The Secret of Gilgal

Introduction

Read Joshua Chapter 10

Power in Persistent Prayer (v. 6-8)

This is a very important moment for Joshua in his leadership and in the life of Israel. Humanly speaking…this would’ve been a perfect moment for Joshua to get rid of the Gibeonites. They had deceived him into making a covenant with them. They were in the wrong for doing that, now they are getting what was coming to them. This coalition of kings are going to get rid of the continual eye sore that Gibeon was for Joshua! This is perfect. But Joshua didn’t do that. Why? Joshua was a man of integrity who honored his word. He didn’t even consider that as an option to leave them stranded. And secondly, this was a perfect military opportunity to take out 5 cities with one attack.

Then we see something really telling of the lessons that Joshua had learned. He prayed to the Lord at Gilgal and received an answer and a promise. With all these kings coming together, there had to be some concern in Joshua’s heart. The situation didn’t allow time to stop and think very long, so God gave Joshua a promise that gave him encouragement and a promise of victory.

Sprinkle of Application: How is your prayer life? Do you find yourself bringing every problem, sin struggle, social dilemma, attack of the enemy in your life to God or is your gut reaction to try and figure it out on your own?

Be on the Offensive against the Enemy

This text tells us that Joshua and his men marched all night, about 25 miles and all uphill (about 4,000 feet) over steep and difficult terrain. This meant, with no opportunity to rest, his fighting men would be tired. They needed strength from the Lord. Because they marched in the darkness, Joshua took the enemy by surprise and created a panic in the camp of the enemy. This caused them to retreat and when they did God sent a hailstorm that killed more of them than the men of Israel did.

In this chapter we see something cool that I want you to notice. We see the intertwining of God’s power and His work and the work of man in achieving victory. God answered the prayer of Joshua with a promise of victory, but the Israelites still had to go to battle to see the power of God on display. We still have the responsibility many times to do our part, but ultimately God is the one that brings the victory!

Guys, this victory showed everyone else living in Canaan that Joshua and the Israelites weren’t just some people from Egypt. Their victories at Jericho and Ai weren’t just by chance. They were legit, their God was unstoppable, and they were a people to be feared by the enemy of darkness. And I believe that the same should be said of the church today. We should be a group of believers that the forces of darkness should fear. A church as a group of people should be uncompromising in their testimony, courageous in their faith, and holy in their lives. In their worship services there should be awe and reverence demanded by the presence of God. (Press in here with students not taking seriously the times of teaching and worship) Every believer should be righteous in their conduct, uncompromising in their principles, passionate in devotion to Christ, serving sacrificially, and transparent in their life. There is no hidden life that you go back to when nobody is watching that the enemy can dig up and throw in your face. You are sold out for Jesus and you’re unapologetic about it. Sprinkle of Application: Do you live in such a way for Jesus that the enemy fears your holy boldness for God?

But this doesn’t feel like what the church is today. So how do we achieve this type of experience in our lives and in the life of our church? Well Jesus said something that I think applies well here…He said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against His church. Jesus never suggested that the gates of hell would suddenly somehow become uprooted and begin to march toward God’s people on earth. What He said was that the gates of hell would never be able to stand against the onslaught of a spirit-filled company of His people. God’s people should always be on the offensive, never on the defensive. Too often we retreat, run away, or hide from the devil, instead of launching a full scale offensive in the name of Jesus.

Sprinkle of Application: How are you taking the offensive against the enemy?

The answer to the questions we ask concerning victorious faith that we see with Joshua and the Israelites is found in the fate of the five kings at Beth-Horon. Go with me here:

The kings were hiding in a cave while their people retreated. Joshua found out and covered up the hole and had it guarded while the Israelites chased down and defeated the cities’ armies’. And after the battle had been won, he came back to the kings. He had them laying full length on the ground, with his captains standing on their necks. Why were they to be humiliated? Because before all of God’s people Joshua wanted them to know that God had brought the victory. “For thus the Lord will do to all of the enemies that you will fight.” Jesus fought for you and me on the cross and won. No part of your life, no deeply rooted sin or habit or weakness can stand against the cleansing and delivering power of Jesus’ blood that He shed for you on the cross at Calvary. But notice this “that you will fight” We must have faith as Christians, and part of that faith in Christ is waging war against everything that pulls us away from Christ. Think about this…what if you knew that you could stand on the neck of your jealousy, your pride, your critical spirit, of your bad language, of your addiction. Every gain in Christian character comes from an all out holy war against the sin in your life. Experiencing the power of Jesus Christ in our lives over our sin means declaring war. Have you identified yourself at war with your sin?

