Sermon Tone Analysis
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Welcome
Good Morning Everyone,
Welcome back to our Tread Boldly series, as we look at what it takes for God’s people to be where God wants them to be.
Over the past few weeks, we have learned that it is very possible to miss out on the good God has in store for us; we can decide to have it our way rather than His.
We’ve talked about how preparation is required for success, for failing to prepare in advance is almost a guarantee for failure.
We’ve talked about how we need to keep our eyes open to people God puts in our path; how we might find some unlikely allies.
We’ve talked about how our pursuit of God may be miraculous, risky, and amazing, but it doesn’t have to be drama filled.
We’ve also talked about the necessity of commitment and how being personally invested and identified with something is really the only way to experience the reward.
Main
Today, we will be in , looking at the very first conquest for the people of Israel; their hopes are finally becoming realities.
Two Mistakes with Jericho
A Kid’s Story
Now, is the story of Jericho, one of the more well known Biblical stories.
Unfortunately, for many, it falls into the category of legend or myth.
But make no mistake, Jericho was a real city with real walls that archaeologists have found collapsed.
The story of Jericho is as historical as the storming of the beaches of Normandy.
An Atrocity
Which brings up a problem.
When we just think of Jericho as a kids Bible story, we don’t have to consider the ugliness of the battle and the loss of life.
So, before we really get into the heart of the message, I want to address something that is important to the rest of the whole book.
And that is the destruction of the inhabitants of the land.
People have used passages like this to denounce God as a cruel god with no compassion for people who are not His own.
They have used books like Joshua to call God genocidal and murderous.
[Richard Dawkins Quote]
And to be fair, we ought to wrestle the every lost life, especially in such a divided world.
My Personal Wrestling with This
I remember struggling with this myself; trying to align this view of God with what I knew of Him through Jesus.
The two didn’t seem to line up.
Now, I am not going to take you through the whole journey, but I will let you in on what I discovered.
Unchanging God
First, God has not changed.
The God that loved us so much that He gave His only son is the same God who led the nation of Israel.
Second, God is compassionate
Merciful God
Second, God is compassionate.
We already saw that with Rahab.
Throughout this passage about the destruction of Jericho, much of the text is devoted to protecting Rahab and her family.
What we don’t see in these passages is the compassion and mercy God showed to many.
I’ll talk about why in a second, but for now, know that God’s love, mercy, and compassion extended to everyone.
In the book of Joshua itself, we see people from outside Israel becoming a part of the community.
Joshua 8:33-
Why the Harsh Tone
So, that begs the question, “Why have such a harsh tone that could be misconstrued as uncompassionate or genocidal?
Well, I have come to believe that the language of Joshua was intentionally directed to indicate a zero tolerance towards any outside influence on the worship of the one true God.
Leviticus
This was the Promised Land.
The focus of Joshua is the establishment purity of that land; hence, the language.
Think of it like this.
As a Christian, we are called to be tolerant of the sin in our world.
We live in a broken world.
However, we are called to be intolerant of the sin within us.
Although I may show grace towards the sin of others, I want to eradicate the sin within myself.
This is what I believe we have come to see throughout the book of Joshua.
[Transition]
Joshua 6
Unorthodox Story
One of the reasons for the misconceptions is that most people don’t know what else to do with the story.
To be honest, the battle of Jericho is one of the most unorthodox military plans I have ever seen.
I know Joshua trusted God, but imagine if anyone else made this suggestion you might think they are a little cookie.
So, what we have to do is ask God, “Why would God ask them to do it this way?”
That is a good question.
Trying to Make Sense of the Strategy
The mistake I often see is that people try to explain the logic of this strategy.
They may talk about psychological warfare or something like that.
However, that is both not in the text and not even an accurate understanding of warfare.
If anything, the people of Jericho would have been thinking that the Israelites were fools as the days passed.
A walled city would have weeks, if not months, or provisions stored up to withstand a siege.
Yet, Israel wasn’t even really doing a siege.
They left each day and went back to their own camp.
The people of Jericho could have drawn water, and fed their livestock when they weren’t there.
No, the lesson of Jericho isn’t that marching around the barriers in your lives seven times and then shouting at them will make them come down.
That is what happened here… but only here.
The Lessons of Joshua 6
Jericho teaches us lessons on three things: obedience, patience, and readiness.
Obedience
Think about it, God’s there is no way Joshua (on his own) would have come up with this plan on his own.
God had never asked His people to conquer a city this way before, and He has never since.
Not Formulaic
The reality is quite interesting, but you will see if when I tell you.
God is not a god of formulas.
Of course, there are many things like faith, hope, and love that never change, but when it comes to His methods, He rarely gives us some method to follow for it, but rather treats every situation as unique.
I once heard a message that said it well:
Jesus healed one blind man by rubbing mud on his eyes and then another without mud.
If he had done it the same way twice, we would have people who call themselves the mudites and the anti-mudites.
In the same way, there is no Jericho method of defeating enemy strongholds.
People like Formulaic
For some it would seem easier if God would have been a formulaic God.
People like formulas.
Just think of how many 7-step, 5-step, etc. books are out there, tackling issues from diets to becoming an effective person.
It isn’t that they don’t work sometimes, but (here me) formulas are no replacement for listening to God.
I believe God doesn’t use formulas because He wants our obedience to Him to be through communication with Him rather than reliance on some formula.
This is the difference between practicing a religion and having a relationship with God.
Churches can be some of the guiltiest when it comes to placing their faith in a formula rather than God.
I think of things like the Purpose-Driven model.
It was a great thing.
There was a lot to learn from the model.
However, the model wasn’t and could never be a substitute for seeking God’s will for your church.
And it isn’t just churches, the same is true for missions and service.
Unfortunately, they are often driven more by fads than they are by faith.
I have one friend who leads a ministry to Haiti.
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