God and the Walls
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I’m sure that you all remember the story about the walls of Jericho.
This is a story that we’ve been familiar with since children’s Bible Class. Joshua and the Israelites march around the wall of Jericho for seven days, and the walls fall down.
It’s a really great story… Some would call it a children’s story, but it’s also a story that continues to teach us very important lessons.
That’s the nature of stories, isn’t it? Stories teach many lessons. This is why over 40% of the Bible is story (narrative). It’s because stories can hold so many lessons. Stories can hold much more than just a list of dos and don’ts.
How much can you learn from “thou shalt not lie”?
How much can you learn from Abraham’s story of deception in Egypt?
The list is like your pocket. How much can you hold in there? A story is like a duffle bag. It holds many lessons and continues to teach throughout the ages.
So, in this sermon, we are going to look at the story of God and The Walls of Jericho and look at just some of the lessons that this story can teach us. So, I want to look at three questions that will help us to understand this story better.
Is God On My Side Or Theirs?
Is God On My Side Or Theirs?
This is actually one of the first questions asked in the context. Joshua 5:13-15.
13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Here, Joshua sees a mysterious warrior and asks him, ‘are you on our side or the enemy’s side?’
The man responds by saying, ‘No! I am a commander of the Lord’s army. I am on God’s side.’
In other words, the man tells Joshua that he’s asked the wrong question. The question is not: is God on my side. The question is: am I on God’s side.
That’s the application for us. Sometimes we think that God is on my side and not on theirs…
This is most evident in the political world.
Christians on the left say, “I don’t understand how any Christian can vote for Donald Trump.”
Christians on the right say, “I don’t understand how any Christian can vote for Joe Biden.”
These Christians believe that God is on their side and not on the other. They would ask the same question as Joshua: ‘are you on our side of the enemy’s side?’
This is the wrong question, isn’t it? God isn’t on the left or the right. He’s on his own side… And let’s just be honest. Both sides are evil at times, and both sides have some good as well.
The Democrats support abortion… I think that’s evil. But the Democrats also support the foreigner, the downtrodden, those seeking justice and asylum… I think that’s a good thing.
The Republicans support life in the womb… That’s a good thing. But the Republicans sound a lot like Pharaoh from the book of exodus… I think that’s evil.
There are Christians who say that they are “one issue voters.” That’s fine… It’s fine to be a one issue voter, but let’s understand that our God is not a one issue God, and the Bible is not a one issue book.
Instead of turning to the Republicans or Democrats because we think that God is on their side, maybe we should turn to God because he is on his own side. We need to be on his side…. This leads to the next two points….
Who Conquered Jericho?
Who Conquered Jericho?
On Wednesday, I asked you guys how Israel destroy the walls, and your answer was that they marched around the city a certain number of times, etc. But it wasn’t really the Jews who destroyed the walls, was it? Joshua 6:3-5.
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.”
Here, God tells Joshua what the people should do, and this is exactly what they do. They march around the walls, and at the end of the march on the seventh day they give a great shout, and the walls fall down.
Some people might read this, and assume that the Jews knocked the walls down, but they didn’t. They didn’t even touch the walls, so how did the walls fall down?
Do you remember the commander that Joshua saw just a couple of verses earlier? God’s army knocked down those walls, and the Jews were able to conquer Jericho…
In the same way that God created the world in seven days, God also destroyed Jericho in seven days.
Why were the Jews able to conquer Jericho? It’s because they were on God’s side… They obeyed God.
The Jews were obedient, and because of their obedience they were allowed to share in God’s victory. Joshua 6:2.
2 And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.
God was the true victor. The Jews had to rely on him.
That’s the lesson for us. We must rely on God.
We don’t fix things on our own, we don’t resolve things on our own, and we don’t conquer things on our own. We must rely on God.
Some people rely on everything but God to fix their problems.
Some people rely on everything but God to fix their marriage issues… If I had more money, that would fix all of our issues.
Some people rely on everything but God to fix the issues in our country… If I voted for politicians who put prayer back in schools, then that would fix all of our issues.
How does that work out? If we want to fix our problems then we need to rely on God.
If we want to fix the problems in our marriage, then I need to be a godly spouse.
If we want to fix the moral issues in our country, then we need to teach our children and our neighbor.
God knocked down the walls of Jericho, and God will knock down the walls in our lives as well. All we need to do is obey God like Joshua did outside of Jericho.
BTW this is something that the some in the religious world don’t understand. Some people believe that we just sit back and do nothing, and God will fix all of our problems. This is not how it works. If we want God to knock down the walls in our lives, then we must obey him. We must march.
Can We Find Good Without God?
Can We Find Good Without God?
If Joshua 6 was a chapter of great victory, then Joshua 7 is a chapter of great defeat. Why were they defeated? It’s because they were no longer on God’s side (we must be on God’s side not the other way around). Joshua 7:1-5.
1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.
2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, 5 and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
Do you remember the story of Achan? He took the things that God told them not to take. God was about to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey, but he believed that he could find good without God. Joshua 7:20-21.
20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
How did this work out? Because he sought good without God, Israel lost the battle. Since they failed to join God’s side, they were unable to obtain victory.
The lesson for us is that there is no good without God.
I preached on seeking good without God a couple of months ago. Do you remember what I said? Seeking good without God is idolatry. What did Achan use to try and find good without God? Wealth, so wealth became his Idol.
We need to make sure that we don’t fall into the same trap as Achan, but I fear at times that we do... Sometimes we think that our good comes from the politicians.
We get so worried and stressed when our politicians don’t win.
We get so worried, angry, and stressed when politicians lie and tell fabricated stories.
For many Christians, it seems like their good doesn’t come from God… it comes from their party being in the White House, and this is idolatry… And so many Christians are affected by it.
There are many good, moral Christians who bow before the alter of politics.
So, we need to ask, ‘does our good come from the politicians or does it come from God?’
Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m not saying that governments shouldn’t do good. God tells us that he expects governments to do good. Ezekiel 34:1-5
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered;
But if governments don’t do good, then that’s OK. Our good comes from God.
The Israelites recognized this in Joshua 6, but they failed to see it in Joshua 7
Conclusion
Conclusion
So, who are we? Are we Joshua 6 Christians or Joshua 7 Christians?
Do we rely on God, or do we rely on Man?