Israel: Faith to Conquer Jericho (Hebrews 11:30) | Worship Service

First sighted space, spilling with beauty and goodness,

I pour it out as a song to my king, shaping the rivers into words.

What grace pulls from your lips, the sound calls the midnight to morn.

The melody turns my winter to spring,

I echo it now in my worship.

Ten thousand strong, you're the fairest of all.

And good morning. Welcome to Kootenai Church. We're glad you're here today. Would you stand with us as we sing praise to the

Lord, the almighty. Praise to the

Lord, the almighty, the king of creation.

Oh, my soul, praise him, for he is thy help and salvation.

All ye who hear, now to his temple draw near.

Praise him in glad adoration. Praise to the

Lord, who o 'er all things so wondrously reigneth.

Shelters thee under his wings, yea, so deathly suspended.

Hast thou not seen, how thy desires there have been, granted and what he ordained?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee.

Surely his goodness and mercy's your daily attendee.

Ponder anew, what the almighty can do, if with his love he be friendly.

Praise to the Lord, oh let all that is in thee adore him.

All that hath life and breath, oh now in praises be forgiven.

Let the amen sound from his people again.

Gladly forever adore him.

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child and forever

I am. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child and forever

I am. Redeemed and so happy in Jesus, no language my rapture can tell.

I know that the light of his presence with me doth continually dwell.

Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child and forever

I am. Think of my blessed redeemer,

I think of him all the day long. I sing for I cannot be silent, his love is the theme of my song.

Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child and forever

I am. I know

I shall see in his beauty the king in whose law

I delight. Who lovingly guarded my footsteps and giveth me songs in the night.

Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child and forever

I am. We're going to sing a new song for our congregation, but it's familiar for most.

Christ our hope in life and death. What is our hope in life and death?

Christ alone, Christ alone. What is our only confidence?

That our souls to him belong. Who holds our days within his hand.

What comes upon from his command. And what will keep us to the end.

The love of Christ in which we stand. O sing

Hallelujah! Our hope springs eternal.

O sing Hallelujah! Now and ever we confess.

Christ our hope in life and death.

What truth can calm the troubled soul? God is good,

God is good. Where is his grace and goodness known?

In our faith, redeemer's blood. Who holds our faith when fears arise?

Who stands above the stormy trial? Who sends the waves that bring us nigh?

Unto the shore, the rock of Christ.

O sing Hallelujah! Our hope springs eternal.

O sing Hallelujah! Now and ever we confess.

Christ our hope in life and death. Unto the grave, what will we sing?

Christ he lives, Christ he lives. And what reward will heaven bring?

Everlasting life with him. There we will rise to meet the

Lord. Then sin and death will be destroyed. And we will feast in endless joy.

When Christ is ours forevermore. O sing

Hallelujah! Our hope springs eternal.

O sing Hallelujah! Now and ever we confess.

Christ our hope in life and death. O sing Hallelujah!

Our hope springs eternal. O sing

Hallelujah! Now and ever we confess.

Christ our hope in life and death. Now and ever we confess.

Christ our hope in life and death. You may be seated.

Just a couple of announcements this morning. I'll have your attention. First we have a baptism class coming up next

Sunday. After the service you'll pack a lunch if you plan on attending that. And we'll meet in this classroom off the back of the sanctuary there.

After the service is over, probably starting around 12 -15 or something like that. Give yourself a chance to, or give us some time for you to eat your lunch.

You are responsible to bring your own lunch. And if you're still upset after last week's message, then you want to bring all of your questions and objections and vent them next week.

Because Dave Rich will be there teaching to handle all of those. So save them up for the next seven days.

Turn in your Bibles if you will please to the book of Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4.

We're going to be in chapter 11 today for the sermon. But we're going to read actually beginning in chapter 3 verse 12.

Hebrews chapter 3 verse 12. Take care brethren that there not be in any one of you an evil unbelieving heart that falls away from the living

God. But encourage one another day after day as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.

While it is said, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. For who provoked him when they had heard?

Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he angry for forty years?

Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Therefore let us fear if while a promise remains of entering his rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also. But the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard it.

For we who have believed enter that rest, just as he has said, as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

Although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has said somewhere concerning the seventh day, and God rested on the seventh day from all his works, and again in this passage, they shall not enter my rest.

Therefore since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, he again fixes a certain day, today, saying through David, after so long a time, just as he had been said before, just as has been said before, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a

Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his.

Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two -edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we ask you to come to our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin.

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Will you stand with me as we pray? Let's bow our heads.

Our Father, you are a gracious God, and it is our joy to worship and adore you. We thank you that you have visited with us, that you have made yourself known to us and we thank you for the work that he has done on behalf of all who have trusted and will trust in him.

We thank you that we can find rest for our souls in the perfect Savior who gives us that rest and that all who gather together and are united to him by faith have the rest that you have promised.

Ceasing from our labors to make ourselves acceptable in your sight and ceasing from all of our attempts at righteousness and at meriting your grace, we have nothing to do but to trust and rest in Jesus Christ who has done all on our behalf.

And we thank you for him. We thank you that we can rest in his sacrifice and in his work for us.

It is our joy and delight to worship you for this salvation and to thank you for it. We thank you for the freedom that we enjoy to do this, for the openness that we have one with another, for the fellowship that we enjoy in your

Son. We thank you for uniting our hearts together in faith, for opening our eyes, for quickening our hearts, for granting us repentance and faith so that we may come to Christ and have eternal life.

We worship you, we adore you, and we thank you for your great grace. Now may all that we do here, all of our minds, our hearts, our words, our songs, and our gathering around your word be for the honor and glory of Christ our

Lord in his name we pray, amen. [♪ music begins ♪

What tongue could tell my Savior's love? What song of angels could describe?

