By Faith Joshua
By Faith • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 216 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Joshua was a
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
Joshua was a son, a slave, a soldier, a servant, a spy, a statesman, a saint, and the successor of Moses. Joshua was a man that was called by the Lord to carry on after the death of Moses. He was commissioned to be a student of God’s word
Joshua is not mentioned here, but this happened under his leadership.
So, who is this Joshua?
Joshua was a son, a slave, a soldier, a servant, a spy, a statesman, a saint, and the successor of Moses. Joshua was a man that was called by the Lord to carry on after the death of Moses. He was commissioned by the Lord to be a student of God’s word.
Joshua 1
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Joshua was filled with the Spirit of God and enjoyed the presence of God:
Deuteronomy 3
Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.
So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
Joshua 6:27
Joshua, as the successor of Moses, was to make sure that the Israelites entered into the promised land. He wasn’t just organizing a group trip into the promised land, he was leading them in a process to become closer to and more dependent on God in their journey.
As a result, Joshua had to lead the people through some extraordinary circumstances and help them utilize some phenomenal faith!
The Old Testament parallel to this verse from is found in Joshua, specifically 5:13-6:27.
One emphasis of this great chapter in Hebrews is to understand how God has acted in the past and how His faithfulness was proven over and over in the lives of the Old Testament characters. This particular verse is not so much about a person as it is about an event.
Imagine you were a reporter for the Gospel News Network, if there was such a thing, and you were assigned this story. Being a good reporter, you need to answer the following:
What, where, when, how and why. First, let’s look at What:
What
What
On their journey to the promised land, the Israelites had to go through the city of Jericho. Some say it is the oldest inhabited city. Excavations have shown the walls were 11 feet high and 14 feet wide. The tops of the walls were angled up to 35 degrees which made it difficult to go over.
When the people came up to the city, it was shut so no one could get in and no one could get out. It was a city that was the enemy and a city in the way.
Moses had been warned of such a city:
On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.
“ ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’ ”
Numbers 33:
Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky.
The Israelites path to the promised land had to go through this city. It blocked their path and it had graven images and idols that the Lord commanded to be destroyed and demolished.
We have talked about the obstacles that block us along life’s paths. We have situations and circumstances that prevent us from moving onward. They seem too big to overcome, yet if God says to conquer it, then we will be able to conquer it!
So where was this fortified city?
Where
Where
The city geographically was just north of the Dead Sea. You can find it on any Old Testament Bible map. It was a city that was called the City of Palms in . It was the strategically the key of the land as it was situated at the entrance of the two passes through the hills, one that led to Jerusalem and one that lead to Ai and Bethel. This was an unconquerable city as we have mentioned.
Jericho was in the way of the promised land. It is important to note that Jericho was not the destination. It was not the final stop. They could have conquered the city and settled there but that is not want God intended. Sometimes you and I have a tendency to settle for what we think is best, but it is by no means what God’s best is!
It is important to note that Jericha
What are you settling for right now? What does God want you to do?
Joshua was told by the Lord in that Jericho was delivered into his hands:
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.
Joshua 6
Again, this was not the final destination, it was on the way to the final destination. It is important to know that the journey is where God speaks the most. What is God saying to you as you carry on this journey?
The next thing a good reporter should ask is when.
When
When
When should this occur? The specifics here were that this on the seventh time of marching on the seventh day, and with the trumpet blast of the priests, the walls would come tumbling down.
Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”
God gave great details about this! Sometimes in scripture we have great details about God’s timing, sometimes we do not.
God gave great details about this! Sometimes in scripture we have great details about God’s timing, sometimes we do not.
I have learned when you serve a perfect God you learn that His timing is always perfect. He is always an on time every time God. It is our responsibility to do what we are called to do.
The very best answer is when God says for it to occur. So how do you know the when’s in our lives?
Right after the Lord gave Joshua the instructions, he goes and shares with the priests.
So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.”
The very best answer is when God says for it to occur. So how do you know the when’s in our lives?
God gives Joshua instruction. Joshua receives that instruction and then leads with it.
Did you notice the backlash that came from the priests when they were told what to do? Right. There wasn’t any. The priests were so in tune with Joshua’s leadership, they did not question his method or timing. They just did what they were told.
God’s timing is always perfect.
Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
Ecclesiastes
Closely related to the when is the How.
How
How
Our verse in says that, “by faith, the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.”
How did this happen? It started with the understanding that God was their deliverer and sustainer. When we realize that God is indeed our deliverer and sustainer, we will praise Him and worship Him. That is exactly want the people did. They worshiped God by having the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant out in front of them as they went. This showed that the people were willing to follow their God. Worship is always the place to start. When we commit to God through worship, we will commit to knowing that His process is perfect, even if it is confusing. Another beautiful understanding we find here is that God’s name always goes before us.
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Exodus 13:21
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Habakkuk 3:13
You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot. Selah
Seeing the what, where, when and how, we are amazed with the WHY.
Why
Why
The whole purpose of the people going through the city of Jericho was to get to the promised land. God’s intention since the creation of mankind was to advance His Kingdom and build a relationship with His people.
To fully understand why, we must look at who He is.
God is love.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
So what can we learn from this one verse?
Faith is not faith unless it acts.
We must not expect to be saved by faith unless faith pushes us to run in God’s way.
God appointed a way to conquer Jericho. God will appoint a way to conquer the Jericho’s in our lives.
Jericho was taken by men who though not of what they could do but what God could do for them.
The people that saw God make those walls of that fortified city fall down never forgot it. Just as you and I shall never forget what God has done for us and in us. When something needs to be done that seems impossible, we can remember the great things that our Great God has done understanding that He is able to do those great things again!
When things seem impossible, we must remember that with God, all things are possible!
One last thing here, this great text in has the Israelites crossing the Red Sea then goes to verse 30 that talks about the walls of Jericho. There is not a word about the wilderness wanderings here. The God of Grace has blotted them out, just like He blots out our unfaithfulness and wilderness wanderings.
Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
Hebrews 10:17
Thanks be to God.