Last week I took us to the story of Gideon where we learned that our faith can grow step by step as we obey God. This week, when I went to Hebrews 11 to see who our next Hero of the Faith was, I realized that I had skipped two verses! I think many of you know my eyesight is sketchy, so I could blame the skipping of verses on that! I do have an appointment in the next ten days, praise the Lord, but as I looked at the two “Heroes of the Faith” that I had skipped, I am also going to plead the Sovereignty of God. He knew the kids would be with us today, and today’s group of people, the first of the two that I skipped, are going to be so good for our kids to hear about!
Hebrews 11:30-“By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.”
I ask you, what fell? Did the army shoot firebombs at the walls to make them fall? Did the army rush the walls with hammers and sledges to make them fall? What did the army do? This verse said the army marched around the walls. Are there any video games out today that have you virtually marching around the walls of your opponent’s fortress? That’s crazy, right? Typically, in video gaming (in my very limited experience) you are shooting missiles and you have some kind of fire power, and you can press a button and leap over walls or find some other clever way inside. No army is going to gather to go over their battle plan and hear their commanding officer say, “Folks, here’s our plan. We’re gonna march!” They would look at their commanding officer and say, “You are cookoo for cocoa puffs!” But that was the plan…at least it was part of the plan.
And how long were they going to march around the walls? 7 days in a row! Y’all, I was in band. I hated band camp. It was a lot of marching with a saxophone around my neck. It was hot. I don’t do hot. The marching plan doesn’t sound like a good time, not to mention that the Israelites would be sitting ducks for those who had weapons in their hands behind those walls. Let’s investigate the story for a deeper understanding of what went down (besides the walls)!
The Battle of Jericho is probably the best-known battle story in the Bible. It’s prominent because it was the first in a series of battles that the Israelites won that enabled them to take the Promised Land. It is also a standout because in the natural, as the Israelites looked at the walled city of Jericho, it was a totally impossible situation. They didn’t have the manpower or know-how to take the walls down. If the walls didn’t come down, they couldn’t get in to take the city, and if they didn’t take the city, the rest of the Promised Land would never have been theirs.
As they faced an impossible situation, they were going to learn what Luke 1:37 declares, “Nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37 Read that Scripture with me. Our faith tells us that nothing is impossible with God. Some of you here today may be facing what you feel is an impossible situation. Tell your neighbor, “Neighbor, you are about to get some help! Those walls are coming down.” The walls you face stand between you and what God has promised to you. If you will activate your faith in what God has said, He will cause the walls to collapse!
As we explored the faith of Moses and Gideon, we see that their faith brought great liberation to many people, but in this story, the story of how the army approached the walls of Jericho, it was about how many people banded together in faith to take hold of the promises of God. I like to think of that army as a congregation of believers. I like to think of the ways we come together, the times we have circled around each other, the moments we have walked life’s dark valleys together and have helped each other move past some heavy walls into a Promised Land place. Sometimes God moves because of the faith of one person, but a lot of times, if not most of the times, He moves in response to a group of people who refuse to give up, who refuse to retreat, who won’t give up on moving toward where God is leading. Let’s call it “GROUP FAITH!” The Jericho March wasn’t the effort of one person. It was the entire army, moving by faith in obedience to God.
Look back at our verse from Hebrews 11:30, “BY FAITH the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.”
Major victories come when our faith has been rightly placed in what God tells us to do and when we band together to do it. The Canaanites, a barbaric, evil group of people, had built Jericho as a gateway fortress. You couldn’t just go around Jericho. You had to deal with Jericho. You had to deal wtih the fortified walls and the ruthless army behind them.
If God’s people were going to possess the land that was known as Jericho, they were going to have to deal with the evil and immorality that was there. They couldn’t live as the holy people of God in a land filled with wickedness and corruption. They couldn’t offer pure worship to God in the midst of the pagan Canaanite land. This was more than a military effort, a physical war. It was a spiritual one. That city had to be completely overtaken, the people had to be defeated and dealt with or the Jews would never have been able to flourish and worship God in purity.
It’s interesting to me, that the leader of the army, Joshua, isn’t named in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith.” You’d think he would get the credit for the victory. You’d think he’d be singled out as the person who led the charge to take the city of Jericho, but he wasn’t. It wasn’t Joshua’s faith that was celebrated. The army as a whole is mentioned.
