Trust God

Intro

We talk a lot here about God, about following Him and what Jesus means for your lives. You see, us leaders believe that what we read in the Bible, the stories we see are true, that they actually happened, that God is real and He did what the bible says that He did. This is the question I want to pose to you guys tonight, do you believe God is who He says He is, or we we say who He is.

One of the stories that many of have heard is the story of Jericho. For those of you who have heard it before how many think that it is just a story and never happened? It is okay you can let me know, you wont hurt my feelings. What If I could tell you that it actually happened and there is proof.

The consequences of the story of the conquest of Jericho has consequences though. If it is more then just a story, but is truth, did actually happen then there are consequences for our lives that we have to look into. This is not just stories to make us feel better, it would mean that then Jesus is who He said He is. If this one story is true, then how much more of the bible is true.

I love old stuff, I love digging through old buildings and finding anything that might be in there. A few years ago I went to a course at Millar Bible College on Archaeology and how it supports the Bible. The problem is often secular archaeologists tend to deny proof that they find that would support the Bible. I found out a little something about the Israelite's and the conquest of Jericho I wanted to share with you and then what that might mean for us today.

The Story

The people at the time knew who the God of Israel was. They at least heard of the power of God and all He had been doing through the land at the time. They would have known all the false God’s at the time had no power of the God of Israel. We also have one person and her family in the whole city that was saved due to her faith in God. With this being said I want to go over the story with you guys again. A few things to keep in mind, Jericho was a fortified city on a hill with two walls surrounding it there was a ditch or dry moat around the base of the hill with a retainining wall made of stone that was 15’ high. above that was a mudbrick wall 6’thick and 26’ high. at the top of the hill there was another mudbrick wall whose base was about 46’ above the retaining wall. There were houses built against the first wall, The city wall was the back wall of the house, this is where Rahab would have lived. It was at the end of harvest so any siege was going to last a long time because they where well stocked. They also had fresh water inside the city. a few thousand people probably would have been in the city.

Joshua 6:1–25 CSB

1 Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelites—no one leaving or entering. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its best soldiers over to you. 3 March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the rams’ horns. 5 When there is a prolonged blast of the horn and you hear its sound, have all the troops give a mighty shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the troops will advance, each man straight ahead.” 6 So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” 7 He said to the troops, “Move forward, march around the city, and have the armed men go ahead of the ark of the Lord.” 8 After Joshua had spoken to the troops, seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns before the Lord moved forward and blew the rams’ horns; the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. 9 While the rams’ horns were blowing, the armed men went in front of the priests who blew the rams’ horns, and the rear guard went behind the ark. 10 But Joshua had commanded the troops, “Do not shout or let your voice be heard. Don’t let one word come out of your mouth until the time I say, ‘Shout!’ Then you are to shout.” 11 So the ark of the Lord was carried around the city, circling it once. They returned to the camp and spent the night there. 12 Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests took the ark of the Lord, 13 and the seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns marched in front of the ark of the Lord. While the rams’ horns were blowing, the armed men went in front of them, and the rear guard went behind the ark of the Lord. 14 On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. 15 Early on the seventh day, they started at dawn and marched around the city seven times in the same way. That was the only day they marched around the city seven times. 16 After the seventh time, the priests blew the rams’ horns, and Joshua said to the troops, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. 17 But the city and everything in it are set apart to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone with her in the house will live, because she hid the messengers we sent. 18 But keep yourselves from the things set apart, or you will be set apart for destruction. If you take any of those things, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and make trouble for it. 19 For all the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, are dedicated to the Lord and must go into the Lord’s treasury.” 20 So the troops shouted, and the rams’ horns sounded. When they heard the blast of the ram’s horns, the troops gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. The troops advanced into the city, each man straight ahead, and they captured the city. 21 They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword—every man and woman, both young and old, and every ox, sheep, and donkey. 22 Joshua said to the two men who had scouted the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out of there, and all who are with her, just as you swore to her.” 23 So the young men who had scouted went in and brought out Rahab and her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel. 24 They burned the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. 25 However, Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and all who belonged to her, because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho, and she still lives in Israel today.

The archaeology

Knowing what the city looked like and how massive the walls where this seems like quite a stretch that this story could have actually happened? Well let me tell you what they found when the started to uncover the ancient city of Jericho.

What we found was that there was a dry moat around a retaining wall that was 15’ high. They found piles of red brick filling a dry moat around a 15’ high stone wall at the base of the city hill. God paved the way for the Israelite to get into the city (literally). they found evidence that shows both walls crumbled down and filled the ditch so that as the Bible said the Israelite's could march in easily.

Not only that if you remember the story of the spies of Israel spying out the land of Israel, they where saved by a lady named Rahab who lived against the city wall. She believed in God after seeing them and God promised to save her. in the 1900’s when we first found the city it was noted that a short stretch of wall remained standing. All the walls fell except for one short stretch where a house was placed.

Not only that but in the city there are signs of mass destruction and fire. It would have been common to take all the grain and food like that but what we have found is storage jars full of scorched and burnt grain. This is unusual unless you go back to the Bible.

Why does this matter?

Stuff like this makes me excited, I love this old stuff. Why does this matter? if one story in the OT can be proven through Archeology and historical records then it should change the way we look at the rest of it. Lots of the bible we need to take by faith, but there is proof out there mounting to show the validity of the bible.

What this means is that we need to take a serious look at the things we teach about the Bible because the truth in it has far reaching consequences. You can look to Jesus and trust in Him because He is who He said He is and did what He said He did. Youy need to trust in Him.