Jericho: Spiritual Warfare — Stephen Kaung

This is Monday evening, November 10th, 1975, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry is being given through Stephen Kohn.

Joshua Meets the Captain of the Lord’s Army

Will you please turn to the book of Joshua. Joshua, chapter 5. We begin with verse 13. Joshua, chapter 5, verse 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 before him with a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, Art thou for us or for our enemies? And he said, No, for as captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come.

Then Joshua fell upon his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, What says my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of Jehovah's army said to Joshua, Lose thy sandal from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy.

And Joshua did so. Chapter 6, verse 1. Now Jericho was shut up and was barred because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in. And Jehovah said to Joshua, See, I have given into thy hand Jericho and the king thereof and the valiant man.

And ye shall go round the city, all the men of war, encompassing the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall carry before the ark seven blessed trumpets. And on the seventh day ye shall go round the city seven times.

And the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the blessed horn that all the people on hearing the sound of the trumpet shall shout with a great shout.

And the wall of the city shall fall flat. And the people shall go up, each one straight before him. And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, Carry the ark of the covenant. And seven priests shall carry seven blessed trumpets before the ark of Jehovah.

And he said to the people, Pass on, go round the city. And they that are armed shall pass on before the ark of Jehovah. Verse 15. And it was so that on the seventh day they rose early about the morning dawn and went round the city after the same manner seven times.

Only on that day they went round the city seven times. And it came to pass the seventh time when the priests blew with the trumpets that Joshua said to the people, Shout, for Jehovah has given you the city.

And the city shall be accursed, it and all that is in it to Jehovah. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. But in any wise keep from the accursed thing, lest you make yourself accursed in taking of the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it.

And all the silver and gold and vessels of copper and iron shall be holy to Jehovah. They shall come into the treasury of Jehovah. And the people shouted, and they blew with the trumpets. And it came to pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpets, and the people shouted with a great shout that the wall fell down flat.

And the people went up into the city, each one straight before him, and they took the city. Quite long ago, we began to fellowship on the book of Joshua. By crossing the river Jordan, the children of Israel came into the promised land at last.

And spiritually speaking, in our identification with Christ, in his death, burial, and resurrection, we are delivered from the life of the desert, that is the life in the flesh, and come into the promised land, which is the life in Christ.

So the children of Israel were now in the promised land. Now of course, several things happened, which we will not go into details this evening. One thing is, the whole nation was circumcised at Gilgal.

The second thing was, after they arrived in the land, then they began to eat the old corn of the land, and the manna stopped. And the third thing of course, we read in the very beginning, the Lord came into their midst to be the army, the captain of the army of the Lord.

Now the children of Israel were now in the promised land. And of course, to be in the promised land was to possess their possession. But before they could possess their possession, they had to enter into battles.

Possessing Christ Through Spiritual Warfare

Because the promised land was not unoccupied. The promised land was occupied by seven tribes. Not only very wicked, but very strong. In order to possess their possession, they had to first dispossess all their enemies.

There will be warfare involved before they could actually possess their possession. So you find that in the book of Joshua, the first part of the book of Joshua is occupied completely with warfare. And it is only when you come to the second part of Joshua, then it has to do with the partitioning of the land, the dividing of the land.

But we must remember that the war is not the end. The war is a means to an end. The end is to possess the land. But in order to possess the land, because the enemies were there, therefore there would be warfare.

So dear brothers and sisters, in our life in Christ, there is spiritual warfare involved. But we must remember that spiritual warfare is not an end in itself. It is inevitable. If we want to possess Christ, in all that he is, we shall be involved in spiritual conflict.

That is something we cannot avoid. And yet on the other hand, this is not our aim. This is not our end. Our end is to possess Christ. You know sometimes people can be so war conscious. They feel they are involved in a warfare.

And they see the enemy everywhere and they are fighting day and night. They are only conscious of warfare. And that can be very damaging and very unhealthy. We should be conscious of Christ. We should be conscious of possessing Christ.

This is our aim. This is our end. And because we want to arrive at that end, we are involved in a warfare. I think this is something that we need to always remember. The children of Israel, they had to enter into warfare.

And Joshua being the leader of the children of Israel, no doubt, he felt the burden upon him. And the first city that stood in their way was the city of Jericho. Now the city of Jericho was a very big city, with very high walls.