Could endless praises be enough to echo for his sacrifice?

How worthy is the Lamb of God Beyond all might or skill of men

Still we confess and strain towards Such mystery and magnificence

My Savior's love, My Savior's love

What could compare? What tongue could tell? My Savior's love

What two could carry on its wings

The beauty of that final breath What words dare paint the awesome scene

When God stood in the stead of man When Jesus Christ, the radiant one

Took on the shadows of our hate Then rose again just as the sun

With light and power and fullness raised My Savior's love,

My Savior's love What could compare?

What tongue could tell? My Savior's love

And when in death this tongue is stilled

My song of life has reached the end Though as a flower

I may wilt This everlasting truth will stand

No death or life could separate Me from the love of Christ my

Lord This hope is sure from age to age My song will be forevermore

My Savior's love, My Savior's love

What could compare? What tongue could tell? My Savior's love

My Savior's love My Savior's love

What could compare? What tongue could tell? My Savior's love

My Savior's love In Psalm 130 verses 1 -4 it says

Out of the depths I call to you, O Yahweh O Lord, hear my voice, let your ears be attentive

To the voice of my supplications If you should keep iniquities,

O Yah O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness That you may be feared

I am a sinner Your blameless

Lord My sins against you

Can't be ignored They will be punished

I know they must Your law demands it

For you are just If you would count

Everything that I've done wrong

Who could stand? But there's forgiveness with you,

God Have mercy on me Have mercy on me

A broken and a contrite heart You won't turn away

Have mercy on me

Have mercy on me Because of your steadfast love

Father of mercy You gave your

Son To lay atonement For all that I have done

What you required Jesus fulfilled

I don't deserve it And I never will

If you would count Everything that I've done wrong

Who could stand? But there's forgiveness with you,

God Have mercy on me Have mercy on me

A broken and a contrite heart You won't turn away

Have mercy on me Have mercy on me

Because of your steadfast love

Have mercy on me Have mercy on me

A broken and a contrite heart You won't turn away

Have mercy on me Have mercy on me

Because of your steadfast love

Because of your steadfast love

After they had been encircled for seven days, by faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

Let's pray together. Our Father, we come to your word now and it is our desire that we may be attentive to your word, that you would grant us open eyes and open hearts to see in your word truth regarding you and your working in history and the connections with us today.

We pray that your Holy Spirit would be our teacher and our guide and that we may understand your word so that we may give to you obedient hearts and lives that are honoring and glorifying to you in all that we do.

We pray this blessing upon our time here in Christ's name. Amen. We are returning to Hebrews chapter 11 today.

We have two more examples to go in our Hebrews Hall of Faith of people who are listed of their faith along with some incident in their lives.

We're getting close to the point in the passage. You can see it in verse 32 where the author confesses that he's running out of time.

And so he says, What more can I say for time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets.

So he lists people there without any direct reference to what they did in faith. And then beginning in verse 33, he lists a bunch of things that were done in faith without any connection to anybody in particular.

So he lists the people and then he lists the examples of faith. And he's just sort of running through a history of Old Testament persons and incidences there.

And what else do you do when you're running out of time other than just dump everything you can on people as fast as you can before you're done.

That's why I think this was a message and not necessarily a written work at first. It was probably something that was preached.

Because if he were writing, he wouldn't say time would fail me. Would he? He would just say, Pick up volume 2 and let's go on with the rest of the

Old Testament examples. But we have two more. Joshua and Rahab. These two are the last two in our list where their name is connected with something that is done in faith.

We read of Joshua in v. 30 and of Rahab in v. 31. And if you're quick and astute, you'll say, but hold on a second,

I don't see Joshua's name mentioned in v. 30. Did you notice that? In fact, did you notice that not only is

Joshua's name not mentioned, nobody is mentioned in v. 30. Did you notice that? It says that by faith the walls came down after they had been encircled, but it doesn't tell us who encircled it.

We know who encircled the walls. And it doesn't tell us who was at the head of that. We know that it was Joshua and that he's anything but just incidental in the events that are being referred to here.

But it is somewhat out of keeping with the pattern of the author who up to this point has given us a name and then tied that to some example of faith in the life of that person that he has named.

So you get to v. 30 and you want to read about Joshua, but Joshua's not mentioned. And so then that makes you wonder, well, whose faith is being described then in v.

30? Who's the key player there or the key players in v. 30? We'll get to that a little bit later on.

Chronologically, you'll notice that the author is keeping with this chronological order that he has had all the way through Hebrews 11 thus far.

And we've noticed that there's no divergence from this chronology. You may say, well, the spies came to Rahab and she kept the spies before the walls fell down, so that seems a bit out of chronological order.

But the author is really describing the overlapping experience and time of two people,

Joshua and Rahab here. And yes, she kept the spies or received the spies, but the wall falling down and her preservation of it really is the emphasis of v.

31 by faith. Rahab the harlot did not perish along with the disobedient after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

So Rahab is mentioned. And what she did is she did not perish and it was by faith that she did not perish. And she did welcome the spies.

So there's a little bit of overlap here between Joshua and Rahab and we're gonna get to Rahab more next week.

So really it is two players here, one event, and that is the destruction of the walls of Jericho and the walls of Jericho falling down.

So now we need to go back and take a look at this incident back in the book of Joshua.

So turn now back to Joshua 6. Hebrews 11 is providing us the opportunity to jump back into the

Old Testament and tackle some big passages of Scripture, some lengthy passages of Scripture. Actually, turn back to the book of Joshua 1.

