Dealing with Jericho - Joshua 6:1-27

we're in the book of Joshua so if you have a Bible you want to open up to Joshua chapter 6 we are learning how to experience the fullness of the Christian life in the Old Testament picture typology of the book of Joshua you see you and I serve the greater Joshua we know him as Jesus because that's the Greek penelon of the name Joshua and so it's it's no wonder that so many people were named Joshua because this great leader here in the Old Testament that took over from Moses his job description was to take the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the promised land and the picture of the whole typology in Old Testament typology or types is that the children of Israel came out of Egypt it's a picture of the sin of the world and they were under a tyrant and really under tyranny and that was Pharaoh but it's a picture of Satan holding people in the bondage of their sins and they came out into the wilderness but they were only supposed to be there for a short time they'll day that came through the Red Sea I was a picture of the baptism if you will in their new faith according to 1st Corinthians chapter 10 it says that they were all baptized into Moses like we're baptized into Christ Jesus and they because of their unbelief they wanted around in the wilderness and now Joshua's brought him across the Jordan River we saw in chapter 5 and what an incredible backdrop it's a picture of coming through the it's a picture of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and now coming in the fullness of the Spirit of God into the promised land old in old times people would write hymns about crossing over Jordan and their imagery was it was a picture of death but that's not true to form because you see they have battles to fight when they go into the Promised Land and I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to some R&R in heaven I don't want any more battles to fight on me any more temptations nor more struggles and so it's not a picture of crossing over into heaven it's a picture of crossing into the full Christian life and this is what the Lord said everywhere you put your foot I'm going to give you but you got to step out by faith and I'm going to give it to you you got to step out in faith I'm going to give it to you God's sovereign plan for the children of Israel God's sovereign plan for you is that you step into the promises of God that's why we call it the promised land God promised it to him we have promises that we can experience and the Lord says this is a promise for you now step into it by faith and begin to experience it now here after they come through the Jordan River they've had an incredible time really they had a Passover celebration where they looked at the lamb and remember the blood that was shed reminds us of the Lord Jesus and his blood that was shed for us and and now you would think meander they're on cloud nine like yeah we've crossed the Jordan the Lord's parted the the Jordan River like he did the Red Sea and now we're gonna come to the promised land and bam what do they run into the most challenging encounter and all the promised land the most fortified city Jericho are you a type of person that does easy things first and hard things last or hard things first and easy things last I'm not the type of type of guy I just what's hard that's what I want to do just give it to me because I can mop up with the easy stuff once I'm exhausted from the hard thing but I don't want to get worn out from all the easy things and then get to the hard thing and the Lord brings the children of Israel to the very doorstep of Jericho Jericho we know as we're going to see here it tells us in verse 1 now Jericho is securely shut up because of the children of Israel none went out and none came in Jericho which is one of the most documented ancient cities they have dug archaeologists have dug there for a hundred years they have discovered an outer wall and an inner wall these were pretty intimidating walls about 15 feet thick and then the inner wall about another 15 feet in and about 10 feet thick they would range from 20 to 30 feet high a double walled city state this is the thing you have to understand when it talks about the king of Jericho or the king of these differ cities we would call them a mayor basically it's a city-state this the the remains or the ruins I should say of Jericho is about eight to nine acres which is really not that big but if you stack your houses upwards you can really fit a lot of people in about an eight to nine acre period of time as we're gonna see the children of Israel are going to walk around it they could walk around it obviously out of the bow shot distance in about thirty minutes because on the last day they're going to do it seven times so it's a good thing it's a pretty small adventure and yet this had to be a daunting task as they looked at this fortified city they have none of the tools of of siege warfare battering rams and scaling ladders and they could make those things but but God has a different plan you see I have entitled this message dealing with Jericho because not only has God have a specific unusual battle plan for the children of Israel for Jericho but I want you to know from day one or moment one in this message that all of us face Jericho's in our life something that seems secure formidable it's high walls it's something that you know as a matter of fact when the children of Israel forty years earlier went into the Promised Land to spy it out they said hey there's there's big cities there there's big powerful walls there's giants there we're intimidated we're like grasshoppers in their site because the Anakim lived there which are literal giants that are about ten foot tall and so each of us and you might be facing this I've discovered that when people come into a glorious time of their Christian life it's not long till they run into Jericho that is a real challenge a real challenge that doesn't fall in a moment or a morning or a day but is a real challenge in your life all of us have those Jericho's will talk about it in just a moment but understand this that for the children of Israel I like the old hymn says there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey just do what the Lord tells you to do by faith and watch he does and that's what the children of