tall walls of Jericho. We need to overcome the walls of Jericho through faith in Jesus and through faith in the Gospel.

Establishing a church and a discipleship ministry, is also like an impregnable wall sometimes…most times. The only way it can happen if you have a group of people who are on the same page, spiritually. I thought I had this among us for a while, but not so much now. It seems impregnable. But God can do it. By the power of God the walls can be overcome and come down and the victory of God can be manifest among us.

Part 2: Devote Everything to The Lord (20-27).

Verses 20-27 read, “When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 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. 22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.” 23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel. 24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho —and she lives among the Israelites to this day. 26 At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.” 27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.”

God was carrying out his severe judgment. This judgment required that everything be destroyed (Dt 13:12-18). Rahab and her household were saved because she had faith. God’s purpose was twofold – to follow through with his justice and to keep the peoples’ faith and religion pure. He wants our hearts devoted to him.

Some people think that such acts are acts of genocide. But for centuries these peoples were practicing religions that included child sacrifices and orgies. There were horrible practices going on that they refused to change. And so the judgment of God came upon them. People can not carry on in wickedness and think that nothing is going to happen. It will happen in God’s right time.

As members of a fallen humanity, we should be subject to God’s judgment because of our sins. But there is a way to escape God’s judgment. Rahab knew the way. It was by tying the scarlet cord in her window by faith. Our scarlet cord is Jesus’ shed blood on the cross. When we surrender our hearts to the Lord and trust is Jesus’ sacrifice we are saved from the judgment of God. We are forgiven and granted a new chance to live a new life…a life in the grace of God among the family of God. Praise God for the gift of his forgiveness and grace.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you have gone ahead of me and fought and won the battle through your own suffering, death, and resurrection. Help me to fight the spiritual battle of forming a community of love and of discipleship, with confidence in you.

One Word: Defeat your Jericho by faith