Sermon Tone Analysis

Jericho's Conquest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua 6:1-27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell  © 1999

 

 

Fighting Through Faith

 

Illustration Of A Small Boy's Faith

 

The story is told of small boy named Johnny who went out to where his dad was working under the house.

His dad had been digging a hole in the ground all morning and it was now quite deep.

Johnny could not see his dad at the bottom of the hole that was now about 8 feet deep.

He asked his dad if he could come down to him.

The dad said sure, if you jump into the hole, I will catch you.

The boy heard his father's words but was a little bit scared.

He said but what if you can't catch me dad, it's awfully dark.

His dad replied you may not be able to see me, but I can see you.

Son you know that I love you and wouldn't hurt you.

Just trust me and jump into my arms.

I know I can catch you safely.

Johnny jumped and was caught safely.

Introduction

 

Likewise when God revealed His plan to Joshua, it required faith and obedience on Israel's part.

God promised to give them victory, but His plans defied human logic.

*Joshua 6:1 says:  */Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

/This is what Joshua would have observed before he met the Divine Captain.

The city of Jericho had shut its gates.

Probably out of fear since Israel was camped nearby at Gilgal.

But it also reveals the fact that Jericho was quite impregnable humanly speaking.

It was securely locked up.

Last Sunday we observed how God appeared to Joshua at this time.

The Captain of the Lord's army took charge of the situation and corrected Joshua's priorities.

Joshua learned that His Divine Captain was Prepared, Preeminent and Pure.

Joshua responded appropriately.

He sought the Captains help.

He worshipped, obeyed and reverenced Him.

Today, we observe the details of Jericho's Destruction.

The Heavenly Captain continues on from chapter 5:13 and reveals how to conquer the city.

This*/ passage reveals 3 things to us:/*

 

*I.

The Plan*           

*II.

The Procession *

*III.

The Purpose*      

 

*/Firstly/* *The Plan *

* *

*Joshua 6:2-7 :* /And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once.

Thus shalt thou do six days.

And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.

And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.

/

Illustration From Hunt For The Red October

 

One of my favourite war movies is /" Hunt for the Red October."

/It's a war movie where a Russian Submarine Commander Michael Ramius and his crew defect to America.

Before he sailed he wrote a letter to the Russian Government detailing his intentions.

As a result the Russian War Department initiated an intensive search to hunt him down and destroy the submarine.

The Americans made contact with Ramius and were negotiating the details of the defection.

At this time, one of the Russian submarine captains also located him and fired a torpedo to sink the Red October.

In response Ramius turned directly into the path of the incoming torpedo and therefore shortened the time to impact.

The American captain was amazed at this seemingly foolish action.

But was pleasantly surprised when the torpedo did no harm.

By reducing the time to impact the torpedo did not have time to arm itself.

What seemed to be a foolish strategy proved to be quite ingenious.

a.

His Plan Seemed Foolish

 

Humanly speaking this was one of the most stupid plans ever to be devised.

/Who in their right mind would march around a fortified city?/

They had no battering ram, ladders to climb the walls, or catapults to throw stones into the city.

/What could they hope to accomplish by marching around the city for seven days?/

They were commanded to be silent.

They couldn't talk or make any noise.

They weren't even allowed to yell out at the people on the wall and try to frighten them.

The only ones to make noise were the priests blowing their trumpets.

God had promised them that the walls would fall down if they would obey.

/But how? /It didn't seem logical.

/Couldn't the Lord just knock the walls down anyway?

Why did they have to march 13 times in 7 days ?/

Besides all this, they risked their lives.

/What if the people of Jerciho fired arrows at them from the wall?

What if the warriors came out and attacked them, while they were spread out in a long file?

At/ the very least the people of Jericho would laugh at them.

They would think that they were mad!

After all they were mighty men of valour.

They had fought in many battles and were hardened warriors.

This seemed like a ridiculous command.

/Who in their right mind would obey such a command?

Wasn't their some better way to conquer Jericho?/  

 

b.

His Plan Sought Faith

 

God' plan called for faith and obedience.

The people of Israel must again trust the Lord to keep His promises.

Even if they didn't know how He would do it.

When they crossed the Jordan River they had to step out in faith.

Now God commanded them to do it again!

The Divine Captain promised that the walls would fall down if they obeyed His commands.

The word LORD is used 16 times in this chapter.

God was very much involved in the conflict.

In verse 2 God said that He had already given Jerciho into their hands.

He had already accomplished the victory.

Israel just had to take the city.

The outcome was settled.

God's plan was so simple./