BY FAITH THE WALLS OF JERICHO FELL

Joshua 5:1-6:27

Key Verse Hebrews 11:30

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. 

By having the Israelites pass through the Red Sea, the Lord God trained the Israelites to have faith in him so that through faith in the Lord they would face war with confidence and win. 

In the passage for today, the Israelites then crossed the Jordan River. They were in the enemies’ territory. The manna stopped coming. They then were faced with the first battle, that is, the battle of Jericho. 

The Bible passage says that the outcome of this battle was a complete victory. The battle of Jericho was bigger than the Israelites. On their own it was impossible for them to win the battle. Yet, they won a smashing victory, for the Lord was with them. 

Jericho is symbolic of all the organized efforts that resist the rule of God. These efforts include human ideas, isms, thoughts, philosophies and principles, and social, political, and economic systems that set themselves up against God’s will to build his kingdom in the hearts of men. Jericho represents the world and its system which work against God’s will to build God’s kingdom in men. In waging the Lord’s battle, we will face many walls like that of Jericho. These walls may not come in the same form as Joshua found it, but their essence remains the same. It is accordingly necessary for us to make ourselves well versed with every facet of the faith that guarantees absolute victory over the walls and city of Jericho. 

Hebrews 11:30 simply says that by faith the walls of Jericho fell. What then does this faith entail?  Let us think about this question in two parts.

I. Preparations for the battle

(1) Circumcision (5:1-9) and Passover (5:10-12)

The first thing the Lord did in preparing the Israelites for the upcoming battle against Jericho was to help them by performing circumcision and keeping the Passover. Later, in Romans 4:11, the Apostle Paul says that this circumcision represents a seal of righteousness that comes from believing in the Lord. The Passover celebrates the salvation from the bondage to the power of sin and death through faith in the blood of the Passover Lamb, which again is the symbol of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross. Overall, the circumcision and Passover signify the blessed relationship with the Lord through faith in the blood of our Lord Jesus. 

This teaches us that in participating in the Lord’s daily battle, the first thing we need to do is to check our relationship with Jesus Christ. The questions for us then are: “Am I in the right relationship with Jesus?” “Do I really believe in the promise of Jesus that if I put trust in Jesus, God indeed would forgive all of my sins, and secure for me a permanent position in the Lord?” More questions associated with these questions include: “Do I then believe in all the other promises of God given to his children, such as the promise to send his Holy Spirit?” “Is it my deep, unwavering conviction that in Jesus victories over all of my enemies are guaranteed?” “Does my conscience really affirm without any hint of doubt that all the curses that befell mankind due to the fall of the first man Adam have no part whatsoever in my life, for they have all been replaced with all the blessings from God, including the blessedness of the vision for resurrected life in the Lord?” 

In fact, in view of Genesis 12:2-3, we can express these promises from the Lord for his children in one phrase: “A source of blessing.” For Genesis 12:2-3 says, “‘I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’” In short, faith in the Lord qualifies us to get into the blessed relationship with the blessed Lord, so that as we reaffirm this blessed relationship with the Lord, the Lord then can use us as a source of blessing for all peoples on earth. 

Circumcision and Passover then refer to the celebration of the blessed relationship with the Lord. Each time we get into the Lord’s battle today and tomorrow, we start out first by celebrating this blessed relationship. 

The command to perform circumcision and celebrate the Passover reminds us of what King David said in Psalm 23:5-6, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” 

(2) Commander of the army of the Lord (13-14)

In vs. 13-14, Joshua encountered a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. At first Joshua did not know who he was. So he asked, “Are you for us or for enemies?” The man replied, “Neither, but as the commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell prostrate before the man and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” 

Here the vision of the man with a drawn sword indicates that the Lord fights his own battle with his own army for his own purposes. The point for us here is to remember that it is the Lord, not you or me, who is in charge. We are merely his subjects. The latter point is particularly important. Yes, the Lord is in charge. Yes, the Lord is the commander-in-chief of the Lord’s army. But who are we? We are his servants. 

