Jericho

January 22, 2023

Series 2: Victory through Faith Jericho

2.3

FOCUS VERSE

LESSON TEXT

Joshua 6:1–25

Joshua 6:1–25 (KJV 1900)

Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto 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 unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord. And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout. So the ark of the Lord compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city. And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord. So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

TRUTH ABOUT GOD

God can provide victory through unconventional means.

TRUTH FOR MY LIFE

I will follow God and trust Him for victory.

Want to get away from it all?

Icebreaker: If you could get one photo at any major tourist attraction in the world, where would it be/

lesson connection

In ad 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming dynasty in China. Within one hundred years, construction commenced on what would become known as the Great Wall of China. For the next three centuries, the wall expanded to 13,000 miles, including more than 25,000 towers, each protected by a permanent garrison. What was this wall’s main purpose? It was built to prevent a large-scale Mongolian invasion.

The Great Wall of China is a grand example of the numerous walls that have been constructed throughout human history. The first massive wall-building project was thanks to the Roman Empire. The Romans developed sophisticated engineering techniques, allowing many of their structures to remain largely intact. Some of them may last even beyond the twenty-first century. At first the Romans built the walls primarily for defense. Those walls protected the city for centuries, allowing its inhabitants to huddle behind them during invasions and hostile occupation. In 216 bc, the Carthaginian commander, Hannibal, was turned away from an attack on the city of Rome after he destroyed the Roman army at Cannae. The large, imposing walls proved too much for him and his army to overcome.

Not all walls are defensive in nature. Some are designed to keep people in. A case in point was the infamous Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall separated East Germany and West Germany for nearly three decades. It became a symbol of the Iron Curtain that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. It was ultimately a barrier to progress and the unification of a nation. At a critical point during the Cold War, then President Ronald Reagan uttered these words that have echoed through the following decades: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Over the next few years, the shockwaves of Reagan’s words reverberated, became a rallying call, and the wall indeed fell. Its fall ultimately led to German reunification on October 3, 1990. As important as walls can be, history has shown some walls simply need to fall. Often, all it takes is for someone courageous enough to make some noise.

Bible Lesson

I. THE CHALLENGE AT JERICHO

A. God Gave Joshua an Unconventional Battle Plan

Picture the excitement and amazement the Israelites felt after passing through the Jordan River on dry ground. Many of them had not been born when their parents crossed through the Red Sea after leaving Egypt. Some were small children with only a vague memory of the Red Sea crossing. But the story was legendary. Imagine a grandfather gathering his grandchildren around to tell them how the walls of water stood on each side as he, their grandmother, and the children’s parents walked through the sea—on dry ground. His voice may have growled as he mimicked the rumble of the waters crashing down on the Egyptian army who was hot on their trail.

As exciting as this moment was, these energized people of promise were soon to discover two key principles of advancement into God’s promises. First, there are always battles along the journey into the promise. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul would describe how the righteousness of God is revealed: from faith to faith. The just will live by faith (Romans 1:17). A person of faith will be led from one situation to another that requires faithful obedience to God and His righteous ways.

The second key principle of advancement into God’s promises is that God’s methods and paths to victory are usually different from our preferences. Some have remarked, “If you want to make God laugh, share with Him your plans.” If you would have asked Israel their ideal plan for breaching the walls of Jericho, it would have likely included ladders, fire, and battering rams. Yes, they would have to fight, but it would be an unconventional, God-designed battle plan that would lead them to victory, a plan that would require great faith and unmistakably prove God was in control.

What are some mysterious ways you have seen God lead a person into greater arenas of faith?

B. Israel’s Obedience

Between the Jordan River and Jericho, Israel received signs that God was in control and was blessing their faith and sanctification.

Obedience tends to beget obedience. Even though God’s next plan on their journey into promise seemed strange, they obeyed. They were learning to walk by faith. There would be setbacks and failures along the way, but that day would be one more God-sized step of faith.

C. I Will Choose to Obey Even When I Do Not Understand God’s Plan

People doubted and hesitated to obey God’s plan. Many followers of Jesus live frustrated and unfulfilled because they have never learned to fully trust and fully obey. They are often looking for loopholes to submission. Excuses abound for why they cannot submit: it is too costly, too hard, or too unreasonable. And they question, “Hath God really said?”

Jesus said the meek shall inherit the earth, those who hunger for righteousness shall be filled, the merciful shall obtain mercy, the pure in heart shall see God, and the peacemakers shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:5–10). This requires heartfelt and purposeful obedience. The correlation between integrity, honesty, purity, prayer, fasting, forgiveness, and receiving specific promises of God are clear in His Word. All of them are difficult. They require Job-like trust in God—even if it feels like it will kill us.

But the promises are worth the struggle. Battling to stay pure in an impure world is worth seeing and experiencing God’s fullness. Our generation desperately needs the miraculous precipitated by prayer and fasting.

