Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Why’d the Walls of Jericho Have to Go? Joshua 6:1-5



 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.

Revelation 2:12.

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.

 

 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.

 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. 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.

 

See what the walls of Jericho have to say: 

Archeologists Interview the Walls of Jericho

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