The incident of Jericho is in chapter 6 and we're gonna do a flyby of the first five chapters. Time does not permit me to go through everything in the first five chapters of Joshua.

So we get to the beginning of the book of Joshua. The events surrounding Jericho and the falling of the walls of Jericho then come crashing down.

You may not, if you're not really familiar with your Old Testament chronology, I know there may be a few people who are like this, you may not know exactly where it is that that falls in the series of events as it's unfolded.

You may have been familiar with that story because you heard it told in Sunday school or someone has preached on it, but you may not know exactly where to put that in the history of the nation of Israel and how it relates to Moses.

Well, when we last left off in the book of Hebrews 11, verse 29, Pharaoh's army was being immersed in the

Red Sea. Remember that? And after they were immersed in the Red Sea, you can go ahead and chuckle. It was a little tie back to last week's message.

After they were immersed in the Red Sea, then the children of Israel had been delivered from Pharaoh and his army and they went into the wilderness and they ended up wandering around there for 40 years because of the disobedience of that very same generation that came out of Egypt.

When Moses sent the spies up to spy out the land, they came back, 12 of them, and you remember, 12 men went to spy on Canaan and 10 were bad and 2 were good?

Remember? What did they see when they spied on Canaan? You remember 10 were bad and 2 were good? Am I the only one here that knows that song?

Me and my children know that song. Right, 10 were bad and 2 were good. So because of those 10 bad spies who came back and gave a bad report to Moses, the nation of Israel came under the curse of God for 40 years and God's judgment upon them was that they would wander around in the wilderness and that generation who had responded with a lack of faith would not enter into the promised land but the next generation would enter into the promised land.

So now we pick it up at the end of the book of Deuteronomy, at the beginning of the book of Joshua and only roughly 40 years has passed since Moses led the children of Israel through the

Red Sea and out into the wilderness. Now 40 years has gone by. All of those who came out in that generation were 40 years or younger.

They have died off. Joshua was one of the faithful spies who had come back with a good report and said, look, it is as dire and as horrible and as daunting as these men say it is but our

God's fighting with us so we've got this. We can do this if we let our God fight for us. That was a great expression of faith.

So we're already familiar with Joshua's faith. So now as we enter into the book of Joshua, Joshua has taken over from Moses and since we spent so much time talking about Moses and his faith, it seems appropriate to look at his death.

So if you just turn back one page in your Bible to Deuteronomy 34, follow with me the account of the last days of Moses.

Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah which is opposite Jericho and the

Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan and all Nephtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea and the

Negev and the plain and the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to him, This is the land which

I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying, I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your eyes but you shall not go over there.

So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor but no man knows his burial place to this day.

Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eye was not dim nor his vigor abated so the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days.

Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end. Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom for Moses had laid his hands on him and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the

Lord had commanded Moses. So Moses, the leadership that was given to Moses is now bestowed upon Joshua in the sight of all the people.

We know of Joshua's faith. The nation of Israel knows of Joshua's faith. He's only one of two men, Joshua and Caleb who were part of that previous generation who had come out of Egypt and now was ready to enter into the land of Canaan.

Everybody else had died off. So Joshua is alive and now the leadership has been given to him.

He has been something of a disciple, a disciple of Moses as Moses has trained him.

He's probably been on the radar for a period of time that Joshua was going to take over for Moses.

Now let's finish off Moses, the story of Moses verse 10. Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses whom the

Lord knew face to face for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants and all his land and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which

Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. So Moses is renowned. He is singularly unique in the history of Israel.

Something that we would expect for a man who served as a prophet and in some sense as a priest and in some sense as a king.

He had all three of those functions in the nation of Israel. Establishing the theocracy, bringing them out of bondage and the children of Israel revered him to a degree that is difficult for us probably even to imagine which is why the

Lord buried him in a place himself where they didn't know where Moses was going to be, where Moses was buried.

Why did the Lord do that? So that the children of Israel didn't do what it is the natural inclination of all men to do and that is to worship at the grave of somebody who is buried there.

Why didn't they carry the bones of Moses into the promised land like they did Joseph's? Remember, they're carrying

Joseph's bones with them. Why wouldn't they do that with Moses' bones? Because Moses' bones were not bones yet.

Moses' bones was a corpse at this point. You don't carry one of those around in the desert for months while you're looking or you're conquering cities.

And if you do, you certainly don't want to be the guy tasked with carrying that around with you in your caravan. So instead, the

Lord buried him off in the land of Moab and that is where Moses will be resurrected. And you say, it's really horrible that Moses didn't get to enter into the promised land.

He will someday. Just be patient. He will. In a resurrected body, Moses gets to enter into that land with you and I in resurrected bodies and worship the

King of Kings. Now notice Joshua's, God's promise to Joshua. Joshua chapter 1. We're just going to continue right into the next book because the story continues that way and we are going to get to Joshua chapter 6 but there's some essential background information, a bit of a table that we have to set here in Joshua chapter 1 beginning in verse 1.

Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, now take note of what

Joshua has promised. Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which

I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads,

I have given it to you just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river

Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, as far as the great sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

Now here is the promised land before him, just on the other side of the Jordan River. And the Lord is now reiterating the promise that He gave to Abraham and then repeated to Isaac and then repeated again to Jacob and then

He has given this promise to Moses. So now you have this long lineage of godly men who have been promised that the land is still there in spite of the rejection of an entire generation of unfaithful

Jews, they still get to inherit the land. God is still going to fulfill His promise. And Joshua now understands that their possession of this land rests not on anyone except for God's willingness and ability to fulfill

His promise. 400 years have passed since that promise was last given to any of Abraham's descendants.

