Joshua 6: Verses 15 through 27
VII) FAITH – A Conqueror
Week # 8 of this study in Joshua
25 August 2010
Week # 31 of this Prayer Meeting Teaching Ministry
Joshua 6 – SIX
15And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. 16And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city. 17And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD. 20So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. 22But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye swear unto her. 23And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. 24And they burnt the city with fire and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. 25And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. 26And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. 27So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.
Let Us Pray:
Dear Precious Father, thank you once again Father for the opportunity to stand before You wrapped in Your Strong Son’s Righteousness. We ask tonight Father that You allow our hearts to be calmed, that you allow our minds to settle and hear these word from your Scriptures, and that we digest this information as food from Heaven tonight. Allow us to take a look at the FAITH of Joshua, the nation of Israel and that of Rahab. Then Lord, through the ministering of Your Spirit, allow us tonight to look at our Faith and Trust in You. Allow us to see Your Hand in our Faith, and also allow us to see those areas of weakness in our Trust in You Father. Be with us then Father as we come to you as an assembled body of believers to hear our Prayers and Petitions. Allow us to show YOU Honor, Glory and Praise with our voices, and then as our GOD, hearing us from on high Father touch our hearts and answer our prayers according to Your Almighty will. As Your people we will then offer You all the praise and glory that is brought about through Your work and your hand. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen…
FAITH – Tell me about the Faith exercised in these 12 verses….
***(Allow enough time for idea’s and responses)***
1) The Faith of Joshua
a. He had watched God work through Moses
b. He saw God Honor Moses’ faith
c. He learned from the mistakes Moses made
d. Joshua being a warrior – Faith didn’t necessarily come easy
e. The warrior in Joshua meant he practiced restraint with faith
f. As a prodigy or intern to Moses – God was his reality!!!!!
i. Sometimes we as Christians get here – matter factly
ii. God as our reality sometimes erodes away at trust
iii. Faith & Trust sometimes becomes obscure through apathy or complacency – we learn to settle in…
1. We Must Work to keep the relationship FRESH
2. We Must Trace HIS Hand daily…
3. We Must Allow Him to build our FAITH…
g. Joshua did not have apathy – he Trusted Almighty God
h. As Harry Ironside said about these instructions to Israel through Joshua “The instructions were implicit! There was NO room for human schemes or approved military tactics”
i. Joshua exercised Trust, Faith, Obedience and Strength…
j. He was successful through his obedience to God…
k. Joshua knew God’s word was True and Final…
l. How do we look at His Word Today?
1. Is it the ultimate Final & True Word today?
2. Is there healthy Fear and Obedience in the Church today corporately?
3. Is it any wonder we find Faith hard as a corporate body of believers worldwide and in this nation?
m. Joshua lived his Faith – it grew out of his Fear, Admiration, Love and Trust in God… It is NO different for us today… Through devotion, prayer and meditation we too can allow God to Grow a Strong – Functional – Working Faith in us if we yield / surrender and are obedient to His Word in all aspects of our life.
2) The Faith of Israel
a. Did Israel ever learn the easy way? My heavens No… Much like myself, Israel often learned their lessons and obedience through hard knocks.
b. Israel – do you suppose they were a prideful people? Hmm, no doubt they were. How do you suppose they felt in the eyes of Jericho? As Harry Ironside said “Doubtless the people of Jericho wondered at the strange site as the army of the Lord, led by priests with their trumpets, and the ark of the covenant, speaking of Christ Himself, marched around the city.” They no doubt found it strange – maybe even humorous… This went on for six days – these odd, strange proceedings continued for six days…
c. By day 3, day 4 and day 5 do you suppose they were all scratching their heads? And, what about Israel? How do you suppose they felt? At this point they as a nation, a people – as individuals – well, they were blindly following orders – directions of the priests handed down from Joshua, who was supposedly talking with GOD? How do you even begin to analyze the Faith and the Trust that took?
