Latest revision as of 13:26, 29 June 2022

Theological Proposition/Focus: God is the one who wins the victory.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: Sometimes God asks his people to step out and act in faith before they even see any cracks in the walls.

Introduction:

Image: What does it take to get you to do something crazy?

I am much braver if there is someone with me. I will admit it. But seriously, what does it take to talk you into something a little bit crazy.

Need: We need to be prepared to follow God on whatever he asks, even if it seems crazy!

Preview: Roller Coasters

This week we are going to take the teens to Worlds of Fun. I love roller Coasters but what I love even more is riding Roller Coasters with others. For those of you who have never ridden a roller coaster, I hope that you will join me! So I am going to take a slightly different approach to my outline today. Whenever I am trying to convince someone to ride a Roller Coaster the process usually follows something like this

As we approach the coaster "Unbelievable, are you kidding me!"

As we ascend the first hill "I cannot believe you talked me into this. I guess there is no turning back"

As we go through the twists and turns realization strikes "aaah this is amazing."

As we walk away and reflect "wow, I can't believe we did that, let's do it again."

So remember that as we walk into Joshua 6.

Text: Joshua 6:1-27

Setting the Stage:

After God affirmed Joshua as the next leader of Israel, and prepared the hearts of the Israelites, it was time for the work to begin.

The first city that Israel would encounter upon crossing the Jordan river into the land was the city of Jericho.

The city of Jericho sat

14 miles West of the Jordan river

We talk about the city of Jericho but we need to understand this was actually a military outpost.

This was much more of a fort rather than a city.

The tell (mound) of Jericho was wrapped with an earthen rampart, with a stone retaining wall to hold it in place.

The retaining wall was 12–15 feet high.

On top of the rampart at the retaining wall was a mudbrick wall six feet thick and about 20–26 feet high.

At the top of the rampart, there was a similar mudbrick wall because of the slope of the rampart,

the base of this inner wall would have been 46 feet above ground level.

There is some evidence that people lived on the rampart which seems to support the narrative of our story.

The total area enclosed by the walls was about 6 acres and then another 3 acres in the fortification area

Body

Unbelievable: God's methods often defy our "better judgment" (1-7).

Have you ever been tasked with doing something unbelievable? The sort of thing where you say, you want me to do what? Almost a year ago Emily and I visited Disney World. Emily had never ridden a roller coaster and we hoped we would be able to get her on one. As we walked up to the Roller Coaster I could sense that Emily was a little nervous. Then, the carts went whizzing by, the passengers screamed, Emily looked up at the top of the first hill and proclaimed, "are you kidding me!"

The promise: a city delivered. (2)

In verse 1 we see the city of Jericho secure

The gates are shut and nobody is going in or out.

Now we must understand that God only had to speak the word and the city could be leveled.

But the real battle was not with the Canaanites but with the hearts of God's people.

The use of the perfect "I have delivered" (נתתּי) conveys the idea that victory is assured as if it already happened.

Verses 1 and 2 stand in stark contrast to each other.

From all appearances Jericho has hardly been delivered, this fortress of a city is buttoned up but from God's perspective the physical battle has already been won what he wants to see is spiritual victory in the hearts of His people.

The orders: march, then march, then march some more (3).

Have you ever been mocked for something spiritual?

Image: The challenge of taking all your kids to super saver

God commanded his people to conduct what had to be the most ridiculous battle plan they had ever used. Get together all the armed men. First, understand this is no minor task. Some of you know how hard it is to get an army organized because you have four kids and bringing your army to descend on Super Saver is a lot of work! First, you have to get everyone out the door into the car seat, you get everybody buckled in, then Sally has to use the restroom... Okay maybe they didn't have car seats but they did have armor and they probably felt pretty silly getting all armored up just to go for a walk.

Go through all the work to prepare for battle but there won't be a battle today and you only have about 30 minutes of marching to do.

A nine acre circle is about a half mile around, they didn't actually march for that long each day.

Have you ever been asked to repeat what seems like a meaningless task 7 times?

The responsibility: just march! (4-7)

I love the question "why?" But sometimes the answer is not very satisfying.

I have to admit that had I been part of Israel I would have asked why?

I would have thought this is silly.

I would have wanted to whisper to Emily about how ridiculous Joshua was making us look.

I would have wanted to pretend I had twisted my ankle to avoid looking silly.

I would have found everything about this to be monotonous

However, God had it all planned out.

Seven priests (4)

Seven Trumpets (4)

Seven Days (4)

Seven symbolizes completeness, perfection

God wanted to symbolize his complete and perfect destruction of Jericho.