Complete obedience, even when we do not understand, brings the fullness of God’s promise to direct our paths. As Proverbs 3:5–6 states, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

II. MARCHING TO VICTORY

A. The Israelites Followed God’s Plan to the Letter

God’s plan was clear. The priests were to carry the Ark of the Covenant around the city walls of Jericho one time per day for six days. Seven additional priests were to walk before the Ark blowing seven rams’ horns while the rest of the people were to remain utterly silent. Then, on the seventh day, they were to encompass the city seven times. On the seventh time, the people were supposed to shout as the priests blew the rams’ horns.

But why? Why not just walk around one time for one day? Surely God could just knock down the walls and spare them the effort.

Why is it important to obey God’s commands even when they do not make sense to us?

This new generation of Israelites was learning to trust God’s ways even if they did not understand them. They marched, they stayed silent, and they shouted exactly when instructed. Their act of complete obedience yielded miraculous access to and momentum in the first major battle in the Promised Land. The wall fell down flat.

B. God Gave Israel Total Victory over Jericho

Shouts of obedience quickly transitioned into shouts of praise and then to war cries. Once again, obedience yielded God’s favor and divine intervention as God did as He had promised and toppled the walls. The people went straight up into the city and fought a victorious battle.

There have been skeptics of the Jericho story for many years. In the 1950s, archaeologist Kathleen Kenyan concluded Jericho was destroyed 150 years before Israel’s invasion in 1400 bc. Consequently, many assumed the biblical account was merely folklore or a convenient religious story. Many decades later, however, another archaeologist reviewed Ms. Kenyan’s research. Bryant Wood of the University of Toronto revealed his finding in the March/April issue of the scholarly journal Biblical Archaeology Review. He shared his findings of extensive ceramic remnants and carbon-14 dating, which contradicted Kenyan’s dating of the destruction of the city. Additionally, large amounts of stored grain were found in the remains, which indicated a relatively short siege of the city. Most significantly, he also noted collapsed mud bricks were found inside a lower retaining wall. The collapsed bricks had apparently served as a ramp for the Israelites to go straight up into the city as described in the biblical narrative. Wood concluded, “Here is impressive evidence that the walls of Jericho did indeed topple as the Bible records.”

God gave Israel the victory He had promised. Did they have to fight? Yes. But once again, God provided the miracle by removing the obstacles that blocked the promise. Their complete obedience led to God’s complete provision. This divine principle of submission and obedience is still at work in God’s kingdom today.

C. When We Obey God, He Will Respond and Tear Down Walls in Our Lives

When God’s children will trust Him enough to obey Him fully, He will do the miraculous. Walls that seem insurmountable can be leveled. Barricades blocking spiritual progress can be removed. Addictions and habits that have bound and sentenced, can lose their grip. Demonic oppression and possession must disappear when a heart is fully submitted to God. James, the brother of Jesus, provided a clear picture of this reality of spiritual victory in James 4. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (James 4:7–8).

Internalizing the Message

Once upon a time, a peasant farmer owned an ox. The ox was valuable to him and key to his farm’s success. On a fateful day, the ox fell into an empty, old well whose water had dried up. The ox began moaning distressed cries for help. Responding to the ox’s plaintive cries, the peasant discovered the helpless ox and tried to rescue it. He attempted hoisting the ox with ropes and chains, but the beast’s size and weight were too much. He lowered a ladder thinking the ox could climb out, but the ox could not navigate the rungs of the ladder. His many attempts to aid his farm friend were futile. Finally, with great sorrow, he gave up on the ox. He decided to mercifully put the ox out of its misery. He purposed to bury the ox by shoveling dirt into the well.

As the farmer regrettably heaved each pile of dirt into the well, the ox demonstrated its will to survive. As each lump of earth landed on its back, the ox defiantly shook it off. With the debris that was meant to bury the ox now under its feet, the ox began to climb up, pile by pile, step by step.

As the ox began to rise higher, the peasant farmer noticed the ox’s determination. He feverishly continued to pile more and more dirt into the well. It was a messy endeavor that left them both in need of a good bath, but eventually the ox was able to rise up and climb out. What was used as an attempt to bury it, the ox transformed into a pathway to an improbable way of escape.

At different points in life, we can each find ourselves in seemingly overwhelming circumstances. We are in the pit of despair. Sometimes we find ourselves there by random chance; other times the pit is dug of our own poor choices. The walls of the pit may seem to be closing in, and even those who love us may lose hope. In such times, we must remind ourselves of our God who is for us and never leaves us. As the messiness of circumstances piles on, do not lose hope. Be dedicated and determined to emerge victorious.

We serve a God who works in unconventional ways to turn our trials into our testimonies. He can transform our pain in life into His purpose for our life. Whether He helps us bring the walls down or helps us rise above them, we must be faithful and trust in Him. If He says, “Shout,” shout. If He says, “Be silent,” be silent. If He says, “Go up,” go up. Like Israel entering the Promised Land, faith and obedience to God will bring us to the other side of the walls and into His promises.