Sermon: “THE BATTLE”

Introduction: Israel has finally crossed Jordan. They have prepared themselves spiritually and they have followed God’s orders to the letter. Now, they are ready to begin the conquest of the Promised Land. They are ready to claim for themselves the land that is flowing with milk and honey.  But, as it is with most things in life that’s worth having, victory would not come cheap.

VICTORY INVOLVES CONFIDENCE

Josh 6:1-5 (NIV)  1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.  2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”

Verse 1 tells us quite a bit about this story.  When this first verse says “Jericho was tightly shut up,” that is an understatement.  But Israel to advance, Jericho had to be taken.  

Now, let me tell you a little about Jericho.  It is considered both the world’s oldest city(around 8000BC by some scholars), and it is also the world’s lowest city at 850 feet below sea level. It’s below sea level because it lies on a fault line that runs from modern-day Turkey in the north to Mozambique in the south; it’s on one of the world’s major fault systems.  The hill country of Judah had tilted up into mountains, while the Jordan Valley had sunk well below sea level.  So, you can see Jericho stood directly in the path of where Israel must travel. 

The city was not only old… it was also well-fortified.  As you can see from this first slide, the city actually had two walls encircling it.  The outer wall was 6ft thick and 20 ft high.  The inner wall was 12ft thick and 30ft high and between the walls was a wide guarded walkway.  In fact, because the city was so small, some people lived in this in-between area; it’s most likely where Rahab, the Harlot lived.  You’ll remember that she was the one who hid the spies and allowed them go out through her window.  That same window that now had a scarlet rope hanging from it.

For most of the fighting men of Israel, Jericho must have looked like an impossible city to conquer.

6:2. But, in verse 2, we find that the battle is already won!!!  With this impressive fortress in full view of Joshua… this Commander… that is speaking here… that I believe is the Lord Himself… announced to the people… that He had GIVEN Jericho into his hands.  Here’s what He said… “SEE… I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” 

LISTEN…The tense of the Hebrew verb “delivered” is what is called prophetic perfect (in other words… “I have already delivered”), He’s describing a future action as if it were already accomplished.  And, in God’s eyes, it was… But notice… that God promised the victory BEFORE He revealed the plan.  

Listen God wants you to know the same thing.  He has a calling for your life, relief for your family, an answer to your prayer; but before you receive your plan, you need to have a Godly confidence that He WILL make a way. 

6:3-5.  In verses 3-5, God explains the battle plan to Joshua.  But it was VERY unusual. They wouldn’t need ordinary weapons of war such as battering rams and scaling ladders and things of that nature.  Instead… Joshua and his armed men… were to MARCH… around the city… once a day… for six successive days with seven priests blowing trumpets preceding the ark of the covenant. On the seventh day they were to circle Jericho seven times and then… (SAY “and then…) the walls  of Jericho would collapse and the city would be taken.

Now… I know that most of you are familiar with this story, but imagine hearing it for the first time.  “God, you want me to do what?”   I imagine that no battle strategy ever appeared more unreasonable than this one.  It was like… “Let me get this straight, all we’re gonna do is “walk” around the city… And make a bunch of noise… and… the walls are gonna do… what?”  I mean, What was to prevent the army of Jericho from raining arrows and spears down on these Israelites as they went on their little march? Or who could stop the enemy from rushing out of the city gates to break up Israel’s line, separating them and then slaughtering them? Joshua was an experienced military leader.  But unlike Moses at the burning bush… who argued against the Lord’s plan… (cf. Ex. 3:11-4:17) Joshua responded with a confident unquestioning obedience.  No where… do we find that Joshua even asked a question.  In verse 6, we find that He called together the priests and soldiers, told them the plan and that was that.  Oh, to have that kind of faith.