So Joshua being the leader, no doubt, he went out to survey the city. He went out to see the city. He went out to plan the strategy of taking that city. But while he was planning the strategy of taking that city, a man appeared to him.

With a drawn sword. And naturally Joshua went to him and said, Now are you for us or against us? Because in war there is no such thing as neutrality. Even though people say we will be neutral, but we know there is no such thing as neutrality.

Especially in this matter of spiritual warfare, there is no neutrality. You're either for, you're either against. So Joshua went to that man and said, Are you for us or are you against us? But he got the surprise of his life.

Because that man said, No, I'm neither for you nor against you. Yet he was neither neutral. He said, I come to be the captain of the army of the Lord. Joshua thought that. He was the captain of the army of the Lord.

Joshua thought that he had the whole burden of the war upon his shoulder. Joshua thought that he had to plan the strategy. It was his battle. So before he entered into that battle, the Lord reminded him that the battle is the Lord's.

The burden is upon the shoulder of the Son of God. And he is the captain of the army of the Lord. Dear brothers and sisters, you know, when we are led, as it were, into that heavenly realm, and we know Canaan is that heavenly realm, in the heavenlies.

Christ’s Victory Over Principalities and Powers

God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. We are in Christ Jesus. And we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. In other words, the whole land is before us.

And yet, in the same heavenly place, there are principalities and authorities. And powers of darkness and evil spirit of the air. Just like in the promised land, there were the seven tribes there. So as we enter into the heavenly realm, on the one hand, we are to receive the blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

Yet on the other hand, we are confronted with principalities, authorities, powers of darkness and evil spirit of the air. Spiritual conflict. But in our innocence. When we meet spiritual conflict, or when we enter into that realm of spiritual conflict, we often times think that we have to fight it out.

We always think that the burden is upon our shoulder. And we are to plan as to how to overcome our enemies. Not knowing that our enemy is just too clever and too strong for us. And it is not the will of the Lord that we should enter into spiritual conflict with that kind of attitude.

If we enter into spiritual conflict with that kind of attitude, we will be defeated without doubt. We will be damaged. We will be hurt. And you'll find many among God's people are hurt because of the lack of knowledge.

Even though it seems as if we are involved in a spiritual conflict. And yet dear brothers and sisters, we must remember that the battle is not ours. The battle is the Lord's. We must remember that it is the Lord who leads us into the battle.

He is the captain of the army of the Lord. It is the Lord who plans the strategy of all the battles. He takes upon himself that responsibility. And he did. Two thousand years ago. There on Calvary's cross.

Our captain had dealt a fatal blow to. There he spoiled the principalities and authorities. There he make a public show of his enemies. There he proclaimed his victory. So in other words, dear brothers and sisters, before we enter into spiritual conflict, we need to know that our Lord Jesus is the captain.

And he has already won the decisive. He has already won the battle. On Calvary's cross, the head of the serpent has been crushed. And today as we enter into spiritual conflict, we are in the train of his triumph.

That's all that is involved. So first of all, you'll find the Lord came and said, I am to be the captain of the host of the Lord. And immediately Joshua prostrated himself before him and worshiped him.

What a relief. You know, sometimes we take too much responsibility. We need to be responsible, no doubt. Some people are just irresponsible. But for those who are serious, we tend to be overly responsible.

We tend to feel that everything is just upon us. And if we don't, then the whole world will collapse. There is no such a thing. It is upon the shoulder. Government is upon his shoulder. The battle is the Lord.

Oh, what a relief. And the Lord said, Joshua said, what should I do? What do you want to do? You are the Lord. What do you want to do? The Lord said, remove your shoes. You are standing on holy ground.

In other words, in this matter of spiritual conflict, we are to stand in the position of a bond slave. We are just to follow order. That's all. We are just to follow the Lord. That's all that is to it.

The battle is the Lord. Now, of course, in the division of chapters, it is arbitrary because in the original manuscript, there is no division of chapters. So chapter six actually follow closely chapter five.

And chapter six, verse one is a parenthetical verse because the Holy Spirit just want to show us the condition of the city of Jericho at that moment. The condition of the city of Jericho at that moment was the people were so afraid that they close all the gates and they have the valiant man guarding the wall.