MTR: Ask yourself, what is God asking me to do that might defy my "better judgment?"

No Turning Back: God often asks us to completely commit (8-19).

I personally enjoy really fast, smooth, tall Roller Coasters. However, even as a pilot who has flown an airplane upside down among lots of other crazy things, I still get nervous on the long climb to the top of a big Roller Coaster. As I ascend I remind myself that while this seems crazy, I trust the engineers who designed the coaster and surely no-insurance agency would let a park build something too dangerous. In our second stage of the battle for Jericho what I want us to see is that our faith must not waver even as we start out into God's battle plan. It is one thing to be on the outside looking forward to what God is asking. It is something entirely different to be at the early stages within what God is asking you to do.

The structure: God is in the middle (8-9).

Within the text there is a lot going on in terms of structure.

Armed guards in front and behind.

God could have completed the task without any army, but God includes his people in his work, even if they do nothing.

Seven Priests with Seven Trumpets.

You might ask, "what was the purpose of the trumpets?"

The trumpets were jubilee trumpets (as in Numbers 10:10) used not to signal a military command but to proclaim the presence of God

In other words, the strategy is not to have a coordinated military attack but to proclaim God.

The attitude: solemn confidence and respect. (10)

Silence

I am not one who really likes silence. Now I know that some of you like silence a lot, and some of you are even less comfortable with silence than I am, but here there is an interesting command. Absolute silence. The only sound should be the sound of the trumpets proclaiming the presence of God.

Just when everyone expects you to attack, go back home (11)

The rules: it all belongs to God. (15-19)

As if the crazy battle plan is not enough, in verses 15-19 we see that this crazy battle plan will culminate with the destruction of the city and everything set aside for God.

MTR: Keep following God's directions even if it seems like you are stuck on repeat.

Realization: As we participate in God's plan we are able to see His work (20-25).

Okay, bear with me, we have been riding this roller coaster together and we just finished climbing the hill and are on our way down. We come into the first corkscrew and it is a complete blast. The second turn is a high g-turn where our stomach sinks and we realize this is a whole lot of fun. I think that by the time we get to verse 20-25 this is what Israel had to be feeling. Wow, God's victory is amazing.

The first thrill: God is fighting the battle. (20-21)

The walls fell down.

Theologians have debated what caused the walls to fall

An Earthquake

Israelite Soldiers undermined the walls while others marched

Vibrations by the trumpets and the shout...

Shock waves caused by the marching feet

My view, God!

We cannot read this passage without also reading Hebrews 11:30

God, because of the faith of Israel, brought down the walls.

God delivered the city completely.

After the walls fell the people went straight into the city. Verse 21 is interesting because it is very brutal. However, we must understand there my have been no women or children in the city. Verse 22 may be a poetic device used to denote total destruction. We cannot be dogmatic about it, but I wonder if the people ended up killing any humans or if all the humans perished on the wall. It will not surprise me if when I get to heaven I learn that God had in fact killed all enemy forces in Jericho.

The second thrill: God keeps his promises. (22-23)

Rahab was saved.

We cannot read this passage without also reading Hebrews 11:31

God can save and did save.

Rahab's placement outside the camp of Israel is a reminder

that Rahab was not an Israelite, Rahab needed to be ritually cleansed before fully joining the camp. This is an important reminder that God can save anyone.

The third thrill: Total victory. (24-25)

The burning of the city signals the complete victory.

MTR: Make a short list of victories you are currently experiencing.

Reflection: Looking back at God's work gives us confidence in God's future work (26-27).

After riding a Roller Coaster for the first time I love looking back on it and thinking about the thrill of the different twists and turns. It is the same as we look back on victories God has given us. When we look back on those victories we are uniquely equipped to pronounce God's provision and our expectations of his future provision.

Expectation: Jericho should never again need to be conquered.

After looking back at Jericho's destruction Joshua was in a unique position to be able to declare that never again should Jericho need that sort of destruction.

This is huge Jericho is one of the worlds oldest cities dating back nearly 7000 years

The curse does not mean it will never be inhabited but that it should never be rebuilt

The city was not attempted to be rebuilt until 500 years later in Ahab's reign (1 Kings 16:34)

Confidence: it was all God.

In verse 27 we see that the battle of Jericho was not because of Joshua but because of God. The old song

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho Jericho, Jericho Joshua fought the battle of Jericho And the walls came tumbling down!

has a major problem. It was not Joshua who fought the battle of Jericho, it was God!

MTR: Take time to reflect on God's victories allowing your reflection to breed expectation and confidence.

Conclusion:

Image: