OASIS – Winter 2024 – March 12/13, 2024
JOSHUA: part 2 of 4 – “The Walls” – Joshua 5:13-6:27
Last week: Key teaching from Joshua 1 is Joshua 1:8: “Do not let this Book of Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night.”
Our challenge from last week: Make a shift from INFORMATIONAL reading to TRANSFORMATIONAL consumption and contemplation.
Connecting the dots from Joshua 1:9 – 5:13:
• Joshua 1:17: “Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses.” (notice who Joshua is having this dialogue with)
• Joshua 2 – Rahab and the Spies
o Rahab’s confession in Joshua 2:8-11 is another literary chiasm:
v. 9 – “I know the LORD has given you this land . . .”
v. 9 – “Great fear of you has fallen on us . . .”
v. 10 – “We have heard how the LORD dried up the water.”
v. 11 – “Our hearts melted, and our courage failed . . .”
v. 11 – “for the LORD your God is God in heaven and earth.”
o Rahab in the N.T.: Matthew 1:5, Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25
• Joshua 3 and 4 – Crossing the Jordan River
o The account (Joshua 3:14-17) is very similar to Exodus 14 and the crossing of the Red Sea. This is another miraculous event.
o Joshua 4:21-24: “He said to the Israelites, ‘In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”
• Joshua 5:1-12 – Circumcision at Gilgal
o The book of law is very clear about WHEN circumcision should take place –on the 8th day (Genesis 17:12 and Leviticus 12:3). Why is this mass circumcision unfolding just prior to the battle of Jericho?
o Joshua 5:4-5: “Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt –all the men of military age – died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not.”
The Fall of Jericho
• Jericho was a heavily fortified walled-city, seemingly impenetrable by foreign armies. The battle of Jericho will be the first real test for the people of God as they prepare to claim the land of Canaan.
• Jericho is considered the oldest city in the world (although other cities like Damascus claim the same), the site of more than two dozen ancient cities, built and destroyed through the years.
• Jericho means “moon city,” is believed to be the center of worship of the moon-god of the Canaanite religion.
Part one: Joshua learns the MOST important leadership lesson of all!
Joshua 5:13-15: “Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" "Neither" he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.”
This text takes us back to Exodus 3 and the encounter Moses experienced with the LORD through the burning bush. (Exodus 3:1-10)
• Who is this commander of the army of the LORD? Many believe this is just a mere man, but the overwhelming evidence suggests this is either an encounter with God in human form (theophany), or the pre-incarnate Christ. Yet others make the case it could be angel of some kind.
• The message? Both Joshua and Israel must know their place: it is not that God is one their side; rather they are called to TRUST and OBEY the LORD in the battle ahead, and in every other arena of this journey.
• When we study Joshua 5 and 6 today, what is a key takeaway for us, especially during an election year in 2024?
• Tony Evans: “Jesus didn’t come to take sides; Jesus came to take over!”
Part two: Joshua is presented with a most UNCONVENTIONAL plan of battle.
Joshua 6:1-5: “Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites No one went out and no one came in. Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 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. 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."
What might this plan for battle create for a military commander? FEAR! 2
Consider Joshua’s potential FEAR FACTORS:
#1: Fear of following a LEGEND. Do you know the Pete Myers principle?
#2: Fear of rejecting the typical military RESPONSE. This plan doesn’t exactly bring memories of the D-Day invasion in June 1944!
#3: Fear of past FAILURE. The 40 years of wilderness wanderings had created somewhat regular failures along the way.
#4: Fear of the UNKNOWN. When facing uncertain or unknown circumstances, it is more crucial than ever for the people of God to TRUST and OBEY!
• Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, and in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.”
Part three: Joshua chose to TRUST and OBEY the specific Word of the Lord
Joshua 6:6-25: “So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.’ And he ordered the people, ‘Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD.’ When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. But Joshua had commanded the people, ‘Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!’ So, he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.
Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them, and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. So, on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days
On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, ‘Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury
When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, ‘Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.’ So, the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family, and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho – and she lives along the Israelites to this day.”
• The daily marching instructions were followed exactly. On the seventh day, the troops marched seven times around and city walls and at the precise time, the shouting commenced, and the destruction began.
• After the battle, the dedication of the city to the Lord was a priority.
o v. 17: “The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD.”
o “Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the LORD, often by totally destroying them.” (NIV Study Bible, p. 296)
• Finally, complete destruction of the inhabitants of the city ensued
o v. 18: “But keep away from the devoted things . . .” (next week!)
Part four: In victory, Joshua is GROUNDED, and the LORD is GLORIFIED.
Joshua 6:26-27: “At that time, Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: ‘Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its ages.’ So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.”
• Jericho was to be devoted to the LORD as a perpetual sign of God’s judgment on the wicked Canaanites and their religion.
• Sadly, this oath will be fulfilled during the reign of King Ahab in 1 Kings 16:34.
Bottom line: Once again, the LORD does the heavy lifting in this miraculous victory!
Next week March 19/20: Joshua, part 3. Joshua 7/8 – OBEDIENCE matters!
Reminder: NO evening Oasis on Wednesday March 27 during Holy Week.