Now, that was the condition of that city. Humanly speaking, it was impossible to take that city. Impregnable, well guarded, all shut in. But, of course, the Lord, after Joshua had removed his shoes, then the Lord began to reveal his strategy.

The Fragrance of Christ Versus Jericho’s Strongholds

And the strategy of the Lord in taking the city of Jericho was most unusual. Never was a battle fought in that way. Because the Lord said, now you, the whole army of the children of Israel, were to surround that city once a day.

Following the arc of the covenant. With seven priests blowing the blessed trumpets as you encircle the city. And on the seventh day, you shall encircle the city seven times. And at the last when the priest blow with a long blast, then you all shall shout and the walls shall fall.

Now, that was the strategy of the battle over Jericho. Before we go into the whole matter of how the Lord led the people to take that city of Jericho, I think we should do a little application first. You know, Jericho, the very word Jericho means fragrance.

Is that a surprise? Jericho means fragrance. Remember, there is a fragrance which is of the Lord. 2nd Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 14. 2nd Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 14. But thanks be to God who always leads us in trying in the Christ and makes manifest the order or the fragrance of his knowledge through us in every place.

There is a fragrance which we carry with us wherever we go. And that fragrance is the knowledge of our knowledge of Christ. Fragrance in our lives. You know, fragrance or odor is something. You cannot help it.

If the fragrance is there, it just continually diffuses. Unconsciously, it spreads. It cannot be hidden. It cannot be hidden. You put some perfume on you and when you walk around, you carry that odor, you carry that fragrance around and it just diffuses and you cannot help it.

It cannot be hidden. Now, that is the case with believers. And where does that fragrance come from? From the knowledge of Christ. The true knowledge of God gives a fragrance, a heavenly fragrance. If you know the Lord, wherever you go, you don't need to speak.

Now, I do not mean to say that you should not speak. Sometimes we should speak, but even though you haven't spoken, your very presence will give people a kind of sense. There is something different. There is something heavenly.

It is your knowledge of Christ that is such a fragrance and you cannot help it. You cannot hide it. You cannot hide it. It just diffuses. It just diffuses. And this kind of fragrance to those who are saved, you know, is life.

And to those who are perished, it's unto death. It is a powerful thing. It is the most powerful perfume in this world. And this fragrance comes from the knowledge. But do you know, dear brothers and sisters, there is another kind of fragrance that comes from Jericho.

It is a counterfeit. Instead of being the knowledge of Christ, it is that which stands against the knowledge. So you read 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4 and verse 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4 and verse 5.

For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds. Overthrow of strongholds. Overthrowing reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ.

Now, what is Jericho? Jericho is a stronghold. It's a stronghold. A city. Wall city. And what are these strongholds? Reasonings. High thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God. You know, dear brothers and sisters, in this world there are reasonings, human reasonings.

There are things, high things, that lift itself up against the knowledge of God. All kinds of things that oppose the knowledge of God. That profess to be knowledge. Profess to have a kind of order. And yet it is against the knowledge of God.

Like strongholds standing in the way of knowing Christ. What is possessing Christ? Possessing Christ is knowing Christ. Paul said to know Him and the power of His resurrection. To have fellowship with His suffering.

To be conformed to His death. You find that to know Christ, not mentally, to know Christ experientially. To know Christ in life. To know Christ in your spirit. That is possessing Christ. That is the real knowledge of Christ.

And that emits a kind of fragrance in your life. But here you'll find there are knowledge so-called, or wisdom so-called, there are reasoning so-called, philosophy so-called, and all these high things so-called, that stands in the way of our knowing Christ.

That is to hinder us from possessing. And these strongholds are in the promised land. In the heavenlies. Let's illustrate it. The first letter to the Corinthians. Now these Corinthians were believers.

They were not only believers, but they were not behind anybody. In gifts, in knowledge, in all kinds of things. And yet, the enemy raised a stronghold. And what is that stronghold? That stronghold is carnal.

The carnal mind of the Corinthian believers is a stronghold raised by the enemy, so that they cannot enter into the full knowledge of God. That keeps them bathed after many years. Because they are carnally minded.

They think they know. They think highly of themselves. They boast of their knowledge. You know what happens? They divided into parties. Why did they divide into parties? Because they thought they knew.

