ANCIENT PATHS SERIES MESSAGE 8 OF 17 CHRISTIAN HOPE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA OCTOBER 12, 2008 P.M. SERVICE Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Ancient Paths Sermon Series Message 8 of 17: The Battle Belongs to The Lord Read: Joshua 6:1 Introduction Joshua 5:13-6:21 As we come to the BOOK OF JOSHUA, the Israelites are now concluding their 40 YEARS OF WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS. During those 40 years in the Wilderness a lot has happened: The 10 Faithless Spies have now died of a plague. Every Israelite who was 20 years old or older who had made the Exodus from Egypt has also died. Also during their 40 years in the wilderness the Israelites have been getting spiritually prepared to enter the Promised Land by learning to obey God s commands.
MOSES has now DIED without entering the Promised Land. Remember Moses had dishonored God in the presence of all the Israelites when he struck the rock in anger at MERIBAH. But just before he died, God did permit Moses to look across the Jordan into the Promised Land from Mt. Nebo (a.k.a. Pisgah).JOSHUA, one of the two FAITHFUL SPIES, has now become the NEW LEADER of the ISRAELITES. This now brings us back to Joshua chapters 5 and 6. As we study this passage I want us to consider four simple thoughts, then we ll look at some points of application. First let s consider The Problem Israel Faced Second, The Protector Israel Was Provided Thirdly, The Promises Israel Stood Upon Fourthly, The Prize Israel Claimed ********************************************** First let s look at.
I. The Problem Israel Faced Joshua 6:1 1. After God miraculously opened up the Jordan River to allow the Israelites to cross in a similar fashion as He had done over 40 years earlier at the Red Sea.the Israelites now have a HUGE PROBLEM in front of them. 2. Standing between them and the Promised Land is the fortified city of JERICHO. 3. Now let me tell you a little bit about the city of Jericho. Jericho was a very beautiful city. It was commonly referred to as The City of Palms. At over 1,000 feet below sea level, the city of Jericho had the distinction of being the lowest city on earth. Jericho was like a beautiful oasis. Sitting in the beautiful Jordan River valley it was watered by Elisha s Spring. Out in the fertile valley surrounding Jericho were these aromatic LEMON AND ORANGE GROVES as well as an abundance of BANANA TREES and FIG TREES and luscious GRAPE ORCHARDS. 4. But the thing ancient JERICHO was most famous for was that it was a DOUBLE-FORTIFIED CITY, surrounded by two massive stone walls. THE OUTER WALL was 6 feet thick and 20 feet high. THE INNER WALL was 12 feet thick and 30 feet high. Connecting these two walls was a 15 FOOT WIDE walkway which was heavily patrolled by armed guards 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
5. Now to give you an idea of just how massive this wall was, history records that the soldiers in Jericho commonly held Chariot Races on top of these walls. I mean just imagine a bunch of horse drawn chariots racing around the city on top of the wall. 6. The bottom line is this. The city of Jericho was virtually impenetrable. And if anyone was to gain access into the Land of Canaan, they would first have to get around this fortified city of Jericho. 7. This was the HUGE PROBLEM the Israelites faced. *********************** Now the ISRAELITES weren t SOLDIERS. They were SHEPHERDS and HERDSMEN. How in the world could they possibly get past this fortified city of Jericho? *They couldn t dynamite the walls because as far as we know they didn t have dynamite back then nor any other kind of explosive devise for that matter. *And they couldn t BOMB the walls of Jericho, because they had no bombs or airplanes. *And they couldn t launch any MISSILES So how were they going to get rid of this BIG OBSTACLE standing between them and the Promised Land? Well let s look at II. The Protector Israel Was Provided