Israel do here now as they were securely shut up because of the children of Israel Rahab had told them that they were scared and out of their boots or sandals in this case because of the children of Israel they have had 40 years of fear expecting the children Israel to come because Joshua as he comes across and his God plan is to come across the Jordan River right in the middle of Israel if you look at a map today and you find modern-day Jericho Jericho is a very nice place to live because it's 800 feet below sea level it has these wonderful water springs they farm about 225 hundred acres or so and it's just a balmy wonderful climate and they're going to come across you're right in the middle of the land and they're going to divide and conquer that's a kind of a military term they're going to conquer here in the middle divide the enemy north and south then they're going to go down and conquer those who are in the south and then they're going to conquer those who are in the north look at the promise that they get to start this battle with and it's a promise that you and I also get to enjoy fighting from the place of victory and verse 2 it says the Lord said to Joshua see I have given Jericho into your hand it's king and the mighty men of valor the Lord says I've given you Jericho it's yours man and all you're going to have to do is follow my instructions and so they can start with that confidence you see the Lord tells us and second Peter that God has given you all things that pertain to life and godliness there's nothing outside of the boundaries of what God wants to supply in your life to give you the victory over the Jericho's in your life the temptations in your life the trials in your life the struggles in your life what you faced before what maybe you're facing now because all of us have them sometimes our Jericho's are within sometimes our Jericho's are without now this is the plan starting at verse 3 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 it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram's horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet that all the people shall shout with a great shout then the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up every man straight before him this is the battle plan it's a marching battle plan sounds more like a parade than a battle plan can you imagine Joshua receiving the instructions from the Lord and going to his generals in San fellows let's have a huddle this is the plan how are we gonna take it Joshua what's it gonna be it's a March we're gonna march one day around two days around for seven days while six days we're going to march once and then on the seventh day we're going to march seven times and then on the seventh time the priests who are before the ark and these are all part of that that in crucial ingredients if you will to the battle plan these priests are going to blow this ram's horn called a shofar and when you hear a long blast on that seventh time on the seventh day I want you to shout because here in a moment he's gonna tell them you got to be quiet for every day for six days so on that day you're gonna shout what would they yell I don't know just there guys they don't need a word we don't really need articulation we're guys we make noises ah so they just they just yell okay and on that moment when they yell the walls of Jericho are all going to fall flat now that is the most genius battle plan I've ever heard of in my life it's an awesome battle plan it's an easy battle plan but it's not necessarily a humanly convincing battle plan it's when you got to receive by faith because if somebody gave you that as an instruction I find this is so similar to sharing the simplicity of God's Word with people people will ask me a question and I'll say well the Bible says this and it says this and it says this I'll give them two or three verses and I'll say just go do that that's it can't be that easy most certainly is that easy no I can't be it what why'd you ask me if you didn't want to hear an answer that you wanted to do well it just can't be that easy I tell people about receiving Christ they're like that's too easy if it was that easy why doesn't everybody do it that's it exactly why are you holding back it's it God's plans his ways it tells us in Isaiah 55 his ways are not our ways he's a way his ways are higher than the heavens are above us are his ways they're above are finding out when God wants to do things his way just relax obey his word and go with the flow don't kick and scream and argue and debate and bicker back and forth and become strife allure continue just receive it and do it and watch how it works I'll tell people well the Lord says - I hate this guy and I'll say what the Lord want you to forgive him and pray got it bless them I can do that I'll pray that God will kill them but I'm not gonna pray God will blessing us it's God's plan you see you can't pray for blessing on a person's life for a consistent period of time and still remain in a hateful attitude it changes your heart so God's plan is very practical forgive them by faith then pray God's blessing on them let's do it right now I'm not going to do that it's really simple how about this why don't you pray this week that you're willing to even talk about it okay I can start there baby steps and you have to take them by the hand to lead them to that spot now in this plan here there's some cool things that take place you'll notice the repetition of the word seven there are seven Pete priests there are seven trumpets and there's seven days in the march there's also these as this all comes together in that seven stacked up on each other the priests the trumpets and the days and then seven times on the march on the last day seven as you know in the Bible represents a completeness a completeness in this case of God's plan for the children of Israel and the judgment of God on Jericho God is his plan is twofold one is for the children of Israel and God's blessing on them and the others for is is for the judgment upon the people in Jericho way back in Abraham's time the Lord told Abraham that the iniquity of the amorite was not yet full picture of a like a full cup or a full pitcher and over 400 years went by and the iniquity of these people if you want to check it out Leviticus chapter 18 describes what they did it was pretty