Something that is pretty graphic is Joshua hanging the 5 kings on five trees. Isn’t that a bit much? Shouldn’t what he’s already done been enough? We need to be reminded of something I think (or maybe told for the first time) God’s purpose for this land was Bethlehem, Calvary, and Pentecost. Without the total wipe out of every unholy thing in the Promised Land could the Savior Jesus come to fulfill His purpose to save us. This is what the Christian term “Sanctification” is all about. In each one of us is an old nature, a self that is incapable of holiness, that has been judged and condemned to die at the Cross. As Christians there is also in each one of you a new nature, incapable of sin, which has been given to us by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it is only as much experienced as I am prepared to submit to the wounds, the nails, and the crucifixion of myself that I can experience the victory of Christ. Are you glad to be a forgiven sinner? Are you glad that you are covered by the blood of Jesus? Are you glad that there is no condemnation in Christ? But in your life there may be sin that you’ve never brought out, confessed, forsaken, judged and condemned? It may be because you have left lurking within you a tongue that is critical of other people, or pride that has never been crucified, or lust that has never been confessed to God. Maybe the selfish desire to glorify yourself is still alive in the cave of your own body. Yes it’s forgiven, yes it’s under the blood, yes there is no condemnation…But you know from your own experience that, from time to time the thing inside of that cave suddenly comes out, and before you realize it your old self has created havoc again. There is one road to victory: Never take sides with sin, but declare total war on the serpent that lurks in your own heart. How will you enter into victorious experience? You might go up to someone you’ve wronged terribly, and apologize. You might fall at Jesus’ feet and confess the whole story of sin to Him. You might thank Jesus that He dealt with it at Calvary. Then what? You will look up into the face of the Living God and put your feet by faith on the enemy and say “This is what the Lord will do to all my enemies that I fight.”

Land the Plane (Gilgal)

Lastly, and this is how we will land the plane tonight… These kings had great armies and great power. So how did Joshua get them to hide from him in fear? If you read this whole chapter through for yourself you’ll find one word occur five different times, and it’s the key to victory. That word is “Gilgal” Joshua came up from Gilgal to meet the enemy. He was at that place again halfway through, and at the end of the battle, when victory was won, he went there again. All through this campaign, from beginning to the end, he kept open lines of communication with Gilgal. What was Gilgal for Joshua and the Israelites? Because I believe that the great words of the New Testament truth and salvation have their roots deeply imbedded in Gilgal. Let me explain:

It was a place of REMEMBRANCE, where all of God’s people together went down to die to themselves.

It was a place of RESURRECTION, where together they came up with their leader to death to self.

It was a place of RENUNCIATION, where they cast off the carnal existence of the wilderness.

It was a place of RESTORATION, where they came again into fellowship with the Lord.

It was a place of REALIZATION, where they began to taste of the strong food of the land.

It was a place of REVELATION, where they met their Captain with a drawn sword.

The Christian life has its roots firmly imbedded in Calvary at the Cross of Jesus… the place where we died with Jesus and rose with Him, where we have renounced our flesh entered into living relationship with Jesus our Lord, where we have began to take of the strong food of God’s Word and realizing every moment of our lives that the Captain of the Lord of hosts is with us. Gilgal wasn’t just a place of surrender at the very beginning, but an attitude maintained throughout Joshua’s campaign to take the promised land. Is the line of communication between your life and the throne of heaven open today? Because there will be no victory until it is. Don’t get it twisted and think that surrender to Jesus happened in a single moment alone. But it is a permanent attitude for faith in the Christian, which lies the only secret to real power in your life.