Keys to breaking down walls in relationships Joshua 5:13-6:5 Last week we opened our studies in the book of Joshua, or Je-shu-a or Jesus as it would be later pronounced and we read how God promised to be with Joshua as he led the people through the Jordan River, a symbol of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and into the promised land. God had promised to work powerfully through Joshua but God wasn t going to do it all and just carry Joshua along. Joshua would claim all the land he put his feet on but he would have to step out in faith and in obedience to God and that would take strength and courage. Both God and the family of faith, about 3 million of them, encouraged Joshua to be strong and courageous. Now they are in the Promised Land, this land that was to be a picture for New Testament believers of the Spirit filled life, the abundant life and they have come to the first obstacle and it is a really big, formidable, intimidating looking one. Joshua 5:13-6:5 (CEV) Israel Captures Jericho 13 One day, Joshua was near Jericho when he saw a man standing some distance in front of him. The man was holding a sword, so Joshua walked up to him and asked, Are you on our side or on our enemies' side? 14 Neither, he answered. I am here because I am the commander of the LORD s army. Joshua fell to his knees and bowed down to the ground. I am your servant, he said. Tell me what to do. 15 Take off your sandals, the commander answered. This is a holy place. So Joshua took off his sandals. 6 Meanwhile, the people of Jericho had been locking the gates in their town wall because they were afraid of the Israelites. No one could go out or come in. 2-3 The LORD said to Joshua: With my help, you and your army will defeat the king of Jericho and his army, and you will capture the town. Here is how to do it: March slowly around Jericho once a day for six days. 4 Take along the sacred chest and have seven priests walk in front of it, carrying trumpets. But on the seventh day, march slowly around the town seven times while the priests blow their trumpets. 5 Then the priests will blast on their trumpets, and everyone else will shout. The wall will fall down, and your soldiers can go straight in from every side. God has promised that they will conquer Canaan. The land is theirs. Everywhere they walk He will give it to them and so they step into their promised land and yet it seems like there is something there that ought not to be. The walls of Jericho were huge. I don t know if you saw the documentary on Shine TV a week ago. It showed the huge stone wall dug up by archaeologists and they found that in front of the stone wall was a bridge of red clay bricks. When the walls of Jericho came down it was this clay brick wall that used to sit on top of the 1
stone wall that unnaturally collapsed outwards, which then formed a ramp so that the Israelites could go up and take the city. In our story the Israelites have just arrived, surely life should be easy now but wham a massive wall stood between them and the heart of the land that God had promised. I wonder if you have been in the same position. You have been baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit, you have begun to really enjoy the presence of God and hearing the voice of God and you are living life and life in its fullest, abundant life then wham between you and your spouse, or between you and your teenager, or between your siblings or close friends a wall appears that seems immovable, formidable. You and I can relate to what Joshua and the family of faith must have been feeling. Something is wrong Lord, I hear your voice I feel your presence and yet why is there this huge wall between me and? Can you relate to that experience, to that feeling? That is exactly what Joshua and the people are feeling at this point. As we unpack this historical account this morning can I suggest to you that there are three keys in the way that Joshua faced the wall that are keys for you and I as well as we want to bring down the walls between us and others. In Sunday school we used to sing the song, Joshua won the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho, Joshua won the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down. Do you remember that? The reality is though as you read the text God brought down the walls, not Joshua, it was God, but Joshua had to face that wall, with faith, for it to come down, and how he faced that wall has lessons on how we can deal with the walls between us and others. KEYS TO BRINGING DOWN WALLS BETWEEN OURSELVES AND OTHERS 1. JOSHUA HAD AN ATTITUDE OF SUBMISSION TOWARDS JESUS. Here is Joshua in chapter 5 scoping out the city, looking at its formidable fortifications, no doubt his brilliant military mind was noticing detail and running through strategies in his mind when this soldier with a sword in his hand appears and Joshua no doubt using his generals voices demands are you for us or for our enemy? and the man simply says neither or in some of your translations his response is simply no, wrong question. Are you for us or against us? No. Neither! Then the man with the sword drawn says in vs 14 Neither, he answered. I am here because I am the commander of the LORD s army. Joshua fell to his knees and bowed down to the ground. I am your servant, he said. Tell me what to do. The man with the Sword drawn was the eternal Jesus before he was born of the virgin Mary. Bible scholars call the Old Testament appearances of Jesus Christophanies and there are 2
several in the Old Testament. For those of you that like to dig deep into the Word see how many you can find before small group this week. Angels will never allow you to bow down to them but this is Jesus and he accepts Joshua s worship and Joshua s tone changes from General Joshua; Oi, whose side are you on mate to an attitude of submission; he bows down and says you tell me what to do. I am not commanding you, telling you what to do; I am bowing before you and asking you what you want me to do. So often when there is a wall between us and someone else, there has been an offence, they have hurt us, they annoy us, we are getting judgemental of them, we are tempted to talk to others and get their opinion, essentially saying to our friends; hey, don t you agree with me. Can you see where I am coming from? Do you support me? Are you on my side? Even when we pray we ask God to do what seems right to us. Please sort him out Lord or sort her out. When Joshua is faced with a wall, a massive barrier, he is then faced with Jesus also, and the issue is no longer Jesus whose side are you on? That s the wrong question. He will answer us no or neither. The question is when we come to a barrier between us and someone else that seems to have hit a stalemate. The question is Jesus, what do you want me to do? Even if it appears to me that my spouse or my teen or my neighbour is totally in the wrong and being totally unreasonable, walls