perverse they not only were into every kind of perversity and made their children be sacrificed in the fire and all these crazy things so that the Lord says okay judgment time is coming and the children of Israel are going to be his instrument so he's going to destroy them here in Jericho all the men all the women all the children all the animals everything judgment comes judgment is going to fall on those who are in Jericho and all the land of Canaan this is God's judgment from a perfect judge even though he uses an instrument that is imperfect and that is the children of Israel but as we look in the book of Revelation and we see the waves of judgment there are seven seals there are seven trumpets and they're seven bowls and here as we see these seven priests these seven trumpets in these seven days and in the seven time march on that last day it is a complete plan to bless the children of Israel and give them Jericho and a complete plan to bring utter destruction in judgment upon the people you see all people are either under the blessing of God by grace through Jesus Christ or they are under the wrath of God and the judgment of God and they're headed towards judgment there's nobody in between people want to find a spiritually you know kind of Switzerland a neutral place there's no neutral place I've had people tell me I know you're a preacher I'm not I'm not into God I'm not against God I just want to be left alone I'm neutral and I said no to be undecided you decided against God there's there's no in-between if you're here tonight and you're undecided you're not really committed then you're under the wrath of God and judgment is coming to a theater near you okay or or you're right with God and God's grace and blessing he's just going to reveal his goodness to you throughout eternity and so we have this seven fold picture by the way as we look at this understand that the art that is declared in verse four that the ark is the central piece to this puzzle the ark represents the promise of God the Ten Commandments are in there or the covenant of God and also represents the presence of God as we see it's mentioned some ten times in these verses here in Chapter six because right in the middle of the people that are going into battle who's in their midst God's in their midst God's in their midst it's got in the midst of your marriage in your workplace in your school where you're at wherever you are you see you're the temple of the Holy Spirit and so as the Temple Holy Spirit when we all get together that's the cool thing about church is that I individually you individually are the Temple of the Holy Spirit but if he's in Chapter two tells us when we get together corporately we all are the temple of the Holy Spirit so all of these components come together in a greater expression of what God's Spirit wants to do in our hearts in our lives well in verse 6 it says then Joshua the son of nun called the priest 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 and he said to the people proceed in march around the city and let him who is armed advance before the Ark of the Lord so it was when Joshua had spoken to the people that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams horns before the Lord advanced and blew the trumpets and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord followed them the armed man went before the priests who blew the trumpets and the rear guard came after the Ark while the priest continued blowing the trumpets now in verse 10 now Joshua had commanded the people saying you shall not shout or make any noise with your voice nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth until the day I say to you shout then you shall shout why they admonition to be quiet you see there there told a couple of things first of all they're told to march they're given the instructions about how to line up the men of war are out in front the men with the the priests with the trumpets are next seven trumpets seven priests and then you have the priests carrying the ark and then you have the rearguard this is the thing that you see is that when you want to have victory over a Jericho in your life you want to be in the middle of God's people and God's presence those two things will change your life for victory some of us here have been struggling with the Jericho's in our life for a very long time and you're just discovering how important it is to be among God's people to be spiritually strengthened to have victory in areas of your life but also just to enjoy the presence of the Lord and as we see the Ark of the Covenant the promises of the Lord so the people of the Lord the presence of the Lord the promises of the Lord is what gives me a strength on the inside to have victory where are some Jericho's we might face in our own life as we're going to see a great victory here but the admonition first to be silent one of the hardest things to do is to get people to be quiet and listen to God just listen for a moment people are uncomfortable silence uncomfortable silence you leave here and you get in your car and you turn on the radio or you put in your ipod earphones you go to work and you got music going on you walk in some people's home and they'll have a they'll have a TV in the living room and they got one in the kitchen they got one in the bathroom just so they don't miss anything on Fox News going on they got we have noise we're surrounded by noise one of the things that we have a hard time with is silence and solitude and listening for the voice of God see here he tells these people and especially in a crowd of two to three million people all the time it's probably hard to get some space by yourself Lord says now there's going to be one noise going on and that's going to be the shofar now this is very fascinating because the Levites were supposed to carry the ark but the priests are carrying the Ark when they did military maneuvers the silver trumpets according to Leviticus chapter as ten or eleven were to be used not to shofar the shofar was for the year of Jubilee like Liberty year all your debts are paid and the Ark was not supposed to go to war so everything's kind of different from what we see before but Joshua met the captain of Lords house we see it as an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus gave them a battle plan as a matter of fact they march seven times we assume that that seventh day is on the seventh day on the Sabbath and they work longer and harder and break the Sabbath if you will to do this job the thing is is that the Lord Jesus gives Joshua the battle plan and he implements it even though it's radically radically different but the Lord says you know the only thing I want you to listen to is the sound of the trumpet of the shofar that usually announces the year of Jubilee and the festivals as that realize that through a relationship with me I bring freedom I bring Liberty I bring victory I canceled debts I take care of people that are burdened and I want you to be quiet and I want you to listen to the sound of freedom I want you to listen to the sound and believe by faith that I'm going to do this work and I want you to just be still and know that I'm God now don't raise your hand but that's really hard for some of us isn't it to be still and know that I am God people just want to be busy and the Lord says you know what you're just gonna go for a little walk for six days straight you know there's some people in there chafing against that come on let's just get them let's just go you know we could take them just shut up you shut up be quiet listen to the trumpet you know and it's not some you know kind of jazzy saxophone playing it's a different sound this shofar but he tells them to be quiet you know what happens sometimes when um we're facing Jericho is is we want to run around and talk to everybody and the Lord says you know why don't you why don't you just seek me why don't you just wait on me I'll give you wisdom I'll give you instruction I'll help you with the Jericho of your life sometimes we come into the Christian life in minutes it's all bells and whistles and excitement and wow I can't believe that and I meet so many people that they're in that stage of euphoria they've just received the Lord they can't believe the Lord loves them and died on the cross for their sins and rose from the dead and they're so excited about life and you're excited for them because it's the joy of the Lord salvation and you're so excited for them but I know deep down inside I will almost always want to say just chill out because some tough stops common now I don't want to be the wet blanket though so I never say anything but two weeks later they come and they go nobody said it was gonna be this hard what are you guys in here singing Jesus songs and told me it was awesome and I asked Jesus into my life two weeks ago and now my world is coming apart at the seams it's come off the rails you know welcome to our world we're glad you're part of the family come join us now the Jericho's are those real strongholds in your life personally or maybe maybe inside of you some people and I should say something all of us have weaknesses Superman has his kryptonite and you have your kryptonite for some people the kryptonite has eaten too much food it rules their life their God is their tummy for some people it's fear and anxiety it rules their life they they don't have any victory over it for some people did you know it's just insecurities that drive them crazy they just never seem to have any assurance and confidence in their walk with God for some people its relationship span they go from one failed relationship to the next failed relationship to the next failed relationship ha or other people it's control issues I'm sure you don't know anybody with control issues but those who like to control things and control people and it's hard for them to have victory over that the person with the explosive temper that at the drop of a hat they lose their cool and it's a stronghold in their life and they may be been saved five or six years and and they still have this thing where they just can be so explosive with their temper and their words and they're like a bomb and when they go off and they just emotionally destroy and devastate everybody around them for some people their weaknesses sexual things that's their temptation you see you have a Jericho in your life I don't know what it is I got my own Jericho to deal with what is it it's nunya none of your business you deal with your stuff I'll deal with my stuff okay but just to let you know just like you I had the Jericho's in my life that for uh some twenty nine years that I've dealt with strongholds in my life that I've had to seek the Lord the Lord's presence among the Lord's people enjoying the Lord's promises and believing his promises are true that he's given me all things that pertain to life and godliness and there's nothing that I can't focus in on by prayer and ask God for his help that he will not help me he will what I want you to notice this about Jericho's in your life how many times do they go around this Jericho 13 times 13 times you ever had one of those issues in your life you always end up back there praying about it you go around you're going through life everything's great and boom I'm praying about that stupid thing again you know go through life everything's good you boom you're back there what is this thing in my life it's just it's always there it's always in my face that's my weakness it's and and you look at other people and you're like that's not their weakness and only got something else going on and some people look at your weakness and get new cooties you got that weakness they think there's a little more sanitary but it's just different it's just different sometimes it's not an internal Jericho if you will or a stronghold that we're praying through just to remind you before I move on from that thought that second Corinthians chapter 10 verse 3 tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they're mighty and God for the pulling down of strongholds so as I pray the the weapons God gives me of prayer and the Word of God and the love of God and the people of God the promises of God these are things in my life that allow me to conquer that Jericho's in my life but sometimes it's not so much an internal struggle sometimes it's an external struggle it's a person that they struggle with this financially their finances are that I mean you know it's kind of out here it's somewhere or they struggle they're married to somebody and and this person they're married to maybe is not a believer and they go through life and all they want to do is love God and serve God and follow