And now they are absolutely confident that they will receive exactly what they were promised because God Himself has promised it and God will fulfill

His promise. Verse 2. Sorry, verse 5. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land which

I swore to their fathers to give them. Notice the repetition of the fact that God has sworn to do this. They are getting a land not because they are a strong and mighty people, certainly not because they are morally worthy of receiving these promises, but they are getting a land for one reason and one reason only and that is that God has promised it to Abraham.

And because God has promised it to Abraham, God will always fulfill His promise. So now they are going to come into part of the possession that God has sworn to them.

Notice the phrase in verse 6. Be strong and courageous. That is repeated. You are going to see it two more times. It is spoken three times in this passage.

Verse 7. Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you.

Do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success.

What is the book of the law that he is describing there? It is the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

By this point, that much divine revelation had been given and probably a couple of psalms. We know that Moses wrote one of the psalms and if my suspicion is correct, they would have had the book of Job by this point.

Job being a very ancient record and the very first book of the Bible written. So that is the book of the law that they have.

Specifically, he is talking about the law given to Israel at Mount Sinai that regulated their national life, regulated their religious life, regulated all the ceremonies and now

Joshua is being commanded to obey that and as long as he obeys that, God has promised that he will do exactly what it is that he is promising to do.

He will fulfill it. Verse 9, Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not tremble or be dismayed for the

Lord your God is with you wherever you go. That is clear revelation to Joshua that he is God's man, that he is the one who is going to bring the nation into this land and give them possession of the land just as God has promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Now chapter 2, the spies enter into the land ahead of their crossing the Jordan and Rahab hides them and she has promised deliverance for her faith.

We will look at that next week. Chapter 3, Israel crosses the Jordan River, God parted the waters for them. This would have happened just north of the

Dead Sea. If you remember in your mind a picture of the land of Israel and the Dead Sea at the bottom end of that of the nation of Israel, you have the

Jordan River that flows from the north up at the top is the Sea of Galilee. The Dead Sea is at the very bottom end of that.

The Dead Sea is the Salt Sea and they would have been on the east side of the Dead Sea just above the Dead Sea ready to cross the

Jordan River. That's chapter 3. Jericho was just inside the boundary of that just on the other side of the

Jordan River a couple of miles from the Jordan River. In chapter 5, Israel is circumcised because those who were born in the wilderness had not been circumcised so the entire nation, all the males of the nation were circumcised there and it took some time

Joshua 5 verse 8 says for them to be healed and then they celebrated the Passover. So that gives you an idea in your mind of what time of the year this was.

The Passover celebration would have been March -April of our time of the year and this would have been of course the beginning of the year for them.

Do you remember when we looked at the Passover that the Passover celebration was to begin the calendar year for the nation of Israel?

And also in chapter 5 then the Lord begins to dry up the supply of manna the supernatural supply of sustenance in the wilderness because now they're about to enter it they've crossed the

Jordan River they're in the land and now they can begin to eat from the fruit of the land. Chapter 5 verse 13 this is a game changer.

Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand.

And Joshua went to him and said to him are you for us or for our adversaries? He said no rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the

Lord. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and bowed down and said to him what has my Lord to say to his servant?

The captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua remove your sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy.

And Joshua did so. Who is this? Is this an angel? Michael?

Gabriel? No those would be the hosts. Right? The Lord's hosts. This is the captain of the

Lord's hosts. Who is the captain of the Lord's hosts? I'll give you a hint. He is called Yahweh down in chapter 6 verse 2.

This is an Old Testament appearance of God. It is a theophany. And if our understanding of the

Trinity if we are to interpret this in light of our understanding of the persons of the Trinity and their role within the

Godhead this is a pre -incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. He shows up before Joshua dressed as a soldier we can only assume with a sword in his hand and Joshua says whose side are you on?

And the angel of the Lord says I didn't come to take sides I came to take over. I'm the captain of the

Lord's hosts and now everything that you are going to do you are going to do at my command. And then in chapter 6 he begins to give him some of those commands.

So this is Yahweh in the second person the Divine Son who is now appearing to Joshua to give him instructions on what he is to do at the city of Jericho.

So this is the same one who was the destroyer 40 years earlier who went through the streets of Egypt and killed all the first born of Egypt.

This is that one. This is the one who appeared in the pillar of fire in the cloud in the Red Sea and it says that Yahweh looked down through the pillar of fire and smoke and then smoked the

Egyptians and drowned them in the Red Sea. This is the same one. This is the one who has promised victory to Joshua.

This is Yahweh who is appearing to Joshua. And you kind of get the sense of that when he says to Joshua take off your sandals because the feet on which you stand is holy.

When was the last time that was said? In Exodus chapter 3 the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a blazing fire from the midst of the bush and he looked and behold the bush was burning with fire yet the bush was not consumed.

Then he that is the angel of the Lord said do not come near here remove your sandals from your feet for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.

So Joshua now gets exactly what's going on. This is Yahweh. Verse 1 of chapter 6 now we finally get to it.

That's right. Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel no one went out and no one came in.

Yahweh said to Joshua see I've given Jericho into your hand with its king and devalent warriors.

See in verse 2 this one who was speaking to him same one back in chapter 5 I know you're tempted to think that was chapter 5 this is chapter 6.

Ignore the chapter division because those are irrelevant. This is Yahweh who was speaking to him in the appearance of the angel of the

Lord is going to give to him all of the instructions now to take Jericho. Jericho it says was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel no one went out and no one came in.

Jericho of course would have known that Israel was on its way. They knew of the spies who had come into the land and come into the city and stayed with Rahab.