1. Let s back up to JOSHUA 5:13-15. 2. I would imagine most all of us has heard the song Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho. Neat song..but biblically inaccurate. 3. You see, Joshua didn t FIGHT the battle of Jericho. The Battle Belonged to the Lord! 4. Now just who is this COMMANDER OF THE ARMY OF THE LORD in verses 13-15? I agree with most commentators that this was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. I base this on two critical details in this text: First notice the REACTION of Joshua in verse 14.. Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence. Would Joshua have reacted this way were this an ordinary man or even an angel? It is doubtful. Secondly notice the RESPONSE of THE COMMANDER in verse 15... The Commander of the Lord s Army said to Joshua, Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is Holy. Now where have we heard those words before? Remember those were the exact same words GOD spoke to Moses at the burning bush in EXODUS chapter 3. 5. The point is this. God sent His own Son to be the DIVINE PROTECTOR to insure their entrance into the
Promised Land. This was a foreshadow of God sending His Son into this world to become OUR DIVINE PROTECTOR to insure our entrance into the ETERNAL PROMISED LAND. Beautiful thought isn t it!!! 6. But not only did God provide a DIVINE PROTECTOR he provided a DIVINE PLAN. Let s go back to CHAPTER 6, verses 3-5 7. There isn t the slightest hint of conventional military strategy in this plan. GOD S WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS. I mean stop and think about this. God wasn t asking the ISRAELITES to fight! He wasn t asking them to TEAR DOWN THE WALL. He wasn t asking them to do anything but TRUST AND OBEY. 8. Now why did the LORD command them to take SEVEN PRIESTS? SEVEN is the biblical number of COMPLETION or FULNESS. PRIESTS were the go-between who stood between GOD and man. 9. Why did the LORD command them to take SEVEN RAM S HORN TRUMPETS? THE RAM was a picture of ATONEMENT. Remember when Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac on Mt. Moriah? God provided the RAM as a substitute or an atonement for Isaac s life. 10. Why did the LORD command them to take THE ARK of the COVENANT?
THE ARK represented the FULL PROVISIONS of CHRIST. Inside that ARK of the COVENANT were three provisions God had made for the Israelites: *AARON S ROD which had been used in the parting of the Red Sea. *A POT OF MANNA to remind them how God had provided for their physical needs in the wilderness. *AND THE STONE TABLETS containing the TEN COMMANDMENTS God had given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. 11. So as the Israelites now face this seemingly invincible enemy, GOD HAS PROVIDED THEM WITH A PROTECTOR in Jesus Christ and A PLAN to OBEY. 12. THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD! ************* Well we have looked at: THE PROBLEM ISRAEL FACED and THE PROTECTOR ISRAEL WAS PROVIDED. Thirdly, let s consider III. The Promises Israel Stood Upon 1. As the Israelites prepared to march around the fortified city of JERICHO, they stood firm on two wonderful promises the LORD had given them. One was a PAST PROMISE, the other was a PRESENT PROMISE. 2. Let s look at the PAST PROMISE first.
Turn back a few pages to JOSHUA 2: 8, 9 The Lord is reminding Joshua of a promise he had given through RAHAB the harlot 40 years earlier when she hid the spies inside her home. You see, Rahab s house was built into the wall of JERICHO. Those spies had already seen what they were up against. But through RAHAB, God assured those spies that JERICHO and the surrounding land would be handed over to them. 3. Then look at the PRESENT PROMISE in JOSHUA 6:2.. Then the Lord said to Joshua, See I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 4. You know we sing that hymn, Standing on The Promises. But do we really stand on the Promises of God? GOD S PROMISES are GOD S GUARANTEES! If God promises something it is as good as done.. it is a certainty.it is an absolute to be claimed by FAITH. 5. As Joshua prepares to lead his people into the Promised Land, God has provided him with TWO PROMISES to stand on for sure footing..a PAST PROMISE and A PRESENT PROMISE. ************ We have looked at THE PROBLEM ISRAEL FACED. We have looked at THE PROTECTOR ISRAEL WAS PROVIDED.
