Answers in Genesis--Spring 2017--Lesson 3, The Battle of Jericho

Welcome everyone. Since we have this big spread, Pascal and Mike's still on vacation this morning. So we want to begin. Our time together with a word of prayer, and then we'll open up to Joshua.

Chapter 5 and chapter 6. So our time together will be interactive this morning. So I want you to have your Bibles open. I'll need your help.

Lots of questions that I have that I'm look to you for answers. So let's bow our heads and quiet our hearts before the Lord this morning. Father in heaven, in Jesus' name. In Jesus' holy name and by His blood.

We are privileged beyond measure. To come before your throne boldly. And humbly, because you are great and you are sovereign. We praise you for your word this morning.

We praise you for your character. As ever present, all powerful, never changing. The same faithful, loving God. That you were in Joshua's time as you are today.

We pray that we would be humbled before you, that we would be teachable. We ask your blessing upon this time as we look into your word. Ask your special blessing upon Pastor Mike as he enjoys his final Sunday morning with his family. We give you the glory for this day of celebration as we focus on celebrating Milton and Donna.

And their faithfulness to us and your faithfulness to them. We give you the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright.

So can God be trusted? Rhetorical question, important question. It's certainly a question that I've asked. And I'm sure it's a question that you've asked as you've dealt with personal situations.

When God has not responded immediately to your inquiry, to your cry. Can God be trusted? If we had time, we would go around the room and we would share. The situations that we have faced that cause us to ask this question, Lord, are you there?

Are you faithful? Are you the same God today? As you were Back in Joshua's time. Well, we know that The answer to that question is yes, God can be trusted because he's proven himself in his time.

Some introductory slides this morning. We are at lesson 3. Brother Dan shared, middle of December in lesson 2, God uses rehab. And then before that, Pastor Mike talked about God calling Joshua.

And these are the proceeding lessons as we go through the weeks ahead. Next week, lesson 4 will be Israel disobeys God. Today, we're gonna focus on Joshua and the battle of Jericho. And how God's people, the Israelites, trusted God, trusted their leaders, Joshua.

And how God moved. As we all know, soon after that, we find God's people being in disobedience, just like Us All right, and that's the end of the The lesson run at the end of the quarter. So here we are this morning, lesson 3, the Battle of Jericho. This is what we'll go over this morning, Lord willing.

I think we have a lot to cover. we'll see how quickly it goes. but as I said, it'll be interactive. I've got questions, so I'm gonna need you to be actively participating, so we'll do a review.

And then we'll look into God's word and then we'll apply what we've learned. So by way of review, we've studied Genesis. From the creation of the universe, the earth and all of these creatures, including mankind to the exodus of the Israelite slaves. The Israelites failed to trust that God would lead them into the promised land, and the consequence of that was what?

40 years. Wandering in the desert. Anybody know what the general area of that desert that they wandered in for 40 years is? Yeah, it is Sinai, approximately 200 square miles.

Not that, not that much land actually, and they wandered literally in circles for 40 years. Because they failed to trust God. So after 40 years of wandering and the death of all the people aged 20, Over, over age 20 who did not trust God, God called Joshua to assemble the Israelites to enter the land promised to Abraham's descendants. So does Moses make it into the promised land?

Why? Yeah, same problem, right? Disobedience Same problem. So Yeah, exactly.

So let's continue. Last lesson, Dan shared, we looked at the two spies whom Joshua sent to Jericho in order to prepare to take the promised land. I don't have a copy of these, so I'm reading it off the screen. It bugs me not having eye contact with you, but I don't have these notes, so.

So, as I said, Dan shared on the 18th of December about the two spies whom Joshua sent to Jericho in order to prepare to take the promised land. Who were the spies? Yeah, Joshua sent. The two spies Caleb was one Anybody?

We don't know their names. I thought it was Caleb. OK. Right.

Right. Oh, the, the original ones. All right. Yeah, we'll move on.