d. Israel had learned through God’s purging! The best and purest water is that which has been forced through solid rock structures. God purged these people of the doubters and Nay Sayers of the past generation led out of Egypt. God, purified their faith while out in the wilderness, through trials and tribulations that were designed to build “reliance” on His Power, His Might, His provisions and His abilities – NOT their own.
e. Last week, I as you – “what is your Jericho”, tonight I ask you, “what has been your proving ground for GOD”?
f. What has He used in your life to draw you closer to Him?
g. To Rely on Him?
h. To Rejoice in Him?
i. To Wonder in Him?
j. Pray, Scripture, Meditation, Surrender, Obedience, Love – Devotion – these all are tools God uses to lay the bedrock of FAITH, the little trials and tribulation then build the infrastructure of Trust & Reliance… His plans stand the test of time, he that Almighty GOD invests in cannot fail!
k. Israel’s Faith was tested – so will ours…
l. Jericho is an awesome picture of GOD Honoring Faith in an immensely powerful way. Through their obedience and following God’s direction (His word), HE did the work that was needed – HE provided the Victory – HE proved HIMSELF worthy of the Glory and Praise… Awesomely, HE caused those walls to crumble and fall, and HE delivered the inhabitants to the hands of Israel… Trust and Faith in God will always be rewarded – sometimes here on earth, and forever and always in God’s presence.
3) The Faith of Rahab
a. Did you ever – ever think about the Faith of Rahab? Let me read a little piece of Harry Ironside’s book here: “what of the promise made to Rahab, she who hid the spies because of her faith and who asked for a true token? God had not forgotten her! Neither did Joshua. Provision was made for the protection of here and all who found shelter in her house, where the scarlet cord hung in the window. - Once more our minds turn to the 11th chapter of Hebrews where we read “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace”. Her house was on the wall, and therefore exposed to grave danger, but because of her confidence in God – that part of the wall fell not when the rest was destroyed – we read it in verses 22 through 25.”
b. GOD Honored Her Faith!!! As Harry went on to say in his book, Rahab became an Honored Mother in Israel, for she went on to marry Salmon and became the mother of Boaz, who in turn became the husband of Ruth – the Grandmother of King David!!! Harry said “thus Rahab, of unsavory character before she was reached by the Devine grace, became an ancestress, after the flesh, of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. How wondrous are the ways of GOD; how great His Loving Kindness.”
c. Rahab chose to believe in God through the great things she heard He had done.
d. Her belief, faith and trust in the God of Israel brought safety and blessing to her and her house. God’s grace provided for her.
e. So too, our Faith & Trust must follow her lead. Rahab is a perfect example of Victory by FAITH when we Trust God to be Who He says He Is, and allow Him to provide the work in our life.
f. To follow Rehab’s example, we must yield control, we can no longer rely on our own life management skills. Faith without Trust in Him is empty and not Faith at all. We must hand over the reins to GOD, and He will then work things to His Glory – and we will be much happier and content for it.
g. All too often, we get in the way… We miss the mark, because we have developed these preconceived notions of what Christianity is. Then we use these notions to judge the Church, we have our own scales of measurement. BUT – as God instructed Joshua, measurement of success and progress is in obedience. Showing HIS Love to all, regardless of what our opinions may be. God, His SON Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. Our soul responsibility in this whole process is to follow His Word. It is so simple – Read the Word, Pray for His Spirit to resolve the Word in our minds and hearts, and then LIVE IT…. In the end, we are here to allow Him to use us to bring Him Glory and Praise… Pretty simple stuff… But we get in the way. In fact it is amazing the power of God’s Word has, that in spite of our tripping things up, He still works in people’s lives. Living proof that His Word will not return void… When I was much younger, I had a teen leader make a statement that has stayed with me for many years. He said “the hearts of children and young people are ripe for the picking for Christ – the only thing that gets in the way are adults – people that don’t do it right”!