God but their husband or in some cases the wife doesn't want to and they're like Lord win win win will you finally give us victory in this area that somebody might believe come to church with me be saved and have transformation you know it's a it's a crazy thing is that life that the Jericho's in our life are just there so and that's what Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 there's no temptation that is overtaken you except that which is common to man and with the temptation God will provide a way of escape because God will not tempt you beyond what you're able to bear or to handle did you know that you will never be tempted beyond what you're able to bear to handle because God it's like the exit you see this there's an exit sign you have to have these lit sighs all over the place and sometimes you're heading towards this area and it's a temptation and you're being pulled in that direction and the Holy Spirit's like check that exit sign out run for your life get away from this thing and you don't you cave once again at the very doorstep of Jericho your own Jericho you crash and burn well take heart the children of Israel gonna go around at thirteen times you're gonna go around and face it and around and face it around and face it I was listening to a guy that had a terrible volatile temper and he was witnessing to all these guys he was a carpenter he was witness to all these guys for several months and on the job one day he smashed his thumb and he grabbed his hammer and he threw it as hard as he could out into this open field and said some words that he should not have and then he realizes he's hanging on to his bloody thumb he's sitting there hanging on to it and all those guys are looking at him and they're all kind of snicker and yeah Joe Christian here check him out mr. rage and he realized he had just really heard his witness he walked out there all the way knowing those guys are watching him all the way out to the field he's walking out there to get his hammer because he threw it way out there a couple of years later he had been praying oh God give me victory over this temper of mine give me victory over the the rage that I feel inside and and he was working on a project actually a church and he smashed his thumb and he said he just split it wide open crabbed old but I mean anybody that's building you know how bad that hurt he grabs ahold of his thumb and he realized he didn't lose his cool and he began to praise the Lord he was walking around with a bloody thumb praising the Lord he's praising the Lord why because the Lord gave him victory in an area that he had never had victory in his entire life that's what it means to conquer at Jericho in our own life well verse 11 says so he had the Ark of the Lord Circle the city going around at once then they came into the camp and lodged the camp and Joshua rose early in the morning and the priest took up the Ark of the Lord then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams horns before the Ark of the Lord went on continually and blowing with the trumpets and the armed men went before them but the rear guard came after the Ark of the Lord while their priest continued blowing the trumpets and the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp so they did six days so they get through six days verse 15 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 all they on that day only they marched around the city seven times in the seventh time it happened when the priest blew the trumpets that Joshua said to the people shout for the Lord has given you the city now it's time for the victory shout who they shout and at that moment they have been patient they've waited they've been around this Jericho now 13 times and seven days and it says in verse 17 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 notice a little subtle difference in verse 17 what have we called these messengers the words messenger here and it's going to come back again what we called him before they were two spies but here as it's written for us it says the two messengers yea they're spies but what are they they're messengers the Lord sends his people out two by two to share a message and they were there to share with Rahab she already had faith in her heart and they just confirmed that faith but the rest of the city was going to be doomed everybody was going to be destroyed except the one person and then she was able to influence by asking hey what about my my mom my dad my brothers any my family they said if they come into your apartment if they're here now remember the walls are going to fall flat that means that because Rahab lived on the wall that the entire the entire city of Jericho's walls are going to fall flat so that all the soldiers who are in a circle can come straight in except one little space on the wall Rahab's house it'll be the only spot standing up because of her faith faith allows us to escape the judgment of God the wrath of God and then when we get saved and we have faith what do we do we tell our moms we tell our dads we tell our brothers we tell our sisters we tell our neighbors we tell our co-workers we tell our aunts we tell our uncles and pretty soon one person that gets saved at our church pretty soon they're filling up a whole row sometimes there's a section at church we'll say oh that's this family section because they just the whole clans here because they love the Lord and the influence of the grace of God in their lives verse 18 and you by all means abstain from the accursed things lest you become a cursed when you take of the accursed things and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it but all the silver and gold vessels of bronze and iron are consecrated to the Lord they shall come into the Treasury of the Lord now this city is the firstfruits of the conquest of the land of Canaan therefore in this city unlike all the other cities they're going to be able to take spoils of war but the Lord says hey this first one it's all mine it's all mine I want you to bring all the silver all the gold all those things bring it to the house of the Lord and if you touch any of the curse things and you steal them then you're going to cause trouble to Israel and we're going to look at chapter 7 next week as we see Aiken who's named neebs trouble means trouble that's appropriate he steals three things