Jericho

Introduction (0-5 minutes)

Actually one of the most bizarre stories of faith

Spoiler alert/summary

We don’t know what to do with it // Landmark sermon

We want to leave it in VBS land

It reveals some crucial things about God’s character that we need

Read Hebrews 11:30-31

3 figures — angel, prostitute, general

3 people to see (5-25 minutes)

Angel (Joshua 5:13-6:5)

Read Joshua 5:13-6:5; explain

We want—and have trouble with—God’s wrath

Was God harsh?

400 years of patience, child sacrifice to Molech

Epstein is great proof of our desire for justice

We try and strip God of his wrath

Seminary book saying no war metaphors

To the men…

Song the other day “I’m in love”

Grace — “good soldier for the Lord”

God is a warrior (Exodus 15:3)

The urge to fight, protect, take risks, etc. is good

Our God is both lion and lamb and we don’t get to pick one or the other

why we struggle with wrath, even though we want it?

Because we don’t want it directed at us

Imagine your worst moment…God’s wrath directed at our sin (Prov. 8:13 // fear of Lord = hatred of evil; not temperamental hothead, but a righteous judge)

Rahab (Joshua 2:8-11, 6:24-25)

Why do the spies go to a prostitute?

Trying to lay low

They’re not going to the YMCA in Sin City

Imagine being the person in Vegas that is so far low that people come to you to hide from the law

Why it’s significant she’s a prostitute // power of sexual shame is thinking “yes, but God can’t forgive this one thing…”

Friends, that’s what we would think about Rahab, “yes, but God can’t forgive this one girl…”

Read Joshua 6:24-25

Rahab is forgiven and included in the lineage of Jesus

Prostitutes supposed to be stoned, was God breaking his rules? No, her 30-something-great-grandson’s bones were crushed in her place

Not just a judge paying our fine, but a judge going to the electric chair

Joshua

The problem we face is to continue living by the faith we exercised at the start

One act of faith is not enough — Rahab (James 2:25-26)

Joshua — there’s more of the Promised Land to conquer

What’s the next hill of holiness you need to take?

Grace Alone lyrics, last 4 lines

Revisit wrath and grace

Do you believe the same power that saved you is sanctifying you?

Do you believe the same God that conquered Satan at the cross empowers you to conquer the sin in front of you?

God can certainly sanctify us in multiple ways at once, but it may be that the best thing is to take one sin and burn it to the ground first

What’s the next hill of holiness that you need to take?

Exhortation (25-30 minutes)

We aren’t perfect

Joshua calls the people to commit and then tells them they’re unable

Even one group isn’t overtaken by Joshua because he’s tricked into a treaty

We feel the pain of our slavery to sin

What hope is there for us?

God never calls a truce.

Hebrews 12:1-2