We have looked at THE PROMISES ISRAEL STOOD UPON. Finally, let s consider IV. The Prize Israel Claimed Scripture: Joshua 6:15-21 1. The first day they marched NOTHING HAPPENED. The second day they marched.nothing HAPPENED. The third day.the fourth day the fifth day and the sixth day they marched and NOTHING HAPPENED. Not one stone FELL off the wall. Not a single crack appeared. 2. NO AMOUNT OF HUMAN EFFORT OR WILL POWER COULD BRING THE WALLS OF JERICHO DOWN. 3. BUT THE SEVENTH DAY BELONGED TO THE LORD. On the SEVENTH DAY God gave the Israelites the victory! On the SEVENTH DAY that impenetrable wall came down. 4. But the VICTORY was not complete until FIVE things were done. One, they were to LEAVE BEHIND the devoted things. DEVOTED THINGS were the graven or hand-carved images used in idol worship. Two, they were to COLLECT all the silver, gold, bronze and iron and put it in the Lord s treasury.
Three, they were to DEVOTE the CITY of JERICHO to the Lord, as an act of giving GOD all the glory and honor for their victory. Four, they were to KILL EVERY LIVING THING in Jericho. Now that sounds awful, but this was the equivalent of removing a cancerous tumor. ANALOGY: When a surgeon removes a cancerous tumor from the patient s body, he doesn t cut out part of it and leave the rest, does he? NO! the surgeon knows if he even leaves a tiny part of the tumor, it will grow back. It will always pose a threat to the well-being of the patient. The idol-worshiping residents of Jericho were a cancerous tumor that had to be completely removed. And in keeping with HIS PROMISE HE MADE 40 YEARS EARLIER, God ordered the Israelites to bring RAHAB and all her household out of the city ALIVE, because she had hid the spies four decades earlier. ************************************************ Let me point out a couple of important truths by way of application, then we ll close. One truth we must learn from this ANCIENT account is this:
Truth #1: Any wall that stands between Where You Are and Where God Wants You to Be Must Come Down What is that one thing that has always stood between you and God? What is that one thing that has kept you from becoming all God wants you to be? *Do you have any SINFUL or SELF-DESTRUCTIVE ADDICTIONS? *Do you have any SINFUL ATTITUDES you are harboring in your mind and heart. Attitudes like HATE or BITTERNESS or RESENTMENT or JEALOUSY or LUST or AN UNFORGIVING SPIRIT? *Do you have any SECRET SIN in your life? A SIN you are very ashamed of but yet you can t seem to let go of it? IF YOU ANSWERED YES to any of those questions let me remind you THOSE WALLS HAVE GOT TO COME DOWN if you are ever going to lay claim to God s richest blessings on your life.
And here is one other truth we must learn. TRUTH #2: Life s Battles Are Not Won By Human Effort, But By Surrendering to God s Power. Remember I mentioned awhile ago that the Israelites marched around JERICHO for six straight days and nothing happened. But on the SEVENTH DAY God gave them the victory. Many times when we encounter obstacles in our life we try to overcome those obstacles through our own human efforts only to fail time and time again. And sometimes we even do all the RIGHT THINGS.WE PRAY, WE READ OUR BIBLES, WE TRY TO KEEP BELIEVING AND KEEP TRUSTING IN GOD and yet nothing seems to happen. And when we don t see OUR WALLS coming down. When we don t see THE DOORS opening When we don t see our situation CHANGING or CHANGING quickly enough we often get DISCOURAGED and want to GIVE UP! LISTEN CAREFULLY! GOD WILL ALWAYS, I REPEAT ALWAYS, BRING VICTORY IN HIS WAY AND IN HIS TIME if we don t give up!
Now how do I put this message into practice? You tear down your WALL of PRIDE and stop trying to WIN your battles all by yourself And you start PRAYING, Lord, tear down this WALL in my marriage.or..tear down this WALL in my attitude..or. tear down this WALL at WORK.or tear down this WALL in my personal life. And you don t STOP praying that PRAYER until the LORD GIVES YOU THE VICTORY! Whatever it is you are battling tonight, don t ever forget THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD!