Obiedence (2)

I can do this on my own

You ever been asked to accomplish a task and you were certain without a doubt there was no way you would be able to do what was asked of you?

Imagine if you were asked to bake a beautiful birthday cake from scratch

Or Build a new Table

Thanks to Pinterest for granting ideas to millions or spouses

Truth is we need help, we can do a lot of things and with the help of videos and DIY manuals we can accomplish a lot in this life

Yet there is still some things that we even with all the help in the world unable to really do

Speak in front of people for some even with all the training, guidance and encouragement we know within ourselves we will never be able to do.

The Israelites, while they did not have Youtube videos or DIY manuals on warfare they did have something

Let me say one thing about our own arrogance and reflections on what we think we can do.

Making cookies for example without all the ingredients is well a bad idea.

Baking a cake without instructions might seem easy yet we could very easily miss something.

Doing a repair on our vehicles ourselves could be disastrous

Joshua was ready for battle yet he would find out that it was not going to be him to do the work.

Isreal finds Hope not in themselves

JOSHUA FOUGHT THE BATTLE OF JERICHO, and the walls came tumbling down,” so the old spiritual says. It’s both right and wrong. The walls certainly collapsed upon themselves, and “everyone charged straight in, and they took the city” (v. 20 NIV), but there was no battle to be fought. God gave Jericho into Israel’s hands, and the whole account of this dramatic sixth chapter centers on the gracious gift of the sovereign Lord.

At the end of the 5th Chapter we will find that Joshua has encountered God, the Lord himself as the commander of his army (5:13–15).

Joshua had gone out to survey his problem (Jericho) and found himself face-to-face with his commander. He had gone out most probably to think through the military strategy by which he might lay siege to this heavily reinforced guardian-city, and instead he discovered that God’s plan was for him to take off his sandals and worship. It is a striking lesson.

This is not justification for inactivity. As we shall see, God’s people had a large part to play in the conquest and destruction of the city of Jericho. It was not delivered to them on a plate, as it were, by overwhelming supernatural intervention that required them to do nothing. But the way in which the victory came was chosen by the Lord, so that it would be ingrained in their memory that this first victory was the gift of their gracious, sovereign commander.

What happened at the beginning was to be the pattern for all their future advance into this land of promise and rest. Later our writer will reflect that “the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. . . . And the LORD gave them rest on every side” (21:43, 44).

Obedient action in response to divinely-given promises is the channel by which the sovereign grace of their covenant Lord is experienced in the lives of his people.

The previous generation had been taught the same lessons when they first came out of Egypt. Led by God himself to their camp place, facing the sea, with an impassable barrier in front of them and Pharaoh’s elite troops closing in on them from behind, Moses instructs them, “Fear not, stand firm [or still], and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. . . . The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent [or still]” (Exodus 14:13, 14). The sea parts, the people cross, and as the pursuing Egyptians are doomed, Israel knows that she has been delivered by God alone.

But when, three chapters later, they are attacked by the Amalekites at Rephidim, Moses instructs Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek,” and the outcome is that “Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword” (Exodus 17:8–13).

The battle only flows Israel’s way as Moses’ hands are lifted up to Heaven, carrying the rod of God as a physical sign of their exclusive dependence on the power of the Lord to deliver his people from their enemies. The memory of this, written in a book and recited “in the ears of Joshua” (Exodus 17:14), would undoubtedly have had a profound influence on the military and spiritual education of this young warrior. And now, at Jericho, the lessons are indicative of exactly the same principle.