They knew so well. Some say they knew Paul. Some say they knew Apollo. Some say they knew Cephas. And some say they knew Christ. Because they all thought they knew. And they knew better than anybody else.

And that's the reason why they were divided. And look, they professed they had the knowledge. Therefore, there was no love. Some of them felt that to go to the temple of the idols and eat the meat offered to the idols was nothing.

Because the idols were nothing. And things offered to nothing was nothing. So they felt free to go into the temple to have their social life in the temple. Because the social life in those days were in the temples.

So they wanted the social life so much they went into the temple and they freely took all these meats offered to the idols. They did not have the love for those who were weak. They stumbled the weak. They professed they knew.

And the result was they could go to court against each other. They thought they knew. And the result was they doubted resurrection. Because resurrection was beyond human reasoning. You see, their carnal mindedness was the stronghold raised by the enemy in them.

So that they could not possess. And dear brothers and sisters, if we allow the enemy to build a carnal mind in us, we will. We will be held from knowing Christ. From possessing. It might be in the mind, carnal mind.

Or it might be prejudice. We will build up a stronghold in the form of prejudice. And how Christians can be prejudiced. We can be prejudiced against certain truth. We can be prejudiced against certain people to such an extent that we will never be able to be free to enter into the fullness that is in Christ.

The enemy can build up his strongholds in our emotions. You know, in our soul. He can build up a kind of stronghold in our emotion. He tried to direct our emotion to some direction, to some area, to some persons or to certain things.

It was inordinate emotion. And because our emotion was directed wrongly, we could never love the Lord as we should. Or he can raise a stronghold in our will. Give us a very stubborn will. We need to have strong will for the Lord.

Will the will of the Lord. That's true. But an iron will that would never bend sometimes could be a stronghold of the enemy. The enemy is able to raise a stronghold. He does not need to come out in the open and fight.

He can hide behind a wall and hinder us from entering into the fullness. Read the letter to the Galatians. You'll find the enemy build another kind of castle stronghold in the letter to the Galatians.

It's just the opposite of the Corinthian believers. The Corinthian believers did not want to grow up. They were very happy to be babies because being babies you can do many things. And you know how many Christians just like to be babies.

You can do things grown-ups cannot do. People will laugh at you if you do. But if you're babies, okay. And people will even praise you. Look how clever you are. But the problem with the Galatian believers were just the opposite.

They wanted so much to grow up. They were saved. They believed in the Lord Jesus. They received the Holy Spirit. They were saved. But they were so anxious to full maturity, to perfection. Oh, how could they be instantly spiritual?

And that was their problem. And because they want to be instantly spiritual, now Satan came and built a stronghold and said, You may. Oh, if only you're circumcised. If only you keep a few rules and regulations.

If only you keep a few days and seasons. If only you don't touch certain things and don't taste certain things. You are spiritual, instantly spiritual. And how these Galatian believers fell into the trap of the enemy.

And here you will find the stronghold. And Paul had to say he had to prevail for them again. As if they had to be born again. Of course not, but as if. Oh, how he prevailed that Christ may be formed in them.

By falling into such trap, Christ could not be formed in them. Christ was in them, but could not be formed in them. You know, it takes the formation of Christ in us, for us to express Christ. What's the trouble with the believers in Colossians?

And here you'll find the enemy build up some strongholds in Colossians. And it's all different, the enemy is a Greek architect. Here you'll find he built another kind of stronghold. And the stronghold was, Athnosticism.

Atheistism. Philosophy, so called. All these fancy, all these abstract, all these imaginative, statulative things, you know. And give you a kind of feeling you are in the know. Very few people know, but you know.

You know. And the result was, they were led away from Christ. Well, probably you say, with the church in Philippi, the enemy certainly could not build any stronghold. He did. The church in Philippi was a model church.

From the very beginning, they were of one mind with Paul in preaching the gospel. And how their hearts were knit with Paul. Even though Paul was in prison, how they sent men there to supply his needs.

The church in Philippi was a model church. And yet you find the enemy was trying to do something. You are spiritual, are you? All right. I can make you spiritually, so called, proud. And how he got hold of two spiritual sisters.

And these spiritual sisters were at rivalry with each other. They were all spiritual, but who was the more spiritual? Paul. And the rivalry between these two sisters cast a shadow over the whole church.