What then is a servant? A servant is the one who “takes” orders, not the one who “issues” orders. Imagine a servant issuing orders to his master saying, “Hey, master. Why don’t you go to the men’s room back there and clean it up?” What would the master say? The master will be mad and say to him, “Are you kidding? You are fired.” 

In the passage, upon learning that the man in front of him was sent by the Lord to issue an order for the Lord’s battle, Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence and said, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” No matter how unreasonable the message might be, Joshua was ready to listen and obey. 

In John’s gospel, the first miracle Jesus performed was to change wash-water into choice wine. This miracle, however, did not come all by itself. It happened thanks to Jesus’ mother training the servants working at the wedding banquet at Cana. There, when the wine supply ran out, Jesus’ mother reported this matter to Jesus. Then she went to the servants working there and said, “Do whatever he tells you.” Then Jesus issued orders that sounded crazy. Yet, the servants obeyed Jesus’ command absolutely. Then a miracle took place. Like the servants at the wedding banquet at Cana, Joshua fell prostrate before the man, ready to obey whatever the Lord might say. The Lord is the commander-in-chief, and we are his subjects. 

Last week Time magazine ran a feature article on Pat Tillman, football star. He died in Afghanistan. He could have made millions of dollars and lived in luxury. Yet, to defend the nation he joined the U.S. army. Once he joined the army, however, he was no longer a star. He was a soldier taking orders that came down the chain of command. According to his orders, he went out to a battle field where bullets were flying, and he died. 

Our front line missionaries in overseas countries are like Mr. Tillman. According to the world mission command issued by Jesus the commander-in-chief, they went out to rugged places such as Nigeria, Sudan, Kiev, mainland China, and India. At the upcoming Michigan State University Summer Bible Conference International, we will meet these war heroes. We will listen to their war stories. And we will pray with one mind and one spirit under the banner, “Your Kingdom Come.” 

(3) Take off your sandals (15)

What message did the commander bring for Joshua? Look at v. 15. “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.” It does not seem like there is a whole lot of message here for Joshua to carry out. Taking off his sandals does not seem like a lot of work. It takes maybe one or two seconds to take them off. And the ground Joshua was standing on must have been the same as ground in any part of the world. It consisted of just dirt and maybe gravel scattered here and there and even some weeds growing around. Yet the man said that it was holy ground. 

Why? The reason is obvious: the presence of the Lord. In v. 14 the man already stated that the battle was not Joshua’s battle but the Lord’s battle. The Lord himself is fighting his battle to further his own purpose. The word “holy” then defines the purpose of the battle, that is, “to uphold the ‘holiness’ of the Lord.” 

Consistent with this purpose the Lord God said in Exodus 19:5-6, “‘ “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.’” In the same way, the Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

Nowadays a lot of people are confused about the word “holy” or “holiness.” Since 9/11 we have heard even of suicide bombers using the term “holy war” (or simply jihad). They carry bombs and throw themselves into crowded areas with the intention to kill as many people as possible. 

But when we study the Bible, we learn that holiness is designed to protect, nurture, and honor life in its highest form. It has been said that the essence of Christianity is love, for the Bible says, “God is love” (1 John 4:16b). But the Bible says something more about God, that is, God is holy. The Apostle John is known as the apostle of love. But in the book of Revelation, quoting the living creatures in heaven, the Apostle John says, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 4:7), which is also found in Isaiah 6:3, in the Old Testament Scriptures. Nowhere in the Bible is the Lord described as “Love, love, love is the Lord God.” Consistent with what John says n Revelation 4:7, the Spirit of God that Jesus promised to send to his children is also called the “Holy Spirit.” 

For this reason it has been said that while love is the essence of God, holiness is the essence of God’s love, so that the love God has for his children is a holy love. And the purpose of holiness is in the furtherance of life.  Speaking of the same truth, Jesus said that the flesh counts for nothing, but the Holy Spirit gives life to man (John 6:63). 

