Word of Salvation – Vol.32 No.34 – August 1987
The Fall Of Jericho
Sermon by Rev. B. G. Aldridge on Joshua 5:13-6:27
Reading: Joshua 5:13 – 6:27
Singing: BoW.H.10; 94; BoW.S.29; 444; 484; 487
This story is very well known.
(At this point the reader may ask children present about the story).
Too often we see this as an example of faith needed to overcome problems. But what we have here is a war, the beginning of a campaign, a campaign of conquest.
CONQUEST OF CANAAN WAS A “HOLY” WAR
It was a fight, it was a campaign, it was a battle. It was “Holy” because:..
The Lord was the commander of His people. (5:13 6:5). We cannot isolate vs.13-15 from chapter 5:15 – it is not related to a Christian worship context which talks about coming into the presence of God. War begins with the revelation of God as a supreme commander of His people.
What is God doing? He is coming to fight His battle. The regaining of the land of promise is not primarily our battle; it is the Lord’s battle. He is reclaiming His land, not simply helping his people fight their cause.
This is a “Holy” War because it is not like other wars:
– It is not a fight for territorial expansion such as we see in Vietnam or in Afghanistan.
– It is not a Moslem Jihad: a Holy War undertaken to spread the faith by force.
– It is not an evangelistic campaign, like that of Charlemagne in Germany, or the Spaniards in South America.
– It is not a moral campaign to change the minds of the Canaanites or to persuade them to accept Israeli values, such as no work on the Sabbath.
It was not like other wars. This war was “Holy” because Canaan had become the focal point of conflict between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.
At the beginning of the world, Satan was cast out of heaven to earth, In Luke 10:18 Jesus said, “I saw…!”
The first place of conflict was Eden. God’s representatives, Adam and Eve, failed.
The second place of conflict is Canaan, the second Eden, the land “flowing with milk and honey”. The Lord, the leader of his people, deposes the agents of darkness from the Promised Land.
We know that while the Lord succeeded at Jericho, his people failed at Ai – and the battle continued through David and Solomon. All of these experienced defeat, until Jesus, “the commander of the army of the Lord” came again, and the war continued, in the desert, in Gethsemane, in the garden of the tomb, until Jesus burst forth victoriously from the grave and was crowned King of the Universe.
The war is won, but the Prince of Darkness still fights on. He is like a snake who’s head has been cut off, but his body is still wriggling, and the head is still wriggling, trying to do damage. The battle continues until victory is clear for all to see. The battle in which we participate is not that we might win victory – NO – but to demonstrate the victory that has been won by Christ.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN WAS A “FAITH” WAR
The conquest of Canaan was not only a “Holy” war, that is, a war of the Lord; but it was a “faith” war. It is also our battle.
Jericho fell through an act of worship. What is happening here?
What happened when the people were going round and round the city? It was not some crazy way of making war.
It was much more than God simply showing the Israelites that they were weak and that only with His help could the walls fall down. What we have here is an act of worship. It was literally a seven day long service of worship.
Notice:
– It was holy ground. vs.15. This is why again, vs.13-15 cannot be separated from the fall of Jericho. Where the Lord is, there is holy ground.
– The Ark was there. The sign of the presence of God was in the midst of the procession.
– The trumpets announced the coming of the Lord.
Look at the sevens – there were seven priests, and trumpets sounded seven times.
And if all that does not convince you, listen!!!
The fall of Jericho was on the seventh day.
The day especially set aside for rest and worship.
The seventh day was the day of rest,
the day of reclaiming the land,
the day of the demonstration of the victory of God.
What has war got to do with worship?
The Israelites were learning that the whole of life is God’s; that the whole of life is a life of worship. In the Promised Land, everything, including “war” was to be conducted as an act of worship. Fundamentally in Christ, all that we as the people of God do, should be an act of worship, that is, it should show it is God whom we worship.
The way we run our business should be an act of worship and should show who it is you worship.
The way you work for your boss, should be an act of worship and should show who it is you worship.
The way you young people study and behave should be an act of worship and should show who it is you worship.
The way you spend your money in the super-market should be an act of worship, and should show who it is you worship.
The way you respond to injustice, to poverty and inequality should be an act of worship and should show who it is you worship.
The way you ‘barrack’ for your football team should be an act of worship and should show who it is you worship. O.K., it may be a one-eyed umpire who caused your team to lose the match, but is “kill the umpire” a Christian way of responding? Is it a worshipful way of responding?
Everything is an act of worship – Everything..!
You see, brothers and sisters, the opposite view, that you can separate worship and life has led to the destruction of Christian values in our community.
It has kept religion out of politics.
Abortion has been accepted because contraception is seen as a purely physical action, and the resulting person is seen simply as a bit of tissue, rather than a gift from God.
Sexual immorality is no longer regarded as sinful because it is regarded simply as a physical union.
The conquest of Canaan was to teach the people that their every action should be an action of worship… an action of faith.
JERICHO FELL THROUGH AN ACT OF FAITH
This was a “faith” war.
Earlier at Kadesh-Barnea, Israel had failed because the promise was not followed in faith. Now the promise comes again and Heb.11:30 says “through faith the walls of Jericho fell.” Israel acted upon the promise of God and the walls fell.
What is faith?
Calvin: “Faith is the empty cup offered to receive the water of life.”
Faith is the empty plate of the starving person, offered to receive food. It has no value in itself. Its value is only in what it receives.
So Jesus could say, “Your faith has healed you!” but he would never speak, I am sure, of faith-healing.
Just as in justification, it is faith that is counted, credited and reckoned to us as righteousness, so in Christian warfare with the world, the flesh, and the devil, it is faith that is counted, credited and reckoned as victory.
1John 5:4 says, “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even your faith.”
What, then, is Christian warfare as far as the people of God are concerned? It is not primarily to fight the devil, but it is a battle to act in faith towards God and His promises.
Tell me, what is the hardest thing for you day by day? Is it not:
– to believe in the word of the Lord that in Christ you are perfect and act in faith upon it?
– to believe in the Word of the Lord that you are victorious and act in faith upon it?
– think of the worst sin that a Christian could possibly commit. Do you really believe that God could forgive that?
– think of the person with whom you find it most difficult to be reconciled and to be friendly. Do you believe that in Christ God can make this person your friend?
– think of the most difficult problem that the world faces today, do you believe that God in Christ can solve that?
This is the battle, to act in faith towards God and towards His promises day by day.
CONCLUSION
What is the victorious Christian life of which many speak, but few explain in practical terms what it means?
It is the same warfare that the Israelites fought when they entered Canaan.
– It is to recognise and to acknowledge and experience that the Lord has won the victory, that the battle is His, that He is victorious.
– It is to realise that for the people of God the whole of life is worship.
– It is to worship the Lord in the way we work, in the way we play, in the way we do everything; to do otherwise is to worship other gods.
– To go forth and live by faith. Faith is reckoned as victory in the face of all that is thrown against it.
The battle is the Lord’s. He has come in Christ. Now all of life is holy to us; we go forth in faith because He has given us the victory.
AMEN.