They knew of that. They knew of the children of Israel. Rahab had already confessed to the spies who had come in. The hearts of all the people were melting because of you and when that massive nation came across the

Jordan River into that land and camped for a couple of weeks right next to the Jordan River on the western side of it and they had the circumcision and the celebration of the

Passover and the healing and they're all mustered there. They would have seen that nation and they would have had every reason to be fearful and they would have locked the gates and shut the windows and bar the door

Katie because they're coming and they were ready and no one went out and no one came in to the entire city.

Jericho was not a large city but it was a fortified city. It's north of the

Dead Sea. It is west of the Jordan River a couple miles from the Jordan. It was what was referred to or what we would call a frontier town.

It was on the edge of Canaanite civilization and it would have been a well fortified city. So it wasn't enormous.

It's obviously not enormous because an entire army marches around it seven times in one day. So don't think of it as something the size of this room but don't think of it as something the size of Coeur d 'Alene either.

It's somewhere in between. It's not a massive city. In fact, the significance of Jordan has nothing to do with its location or with its size.

It was the fact that it was well fortified. And so Israel's first city that they have to take is a well fortified frontier city.

Everybody is shut up inside. No one is going in. No one is coming out. And it was obviously the intention of all the inhabitants of Jordan to simply wait out this nation.

And eventually these people who cannot scale the walls. They cannot knock over the walls. It's a well fortified city.

Eventually they would give up and just go home. Of course, they have no home. Guess what? This is their new home. So this is where they're going.

They're going to Jericho. And Israel was ill -equipped for this because they had no machines of war. This is an ex -slave nation who spent 40 years wandering around in the desert.

So they don't have the typical high -tech weapons of war that would have been part of an army in those days.

They couldn't topple the walls. And Jericho's significance is not again its size and not again its location but the fact that it was well fortified and the fact that it was the first city.

So God is going to do something at Jericho to set the tone for the next several years. He's going to do something to demonstrate that He is the one by His power who would give this to them.

Verse 3, You shall march around the city. Here are the instructions. Again, that the angel of the Lord has given to Joshua.

You shall march around the city, all the men of war, circling the city once. You shall do so for six days.

Also, seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark. Then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people will go up, every man straight ahead.

So the angel of the Lord has given them the arrangement of the army, that the ark is to be out there, the priests are to be out there, they're to blow the trumpets, they're to march for six days, one lap on each of those six days around the city and then go back to camp and then on the seventh day they were to march seven times.

All the time they were to have the seven priests with the seven horns and you say, what is with all the number seven?

Did you notice it when you were reading through it? That's a lot of sevens, isn't it? Is there a significance to the sevens? We'll return to that in just a moment.

Verse six, so Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, Take up the ark of the covenant. Now Joshua is just giving exactly what the angel of the

Lord has given to him. Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of ram's horn before the ark of the

Lord. Then he said to the people, Go forward and march around the city and let the armed men go on before the ark of the Lord. And it was so that when

Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of ram's horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets and the ark of the covenant of the

Lord followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets and the rear guard came up after the ark while they continued to blow the trumpets.

But Joshua commanded the people saying, You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth until the day

I tell you. Shout, then you shall shout. So he had the ark of the Lord taken around the city circling it once.

Then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. So the people now are obeying exactly what Joshua has told them to do and they're silent.

They uttered not a word at any point during this. Verse 12, Now Joshua rose early in the morning. The priests took up the ark of the

Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually and blew the trumpets and the armed men went before them and the rear guard came after the ark of the

Lord while they continued to blow the trumpets. Thus the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp and they did so for six days.

They do exactly what they're instructed to do. Now we're going to fast forward to the end of the story in verse 15 but before we do

I want you to imagine the picture of this not from the perspective of the Israelites who are marching around the city or Joshua or the commanders of the priests or anybody else in Israel.

I want you to imagine the perspective of this what it would look like to have seen this if you're one of the inhabitants of Jericho. You're held up inside of a well fortified city.

Your expectation is that you can simply wait it out and Israel finally comes up and they finally start to gather out in front of the city gate and if you're one of the inhabitants of Jericho you might be up on top of the well fortified wall kind of looking down on them thinking to yourself this is a curious battle formation they're all kind of lined up in a line right here and they got some big shiny metal golden thing a box of some sort out there in the middle of that and priests those are not warriors and ram's horns we're not sure what benefit that's going to be and then as they start marching around the city you'd be thinking okay now what's going to happen?

what are they going where are they going? they're going oh they're just going over this side of the city and you follow them all the way around the city the whole time it's a very curious thing you've never seen a battle tactic like this before in your life you're wondering what it is that they're possibly going to hope to accomplish and they come all the way around full circle and they get back to the front and you'd be thinking to yourself okay it was a reconnaissance mission they want to find out did we leave any doors open in the city somewhere on the backside is there a window open a ladder up there that somebody forgot to take down just a reconnaissance okay now they're getting ready to attack oh no they disband and go back to their camp it's evening and they're going to wait it out that was weird wasn't that weird?

they've said nothing they're not shouting back at you they're not saying we're coming to get you you're coming down none of the no taunting nothing they're silent so then you can imagine the king of Jericho would gather together as joint chiefs of staff into the room you'd have all the

Jericho generals there in the room and you'd start to let's assess what happened here Jericho general sounds like a basketball team doesn't it?

like the ones who always lose into the Harlem Globetrotters you have all the Jericho generals gathered together around the table and you say let's assess what happened here are they going to come back?

that was a very curious thing maybe they're going to leave let's wait it out so the next day early in the morning it happens again and you watch them do this the second time and the third day the third time and then all of the