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” Again, the purpose of the battle was to uphold the holiness of God’s name. The battle of Jericho then is the battle between the forces of holiness in heaven and the forces of desecration. It is the battle against every idea, thought, ism, philosophy, or lifestyle that stands in conflict with the holiness of God. The Bible has a better name for all these enemies of God’s holy character: idolatry. Canaan was the land of idol worship. Jericho was the first fortified city which served as a bastion of idol worship. In their idol worship they even burned their own sons to soothe demons and the devil in their unenlightened prayer for practical benefits such as fertility or good crops. By the time the Lord brought the Israelites to this land, the sin of their idol worship reached its full measure so that God’s divine judgment was due (cf. Genesis 15:16). 

Let us make no mistake. The Lord’s battle for his holy name is not limited to a few battles such as the one recorded in Joshua 5-6. Since Day One of Adam’s fall, the Lord never stopped fighting his battle for his holy name. And the Lord continues to fight this battle even today. When Jesus came, he expressed this purpose by describing the purpose of him desiring to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples. In John 15:16, Jesus said, “When he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…”

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” One way for us to daily implement this instruction is to start each day by doing Daily Bread [devotion], for the time to do Daily Bread is useful for taking off our sandals and meeting the Lord God more intimately than ever, and being filled with his Spirit through his word. Then we can meet daily challenges. We can go out to the world where sin is raging and fight the Lord’s battle efficiently and even seamlessly.

 

(4) See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands (6:1-2)

The fourth point for us to secure in preparing ourselves for the Lord’s battle is deep conviction of absolute victory. Look at Joshua 6:1-2. ^“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.’” Again, everything that Jericho represents – its walls, its king, and its fighting men, etc. – is symbolic of all kinds of organized efforts, which stem from the enemies’ camp in the invisible realms, and then are manifested in the physical world. These efforts resist the rule of God. These efforts come to us in many different forms, such as people adopting so-called alternative lifestyles, false messiahs teaching false gospels, social, economic, and political systems which are not based on the principles of God, music, literature, movies, and all other sorts of arts or entertainments. 

When we look around ourselves it appears that the forces of defilement are overpowering the forces of God’s holiness. This is just like Jericho standing upright, blocking the way of the Israelites at the point of entry into Canaan. ^“Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in” (Joshua 6:1). As this passage says, there is no fellowship between the two forces. The two campuses pit themselves against each other. And at first glance it looks as if it is impossible for the Israelites to take the city. 

But the Lord God said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” Similarly, when Jesus came he said to his disciples in John 12:31, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” Then after his death and resurrection Jesus commanded his disciples to make disciples of all nations. This command is tantamount to Jesus saying, “See I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” This is the kind of conviction we need in waging the Lord’s battle daily. 

II. Progress of the battle  

Joshua 6:3-27 describes the progress of the battle. It consists of the Lord’s instructions and the Israelites obedience. In studying this passage, one thing that strikes us is the way the Israelites were to fight the Lord’s battle departs drastically from conventional wisdom in fighting a conventional war. In our previous Bible studies on the book of Joshua we already covered some of the details of the spiritual wisdom the Lord revealed to Joshua for the Lord’s battle. For today we will briefly cover the seven points quickly.

(1) Marching with all the armed men. 

In the passage we see that the word “march” or “advance” is repeated. According to this marching order, the soldiers advanced and marched around the city in an orderly fashion. In describing the way they marched, Joshua emphasized the fact that all the armed men participated in the march. Say, “all.” What does “all” mean? All means all. This shows us the importance of participation. The division of roles is also interesting. Some just walked around. Some blew trumpets. Some carried the ark. But all carried armory. This inspires us to see that in many different ways we can participate in the Lord’s battle, especially in getting the word out to college students. Of course, we cannot bring our orchestra on campus and play musical instruments all the time. If we did that, campus police will treat us no differently than Hare Krishna, classify us as a cult organization and kick us out. But the point is that using all of our resources such as time, energy, skills, and money, we can participate in the Lord’s battle to get the word out to the dying world. . 

(2) Circle. 

In the passage the Lord commanded them to circle the city 13 times. According to this order, the whole army circled the city exactly 13 times. As strange as this order may sound, it teaches us a lot of wisdom to fight the Lord’s battle. For example, there is a principle of continuation and concentration. There is also the wisdom to identify the target to strike. 