Yes, Joshua was the leader. The LORD told Joshua that He was delivering Jericho into their hands, but it wasn’t Joshua’s faith that produced the victory. He said that Joshua and the armed men were supposed to march around the city once. This was a group effort. The whole army was supposed to march every day for six days. In addition to that, seven priests were to carry trumpets in front of the Ark of the Covenant, the special box that symbolized the presence of God.
After this went on for six days, on the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times and while they marched, the priests were to blow the trumpets. Are you tracking with me? On the 7th day, they were to march around the city 7 times. They were to get to a point where the priests would hold a long blast on their trumpets, maybe something similar to this:
When that long trumpet blast was sounded, the whole army was supposed to shout! You’ll remember that Gideon’s army went up against their enemies with trumpets and torches, and Joshua’s army was going in with trumpets and a shout! Their shout was going to cause the city to collapse, and the Israelite army would be able to go right in and take over.
Until day seven, it was to be a silent march, but on day 7, they were supposed to break their silence and to shout as loudly as they could. I would say about the Israelite army that they had an unquestioning faith. They didn’t ask what the purpose of marching was. They didn’t inquire as to what blowing a trumpet had to do with anything. They didn’t ask how they would be kept safe seven days in a row when they were marching vulnerably around the city walls. They never questioned what keeping silent for the six-day marches had to do with their victory. They didn’t ask how shouting would cause the walls to collapse. God had told them that the walls would fall after they did what He instructed, and they believed Him. Notice that they believed Him fully. They didn’t march around for three days and say, “This is of no use.” They didn’t get to day five and conclude, “This isn’t going to work.” On the seventh day, they didn’t stop with four reps around the city. They marched the full seven laps around those walls.
Sometimes believers want the victory God promises, but they stop short of completing God’s full ask. When God says circle the city seven times, six times won’t do. You have to go the distance with your faith! Don’t get discouraged if the victory seems to be taking longer to realize. Don’t grow weary in obeying God if you don’t see the results you have been expecting in faith. If you stop marching in faith, your faith gets stunted, and you give the enemy room to mess with your mind and heart. Believer, it is always too soon to quit. Perseverance is part of faith!
The army did exactly as God commanded and here is what happened.
When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord… Joshua 6:20 and 21a
Marching, blowing horns and shouting sounds like the activity at a football game! They don’t sound like the sounds of war! The reason those walls came down was the result of group obedience and group faith in the Word of God.
In Joshua 6:2 God said to them, “Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.”
When God made this declaration, please notice that they hadn’t even begun their Jericho march, but God spoke in the past tense. He spoke as if their victory had already taken place, as if the walls had already come down. “I have delivered Jericho into your hands!” Here’s what we can learn: People with an activated faith count what God promises as done, finished, as if it has already happened!
God declared that the fall of Jericho was a done deal, and the army believed Him. They knew that they knew those walls were coming down because God had already decreed it. God had already set His Word in motion. Listen, God’s Word accomplishes what He sends it out to do. When it is released the end result will match whatever He has spoken. That army could march assured in what Isaiah 55:11 says about God’s word: “So is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Whatever God speaks is done. Does that increase somebody’s faith even just a little bit this morning? This is the God we serve. Whatever He sets into motion by His Word, cannot be undone or stopped.
This is why you need to know the Word of God because the more you know it, the more you can march confidently into your future. The more you know it, the less you will question God’s intention for every outcome. Every outcome for a Child of God is victory! But you have to believe for it and behave from that belief.
Put yourself in God’s place for a second, or try to, at least. How many of you would want the people you love questioning everything you say? How would it feel to know that people don’t really put stock in what you say and that they don’t trust that you have their best interest at heart? How many of you would continue to reach to people who don’t care that you are the authority on every subject, people who would rather chart their own course and do life on their own terms? Church, when we refuse to put faith in God’s Word, that is the vibe we are throwing off. That is the message we are sending Him. That is the attitude we are displaying. When we don’t invest ourselves in learning God’s Word and in applying it to our lives with the full weight of our faith, we are living as Children who don’t believe their Heavenly Father.
Can anyone admit that is where you are this morning? Can we be honest about our faith? I mean, do we trust God to get us to Heaven, but we don’t trust Him to walk with us daily here on earth? Is that lack of trust evident in our disregard for the words God has already spoken? Many believers want a word from God, but they won’t avail themselves to obey the ones He has already spoken. Lord, help us this morning!
