The Secret to Victory
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
It was only 2 short weeks ago that I stood up here and shared a message about Entering the Jordan. To sum up that message that was a call for all of us, a charge for you to submit to God and take a step of faith. A step that would allow the Grace of God to surround you to go through the rough waters of life. Just as God halted those rushing waters in the Jordan for the Israelites I pray that you have noticed God showing you Grace the past couple of weeks.
Last week we read as the Children of Israel passed through the Jordan and there were 2 memorials set up. One by Joshua in the midst of the Jordan and another by representatives from the 12 tribes on the other side of the Jordan.
This morning we continue our Journey with Joshua in Chapter 5. If you have your Bibles please turn or scroll with me to Joshua Chapter 5 and we will begin reading in Verse 1.
1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
2 At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. 3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. 5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: unto whom the Lord sware that he would not shew them the land, which the Lord sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 9 And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. 11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
The title of the message this morning is, “The Secret to Victory”.
Let’s Pray
This morning there is a lot we can learn from these verses. We could discuss the reason for the men to be circumcised as a sign of being a part of the covenant community and this action for the Child of Israel separated from a small portion of flesh in a form of demonstration that he would put to death the deeds of the flesh. We could look at comparatively speaking that the practice is not necessary for the modern Christian from a spiritual sense because we are to separate ourselves from the body of the sins of the flesh - we are to be a new creature in Christ. But we could discuss that circumcision did not happen during their travels in the wilderness and how their unfaithfulness played a major part in the cause for such to take place.
We could look at fact that they stopped and celebrated the Passover so they could spiritually prepare to seemingly head into battle at Jericho. We could talk about the fact that God blessed them with new food to where they no longer required manna and God’s Word makes it a point to let us know that they ate corn. We could talk about how that is yet another way of God illustrating the death, burial, & resurrection of Jesus Christ. One commentator points out, “The order of events reminds us again of His death, burial, and resurrection—they kept the Passover (His death), and they ate the fruit of the land (resurrection).”
However, we are going to keep our attention centered on the final 3 verse of this chapter. I believe God has something special for you in these verses.
Considering the Conflict
Considering the Conflict
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
The 1st thing we see is Joshua Considering the Conflict. God’s Word tells us that Joshua was by Jericho. Now let us stop here for a moment and talk about Jericho and it’s significance. The name Jericho means moon is considered to be the oldest city in the world. It sits on the lower end of the Jordan valley and as we read in Genesis 13:10, it is a place that, was well watered every where...even as the garden of the LORD”
Here in our text this morning it is the site of a prime Canaanite city that is west of the Jordan. However, what is most important to us is this is the first city which now stands before Joshua & the Israelites and the promised land.
Now as God’s Word tells us that Joshua was by Jericho it is fair to assume that he was probably surveying the situation. No doubt this would need to be defeated. However, there is just one problem, one look at Jericho and anyone with any military sense would tell Joshua that he was looking at an impossible feat. Since Jericho was such a vital city for the Canaanites no doubt it would have been well protected & well prepared for any sort of military advancement. So here is Joshua standing right by his problem, his conflict, his next trial.
We can learn something from this site as a Follower of Jesus Christ. We read that the Children of Israel exercised faith by entering the flooded banks of the Jordan. Then we saw when God performed a miracle by halting the waters. We see people worshipping God by the cutting of their flesh and the observance of the Passover. But on the heels of all of these great things they come upon this city. The city that they have to go to battle with and it seems like an unfeasible task.
This happens frequently in the life of a Christian. God will do a work in your life, you show your reverence & adoration, then BAM! You are hit with something new. You hear phrases like I just can’t catch a break & so often we forget that God has just moved in our lives. The fact of the matter is that quite often on the heels of a triumph comes a speed bump. Right after the blessing comes the testing.
Standing by Jericho Joshua now sees his next obstacle, he can gaze upon the Walls of Jericho. Now, rather it is by decisions that we made or the influence of Satan we all have Jerichos that spring up. This morning, do you have a Jericho? Is there a Jericho that you can gaze upon where the thought of it frustrates you, scares you, causes you to want to think about anything else but it?
You see that Jericho for Joshua stood between Israel and the land promised by God. For some of us in the House this morning, and watching & listening to this through social media, your Jericho may be a strained relationship with God. Your Jericho may be your past that no matter how hard you try, you can escape the memory or stigma it carries. For some it may be past failures. For some it may be an unhappy or broken marriage. For some it may be a struggle with your children or grandchildren. For others it may simply boil down to fear.
As Adrian Rogers put it, “when you face your Jericho, you can do one of two things: you can turn around and go back and die in the wilderness of unbelief; or else you can do as Joshua did, and you can face that fortress by faith, and conquer it.”
Christ is the Captain
Christ is the Captain
Let’s read verse 13 one more time.
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
Here we see Joshua has now shifted his focus from the Walls of Jericho to the figure before him holding the sword. Now I do not know about you but when you see someone before you standing with weapon no doubt this would be a cause for alarm. Joshua could have easily followed suit with someone like Jacob who, according to Genesis Chapter 32, wrestled God until the breaking of the day.
Instead of taking this approach, I like what Joshua does here and gets straight to the point. Are you for us or against us. Folks, a lot of trouble comes our way, a lot of hurt feelings take place, & a lot of misunderstanding compound into something they should not be all because people do not communicate. Communication is the simplest & easiest way to solve conflict or to remedy hurt feelings & misunderstandings.
Joshua recognized that even though here this man was standing before him with His sword drawn that it did not automatically make Him an enemy. There are people, especially Brothers & Sisters in Christ, that may seem as if they do not want the best for you but a lot of times that is just a warped perception. They may seem as if they parabolically have their weapon drawn but have you at least considered the possibility that they may be there to fight along side you instead of against you?
Now for Joshua, this man standing before Him was no ordinary man. Notice the phrase “with his sword drawn in his hand”. This phrase occurs only two other times in the Old Testament and both occurences are when the man is the embodiment of Yahweh or rather the preincarnate form of Jesus Christ.
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
The 2nd thing we can take away from our text this morning is that Christ is the Captain. Although I personally appreciate Joshua’s straightforwardness, there is a valuable lesson that we can learn from asking Jesus is He on our side or not. It is inevitable that all of us will be faced with that Jericho in our lives, faced with that problem, faced with that setback, faced with that quandary, faced with that irritant. But when we encounter it then we must never have the mindset that in order for us to conquer that Jericho & be victorious then God has to be on our side. Instead we must be doing everything within our ability to be on God’s side! God is for us but we should be aligned with Him and not the other way around.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
But it seems as if there are a lot of quote unquote Christians who misconstrue this verse and try to make it as if God is behind them following their movements and that is not what God’s Word tells us. In our text in Chapter 5 the preincarnate Jesus tells Joshua that He is the Captain of the Host of the Lord, meaning He is the leader.
There are a lot of people who treat Jesus as if He serves them. As if He is the lowest rank in God’s Army but the fact of the matter is he is at the top. None of us can ever operate or act as if Jesus is a servant of the Church because he is the Head of the Church. Jesus is not an errand runner, order taker, or pawn to be used. He is in control!
It would have been easy for Joshua to feel as if he was the captain after God revealed His plans to him and God performed such mighty works. But once this man came up with the sword drawn & He began to speak Joshua quickly remembered that he was only a follower. Have you done that? Have you forgotten your real rank in the order of things and recognized the true place that Jesus should have in your life? Have you really adopted that saying that should really be the mantra for any Follower of Jesus, “Not I, but Christ”?
Complying with Christ’s Command
Complying with Christ’s Command
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
When Joshua realized who this man was that was before him he did not ask questions. He did not try to probe for additional information due to any cynicism that grew from the man’s claim. He did what many of us struggle to do when God tells us something by placing it on our hearts. Joshua fell down & worshipped. The 3rd thing we see Joshua do is Comply with Christ’s Command.
But Joshua did not stop at just falling to the ground because quite honestly that is the easy part. To lift up a prayer by your bedside or in your car, to sing songs that praise God’s Goodness, to come to church on Sunday Mornings to worship God that is the easy part. It was what followed that we can learn a lot from. “What saith my Lord unto His servant,” is the question asked by Joshua.
As James Smith put it, “Those who have a humble heart will also have an open ear. It was when Abram fell on his face that God talked with him (Gen. 17:3). [It was when]Daniel had his face towards the ground when he heard the voice of His words (chap. 10:9). When we have been humbled before the Lord, let us then hear what God the Lord will speak.”