When you think about it, the wall of Jericho exists not only outside but inside of our body. In fact, the enemies inside is more formidable and difficult to identify and destroy than the enemies outside. Viewed in this way, the order to encircle and then excise the entrenched system of evil is the order for us to deeply search and clearly identify every hint, habit, or character of wickedness, and with the spirit of continuity and concentration, we must get it out of our body. 

(3) Do this in six days…

In chapter six we also see the command to make one round, circling the city, once a day, repeating for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day, totaling 13 times of encircling. This command, especially the numbers six and seven, remind us of Genesis chapter one, where the Lord God created the world in six days of creation and then ordained the seventh day as a day of rest, i.e., the way of worshiping the Lord. When the Creation was completed, we see in Genesis 2:1-3 a perfect world revealing God’s perfect holiness. The command to circle 13 times then suggests to us God’s perfect beauty which demands our perfect faith in God, resulting in perfect obedience. As we put absolute trust in God’s absolute goodness we can obey the Lord’s commands fully and willingly. Then there will be perfect enjoyment of God’s perfect world. But idol worship defies this blessed principle. The question then for us is, “How am I doing in believing in the Lord? Is my faith broken?” A broken faith will result in disobedience. This then results in the brokenness of man. 

(4) Trumpet blasts 

As we studied earlier, the order to blow the trumpets made of ram’s horns is symbolic of three things: 1) God’s provision, especially the gospel of Jesus, as it was seen in the form of the ram which the Lord God provided upon Abraham’s demonstration of his perfect faith and obedience to sacrifice his one and only son Isaac in Genesis 22; 2) the proclamation of God’s holiness as seen in Moses’ Ten Commandments, for it was when the Lord revealed himself to give the commandments that the same trumpet blasts were heard (Exodus 19-20); and 3) the call for repentance as it is seen in one of the Jewish feasts called the Feasts of Trumpets (culminating on the Day of Atonement called Yom Kippur)  recorded in Leviticus 23:23-25. 

When John the Baptist came he, too, applied the same principle in fighting the Lord’s battle against Jericho by saying, “Repent and believe.” 

(5) The ark of the covenant

The ark of the covenant was also used in circling the city. This ark is a primitive form of the Lord’s desire to build a fellowship between God and men. Exodus 25 and beyond describe the way in which the ark was to be made. It comes with features such as the mercy seat, which is found above the atonement cover. The Lord then said to the Israelites, “I will meet you there.” The Lord is a holy God. We cannot approach him on our own terms. Ultimately, this ark refers to Jesus who opened the way for us to come to the Father and have fellowship with him (cf. 1 John 1:1-11)

(6) Be quiet and then shout

Another strange order which is very difficult to obey was the command to remain quiet during the encircling. Then, only at the last minute, at the long last blasting of the trumpets, the Israelites were to shout. In view of many Bible passages, especially the book of Psalms, concerning the way for us to fight the sin problems built inside of men, this order to be quiet or shout refers to the need for us to fight the Lord’s battle with two means of grace, that is, the word of God and prayer.

(7) Rahab and her family

As the Israelites fully obeyed, the walls crumbled. The Israelites then charged into the city. They destroyed the city and brought judgment on idol worship. But strangely Rahab and her family were saved, even though Rahab was a prostitute. This teaches us that even a wicked sinner like the prostitute Rahab can be saved by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In conclusion, unlike animals, we human beings are endowed with the image of God, so that each of us has a deep-seated desire to attain to God’s perfection in moral, ethical, and spiritual character. For this reason, from generation to generation, we running the race have been striving hard to overcome men’s sin problems, so that we can think right and do right. But living in this ever increasingly wicked generation on one’s own, it is impossible for one to overcome the world and its wickedness. But by faith in the Lord one can overcome them. Not only that, we can serve others to come to know Jesus, overcome their own sin problems, and attain to God’s perfection. 

One word: By faith the walls of Jericho fell

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