Did you know that God is always consistent in what He does?  When you look at this plan, you can see God’s hand all over it.  First, in the Bible, the number seven symbolizes completeness or perfection.   We see it over and over… In verse 4, we see that there were seven priests, seven trumpets, seven days, and seven circles around the wall… on the seventh day.  God’s plan of action may have seemed foolish to men… but it was PERFECT for this battle.

And, just a little side note about the significance of these trumpets?  Notice that these are not the trumpets carried by the soldiers to use in battle.  These instruments… were called “Jubilee trumpets.”   If you look in the book of Numbers, you’ll find that these trumpets were used in connection with Israel’s solemn feasts to proclaim the presence of God. 

Isn’t it amazing that the battle of Jericho… was not really a military battle at all; it was a spiritual one… and those trumpets… declared that the Lord of heaven and earth was going before His people to create victory for them and defeat for this doomed city.  God Himself, was saying in the long blasts of these priestly trumpets as David said in Psalms 24, “Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in” (Ps. 24:7).  

Friend, you can know that same kind of victory in your life when you surrender the control of your life over to a God who already who has made a plan for your victory. 

Here’s what I have found… True victory over the strongholds of life demands confidence in the Lord.

There were three areas in which Joshua displayed confidence. These need to be true concerning us as well.)

He Had Confidence “In God’s Promises” – Before Joshua went to battle against the city of Jericho, he was reminded of the Lord’s promises to give Israel the victory. There were Past Promises – Josh. 2:9 and there were Present Promises – Josh. 6:2. The past promises reminded Joshua of what the Lord had promised to do long ago. Rahab had known about these promises for 40 years. The present promises reminded Joshua that the Lord had not changed His mind about the matter. God still intended to give Israel the victory in this battle.

Some of you here are battling with strongholds this morning; and you may think that those strongholds will never fall.  But that’s when we need to remember that God will always keep His promises! He has promised us the victory, and folks… the victory shall be ours, 2 Cor. 2:14 ¹⁴ “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.  Whatever God has promised, He is well able to bring to pass.“, Rom. 4:21; Eph. 3:20. “Therefore, let us face our strongholds well assured in the fact that God will do everything He has promised us He will do!”

He Had Confidence in God’s Plan – Have you ever noticed that sometimes God’s plan for victory seems really strange? After all, what was really required of Israel to bring the walls of Jericho down? Nothing! When you get right down to it, all they had to do was to follow God’s plan… and He would cause the walls to fall down. 

I wonder what God has called you to do?

So… What is God”s plan for you?  Do you know that He is calling you for a purpose, yet you don’t think you can do it?  You’re right, you know… you can’t do it in your own strength; but what a lesson we learn here from Joshua.

He Had Confidence in God’s Power – Israel was about to learn that their victory was going to come in the Lord… and not in themselves. Remember back in chapter 5 when the warrior came before Joshua and Joshua said, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” and He said, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” You see, God already had a plan, and if the scholars are correct and this is an pre-Bethlehem manifestation of Christ, God’s plan… was to be put into action by Jesus Christ Himself.  ‘you want to talk about power.  They were about to participate in one of the strangest victories in the annuls of history and for them, victory would come about… NOT because of their own power… but in the power that comes by merely trusting God.

I want to close this sermon with an interesting contrast… when you look at verse 1, what were the people of Jericho placing their faith in?  1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.”

They placed their faith in what they could do… in their strength… in their knowledge… in their power.  But… in verse 2, we find that Joshua… had placed his trust in God.  And the result was a victory that lives on even today.

What kind of “walled city” are you facing right now?  Does it appear to be unconquerable?  Do the walls look too high, and do they appear to be too thick?  Does it seem that victory is absolutely impossible in your case?  I want to remind you that God can cause YOUR walls to fall as well.  They can fall at this very moment.  Let me ask you…

Why did the Israelites prevail?

1. They had a Word from the Lord (2-6)
2. They believed God (8-20)
3. They acted in faith
4. They did it God’s way
5. God gave them the victory

It’s as simple as that.