They lost the joy of it. Dear brothers and sisters, you find the enemy is so subtle. He does not need to come out and fight you in open with that fork, and with that tail, and pawn, and so forth. He doesn't need to do that.

He just builds some stronghold in your soul realm. And he can withstand you from possession. That's Jericho. That's Jericho. Oh, it takes the discerning to know it's a different smell. But here you are.

Jericho stood in the way of the children of Israel in their possessing their possession. And the Lord himself planned the strategy. What was the strategy? Most unusual, most unusual. Jericho was taken, not because the children of Israel fought against it.

It was because the Ark of the Covenant surrounded it. Ark of the Covenant represents the presence of the Lord. So when the priests bore the Ark of the Covenant and marched at the front, it simply means that the presence of the Lord was demonstrated.

Here the Lord was present. And then when they bore the Ark and walked around the city, you know, seven priests blowing the blessed horns. Now, what the priest blew was not silver trumpets. As we find in the Book of Numbers.

You know, in the Book of Numbers, God ordered them to make two silver trumpets. But silver trumpets in the scripture stands for prophetic ministry. But here you'll find it is the ram's horn. It is the ram's horn.

They blow the ram's horn. They blow the ram's horn, you know. And when did they blow the ram's horn? If you read Leviticus chapter 23 and Leviticus chapter 25, you'll find they blow the ram's horn on the first day of the seventh month.

And also they blow the horn at the year of the Jubilee. Year of the Jubilee. So in blowing these horns. Now, what does it mean spiritually? Spiritually, it simply means this. Here is the Ark going around.

And seventhly priests blowed the horns. Declaring, declaring what the Ark. To the principalities and authorities. They are declaring to the valiant men of Jericho standing there, overlooking them. They are.

They were declaring to them what the Ark. And during that whole period, the army of the children of Israel walked silently without. They were not allowed to talk. They were not allowed even to whisper.

They just walked in complete silence. And all that you can heard was the blowing of the horns. The blasting of the horns. And this must unnerve the enemy. Oh, they looked down and said, what dear brothers and sisters.

You know, in spiritual warfare, basically it's fought. Now, of course, we know the taking of Jericho and the taking of Ai. These two battles formed the basis of all the battles that were to follow. So the spiritual basic principle of spiritual warfare were all involved in these two battles.

Now, in the first battle, the Lord decides to show us one thing. And that is, in spiritual warfare, it is the Lord who fights. It is the Ark of the Covenant. The presence of the Lord. The Lord himself does the fighting.

The prayer of faith. They do not talk. You know, sometimes we talk too much. And our talking dissipates spiritual energy. They walk in silence. Can you walk in silence without really be engaging anything?

Will not your mind wander? With nothing to do? And not even allowed to talk? Oh, no. All the time they were silent. They were listening to the blasting of the horns. In other words, they were taking the victory.

Because priests represent priestly function. In other words, we as priests, we shall exercise our priestly function and just declare to our enemy what our Lord is and what he has done. That's all is involved.

When we are faced with enemies, brothers and sisters, all we need to do is bring the presence of the Lord upon our enemy and declare to our enemy who our Lord is and what he has done on Calvary's cross.

And that finished the end. And during the whole time, the children of Israel walk in silence. I believe it represents prayer. The prayer of faith. They do not talk. You know, sometimes we talk too much.

And our talking dissipates spiritual energy. They walk in silence. Can you walk in silence without really be engaging anything? Will not your mind wander? With nothing to do? And not even allowed to talk?

All the time they were silent. They were listening to the blasting. In other words, they were taking into themselves all that the ark. And after seven days of taking in, enough faith was. Dear brothers and sisters, you know, the walls of Jericho fell flat by faith.

In Hebrews chapter 11, we are told, by faith the walls of Jericho fell flat when the children of Israel encircled the city. Now, how does faith come? When we face our enemy or when we are faced with a problem.

Say, some people are really prejudiced. Some people's mind are commonly minded. Or say, you meet such strongholds, either in yourself or in other people. Now, what are you going to do? You try to fight?

Don't fight with flesh and blood. We are not fighting with flesh and blood. How are you going to be powerful before God? To the overthrowing of the strongholds? How? You need faith. But how does faith come?

