JOSHUA 6

SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR STICKY SITUATIONS

 

(Pastor Ron Clarke) "Read of a man involved in a terrible accident.   When they freed his mangled body, there was so little life left that he was almost given up for dead.   But when the surgeons had finished their work there remained only a wreck of a man.

 

Both legs were gone; the left arm was missing together with part of the collar bone.   Only a finger and thumb remained on the right hand.   There was only enough left of the man that had been, to suffer and remember.

 

But he still possessed a brilliant mind, enriched with a good

education and broadened with world travel.   And it was all wasted.  There was nothing he could do but remain a helpless sufferer.

 

A thought came to him.   It was always nice to receive letters, but why not write them - he could still use his right hand with some difficulty.   But who could he write to?   Was there anyone shut in and incapacitated like he was who could be encouraged by his letters?  He thought of men in prison - they did have some hope of release whereas he had none - but it was worth a try.

 

He wrote to a Christian organization concerned with prison ministry.  He was told that his letters could not be answered - it was against prison rules, but he commenced this one sided correspondence.

 

He wrote twice a week and it taxed his strength to the limit.   But into those letters he put his whole soul, all his experience, all his faith, all his wit, and all his Christian optimism.  

 

It must have been hard writing those letters, often in pain, and particularly when there was no reply.

 

Frequently he felt discouraged and was tempted to give it up.  But it was his one remaining activity and he resolved to continue as long as he could.

 

At last he got a letter.   It was very short, written on prison

stationery by the officer whose duty it was to censor the mail.   All it said was: "Please write on the best paper you can afford.   Your letters are passed from cell to cell till they literally fall to pieces." http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/2958.htm

 

I chose this story for this evening's message because I believe it makes a point - God can give us victory through any difficulty.

We never know what kind of challenges we are going to face in  life, but for the Christian, God can, and will give us victory, as long as we look to Him!

 

This evening we come to Joshua 6.  The children of Israel have crossed into the promised and as God parted the waters, and allowed them to come into the land on dry ground.  They had practiced circumcision, eaten of the food of the land, and Joshua had heard from the Captain of the Lord's host, the Lord Jesus, Himself.

 

Now they were ready to begin conquering the land.  But there was an obstacle right in front of them, the city of Jericho.

 

Vs. 1 - The city of Jericho was closed up. Nobody was allowed in, or out. The enemy was prepared for an attack. 

 

The city of Jericho was a formidable enemy.

 

Speaking of the walls of Jericho, Leon Wood had this to say:

“The walls were of a type which mad direct assault practically impossible.

An approaching enemy first encountered a stone abutment, eleven feet high, back and up from which sloped a thirty-five degree plastered scarp reaching to the main wall some thirty-five vertical feet above. The steep smooth slope prohibited battering the wall by any effective device or building fires to break it. An army trying to storm the wall found difficulty in climbing the slope, and ladders to scale it could find no satisfactory footing. The normal tactic used by an enemy to take a city so protected was siege, but Israel did not have time for this, if she was to occupy all the land in any reasonable number of months.” Leon Wood, A Survey of Israel’s History, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan Publishing House, 1970) p. 174

 

Christian, perhaps there is a Jericho in your life tonight, a formidable enemy, a big problem, a bad habit, which is keeping you from enjoying your Christian life.  Just as Joshua and the Children of Israel followed a simple procedure for conquering Jericho, you can follow the same procedure to have victory over your Jerichos.

 

I've named this message, SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR STICKY SITUATIONS. By a simple solution, I mean not complicated.

I'm not saying the battles we fight in the Christian life are easy battles. Many of them are very hard, and hard fought. What I am saying is that the solution to our problems is not complicated, and can be summed up in six words, making three points.

 

HEAR GOD

BELIEVE GOD

OBEY GOD

 

HEAR GOD - Listen to what God has to say in His Word.

BELIEVE GOD - Actually accept as truth, what God says in His                                    

                       Word.

OBEY GOD -       Do what God tells you to do.