Jericho generals get together after every day they gather up and they say what is going on? are they just is this their game plan?

they're just going to walk around the city looking for an opening and they're going to do this until we all starve? on day five and day six you begin to think this is really ridiculous and you might even just leave your weapons at home go up on the wall with your bucket of popcorn you're just going to watch these fools walk around this city today just like they did the day previous it's just entertaining at this point they might even have heaped hurled accusations and slander upon them thinking how silly this is they don't teach this kind of stuff at West Point these people this is no military strategy

I mean they're a puny army to begin with they're a nation of people but they're not well armed they're nothing against our walls and so far their battle tactic is simply to walk around the city looking for an open door every day but then on the seventh day something else happens they do it once and they keep going and you think now they've really lost their minds they're going to do this two times nope three no four five six these crazy people are on their seventh trip around this city you've never seen anything like this you can't imagine anything like this and in your mind you're thinking this is truly the most ridiculous army

I have ever seen in my life these people are out marching around our city with a golden box in their midst and they've got nothing and this has been going on for a week verse 15 then on the seventh day they arose early in the morning at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times only on that day they marched around the city seven times it's

Joshua's way of saying they didn't do this on any of the previous days they followed the Lord's command it is only on the seventh day that they marched around the city seven times verse 16 at the seventh time when the priest blew the trumpet

Joshua said to the people shout for the Lord has given you the city the city shall be under the ban and it and all that it belongs to the

Lord only Rahab the harlot and all who are in her house shall live because she hid the messengers of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it but all the silver and the gold and the articles of bronze and iron are holy to the

Lord they shall go into the treasury of the Lord so the people shouted and priests blew the trumpets and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat so that the people went up into the city every man straight ahead and they took the city they utterly destroyed everything in the city both men and women young and old ox and sheep and donkey with the edge of the sword that was the victory and there's some obvious lessons to be learned from this first of all the event seems custom designed to demonstrate that God was the one who was giving them the land and that there's no way that anybody in Israel or Joshua or anybody associated with marching could take credit for this all of the instructions are intentionally given by God for the express purpose of showing that when victory came it would be

God who would give them the victory all they were to do was to obey the angel of the Lord would go before them and God through an earthquake or just through the collapse of the wall however it is that God worked that out at the timing of that shout those walls came down now of course there are ridiculous people who say that it really wasn't a miracle it was the shout of all of those people that caused such a cacophony of sound that it shook and the walls of that city came down simply because of the sound waves people do this all the time to try and remove from scripture supernatural elements nothing like that is happening it is

God himself who has brought these walls down and this is intended to show them that if they trust him and they keep his word and they are obedient to him that God will fight for them they learned the lesson in a negative way at the very next city because the things that God said you shall not take any of these things one man amongst them

Achan took some of them and so they suffered defeat at the next city so at Jericho they learned that obedience is essential because they see victory at Ai they learned that obedience is essential because they tasted defeat so they get both of these back to back second lesson faith is seen in the obedience of the

Israelites they did not add to or subtract from anything that God said for them to do they did exactly what he commanded them to do they followed the instructions to the letter and there's not a word of grumbling or doubt or complaint amongst all of the

Israelites that's recorded in Joshua and I think this is significant because scripture never hesitates to tell us when it was that the children of Israel were grumbling and complaining about something when they grumbled and complained about something or lacked faith scripture's honest about it but this generation of Israelites seemed to have learned something that the previous generation did not learn and they suffered for it they learned that they could be obedient third notice that their faith and what they did in faith did not seem at all to be the thing that would affect the outcome that happens here there's no connection between walking around a city one time for six days and then seven times on the seventh day there's no connection between that military strategy and the walls following down nothing at all there's no reason that one thing should lead on to the other thing and so what

God had commanded them seems completely contrary to the end that He has in mind for them to accomplish by doing what it is that He called them to do and similarly you and I may not understand why it is that God has called us to do certain things little expressions of our obedience and our faith and yet the end that is connected with those little things that we do doesn't necessarily seem like one would lead to the other you may not understand the significance of small acts of Bible reading and prayer and participation in the ordinances of the

Lord and fighting sin and disciplining yourself and giving of your finances and serving one another and fellowshipping with one another these are small acts of obedience that we do each and every day sometimes hour by hour and yet those small acts of obedience accomplish great things in our lives and in the lives of other people and we might not even be able to connect one to the other necessarily and see the line that takes us from one to the other but God is always faithful having ordained the ends as well as the means

God is always faithful to use the means when we are obedient to accomplish the end that He has ordained to accomplish through us and so the lesson is that you and I are simply to be faithful and notice the courage that is on display amongst the nation of Israel it's a nation of ex -slaves with no military grade weapons they're wandering around the desert for 40 years they've never known war they've never fought a battle this generation has never faced a military enemy before and now they're standing before a well fortified city this would take this would take courage for them to stand there and then once the walls fall down to go in and charge the city to take everything from them what they were doing looked utterly ridiculous because faith always looks ridiculous to the world we've seen that haven't we as we've gone through the book of Hebrews and the examples that we've seen here in Hebrews chapter 11 faith to the world always looks ridiculous the world looks at your acts of obedience and they don't understand why it is that you do them they don't understand why you would give up your finances to honor the

Lord they don't understand why it is that you would give up a day of your week to come here and gather with a bunch of hyper -religious people and sing songs and listen to me they don't understand that they don't understand why it is that we would give up sin and mortify sin and say no to the lust of the flesh in fact

