"The LORD Has Given You the City"
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March 22, 2015 |
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 "At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, 'Shout! For the LORD has given you the city'" (Joshua 6:16).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
The Israelites crossed the flooding Jordan River on dry ground. The next gateway to the Promised Land was the city of Jericho that was an impregnable fortress. Jericho was tightly shut because of the Israelites and no one went out and no one came in. Jericho had an inner wall and an outer wall. It was so strong that even chariots would run on top of the walls. It was heavily guarded by armed soldiers. It seemed more difficult to conquer it than crossing the Jordan.
Then, let's look into faith with which Joshua and the Israelites were able to conquer the city.
1. Joshua and the Israelites conquered Jericho only through obedience
In the following verses from Joshua 6:2, God taught them a method to conquer the city of Jericho. He told them to march around the city once for six days and then seven times on the seventh day. At the front were the seven priests with seven rams' horn trumpets, and then the men carrying the ark of the LORD immediately behind them, and then the people of the nation of Israel. On the seventh day, after they would march around the city seven times, the priests would blow the trumpets, the people would then shout, and the city of Jericho would collapse (Joshua 6:5).
Here, the number seven, which repeatedly appears, is the number of perfection. The God-given strategy sounded absolutely impossible and incomprehensible with human thoughts. But the second generation of the Exodus had gone through the training of faith and they did not doubt at all. They just obeyed. Now, the people in the city saw something very strange.
The Israelites just marched around the city once and went back to their camp. On the second day as well, the Israelites did not even throw a stone at them. They just marched around the city once and went back. They continued to do it for six days.
However on the seventh day, their actions changed. They started to march around the city from early morning. They marched around seven times. Then after the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua gave a signal and the people began to shout loudly. At the moment, the double city walls that seemed to be impregnable, together with so many soldiers, began to collapse in a moment.
With the screaming of those who were crushed by the broken wall, the people and soldiers inside were just running here and there. The sons of Israel were able to conquer this city very easily.
In our lives we may encounter problems that seem like the impregnable city of Jericho. Those with strong willpower will try their best to solve the problems. But even those people are helpless with the problems that are beyond human ability to resolve. Eventually, they will fall and collapse in discouragement.
But those children of God who have faith have nothing to worry about. They believe even the things that are impossible for men are possible by the power of God. They will discern what the will of God is and act with faith. Then, God will solve all their problems, like when He stopped the Jordan River and destroyed the city of Jericho.
Psalm 20:7 says, "Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God." As written, if we rely on God and march on with faith, God will fight for us and lead us.
2. God told them to offer the city and everything from the city to Him
Joshua 6:17-18 says, "The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; …But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it."
The sons of Israel did not take any loot in the city personally. They burned some and offered some other things to God. They also killed every person and every animal in Jericho. There was a reason for doing it.
Because it was something that they gained for the first time in the Promised Land, they gave it to God. This is like we give the first fruit of our income to God. It was necessary for them to kill every person and every animal in the city of Jericho in order to keep the holiness of the Israelites.
The people in Canaan were living a corrupted and sinful life-style. They were playing the harlot worshipping idols. If the sons of Israel had let them live and allowed for them to dwell among them, they would have been stained with sins and finally they would have fallen into death. For this reason God had no other choice but to allow the killing of all the people in Jericho.
In the Bible appear some sin-filled cities where people were extremely corrupted, and God had no other choice but to judge them. Within the justice of God, if the sin of a people reaches a certain limit, God must pass judgment and there is no option but punishment. It's because if the sin is left untreated, it will spread quickly like a contagious disease. But God is love (1 John 4:16), so He didn't let them come under judgment immediately, but endured for a long time and kept giving them chances to repent. But if they did not repent, God could not help letting them be destroyed.
3. Joshua saved Rahab the harlot, her family and all she had
Joshua 6:22 reads, "Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, 'Go into the harlot's house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.'" As said, Joshua spared Rahab the harlot who was of goodness and revered God, and her family and all she had. When Rahab had heard about the works of God shown through Israel, she believed in God and hid the spies of Israel who were in danger.
In Joshua Chapter 2, the spies promised her that they would save her and her family when they conquered Jericho, but there was one condition. She had to tie the cord of scarlet thread, which was used for the escape of the spies, in her window, and she and her family had to stay inside the house. This was the condition for them to be protected in the chaos of the war.
This spiritually tells us the principle through which God's children are protected from disasters of this world. Today, sins are prevailing and there are many kinds of calamities. So many people suffer from and die in wars, famine, earthquakes, typhoons and hurricanes, floods, and from various diseases. But those who believe the Lord are kept by God not to face any disasters. To be protected we have to live in the Word of God and we must not go outside the Word befriending the world.
1 John 3:24 says, "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." When we keep the commandments, the Lord can be with us and we can be protected all the time.
There was another amazing incident related to Jericho. After he destroyed Jericho by the command of God, Joshua swore that Jericho should never be built again. "Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates" (Joshua 6:26).
Joshua's word was so surely guaranteed by God that it was fulfilled as said at the time of King Ahab, about 500 years later (1 Kings 16:34). God's Word never changes even with the passage of time, and He guarantees the words of His prophets.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope you will realize everything as well as war belongs to God and acknowledge Him and obey Him all the time. I pray in the name of the Lord by doing so you will always achieve victories in your life.
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