I can't come up with that myself, so I better move on. so, who can summarize what happened to the spies when they returned to Jericho? Yep Mm. Hm Excellent Excellent, excellent.

Yeah. They said that the home of Rahab, the harlot, she hid them from the king's men and lied to protect them. Rahab let the spies out of the window and they hid on the mountain for 3 days before returning to report to Joshua. Say that again.

She acknowledged their God. Good. Good. Absolutely.

So let's continue. God hates lying but he was gracious to Rahab and her faith is commended several places in scripture. God used Rahab to protect the spies and God uses, use the spies to later protect Rahab and her family. Today, We're going to look at Take a look at the first stages of the taking of the promised land with the battle to take the city of Jericho.

An exciting An exciting time in scripture. So open up if you will, to Book of Joshua. the scripture is Joshua 5:13 through chapter 6, verse 27. We're gonna break it down in two parts.

We'll also put a marker or your thumb in Hebrews chapter 11. Verse 30 Excuse me? Rahab's in here, yeah. Let's, for part one, let's, read Joshua chapter 5, verse 13.

If you open up with me and we'll follow along. I'm reading out to the NIV. 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, keep that phrase in mind, commander of the army of the Lord, I have come, I have now come.

Then Joshua fell face down 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. Now, Jericho was tightly shut up.

Does anybody have another translation that they can share with us? Chapter 6, verse 1. What do you have in ASB? Tightly shut.

Tightly shut. Anything else? OK. So tightly shut, batten down the hatches, OK, get that image.

In your mind. So 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 6 days. Have 7 priests carry trumpets of ram's horns in front of the ark. On the 7th day, march around the city 7 times with the priests blowing the trumpets.

When you hear them. Shout a long blast on the trumpet, have all the people give a loud shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up and every man straight in. So in review, Just to break it out a little bit more, what did Joshua encounter near Jericho?

Captain of the army of the Lord. Yeah. What do you understand that to be? Christophane What do you think, Dan?

Probably. That's well phrased. What's a Christophane? A pre-incarnate appearance of Christ.

Excellent. Yeah. And what evidence do we have that it was a Cristohane based on what we read this morning, Judy? Beautiful.

Beautiful, yeah. Fell on his face. Excellent. Excellent.

Would you fall on your, would he have fallen on his face if it had been an angel? He would have, but the angel would have made him stand. OK, that's good. Good.

Good, excellent. Excellent. Yeah, that's well done. So, Joshua encountered A man who described himself.

As Where is it? The commander of the army of the Lord. Which we believe it, which we believe was a Christophane. And as, as you've accurately said, Joshua responded by bowing to the earth and worshiping, asking what the commander had to tell him.

And as Judy correctly said, the, the commander of the army of the Lord said, remove your sandals for your unholy ground. It's wonderful. And then, go on, wait. Mm, mm, mm.

Mm, mm. Mm. Mm Say that again. Mm.

Mm. Neither. work Mm. Mm Mm.

Hm. It should have been and it should be to us as we apply that concept to our own lives. The situations we find ourselves in today, the situations that we go before the Lord in, crying out to him. For his response, hear me, oh Lord.

Have you abandoned me? the things that we say as we go before the Lord with our personal crises. Relational, financial, emotional. All these things that you and I deal with every day and we go before the Lord.

And the question is, To whose glory To whose glory are we asking Him to respond? It's very challenging, convicting. Convicting. Thank you, Wade.

Great insight. So what instructions did Joshua get for the battle? The army was to march around the city with the ark and 7 priests blowing ram's horns once a day for 6 days. On the 7th day, They were to march around the city 7 times and then blow the horns and shout upon which the wall would fall down.

Amazing instructions We don't hear Joshua saying, yeah, right. What extraordinary instructions. But to go back to my previous point, this is about the Lord, the point that Wade has made to His glory. Not to the military prowess of the Israelites.