Peter says that worldlings when they see you turning away from sin they begin to mock that because they think that they want you to join with them in the dissipation and they think that your mortifying of sin and living a holy and pure life to honor

God they think that that is ridiculous they think that your honoring of the word of God is nothing more than a misguided love and affection for a bronze age book filled with fairy tales and fables that's the view of the world it's all ridiculous to them just as the children of Israel marching around the wall would be ridiculous to those in Jericho but the

Lord uses ridiculous things the Lord uses what is foolish in the eyes of the world to accomplish what is honoring and glorifying to him now let's answer these last two questions that we have first of all by whose faith remember

I pointed out at the beginning nobody's mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 30 by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days it just says the walls of Jericho fell down it doesn't say whose faith is active why is that?

because I don't think that in this instance it is just Joshua's faith that is in view in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 30 when it talks of the walls of Jericho it is referring to the fact that it is the entire nation of Israel not to say that every single individual in the nation at the time was a

God honoring worshiper of Yahweh that's not to say that but it is to say that it was not just Joshua's faith and it was not just the priest's faith it was not just the army's faith that as a whole we could say that this nation was at that moment trusting

God to do something through the ordained means to accomplish the end that he had ordained so it is a collective thing it is the entire nation that is in view here a group effort not the obedience of any one person so now probably the part you're all wondering about what about the sevens?

there's a lot of sevens there right? there were seven priests seven horns seven days and seven trips around the city that's a lot of sevens and it catches the eye because it is repeated several times throughout the passage and it catches the eye because it is an instruction from the

Lord to do this with seven now if the Lord had just said look, send a bunch of guys go out and march take some horns with you and it had turned out that Joshua found only seven guys able to blow horns and only seven horns amongst them and where do you get horns in the desert?

so they had seven and it just happened to be seven and if it's seven then we might not notice that but when God says it is to do this and He lays out the sevens for you then it kind of catches your eye and you say why seven?

why not six? why not eight? why not five? I think five is a good number five is easy to work with in almost every place you divide by five you multiply by five five is one of my favorite numbers ten's a good number we're used to thinking in tens we count in tens we factor in tens our money divides up into tens quite naturally why seven?

why not twelve? why not once for every tribe in the nation of Israel? twelve trips would be good why not stretch it out over twelve days?

why seven? and why so many sevens? here's what we don't do with the number seven first we don't practice numerology we don't say okay there are four sevens in the passage you have seven ram's horns you have seven priests you have seven days and then you have seven trips around the city so if you take the seven and you multiply it by four you get twenty -eight if you take the eight and the two you join them add them together you come up with ten which is one number short of the number of disciples minus Judas so once the

Lord had got all the unbelievers out of the crowd of the disciples which is symbolic of the first generation that died off in the wilderness then you had nothing but believers left that's the where are we at?

that's the eleven and then ten is one less than that so when you subtract ten from the eleven you come up with one one

God and one God is the one who does all of this work and that's numerology now I could come up with all kinds of fanciful interpretations that's not how we interpret scripture a second thing we do not do is take this as an example of how you and I get victory in our lives

I've heard this done from pulpits what's your Jericho? what are the walls that you need to see come down in your life?

well what you need to do is you need to pray about that seven times and then after you prayed about that seven times for seven days you need to shout the victory and claim the victory for yourself and the walls in your life will come crumbling down you'll have your own personal victory at Jericho amen?

let's pray that's how third thing you don't do is say look if you just give seven hundred and seventy seven dollars this is the key this is the you chuckle but you know that there are prosperity hacks who do that to scripture all the time you give seven hundred and seventy seven dollars this is the key to victory in your life and the walls of your

Jericho will come crushing down you'll walk into your promised land you'll take possession of all the blessings that God has for you and if you want to add grace to that you add seventy seven cents so seven hundred and seventy seven dollars and seventy seven cents and that's the key to victory in your life that's not what we do what does the seven days remind you of?

it's a week what is our week based off of? it's based off creation well what happened on the seventh day of creation?

we have six literal twenty four hour days where God creates He does this for six days on the seventh day

He what? He rested the seventh day is different than the first six days is it not?

yeah for six days something happened on the seventh day God rested and on the seventh day it's different than the first six days if that were all we had in scripture was just that little connection that I made in my head right there

I don't think we could make anything of that that would be just as fanciful as the four times seven gives you twenty eight you add those together you get ten minus out of eleven you have one left over it would be just as fanciful if I did that but scripture connects the promised land to rest doesn't it?

in scripture we read that in Hebrews chapter three and four scripture connects the entering into the promised land the children of Israel doing that with us entering into God's rest in fact that land of promise is called the land of God's rest in scripture

Psalm 132 verse eight arise O Lord to your resting place you and the ark of your strength Psalm 132 verse 14 this is my resting place forever here

I will dwell for I have desired it so scripture calls that land the place of God's rest and when they entered into that land it is likened in scripture to the children of Israel entering into the rest that God had promised for them

Psalm 95 which the passage that I read at the beginning in Hebrews three and four quotes from Psalm 95 verses nine through eleven when your fathers tested me they tried me though they had seen my work for forty years

I loathed that generation and said they are a people who err in their heart and they do not know my ways therefore

I swore in my anger truly they shall not enter into my land no my rest see entering into the land is likened to rest in scripture

Hebrews four three and four for we who have believed enter that rest just as he said as I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest although his works were finished from the foundation of the world for he has said somewhere concerning the