Now some of you may find it a struggle to pray, spend time in God’s Word, even to be engaged in corporate worship like this we are in this morning. That’s the 1st step which is the equivalent to falling to your face before the Lord. Some of you may struggle with asking the Lord to have His own way, to lead you, to show you what to do next in your life. That is the 2nd step and is equivalent to Joshua asking the Lord what he has to say” But it is the 3rd step that so many Christians struggle with because it causes you to completely surrender & submit to the direction of God.
15 And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Now out of all the things that the Captain of the host of the Lord could have said to Joshua, He chose to say take off your shoes. I don’t know about you but knowing me I probably would have the question why? You know when we have foot washing services and we tell people that this is an ordinance and a form of worship to Jesus people must think why do you want me to take my shoes off. I think if I were in Joshua’s position I would have probably asked why it was necessary to take my shoes off.
Asking Joshua to remove his sandals brings to mind God’s encounter with Moses at the burning bush. What we must understand is that where God is, is Holy Ground. You may notice a lot of people will remove their hat when they enter someones home, sit down at the dinner table, & especially enter a church’s sanctuary. It is the same principle, an act of reverence & respect.
Past that it was God’s direction and we should never neglect doing what it is that God calls us to do just because we do not understand or even find it strange.
8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:
I will guide thee with mine eye.
By the way we should follow the direction of God no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to be. This past Thursday Chrystal, the kids, & I were travelling back home from Louisa. We were just talking and for some reason it was on my heart to go to Louisa Airport. Now this may sound a bit strange but there was just this overwhelming need to turn at Louisa’s Industrial Park. So I am trying to justify in my mind why I had the desire to go down there but I reconciled in my mind that I just wanted the kids to see the planes that were parked there. I know I used to love that when I was a kid.
It was already beginning to get dark and there was no one in the office as all the lights appeared shut off. As I turned around after we glanced at the planes I noticed this guy parked right beside the building with his hood up. We pull over & I asked if he is OK and he says I could use a jump. Now here is this guy, with two young children probably toddlers so I ask if he works at the airport.
He says that he frequently flies in from Northern Virginia and he keeps this minivan here to travel over to Lake Anna with his family. He is thanking me and goes onto explain that he just knew he would have to call somebody because there is rarely someone as this airport this late in the evening.
Now most would say that this was a coincidence. Some may say Danny you were just being a big kid and wanted to look at the airplanes. But I drive by that Industrial park at least 10 times a week but it was at that moment that I felt this need to go there. That was God directing my path and me following no matter how insignificant it seems. Did I lead him to the Lord there, no. Did I make some kind of everlasting impact, probably not. But what if that man in that parking lot prayed a prayer for some help because him & his 2 little kids were stranded, maybe that was God using me to show that man that God answers prayer.
We must follow God’s direction no matter how unimportant or inconsequential in may seem. Because that direction for you to follow may be just one small link in a chain of events that God has lined up for something incredible to happen. All we have to do is be humble and follow his command. We have to comply with Christ’s Command.
Conclusion
As we look back over this chapter we can see a clear picture of what it means to truly follow Jesus Christ. First, we have to die to ourselves meaning our own ambitions and desires. That is shown to us by stepping into & crossing the Jordan. Secondly, we have to recognize who it is that possess the strength to hold back the waters and where it is that Grace comes from which is from God. This is shown to us by the stones that were stacked in & by the Jordan. Third, we have to realize that there is no victory, there is no conquest without surrendering to Jesus and Following His direction. That is shown to us by Joshua falling before the Lord is asking what’s next.
This morning we need to all commit to Considering the Conflict (what is your Jericho), recognizing Christ is the Captain, & Complying with Christ’s Command.
Will you pray with me?
Hess, R. S. (2017). Joshua. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (p. 328). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Smith, J., & Lee, R. (1971). Handfuls on Purpose for Christian Workers and Bible Students, Series I–XIII (five-volume edition, Vol. 4, p. 78). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jos 5:13). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Rogers, A. (2017). The Triumph of Faith. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Jos 5:13–15). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 13:10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Wiersbe, W. W. (1993). Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Jos 5). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.