and he brings judgment so that 36 Israelites die because he touches the accursed things even though they have a straight up come in don't do this don't do this you're going to go in there you're going to see something really cool you're gonna see some hip shoes you're gonna see a nice robe you're gonna see some gold you're gonna see some silver but it's the Lord's so leave it alone it's gonna be a temptation so he tells everybody up front just leave it alone you know some people love shiny things that's their weakness they love shiny things and that's what happens to Aiken so in verse 20 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 destroyed all that was in the city both man and woman young and old ox sheep donkey with the edge of the sword judgment had come now just a little note here because there are people that really love to challenge how could a I can't believe a God of love would do such a thing he is a God of love but he also is a holy God and when he chooses do Judge sin he does it in righteousness and that's the way he chooses to do it now Rahab here in her whole household are going to be saved they've had 400 years the Lord said until that from the time that the Lord spoke to Abraham for the cup or the iniquity to get to its full they've had 400 years to repent then when Israel came out of Egypt across the Red Sea they heard about the report for forty years they've had 40 years to repent and now Israel's camped right outside the city and if you want to get right you better get right with their God because he opens up red sees he parts the Jordan River he feeds him with manna which means what is it all over the ground he gives him water out of the rock he brings quail by the you know flocks to for them to eat the quail this God of Israel is the God of the universe and Rahab knew it and Rahab believed therefore they also had the opportunity to escape judgment they also had the escape opportunity escape judgment I don't know how many people that I've shared Jesus with in 29 years of walking with the Lord a lot of my friends had just laughed in my face a lot of my friends that blew me off a lot of my friends that mocked me a lot of my friends and said hey they're gonna they're gonna party it up while I go do the the Jesus thing and not one of them is going to have an excuse as they stand before the judgment of God not one because they had the opportunity your brother that you shared with your aunt that you shared with your coworker that you shared with your fellow student you should they are now without excuse because you shared the people of Jericho are without excuse because the footsteps of the God of Israel have been slow powerful and loud for 40 years on their way from Egypt to the doorstep of Jericho so the judgment came verse 22 but Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country go into the harlots 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 a hat a hub Rahab that's her uncle no it's not Rahab her father notice brought out Rahab her father her mother her brothers all that she had that means all of her relatives how many people do you think Rahab could pack into her little brothel apartment I think she's got him packed in there like sardines the cousins and the nieces and the nephews and we get them all in here would you want to have I mean that's that I think I think that's the perfect timing to have a family reunion diz relights are outside the door let's have a family reunion I know we usually don't get along but we've got to make it happen this time you got to be inside this house to be saved and I think the value of one believer the salt and light of one person is overwhelming as I look back at all the people that have been saved and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through our in our family I'm blown away I'm blown away at those who know the Lord Jesus Christ who 29 years ago did not people that have come to saving knowledge not just because of one individual but many of us as we begin to get saved one at a time and Scotty and I got saved and then my sister got saved and then my brother got saved all four of us siblings all of us came to a knowledge of the Lord and then our grandparents had been praying for us and then our aunts and uncles begin to come to the Lord I mean some of the roughest people that use it there's no way that person's ever going to get saved they're in the kingdom just to prove you wrong this house full of people and you notice they use the word over and over the harlot the harlot that Rahab that how would you like that to be your handle oh yeah that's rehab no last name Rahab yeah the harlot you mean God saves harlots he saves harlots he strage say strippers he saves drug dealers he saves engineers from the sight he can save religious people he can save non-religious people he can save eight God the gospel is powerful to save this Old Testament since we see a woman that gets saved and not only that God gives her the privilege then to marry into the Royal line who would want to marry the harlot I mean there's no way to test for sexually transmitted diseases none of those things right she marries into the tribe of Judah get this and then she becomes the grandmother of King David and she becomes the great-great-great great-great grandmother of Jesus the savior of the world get out the family album there's grandma Rahab right there there she is in her sexy looking outfit no doubt modesty had taken over but what I'm saying is that people that that gods are trophies of God's grace they're trophies trophies of the grace of God you're a trophy of the grace of God well in verse 24 but they burned the city and all that was in it with fire only the silver and the gold and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the Treasury of the house of the Lord and Joshua spared Rahab the harlot her father's household he says it again and all that he had so she dwells in Israel to this day well she must be really old she's there to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho the writer there are those who challenge the authenticity of many books of the Bible their challenge here is that Joshua is a fictional book that was written at a later date that's not so it was written contemporarily Rahab was still alive as such that's what it means when the author authored the book he said Rahab