Sabbath day and God rested on the seventh day from all his works and again in this passage they shall not enter my rest so the entering into the promised land is connected to the idea of resting and resting in God and God giving rest to his people so as Joshua is bringing the nation of Israel into what scripture refers to as the land of rest he does so in such a way as to demonstrate that they would do something for six days the seventh day would be different on the seventh day they would officially as it were enter into the land by taking victory of the first city and they would do this not by their own efforts not by their own works they would take possession of this land simply by trusting in God and doing in faith what it is that God had commanded them to do so I think that that is the connection with the sevens this whole thing twice in the passage it says and on the seventh day that phraseology is intended to connect in our minds a couple of things they do this and this and repeats for six days on the seventh day is something different on the seventh day they enter into the place that God's word said is their rest this becomes a picture for you and I the seventh day is the day of rest and entering the land was a symbol of that it was a portrait of that that is fulfilled for us in an even deeper and more profound way in the person of Christ because you and I spend our lives laboring in our sin and toiling in our attempts at being righteous in our attempts of gaining righteousness we labor away in that for all of this time and then finally when by faith we do what

God commands us to do repent and believe we can enter into his rest the rest the fulfillment of the idea of rest is in the person of Jesus Christ Israel entered the rest by trusting and obeying what the

Lord said to do you and I enter God's rest which is the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting in Christ and obeying what

God says to do that is to repent of our sin and believe upon Christ when we come to the

Lord's table we are remembering and recognizing what it is that the Lord has done to provide rest for us you see our salvation does not rest upon what we have done it does not rest upon our merits we don't earn our salvation we don't earn

God's forgiveness we don't earn his righteousness we can't do any of those things instead we are in many ways like the children of Israel we must just simply come empty handed unable to conquer any of the law and our own sin and our own flesh and our own iniquity and the justice of God we have to lay down before all of that and say the

Lord must do something on our behalf so that I can enter into the rest of salvation and God has done that in the person of Christ our sins were more than we could bear our iniquities were more than we could endure the judgment for all of our sins added up together are more than we could tolerate more than we could we would be crushed under the weight of them the scripture says if God were to mark sins who could stand who could stand before the

Lord if God were to count all of your iniquities if God were to count all of my sins and he were to deal with us according to our sins we would get what scripture says that is the just judgment of God in fire in hell for all of eternity that's what our sins warrant who can earn righteousness under the weight of all of that sin we cannot trying to earn righteousness is like the walls of Jericho you're never going to scale that you're never going to make yourself acceptable to God God must do something for us to atone for our sins to remove our iniquity and to take away his wrath from us so that he can be generous and gracious and give us eternal life this was done in the person of Christ when

Yahweh revealed in the Old Testament the second person of the Holy Trinity the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world took upon himself flesh he lived a perfect life he never sinned in thought word or deed so that he then with all of that righteousness could die in the place of sinners and God could put all of the sin that you and I deserve pour it out upon him and he could bear the punishment and take the wrath for that sin and then

God by faith could give us the righteousness that he earned through his perfect life this is the good news of the gospel this is salvation this is what we celebrate when we observe the

Lord's table together the fact that God has done all of this for us on our behalf so we're going to partake of the elements here after we have a moment of quiet and silent prayer

I want to encourage you with two things if you are a Christian and you are here and you are living in sin unrepentant you will partake of the

Lord's suffering in what scripture calls as an unworthy manner if you do not confess that sin to the Lord and if you are not willing to mortify that sin and turn from it this is a prayer of repentance where we admit and confess our guilt and our sin before the

Lord and then we partake of the elements to recognize what it is the cost the shed blood the broken body of the

Lord Jesus Christ that has atoned and paid for the price for our sin second word of warning if you are an unbeliever here and you have never trusted

Christ for salvation you've never repented of your sin and been born again do not partake of the communion this is not for you this is for those who are in Christ if you partake of communion as an unbeliever

I will warn you you are eating and drinking judgment to yourself because you are blaspheming God's name by saying

I participate in this when you will not come to the Savior and cling to him for righteousness this is only for believers and if you have sin issues that you need to deal with as a believer then let the elements pass nobody will judge you for that alright let's bow our heads and have a time of confession and then

I'll lead us in prayer great

God you are holy God righteous just because of your righteousness and because of your justice you must and will punish sin and if you were to deal with us according to our iniquities no one here could stand before you we would be undone in ourselves but we thank you that another has come to bear the wrath that we deserve that is the

Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that he has died on the cross in our place taking our judgment so that we could have eternal life so that as your children we can stand before you righteous and forgiven but only because of what

Christ has done so we confess our sin our iniquity we confess our transgressions against your law we do not do those things that you demand of us and we fail to do them and sometimes we fail to do them because we're not even aware of them and yet we are culpable for those sins nonetheless and father sometimes we do the very things that you command us not to do so we confess our iniquity and our sin and we know that we deserve judgment we know that that is the just punishment for sin but we thank you that we have a lamb who is sacrificed in our place to take our wrath to shed the blood that we were required to shed and we thank you father that he is righteous and we thank you for the righteousness that he provides to all who are yours and now we know that we can stand before you without any condemnation because of what

Christ has done freely forgiven and fully forgiven only and solely by your grace thank you for doing for us what we could never do for ourselves and thank you for sending your son to be our substitute it is in his name that we pray amen will the ushers come forward and help serve the elements let's bow our heads father what a cost it is that you have paid in sending your son to be the sacrifice for our sins so we thank you for this reminder that we have of the cost that was paid the sacrifice that was made may it serve to remind us not only of your love for us but of the righteousness that you have given to us the grace that you have shown and the abundant depth of your forgiveness for sin for all who will call upon your name we thank you for this reminder in Christ's name amen on the night in which he was betrayed our lord took the bread and when he had broke it he said take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me in the same manner after supper he took the cup and said this is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me