begin to come down when we stand in submission to Jesus and say; Jesus, ultimately it s about You and not me, so Lord, what would You have me do in this situation? As I read books on the miraculous and books on how to be used by God in healing there was always one great area of contention for me personally. Most of the faith books say never pray if it be thy will prayers. Just name it, declare it and claim it. Two thoughts have caused me to not accept that teaching personally. Firstly Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane after having shared his heart with His Father; yet not my will but yours be done. Paul says in the New Testament in this life we see as through a glass dimly. I recognise that the older I get that there were times when I thought I knew what was best but looking back I realize that God had far better plans. This morning, as maybe you are sitting here aware that there is a significant person in your life who you just don t seem to be able to break through to; step one, I suggest you don t get people to take sides with you, you share your heart with your heavenly father about it, even give the Lord a few suggestions, because He loves you to talk to Him, but ultimately say Jesus, you are the Lord, therefore Lord what do you want ME to do? And the walls will begin to come down as God shows you what He wants you to work on personally and what He wants you to do next. Lord you know best, tell me what you want me to do. 3
2. JOSHUA WAITED FOR THE LORD I want to get 2-3 big guys up here on stage. Men imagine that you are all in your twenties; you have been raised in preparation to take the Promised Land. You have learnt how to fight, you have studied military strategies, your life has been Israel s army training camp, you have kept super fit and because you have applied yourselves to your military training you are now captains in General Joshua s army. You know that the commander has been out in the field scoping out the city and now he comes back to you with the battle plan. Men, here s the plan, we are going to march around the city for 6 days with the worship team (including 7 priests with 7 trumpets) going first but we will do it silently. Then on the 7 th day we will march again and when we ve completed 7 laps of the city the priests will blow their trumpets and we will yell together and the walls will fall down. If you had spent your life training for battle; if you were one of those captains that Joshua spoke to what would have been your reaction? How would you have felt? Can you imagine what went through the minds of the Israelites as these soldiers marched each day? The walls would have felt bigger and bigger each day. I am sure they felt frustrated with all the waiting; they were trained for battle, now they are marching in silence. They must have been so frustrated, when is this wall going to get sorted. Can t we use some force or manipulation or trick or something to get it sorted? No Joshua says that we need to just quietly march and wait. I think that when you pray about a wall that you are facing, and you share your heart with God and you ask Him for His direction, what do you want me to do Lord? Then, the waiting period that follows shows tremendous faith. It s easier to get frustrated or give up or to force the situation somehow. To take the matter back into our own hands because it s taking too long. Joshua waited for God to act and sometimes when walls need to come down they come down fast, at other times it might be a month or a year or occasionally even years of trusting and waiting. Then something dramatic changes and the walls are gone in an instant. (e.g. if time wall between two sisters illustration). Russell are you saying when I face a seemingly impossible wall between me and someone I care about ; submit to God, ask Him what he wants me to do then just wait? Pastor that seems too simple and too passive, I ve got to do something else surely. There is something else you need to do and Joshua did. 3. ACTIVELY BELIEVE IN THE LORD In history, the Israelite soldiers marched following the worship team until the seventh day and then they shouted and the walls came down. 7 Priests, 7 Trumpets and on the 7 th day (7 being the number of completion) the walls came down. Joshua wasn t just passively waiting for God to do something; he was actively believing. What does that look like? The bible says in Psalm 47 Clap your hands all you people, shout unto God with a voice of triumph. The bible doesn t say clasp your hands all you people; wring them together with worry and anxiety. 4
Joshua Believed God daily that on the 7 th day, He would bring down the wall. If I were to reflect on the wide counsel of scripture about what to do when there are walls between people and when we are in this waiting period it seems to me that once I have prayed and submitted my will to His; Lord what do you want me to do? Our conversations and our attitudes are to be ones of praise and joy while we are waiting for the wall to come down. And so when you or I have a problem with a member of our families or someone else we are close to I don t think we should pollute the atmosphere by criticizing them or talking about them to other people. I think that the Lord wants us to trust Him and let our hearts and our voices be filled with anticipation and praise. You and I wish the wall had come down yesterday and we know we don t see what God sees, but with faith we can pray: God, I don t know when or how, but I praise you Lord, the wall is coming down!!! I am so grateful that you have a plan and I can trust you. Lord I am waiting for your timing in anticipation of that day. Family I don t know if you are facing a wall in your relationship to someone currently, it s very likely in this life if you are not facing one now you will one day into the future. Remember God s servant Joshua, Je-shu-a. It s not about whose side are you on or who is right and who is wrong, it s about what does Jesus want you to do in this situation. He sees things and knows things that you and I can t even begin to fathom. When you are faced with a wall in a relationship come to Him first; Lord what would you have me do? Secondly learn to wait on the Lord, don t take back control of the situation or try to force something to happen, just wait. God will come through some time and that wall will come down suddenly. Thirdly, while you are waiting trust God actively don t moan, run down, criticize or have a pity party over it. Just clap your hands and fill your heart with anticipation and your voice with praise. At the best time, when God has completed whatever He is achieving through this situation, that wall is coming down. The children of Israel spoke about the victory at Jericho for generations. May your family and my family also have many supernatural testimonies of the goodness of God in bringing down walls supernaturally in our relationships also. 5