still lives among Israel to this day she's still here and so um we see that that incredible heritage of the grace of God verse 26 now if you destroy a Jericho by faith and especially as we're picturing it and I want to lay it in an application style away that the Jericho's of our life if you get victory over an area of your JIRA in your life that's a Jericho to you like some stronghold or something that's just been that that Storn in your side and God just gives you victory wouldn't it really upset you if it began to get built back up again and you give yourself back to it look what Joshua does in verse 26 then Joshua charged them at that time saying cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds a city Jericho he shall lay its foundation with its his firstborn and with his youngest he shall set up its gates Joshua says whoever tries to build Jericho again when he tries to set up the gates his firstborn is going to die and when he finishes it his youngest is going to die that's the curse that he put on anybody that would try to rebuild the ruins of the victory that God brought there can I share with you that when God gives us victory there are times that we'll try to rebuild that Jericho that area of weakness we get tremendous victory let's say it's forgive unforgiveness we have a breakthrough we forgive this person or we've drew you know some people that's their big deal they go through life hating people they're bitter they don't know how to forgive and so let's say Pam they had a anointed moment God gave them victory they said I forgive you I bless you in Jesus name but then they think about a month later you know I think I let them off a little easy I'm going to start giving me some brick and mortar I want to start building this Jericho of unforgiveness and hatred and animosity that person the next time they see they're like hey we're all stray we're all forgiving no I've decided to hate you again it would be stupid to rebuild something that God gave victory over why would you want to rebuild it's interesting that whoever tries to rebuild this you know who's going to suffer their kids you know who suffers when you allow Jericho's back into your life your kids they see the bitterness in your life they see the bondage of sin in your life at one time you were walking with God but now you're you're defeated again by the Jericho in your life and your sons and daughters are the ones that suffer that's what happens in this guy's name his name's hi el as a matter of fact we have a prophesied by Joshua fulfilled in 1st Kings 16 34 first Kings 16 34 says this in his days high oh this is the days of ahab king of israel in his days i love death l built jericho he laid his foundation with a Byram his firstborn that means he died and with his youngest son z gub that's a good one for you pregnant you want to lay that one out there for maybe a boy's name right there Zika he set up its gates according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken through Joshua the son of nun how long was this prophecy from the time it gave it about 500 years think about that 500 years later the curse came just as he said and it says in verse 27 so the Lord was with Joshua and his fame spread throughout all the country the Bible says to humble ourself and the sight of the Lord and He will lift us up the Lord lifts up Joshua if you try to exalt yourself you'll be humbled if you humble yourself God will exalt you in any area of life one of the most challenging things in our sinful nature is our selfishness wants to push our self forward we want to be seen we want to be known we want to look at me look at my face take a picture of me we live such a self-centered life we go through life really just thinking about me and we think everybody else is thinking about me too and what you don't realize is how little people are thinking about us at all but when God gives a prominence and a fame to Joshua Joshua didn't seek it I don't think Joshua cares anything about it all he wants to do is to trust and obey and what Jesus does in his life and I want you to know if you humble yourself and you and trust and obey what the Lord is gonna do in your life he also will lift you up and the family will look at you and say men you know the Lord and when they want advice they're going to come seek you out and when they need help they're going to seek you out and they're going to call you up and God's going to give you a prominence in your family he's going to give you a prominence at the workplace people come to you up at work and they'll whisper in your Heyman my mom's sick could you pray for her I'd have guys on the construction site that openly openly mocked me in the break room because I was the only Christian made fun of me try to humiliate me but then one on one they would come up and say hey man could you pray for my mom or could you and they would ask me for prayer I would always think to myself this is so ironic they know there's a God and they want somebody to pray they don't feel like they're right with God so they can pray but when they're with their buddies in the break room they're all going to get together and make fun of you but they no knows God your family knows that you know God whether they'll admit it or not even though they might be a little awkward with you and they might even think you know they're the Jesus Freak in the family and you get the designation did you did it happen to you when I got saved all of a sudden okay Thanksgiving Rick will pray because he's the only Christian let's do it just do your thing it's a great time to preach oh lord thank you for this food for Jesus dying on the cross helped the Cowboys win you know just but isn't it something when God lifts somebody up when God does it but we don't ever have to look for it God just wants us to love and serve Him and by faith he's giving you everything to conquer the Jericho in your life you know as we close the night maybe you're on about that eighth or ninth trip around Jericho you got 13 to go I had a guy stand at the door of the church we were over on Broadway at the time and when we were on Broadway we was to get a lot of homeless guys would sleep under the trees behind our place over there so we had a lot of homeless guys drunks and we'd have them come into the church office sometimes and sometimes I mean it was if it wasn't