The Bible isn’t a one-time read. It isn’t like a novel that you pick up and read over the summer and then shelve when you finish it. It isn’t something you pull a few verses from once in a while to get you through a rough patch. It isn’t a story for you to be impacted by for a season, but it is the Word of God for you today. It is supposed to be simmering in your spirit at all times. It is to be shaping your daily thoughts. It is to be directing your habits and decisions. It isn’t merely a historical book or a book of information or occasional inspiration, but it is the main vehicle through which we know how to live a life that pleases God every day.
Why would God even speak to us by His Spirit if we don’t even trust what He has already said in His Word?
As long as I am the pastor of this church, I am committed to holding high the Word of God. It is the authority for the Christian life. It is accurate and reliable. It is God-breathed. It will benefit you every time you read and obey it, and blessing will come into your life if you view it as a message from God every time you hear it.
In addition to the Jericho March being an exercise in group faith, and in addition to faith being applied to the words that God spoke ahead of the battle, I want to show you one final thing. Remember that Ark of the Covenant? The sacred box that symbolized God’s presence with His people? Where was it during the Jericho March? God literally put himself in the middle of the battle plan by instructing the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant.
Inside that special box was the Ten Commandments, the Golden Pot of Manna and the Rod of Aaron that budded. The items in the Ark of the Covenant fully picture what a relationship with Christ offers us. When we receive Jesus as Savior, we also receive the manna, the Law, and the rod. The manna was a special heavenly bread that was given to the Israelites daily as they were in a 40-year time of wandering in the wilderness. It nourished them and kept them alive. Jesus is the “Bread from Heaven”, the “Living Bread,” a name He called Himself. He was sent by God to give us eternal life, abundant life, and to nourish us spiritually.
Not only was the rod that budded a supernatural sign that God had selected Aaron to be Israel’s first priest, but that flouring rod reminds us that we are to bear fruit. We aren’t to live as stagnant people of God. We aren’t to merely go through the motions, and we certainly aren’t to run from the enemy. We have been called to conquer. We have been called to expand the Kingdom. We have been called to witness to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We are called to win “ones” who have not yet surrendered to Jesus. Fruit-bearing has to be on our hearts, on our to-do lists. If we aren’t bearing spiritual fruit, if we aren’t leading people to Christ, we need to check to see how active our faith is.
Here’s the thing: We can’t bear fruit on our own. We only bear fruit if we are connected to the Vine, so if we have a faith issue, we have a connection issue. People who are properly connected to Jesus will bear fruit. They won’t be able to not bear fruit, and they won’t bear strange fruit. They will only be able to bear the fruit that is in keeping with who Jesus is and with what Jesus produces. You can assess the quality of your faith by assessing the quality of the fruit in your life. There is a direct correlation.
The Ten Commandments represent the Law of God which gets written on our hearts when we follow Jesus. The Ark of the Covenant wasn’t just a piece of furniture. It wasn’t just a decorative, ornamental or sentimental something. It was the very presence of God in their midst. People of faith make sure they know where God is! They make sure He is in the middle of the battle. They make sure they are marching behind Him! He knows the way to win every battle!
The real battle of Jericho wasn’t with the Canaanites. The real battle was in the hearts of God’s people. Would they believe God? Would they risk public humiliation if those walls didn’t come down? Would they be willing to do what seemed absurd in the natural realm, and would they persevere, together, until the victory was realized? The Israelites may have gained victory over a city, but because the army followed God in faith, God gained the victory in the hearts of His people.
Church, let’s stick together and grow our faith. Let’s be an army of faith! Let’s keep marching around the walls, keep persevering in faith until God says it is time to, “Shout!” Let’s hold on to the Word as Supreme and as the authority for our lives, and let’s stay behind Jesus and let Him lead us into every victory! The seventh day is coming! Keep marching. Keep believing. Don’t go AWOL! Don’t desert the rest of God’s army! Don’t be an occasional person of faith. Be committed here to our weekly worship. Be committed in your personal walk daily with Jesus. Stay close to each other and stay close to Jesus. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, and by faith your walls will also fall! Ours is the God of the impossible, and you will see it for yourself when you walk with Him in complete faith!
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