Now Jericho
was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none
came in. And the Lord said
to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the
mighty men of valor. Joshua 6:1-2.
Jericho is tightly shut up, (mandatory lock down) because they fear the physical manifestation of the movement of God. Pay attention to that. It still happens today.
However, where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (freedom). 2 Corinthians 3:17.
Now
remember, at the end of chapter five, Joshua and Jesus are just outside the
walls of Jericho. (Occasionally, Jesus appears in the Old Testament, even
before the virgin birth.) Jesus is holding a drawn sword, Joshua is barefoot,
and bowing.
Right
after Jesus tells Joshua he’s on holy ground, He says, Jericho’s got to go.
Joshua
may not have noticed anything wrong. But to God, Jericho stunk to high heaven.
Kind
of like the stench in our laundry room after hurricane Ian. We couldn’t see
anything wrong. We didn’t suffer any real damage other than a little wind
driven rain, under a Florida room window.
But
after a few days, it stunk. Bad.
Rox,
said something crawled in the walls and died.
Whatever
it was, it had to go. No compromise. None. Not even a little. You couldn’t
ignore it. It was in the laundry room—would that foul, sour, stink transfer to
the clothes? Would it drift into the rest of the house? Would it cling to us,
and go with us, every where we went?
Jericho
was like that, a stench in the nostrils of God, and had to go.
But
why? What made them stink so bad?
Good
question. And the answer is important because without it, one may think that
God is cruel. But with it, we see the, loving, longsuffering, not willing that
any perish, heart of God.
You
see, Jericho wasn’t destroyed because of the walls that fell…but because of the
walls that didn’t.
To
understand, we need to listen in on a conversation between God and Abraham,
over four hundred years earlier.
God
promised the land to Abraham. However, not immediately, “for the iniquity of
the Amorites is not yet full” Genesis 15:16. (By the way, the folks in Jericho, are
Amorites.)
God
in His compassion and patience, would not inflict judgement, until the bowl of
iniquity, was full. For over four hundred years, God worked on the walls around
the hearts of the Amorites (and all the other, “…ites” in the land).
They
heard of His mighty works and power, just like Rahab the harlot had said, (Joshua
2:9-11) yet, they rejected Him. Each time, their heart grew more callous…until
finally, they passed the point of no return, their hearts were numb; their iniquity
was full.
After
that, for them, for us, for any who continue to reject, His ever-present
knocking, His still small voice calling…nothing remains, but judgement. Hebrews 10:27.
Within
God’s Divine Timing, His Divine Judgement, always comes. Divine Justice is always
served. It was with Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, here with Jericho, and soon, will
be in all the world; just as we see in our study of Revelation.
Never
mistake God’s patience for compromise, He does not compromise with sin, ever; not
for a moment, not one jot, not one tittle.
Just
the other day, I woke in the middle of the night picturing Joshua with Jesus
holding a sword, by Jericho, and all at once remembered, His letter to the
Church at Pergamos. There, Jesus is also depicted, with a sword.
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,
‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.
In
Jericho and Pergamos, the sword of the Lord, reflects judgement.
You may remember, the Church of Pergamos, is known as, The Compromising Church.
Jericho
rejected God’s power one too many times, and now, it had to go.
Which
reminds me; the stink in our laundry room had to do with power—or the lack
thereof. Thanks to hurricane Ian, we discovered that even a delightful,
delicious, delicacy, like ice cream, can leak from carton to drain pan, and
turn into a hard, disgusting, foul, stench, that had to go; no compromise.
Dear
Church, we cannot compromise with sin, not even a little, not for a moment, not
the tiniest white lie, not even a jot or tittle. It will spread like cancer,
fester like infection, stink to high heaven; it must be removed without compromise or hesitation.
3 You
shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all
around the city once. This you shall do six days.
4 And
seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But
the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the
priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass,
when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when
you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great
shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go
up every man straight before him.”
The
Lord doesn’t address the size or strength or height of the wall. He simply
speaks the solution.
Like
in the beginning, when the earth was without form and void, and darkness
covered the face of the deep, He didn’t talk about how deep and dark it was, He
simply said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” Genesis 1:3.
They were told not to talk, while they marched,
until the seventh day, after the seventh round, then, when Joshua gave the
word, they were to shout (Joshua 6:10). Otherwise, with every step, they may have sown doubt, as they talked about how big and tall the wall.
Dad always used to say, “If you don’t have something good to say, don’t say anything at all.”
They
were told exactly what to do. For us, it may not be so clear, but we can pray,
we can listen.
Lord,
we’re listening now. Let us hear, one thing we can do, that will honor You.
It
may seem small (like walking around a wall). It may not make sense (like
blowing a ram’s horn). It may look impossible (like bringing down the walls of
Jericho, or Berlin). It will never contradict God’s Word. It will always,
bring His Peace.
Whatever it is, obey right away. Do the next thing, without delay.
Pray.
Listen. Do. It will open the door to one more, and then another, and another,
and before you know it, you’ll be surprised how busy you are working with
the Lord. You’ll never get bored, and
those walls you thought were so big and tall and scary…um, what walls?
Now,
to be clear, God didn’t give them some random marching orders, without purpose.
It was not to vibrate the walls into falling, like some liberal
theologians may teach.
God is intentional. His character never changes. It’s never His will that any perish (2 Peter 3:9). He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11).
Seven
days they march, warning after warning, they sound the alarm, trumpet after
trumpet, judgement is coming, get ready, get ready, get ready.
Then,
after the seventh lap, on the seventh day, and a long blast from the trump, and
a shout, the walls fall, judgement comes. Reflections of our very horizon, where
the Lord descends with a shout, the trump sounds, saints rise, walls fall,
judgement comes. 1
Thessalonians 4:16.
Let’s
wrap this up with a snapshot of where God has us standing by His Divine Timing,
at this very moment.
Joshua:
Day
after day after day, they march around Jericho. SEVEN priests, blow SEVEN
trumpets. Warning after warning after warning. On the SEVENTH day they march
SEVEN times, blowing the SEVEN trumpets. At the end of the SEVENTH day, it is
done. All walls fall. Judgement comes.
This is where we’re at in our study of Joshua.
Revelation:
SEVEN
seals. SEVEN trumpets. SEVEN bowls. Each series of SEVEN, more intense, like
labor pains—just as Jesus said. Warning after warning after warning. After the
SEVENTH bowl and SEVENTH year, a Voice from heaven shouts., “It is done.”
All walls fall. Judgement comes. This
is where we’re at in our study of Revelation.
Orchestrated by God Almighty, we
are simultaneously at the same intersection of His Divine Timing &
Judgement. Are you ready?
Lord,
help us to never compromise with sin, always speaking Your promise not the
problem, continually doing Your will. Thank You, we love You. Amen.
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