so sad it would be hilarious because they would be so just snockered and the way they would talk and you know you'd at one time I had this drunk guy and this guy was drunk and he was telling him Pastor John he's a guest saved like you and me he's going through this whole thing the guy gets on his knees and he's like yes Jesus save me and I'm like in the lobby I'm like and we have a Christian school I'm just like waiting for the parents to come in and here I've got these two trunks one preaching at the healer but one particular thing stands out to me because it really struck me deep in my heart I was standing at the door and this guy was drunk but he was a clear thinking drunk and we began to talk and he began to quote scripture and I was really mesmerized because I would start a verse here just finish it and I'm not when I quote scripture I kind of do it what I call by context as I in my mind I see a passage of Scripture and I can quote it but a lot of times I don't know chapter and verse I have to look it up and this guy was chapter and verse he was blowing me away and I'm the preacher he was quoting these Bible verses he was drunk and I said man what do I got to tell you you quote scripture better than I do and I'm sober and he said you know I've wanted to walk with Jesus but I've had this thing in my life the bottle he said I can't conquer it he stood up try it always gets the best of me I've finally given up I'm just gonna be a drunk I meet people like that they're a drug addict and I'm going to be that or I'm going to be a drunk or whatever and he just given up and he told me he said you know you know at the national average of getting sober I mean going through rehab is national average before you get clean and sober is five times you go through rehab five times national average and I said how many times you've been through he said thirteen I've been through rehab thirteen times trying to get sober and all of us know somebody like that they know who the Lord is this guy quoted verses better than me and he he just gave up and sometimes when things are hard you just want to give up you just you know what forget it just I've tried this I've tried I tried to get sober I've tried to get clean so the guy I knew he he couldn't get sober and went through struggles and struggles and struggles and went through rehab and then he finally got jawed fired because they caught him drinking on the job and he just went home and shot himself he couldn't conquer it that's the wrong answer that's the wrong decision there's a guy in my we were next to Rite Aid there at the storefront he came in and he said hey you know there's another guy just like the first they could quote scripture he was quoting scripture and this and that and he was in an adulterous affair with a married woman and she was a very wealthy woman and basically she was kind of he said his her his sugar mama she just paid money she she paid his bills basically so that she he would be her sexual partner apart from her husband and I began to quote verses where I started to quote verses about sexual immorality and those who live in sexual morality enter the kingdom of heaven and he finished the verses and he said I really want to get clean I said get out of this I said I don't think you do I said you want to he said yeah I said let's call her up what's your phone number right now I'm gonna help you out we're just gonna call her we're just gonna break it off it's all done what hang up the phone hang up the phone I said that's why you wanted to be done with this now I don't I don't want to be done with that I know I'm not right with God but women have always been my thing I don't know how many people that I mean as some area bondage conquers them to such a degree that because they've had to face it 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 hundred times they just give up on it don't give up on it as we pray tonight I just want to pray you know at once again nobody knows what's going on in your heart and life but you but I want to give you opportunity let's just pray that the Lord will help us with the Jericho's of our life okay let's pray father we just ask that your spirit would just help us Lord we just confess that we're das you know our frame and Lord we pray that there might be someone here tonight Lord they are teetering right on the very brink so frustrated so discouraged so exhausted from battling this thing and crying out to you Lord they just need victory Lord they need victory it might be something as simple as fear and anxiety or something as mean and hateful as bitterness and unforgiveness whatever it is Lord you know but I thank you that everything is open and bare it's just late naked before you before whom we must give an account you see everything in our hearts in our lives and Lord we just want to take an opportunity right now to say Lord here we are in your presence here we are with your people here we are with your promises and here we are and the power of the Holy Spirit and Lord we need your help and I just pray that you would strengthen and bless and help your servants right now so we're just an attitude of Prayer and by faith if you need some help and strengthening and victory and release and some area of your life once again the person your right or left they don't even have to know what's going on I just want you to stand up and want to pray for you by faith just as an act of faith crying out lord I need I need you I need you Lord I need you I need your help god bless you guys all over the room anybody else before we pray Oh God I just raised your hands with the Lord those who are here just crying out just raise your hands to the Lord pray with me Lord Jesus help me I've faced this over and over and over again and I need your help I need your victory Lord to conquer my Jericho I pray that you'd set me free I pray that you'd give me the power of the Holy Spirit tonight to accomplish what you want to accomplish in me and that is a life that pleases you give me supernatural strength give me supernatural grace I trust you and I just receive your strength tonight in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Pastor Rick Brown

Views: 23,319

Rating: 4.5657144 out of 5

Keywords: Joshua 6:1-27

Id: FEmPraTakos

Length: 58min 35sec (3515 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 25 2013