And then what would happen after the wall fell. Israel, the soldiers were to walk in. Right? All right.

What other encounter from our past study is similar to Joshua's encounter, Joe? Yeah Yeah. I No, Yeah, no, well, yes, I do actually from, and it's my last slide. Do you have something, Wade?

Flat, came straight down. And that is what most recent archaeological excavation has revealed and it's the last slide this morning that I'm gonna show you, published in The New York Times in 1990 that, the title of the article says that believers Believers win or believers score. That the evidence has shown not that the walls were fell in or fell out, but that they came straight down. And we'll talk about that as we conclude.

So what other encounter from our past study? Seems similar to Joshua's encounter with the commander of the Lord's army. Say again. Moses.

Moses, what happened there? Moses and what? The burning, the burning bush. And what was the Lord's instruction to Moses when he spoke to Moses from the burning bush?

Say again. Remove your sandals for your unholy ground. Absolutely. Another evidence that this was a Christophane.

The same instruction The same response by Moses. Joshua responded in the same way. Fell down and worshiped and the Lord said, take off your sandals for you're unholy ground. So yeah, this similar encounter makes sense since Joshua was the successor of Moses.

Where are we? So who is the commander of the army of the Lord? Well, we've already established it's a Christophane, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus. He can't be an angel because he receives worship from Joshua, something angels do not do.

In chapter 6 verse 2, the The commands for taking the city came from the Lord. So it's likely a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus. Somebody quickly go to Exodus 23 for me. And let's take a look at that.

Anybody there? Exodudus 23:20. Go ahead. I have But if you carefully obey his voice.

Canaanites and the Hivites. Perfect. Spine tingling. Absolutely spine tingling.

Like any questions? See above. There it is. There it is, the Lord's promise.

I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says, do not rebel against him, etc. Absolutely fantastic. Let's press on in part 2, let's take a look at Joshua chapter 6.

Versus 5. 5 through 27. Chapter 6, yeah, verse 5. So the instructions continue, 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.

So Joshua, son of Nun, called the priests and said to them, Take up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and have 7 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. Get that picture in your mind of the arc, the Ark of the Covenant. Leading the way When Joshua had spoken to the people, the 7 priests carrying the 7 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 at once.

Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there. Joshua got up early. The next morning, and the priest took up the Ark of the Lord. The 7 priests carrying the 7 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 2nd day, they marched around the city once and returned to camp. They did this for 6 days, verse 15.

On the 7th day, They got up at daybreak and marched around the city 7 times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city 7 times. The 7th 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 of, and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord.

Only rehab, 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 sanctuary. Verse 20 when the trumpet 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. 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 with all who belonged 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. 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 among the Israelites to this day. So 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 foundation. At the cost of his youngest, will he set up gates.

So the Lord was with Joshua. And his fame spread throughout the land. Amazing reading. Amazing reading.

So it happened for the 1st 6 days? Somebody for the 1st 6 days. Walk around Right Once each day, the army marched with the ark around the city, 7 priests blew the trumpets. And they returned to camp.

What instruction did Joshua give the people in verse 10? Take a look at verse 10. 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. Remarkable trust, remarkable faith, remarkable following.

Yeah. A lot of murmuring, a lot of complaining. Yeah. With these trumpets blowing, eerie, eerie trumpet blowing.

We'll talk about that. Yeah, I imagine. Imagine standing on top of the walls of an ancient city built on a hill. As a foreign army approaches, you think you have found food to outlast a siege.

Of many months then you watch the invading army march. Once around each day, eerily silent except the blowing of the trumpets for 6 days, Nate. Only that they, they, they weren't being aggressive. But yeah, that's, that's a fair question.

Anybody have any insights? they weren't. They were, there you go. There you go, yeah.

Yeah, but That's, that's, that's a good point that they weren't right. At the base of the wall, but they also weren't too far because they were able to walk the circumference of the city. On the 7th day, 7 times, right? So it was a doable feat within daylight hours, let's say.