You cannot manufacture faith. Oh, there are lots of counterfeit faith today. You, you, you try to hypnotize yourself and say, I believe, I believe. Yes, I do. But you don't. Where does faith come from?

Faith comes from listening in your spirit. What the Lord is and what he has accomplished on Calvary. Our Lord Jesus is the author and perfecter. Faith does not come from within. Faith comes from looking up.

So you find the children of Israel, as they surrounded the city, they were not inactive. They were not just marching, you know, with their eyes closed as if they were sleeping, you know, passively. No, when they were marching, yes, they were in complete silence.

But they were attentively listening to the blasting of the horns until it began to swell up within them. Dear brothers and sisters, there is a time of silence. There is a time, but of course, there is a time of shouting too.

So here you'll find they just surrounded, surrounded, and on the seventh day, seven times. And at the seventh time, the priest will blow the trumpets. With long blast. And the children of Israel shouted with a great shout.

That's the shout. If you shout too early, it will not work. You know, sometimes we shout too early. That's no use. There is a time to shout. Faith is really bubbling. Then you shout. But one more thing, circling around the city in silence, their prayer is ascending.

Faith, Authoritative Prayer, and Speaking to the Mountain

But in shouting, they shout against the walls. You don't shout to God. God is not there. Don't shout to Him. You don't need to shout. He knows. You shout to the walls. That's what you'll find in Mark chapter 11.

The Lord said, have the faith of God. You remember that incident? Our Lord Jesus going into Jerusalem and He saw a fig tree. Full of leaves. He went there and couldn't find any fruit. So He cursed that tree.

And the next day when they passed by, Peter noticed this and said, Lord, you cursed that tree yesterday and now it's all withered. And the Lord said, have faith in God. To be more exact, it means have the faith of God.

What is the faith of God? The Lord said, if you say to the mountain, move into the sea and you doubt not. But believe what you say will come to pass and it shall come to pass. Whatever you ask, believe that you receive it and you shall.

This is what the scriptures, what, not the scriptures. Scripture doesn't have that term. This is what some people call executive prayer or authoritative prayer. You know, executive or authoritative prayer is there is a time of silence.

Listening to the Lord. And then when that comes to a consummation, you turn and speak to the mountain. Or speak to the wall. Or like Joshua later on, speak to the sun and to the moon and say. And that's how the city of Jericho.

Oh, dear brothers and sisters, the power is not in their silence nor in their shouting. The power is in the Ark of the Covenant. It is the Lord. It is the Lord who does the fighting. And the children of Israel just went in, in the triumph of the Lord.

And how was the city taken? The wall fell flat. And the children of Israel just went straight in. You do not need to turn around. You see, the city of Jericho was considered at that time a big city. But you remember how many were the men of the children of Israel in the army?

Over 600 ,000. 600 ,000 men encircled the city. They must meet from end to end. Make a complete circle. The city was completely encircled. There was no gap. So when the wall fell, everyone just went straight in.

And the enemy had nowhere to escape. No gap. And that shows in spiritual warfare how it takes the whole church encircled. You know today, because God's people are so divided, even when sometimes the wall falls, it leaves so many gaps for the enemy to slip away.

Because it's not completely encircled. All God's people should be together. So when the wall falls, we may all go in and leave the enemy with no escape whatsoever. But before they enter into the city, God gave a command.

The Lord’s Spoil and Rahab’s Redemption

The whole city must be destroyed. Not only the people, but things. Everything must be burned. The children of Israel were not to take anything. The whole city was devoted to destruction. Accursed. Devoted to destruction.

Only gold and silver, iron and copper, that could go forth through a fire and be fined. They were to enter into the treasury of the Lord. The children of Israel got nothing. Dear brothers and sisters, here is a principle for us.

Basically in spiritual warfare, anything that belongs to the enemy is devoted to destruction. We are not to take anything. We are not to take anything. But the Lord will have his spoil. And the spoil that the Lord will have are things that can go through fire.

That can be refined. That belongs to the Lord. So in a spiritual warfare, you find that there will be spoils. No doubt. But the spoils are the Lord's. Do nothing because we have gone into such trouble.

Therefore we should have something. Now later on you will. In the city of Ai, yes. But not basically. Basically it is for the Lord. The battle is fought for the Lord. That the Lord may, in a sense, salvage something out of the enemy's hands.