 

Our message this evening is a little different in that we will go back and forth from point to point.  We will read the text and find these points as we go along.

 

Vs. 2 - God is talking to Joshua.

 

God will talk to you as well.  Although God will use the nudges of the Holy Spirit, and will guide through circumstances, and the advice of others, please bear in mind that God's Word is His primary mode of communication.

 

Psalm 119:105 - Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. 

 

Isaiah 55:10-11 - For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

 

God's Word accomplishes its purpose!

The purpose of God's word is manifold, but the bottom line is this: God's Word will tell you what is right. God's Word will tell you what to do!

 

Psalm 119:9 - Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed [thereto] according to thy word.

 

Vs. 2 - Please note the promise that God makes here.

          Jericho is shut up tighter than a knot.

          God says, I have given Jericho to you. God says, "I will".

 

Mark this down. When God says in His Word, "I will", it only means one thing - HE WILL!

 

When God says, "I will never leave you," He means he will never leave you.

When God says, "I will provide all your needs," He means He will provide all your needs.

When God says, "I will answer your prayers," He means He will answer your prayers.

When Jesus, as God, says, "I go to prepare a place for you," He means He has gone to prepare a place for you!

 

All we have to do is meet the condition of His promises, if there are any.

 

Whenever we have a problem, a situation greater than ourselves, we should have our knees bent in prayer, and our noses in THE BOOK!

 

HEAR GOD!

 

Vs. 3 - You might expect some great plan of valor for Israel to

          follow, some great act of heroism.  Not so!

         

For starters, all they were going to do was march around Jericho once a day for six days.

 

If we as believers were more in God's Word during troubles, we would discover that what we think we should do, and what God wants us to do are often two different things.

 

Often God wants us to wait when we want to go forward.

Always, God wants us to forgive when we want to hold a grudge.

Always, God wants us to follow His instructions, not our own intuition.

 

Vs. 4 - On the seventh day, the seven priests blowing seven trumpets, will go in front of the ark, as all Israel marches around Jericho seven times.

 

We think of the number 7.

It appears to be God's number of completeness, or perfection.

This whole plan would seem foolish to some Israelites, and even more foolish to the enemy, but it was God's perfect plan.

 

Vs. 5 - Now God tells Joshua exactly what's going to happen.

          It was something so stupendous, that only God could get

          the credit!

 

At the sound of the trumpets on the seventh time around Jericho, the people were to shout. It would be a shout of obedience, because God said to shout. 

It would be a shout of faith, because they believed God.

 

The walls would fall down, and Israel was to go straight ahead at the enemy.

 

I was thinking.  God tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks.  Aren't these our shouts of faith and obedience today?

 

In these verses, Joshua did what we need to do, HEAR GOD!

 

Vss. 6-7 - What Joshua was told was pretty remarkable.

              This hadn't been done before.

              This was a new battle plan.

              This was a unique battle plan.

 

This verse indicates that not only did Joshua hear God, but he believed God!  How do we know Joshua believed God?

He gave orders, showing that he was going to obey God!

 

This is one of the biggest problems that we have as Christians.

We hear the Word of God, but we don't believe that what he says is true?

 

Do we believe God when He tells us we have nothing to fear?

Do we believe God when He tells us we have nothing to worry about?

Do we believe God when He tells us that He will solve the problem?

Do we believe God when He tells us He will answer our prayers?

The best way we show that we believe God is by doing what He says.

 

Say you have a tax problem, so you go to Mike Stello.

He looks at it, and says, "This problem can be solved, but you need to do this, this, and this."

You thank Mike, pay him and leave.

The way you will show Mike that you believe him is when you do exactly as he has said.

 

Vss. 8-9 - Notice how Israel chose to obey God!

               God had said to take the ark around the city.

               Seven priests were to blow on rams horns.

              The front guard went first, then the rear guard.

Notice that with this set up, God was right in the middle of the battle!

 

READ AND COMMENT ON REST OF CHAPTER:

HEAR GOD

BELIEVE GOD

OBEY GOD