Faithful to Deliver
Joshua: The Faithfulness of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsJanuary Bible Study: Session 4
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TURN: Joshua 6
Crossing the Jordan River opened the door for the Israelites to take their next steps into Canaan.
As Jericho came into view, the Israelites saw a challenge, but the Lord had already claimed the victory.
He led them to conquer Jericho in a way that pointed them to His faithfulness.
Let’s be reminded that God is faithful to deliver.
PRAY
God is faithful to deliver.
God is faithful to deliver.
1 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. 4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” 6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” 7 And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”
NOW JERICHO- Among the oldest cities of the world
Because of its strategic position, Israel had to go through Jericho for further conquest to succeed.
WAS SHUT UP INSIDE AND OUTSIDE- known for double ring of walls, the outer six feet thick with houses built in
Earlier, Rahab told the two Israelites spies…
Joshua 2:9- 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
SEE I HAVE GIVEN JERICHO INTO YOUR HAND…- after the crossing of the Jordan, this would have inspired great confidence
TRUMPETS OF RAMS’ HORNS- symbol of the Lord’s coming and victory
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
SEVEN- symbolized divine perfection, bringing into view the Lord’s perfect presence, wisdom, and power as He led His people.
FALL DOWN FLAT- not outward or inward, but downward collapse
AND THE PEOPLE SHALL GO UP EVERYONE STRAIGHT BEFORE HIM- Wherever the people will be at that time they will be able to climb over
Not a typical military maneuver which would involve a siege of several months to force surrender through starvation.
What are some spiritual elements of worship incorporated here?
Priests took prominent roles in the march
The ark reminded the Israelites of God’s presence with them and His covenant with His people
The ram’s horn trumpets gathered God’s people and sounded on the Day of Atonement during the Jubilee year.
Shouts used in worship as an expression of joyous praise
3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
What might have been the purpose of such a strategy?
To make a lasting testimony to God’s faithfulness
10 But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” 11 So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.
…14 And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.
What do you think the impact of the 6 days of marching had on the Canaanites?
To the Canaanites, tensions must have been mounting each day as they wondered when the attack was coming
APP: Patient restraint was called for in the 6 days of silent marching.
What might have been the purpose in the silence?
How might we incorporate silence into our worship, personal and corporate?
What are some example of times we might refuse to wait on God’s plan and timing?
What is the dangers in moving ahead?
1 Samuel 13:9-10, 13- 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.
…13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
15 On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. 16 And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. 17 And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18 But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. 19 But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”
SHOUT FOR THE LORD HAS GIVEN YOU THE CITY- not to bolster strength for the battle but in praise for the victory as good as won by the Lord
...INTO THE TREASURY OF THE LORD- in recognition that God won this victory
APP: God would win the battle but required His people to participate in faith.
What is the relationship between obedience and faith?
Obedience demonstrates what we really believe
APP: Sometimes, people question the total annihilation of a city…
However, the livestock were made for destruction, the adults and even older children had sinfully rebelled against their Creator through pagan practices which they knew by conscience were evil, and the youngest were spared from becoming the sinful pagan they surely would have become in their culture.
God was using Israel against these sinful people in a similar way he used Babylon and Assyria against Judah and Israel, to bring righteous judgment.
25 But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
The Lord graced Rahab by giving her a new life among the Israelites.
Matthew included her in the genealogy of Jesus
Transition: God is faithful to deliver.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Bottomline:
Our obediences reveals the genuineness of our faith.
God rewards those who trust and obey Him.
How is this demonstrated in the text?
Closing ILL: Corrie ten Boom tells of the beginnings of her family’s efforts to protect Jews from the Nazi forces in Holland during WW2.
One night while visiting with a Jewish family, she prayed, “Lord Jesus, I offer myself for Your people. In any way. Any place. Any time.” She later tells us that her main “job” in the resistance movement was “to follow [God’s] leading one step at a time, holding every decision up to him in prayer.”
Many Jews were saved by that surrender to the Lord, although four members of the ten Boom family lost their lives. After surviving life in a concentration camp, Corrie spent the rest of her life telling her story and proclaiming the gospel around the world.
How is God calling you to act in obedient faith?
God is faithful to deliver, but calls on us to be faithful to our deliverer.