So yeah, maybe they were outside. Of arrows reach. It's another great point is that the Israelites' reputation had gone before him. The people of Jericho were in fear and trembling.

Because God has, God's hand had been upon his army and they had been amazingly effective. So let's continue On the 7th day, the soldiers march around the city 7 times and then start screaming double weird. Double weird. All of a sudden, the walls that you had put your trust in tumbled down the hill.

The walls you'd put your trust in tumbled down the hill. As I read that and as I was preparing for this morning, I'm thinking what, what walls have I put trust in? What walls do I put trust in other than the Lord? There are walls There are things that I put trust in.

Let the Holy Spirit reveal what those are in your life. All of a sudden the walls you, you had put trust in tumbled down the hill, making a nice ramp for the attackers. And soon they were swarming within the city. All of those things you'd heard about the God of the Israelites.

were true. But it was too late. God gave the Israelites victory over this fortified city in a most unconventional way. Their faith in God to deliver the victory was not in vain.

God showed Himself faithful. God showed Himself faithful. How was Rahab saved? Yeah, yeah, by her obedience and the two spies.

Joshua ordered the two spies to go and rescue her, her mother and father, her siblings, and those with them. Good. What additional detail of destruction do we find in verse 24? You people are bomb.

Yeah, they burned the city and only kept the metal vessels. Yeah Good. Let's continue Is there scientific, is there a scientific explanation for what happened to the walls? Ha.

Did you hear Joe Missy, did you hear Joe? That's, that's why we love Joe. That's exactly right. All the walking around the city walls.

Compromise the foundation of the unreinforced walls. And then, The acoustical impact of the shout. Shook the already weakened foundation of the wall. The inspectors Exactly.

Tip the hat, exactly right. Some may suggest that the loud cry sent sonic waves to break up the walls or that an earthquake coincided with the shouting. But we trust this was a supernatural act of God that brought down the walls of this fortified city. Yeah, let's go to Hebrews chapter 11.

All Well, well, hang on a minute, Jim. Tell us more about that. what do the walls have to do with the house that Rahab was staying in? What?.

Jim's right that the houses were on the wall or in the wall. This is how the wall was constructed and how houses were constructed in ancient days. OK, so picture that little unusual, so that makes the walls quite wide. Hebrews chapter.

It was in the Bible it was. Just That they were, the walls were so wide that they had chariot races. Around the wall. There we go, OK.

18 year olds saying. Lowered OK, yeah. Thank you. Perfect.

Thanks. Chapter 2. Good. Good, good.

OK, let's move on. All right, I'm losing it here. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 30.

Somebody read that with a presentation read, what is the reason that the walls came down? By faith, the walls fell because of the people's faith. In the promise of God. Amen.

Amen. Magnificent And here's that first paragraph from The New York Times, February 22, 1990, hard to read. After years of doubt among archaeologists, a new analysis of excavations. Has yielded a wide range of evidence supporting the biblical account about the fall of Jericho.

It may well be true that in the words of the old spiritual, Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down, and the article goes on from there. So, absolutely. God is faithful. He had promised for 450 years to bring Abrams, Abraham's descendants into the promised land, and he kept that promise, faithful.

And absolutely powerful. The faith of the Israelites and the power of God brought the victory. Absolutely In the past, the Israelites had failed to trust. had failed to trust God.

How did their attitude towards God influence the events of our lesson? How did their attitude affect the events, Larry? Well, I was wondering. if they had not.

Obeyed, about the running around the. The thing, in silence, what, walls would have fallen down anyway. What do you think? If the people had murmured, if the people had complained, if the people had wanted to lynch Joshua as a knucklehead nutcase.

How would God have responded? Would the walls have come tumbling down? Jim years God was ready to take him into the land and conquer the land. Perfect answer.