h. When we approach Christianity with any other motive or attitude other than that of a “loving servant” the effort is lost from glory, and has its reward here. If we teach, preach, write, work or serve in any other mental state other than that of Serving Him to bring Him Glory and Praise, we are wasting our time spiritually. He may choose to work through us in spite of ourselves, but the reward is lost. Remember Moses and the stone / rock… He struck it with the wrong attitude; his carnal self in its frustrated condition caused him a loss of blessing. Yet, his protégé’ Joshua, followed God’s direction – and he saw God’s hand in bringing down the walls of Jericho. Imagine the awe of that scene; imagine the sounds, sights, smells and rumbling of the ground when God made those walls crumble. They followed HIS directions and were blessed with the awesome power and might of their God – while they were standing there around the walls – they watched them fall. Talk about precise – pinpoint accuracy – I don’t think there were any Israelites lost in that incident. If this story doesn’t just sink to the heart, I don’t know what will. I believe the scripture tells us that we as New Testament Saints have that same power available to us through His Son; we need only claim it and have the faith of Israel.
i. Matthew 7 simply states that 7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
j. We don’t see that power today in the Church, because we simply do not believe what we read… If we did, our Churches would be stronger. Our lives would reflect a purity that has not been seen for generations. This country would not have direction problems and would understand what a moral compass is, and know how to keep it where it belongs. Righteousness would ooze from the people in our pews, there would be no question as to what unconditional love is all about. For generations, children have seen inconsistency in their parents, grandparents, preachers, policemen, civic leaders and politicians. To where today’s generation has no respect or appreciation for authority – period – not to even mention that Authority of God and Jesus Christ in a world that has a fear to even utter His name. Is it any wonder that teens, and even people in our churches today question that the walls of Jericho even fell.
k. God can reclaim the world, those that call His name, and believe on that Name must pray earnestly, faithfully and unceasingly. We must BELIEVE that which we read in His Word, we must TRUST Him to do that which HE says HE will do. We MUST Seek His Righteousness for our lives to once again be the Light and Examples to our young people. Live His Word, Revere His Word and then put it into practice – trusting Him in all things and then giving HIM the Credit, the Glory and the Praise for those things He works in our lives. – That my friends is what we call SPIRITUAL Talk, sharing with others and our children and young people the very Power of God in our lives. Making Faith and Trust Real – so that when HE knocks down our Jericho Walls those around us know it, and we praise Him together. MAKING GOD – our GOD in our lives and this Church… Otherwise, we are just a bunch of nice people meeting in this old metal building for social gratification.
Other than the Bible, My Only (Complete) Reference Book for this Study:
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Addresses on the Book of Joshua
By: Harry A. Ironside
1876 – 1951
"Great truths that are stumbling blocks to the natural man are nevertheless the very foundations upon which the confidence of the spiritual man is built."
Few preachers had more varied ministries than this man. He was a captain in the Salvation Army, an itinerant preacher with the Plymouth Brethren, pastor of the renowned Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, and conducted Bible conferences throughout the world. Sandwiched between those major ministries, Ironside preached the Gospel on street corners, in missions, in taverns, on Indian reservations, etc.
Ironside was never formally ordained and with no experience whatever as a pastor, Ironside took over the 4,000-seat Moody Memorial Church in Chicago and often filled it to capacity for 18 1/2 years. A seminary president once said of him, "He has the most unique ministry of any man living." Although he had little formal education, his tremendous mental capacity and photographic memory caused him to be called the "Archbishop of Fundamentalism."
Preaching--warm, soul-saving preaching--was his forte. Special speakers in his great church often meant nothing; the crowds came when he was there. He traveled constantly at his prime; he averaged 40 weeks in the year on the road--always returning to Moody Memorial for Sunday services.
His pen moved, too; he contributed regularly to various religious periodicals and journals in addition to publishing 80 books and pamphlets. His writings included addresses or commentaries on the entire New Testament, all of the prophetic books of the Old Testament, and a great many volumes on specific Bible themes and subjects.
In 1951, Dr. Ironside died in Cambridge, New Zealand, and was buried there at his own request.
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