Nate, It doesn't. Well, if you go back to that promise that we read in Exodus, if you truly obey and do all that. Then I will Mm mm. Yeah Yeah.

Yeah Mm Mm Mm Mm Mm. Mm, absolutely. I think so. Mm So I think that's.

Mm I think that Mm mm mm. Mm. Good, thanks for that. Yeah.

Right, right, right. Totally, totally. Exactly, exactly. The next chapter.

But I appreciate your phrasing, humble, And, and submissive. Two of our favorite words. I know you all. You're just like me, humble and submissive.

What a great way to start the year. Lord, do your work in me. Jim, Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's, that's an excellent point as well, plus the fact that this is post.

This is just after the Lord stopped the Jordan River and allowed them to walk across on dry land, right? So maybe it's the one week honeymoon period after, after God stopped the Jordan from, yeah. Joshua Hm Mm. Mm.

Mm. Every Mm The Excellent. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, good. Good, yeah, wait. Right? Right.

Right. Hm. Good. Good input, Nate.

Mm. Mm mm. Good, good input. Excellent, Joe.

Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Good. Mm. Mm.

Good. Really good input. Great help. We're close to the end here.

Any other? Reflective Thoughts, insights. Great ching, I appreciate it. So my question is, what do we need to trust the Lord for?

Let's bring this right home as we begin this new year together. Excuse me? Everything. Everything, yeah.

Yeah, the Lord is faithful. The Lord will glorify Himself. That you and I would be humble. Submissive On our faces before him.

Continually, one thing that my brother weighed. Spoken to my life about late last year as we talked about this subject, is that the Lord is faithful to do His will in his time. And Brother Wade emphasized to me in his time. Not my time.

Or not your time Good. Yes, Oh my goodness. Did you hear that back there? Did you hear what she said?

Say it again louder. Mm. Mm. Mm.

Mm Mm. Mmm. why Yeah. Yeah.

Good. Thanks for that. Yeah. Yeah.

Same God today Same God today has commanded. The Israelites to walk around this city for 7 days and to shout the walls down. Absolutely. Same God today that wants to do a miracle in your life, in my life.

As you and I wait upon him, cry out to him. So our memory verse, you've seen this ongoing. Joshua chapter one. Verses 8 and 9, I commend that to you.

Has Pastor Mike tested you on this? Ask for volunteers. Let's read it together. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your own.

And then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Oh. Yes, Mm. Hm Mm mm. Mm Mm.

Mmm. Mm, mm, yeah. Amen. Yeah, thanks for sharing that.

I appreciate it. Very much. Yeah. Lord, if you don't show up, if you don't show up, Lord, this whole, this whole deal goes down.

And we are wiped out. I think our routine, our wealth, our comfort do us a real disservice. Do us a real disservice from really seeking God. And really allowing him to reveal Himself to us as he wants to in crazy ways.

Commend the scripture to you, the memory verse. Next week, lesson 4. As Bob has reminded us, not much time goes by and Israel disobeys God. So don't miss next week.

I think Pastor Mike is back teaching. So thank you for your love, thank you for your participation, thank you for your insights. As we continue our celebration Sunday, our hearts are full this morning as we worship Him and celebrate. Pastor Milton and Donna's 25 years of loving, devoted service to this body of believers.

Let's close in prayer together. Father, we give you the glory. We uplift holy hands without wrath or dissension in a spirit of worship, in a spirit of unity, in a spirit of thanksgiving, because you are the God that brought down the walls of Jericho. You are the same God.

That put your son on the cross because of your love for us. And you are the same God that hears our cry. That meets our needs. We commit the rest of this morning and the afternoon to you as we praise you and worship you and give you the glory for Donna and for Milton, for their heart, for their service, for their love poured out for the last 2.5 decades.

Incredible. Incredible. We ask your blessing upon the service ahead. And these dear brothers and sisters, commit them to you in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. All right. Thank you so much