Joshua chapter 6 and verse 17. And Joshua is speaking about
the city of Jericho and he says this, And the city shall be accursed,
even it and all that are therein to the Lord. only Rahab the harlot
shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because
she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise, keep
yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves
accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the
camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold
and vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the Lord. They shall come into the treasury
of the Lord. So the people shouted when the
priests blew with the trumpets and it came to pass when the
people heard the sound of the trumpet and the people shouted
with a great shout that the wall fell down flat so that the people
went up into the city every man straight before him and they
took the city. and they utterly destroyed all
that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and
ox and sheep and ass with the edge of the sword. But Joshua
had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go
into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and
all that she hath, as ye swear unto her. And the young men that
were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and
her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had. And they
brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp
of Israel. And they burnt the city with
fire, and all that was therein, only the silver and the gold,
and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury
of the house of the Lord. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot
alive, and her father's household, and all that she had. And she
dwelleth in Israel even unto this day, because she hid the
messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. And Joshua
adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the
Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho. He shall lay
the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest
son shall he set up the gates of it. So the Lord was with Joshua,
and his fame was noised throughout all the country. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this
reading from his word. When we left the children of
Israel last time, they had just completed six days of walking
around the city of Jericho. Now on the seventh day, some
people think it might actually have been a Sabbath day, Joshua
had the people march around the city, not once, but seven times. And maybe that's why they had
to get up so early in the morning. They had to get up at dawn because
they had a lot of walking to do that day. And when the children
of Israel had completed this seventh circuit of the city,
Joshua instructs them to shout, all at once with a mighty shout. And they were to shout because
the Lord had given them the city. So this was a shout of victory. But notice this, that it was
a shout of victory before the victory had been witnessed or
obtained. So that means that it was a shout
also of faith. It was a shout that went up believing
that the Lord had given them the city. In fact, I suspect
that only Joshua knew what to expect when that shout went up. We don't hear of Joshua informing
anyone else just how the victory would be obtained. However, Joshua
did announce three things that were to be observed when the
city was overrun. These three things were the city
and all that were in it were accursed. It was all dedicated
to the Lord, everything living, the people and the animals were
to be slain and burned. Second thing that Joshua pointed
out was that there was to be only one exception. And that
was that Rahab, who had hidden the two spies that Joshua had
sent, she was to be saved alive together with her family and
all who were in her house, as the spies had agreed. And thirdly,
Joshua pointed out to the people that nothing of value was to
be taken by the people and that all the precious items and valuables
were to be dedicated to the Lord and brought into the treasury
of the Lord to be used in worship and for religious purposes. If anything were taken from the
city, it would bring judgment on the whole nation. And we will
see an example of that a little bit later. Not today, but on
another occasion. So when the people had finished
this seventh circuit around the city and the ram's horns blew
the seventh time, Joshua commanded the people to shout loud and
immediately the walls of this great city, Jericho, fell down. Some people think that they fell
flat, like that, like they toppled over and fell flat. Other people
think that they sunk straight down into the ground, as if a
big hole was opened up underneath the city and it just collapsed
into it. Both possibilities would be evidence
of a great miracle. But the point was that nothing
that the people did contributed to the fall of the walls. Theirs was to patiently wait
upon the Lord and to shout the victory. believing that God would
deliver into their hands that city as he surely did. When these walls collapsed, the
people ran straight ahead of them into the city where they
slew men and women, boys and girls and all the animals as
had been commanded. Only Rahab was saved and the
spies brought her and her family out to safety. And we're told
that Joshua provided for Rahab and her family, giving them security
amongst the children of Israel, perhaps bestowing upon them some
land or supplies in order that they might live. I think there
are a few lessons for us to take from this amazing incident and
account from God's word. And the first one I want to draw
to your attention and just make a little bit of comment upon
is that this city of Jericho was to be utterly destroyed. And today we might wonder why
a city like this had to be so completely destroyed. What about
the civilians in that city? What about the women and the
children and the old and the sick? Why were the animals killed? Why was the city burned? Might not some of the children
of Israel have lived there? Might they not have benefited
from some of the equipment that was in the city? After all, they
had just spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. There must
have been some things there that would have been useful to them. In fact, when you think about
it, today some people would call what Joshua commanded the people
to do and what God indeed had instructed them to do. Some people
would call this a war crime. Let me just say a few things
about that. There were practical and spiritual
reasons for this destruction. And the very first one that we
should note is that the Lord had cursed this city for its
wickedness. Now we're not given an account
of exactly what the nature of that wickedness was, but we might
well imagine that it was idolatry, it was all manner of immorality,
It was rebellion against God in the indulgence of all the
things that these people ever desired to do. This was a sinful
people. And God had vowed that he would
punish the sin of the people of Canaan. Now God could have
punished Jericho by sending a plague. He might have brought a flood
up out of the River Jordan and swamped the city. He could have
brought fire from heaven. He could have used another nation,
another army. But Israel was to be the tool
in God's hand to bring judgment and destruction upon this evil
city. Joshua understood this and that
is why he warned the people not to take anything from the accursed
city because then they would become accursed as well. Anything
valuable that would not burn was dedicated to the Lord, the
metal, the silver and the gold and the brass and the iron. But
there was something else too. You see, God had promised to
give this land to Israel and there were seven nations lived
in Canaan at this time. All of those nations, every single
one of them, were greater and mightier than Israel. In comparison to them, Israel
was just a small nation. Any one of those nations could
destroy Israel in battle, so that this was an existential
fight, this was a fight for the very existence of the nation
of Israel. There could be no sharing the
land, there was to be no intermarrying between the nations there was
to be no accommodation of the sins or the idolatrous practices
or lifestyles of these God-hating nations. The Canaanites, all
seven nations and all of their cities, they must either flee
before Israel or die. And news of this single act of
total destruction would travel through the whole land and bring
fear to Israel's enemies. But I think there's also a spiritual
meaning in this matter as well and what the Lord is telling
us as he told the children of Israel is that he hates and condemns
sin wherever he finds it. God's anger burns against sin
and he has promised to come soon and punish not just a city, not
just a nation, but this whole world. for its sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming
back and he is coming back as judge and he is coming back with
perfect judgment and no sin will go unpunished. It will be a terrible
time and it reminds us that we need a saviour before that time
happens. The completeness of Jericho's
destruction is a measure of God's intolerance of sin and a warning
to us all of the judgement that is to come. That's the first point that I
want to make about why this city was so completely destroyed. The second thing I want to remark
upon is that Joshua was careful to honour Rahab's agreement. And we learn of the care and
attention given by Joshua to this matter the deliverance of
Rahab and her family, according to the promises made by the spies
whom she had protected. There, as Joshua was getting
ready, as it were, to lead these people in for the destruction
of the whole city, he takes time to remember Rahab and the promises
given to her. In the midst of this great event,
Joshua remembered Rahab's safety. Now we've already noted Rahab's
deliverance is a great picture of God's sovereign mercy. She was chosen out of all the
population of that city. She was chosen to perform this
act of kindness that ultimately led to her salvation and to the
deliverance of her family. And this too is a spiritual picture
for us. When the Lord comes to judge
the world, a small number will be saved. A few will be brought
out and delivered from that hell and destruction, that separation
that will take place when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back.
Who are these few? Who are these few that will be
saved and delivered on that day of judgement? Well the Bible
tells us. We're told about that in the
Gospel. They are those to whom promises
have been made of safety and salvation, those whose sins have
been forgiven and whose debts have been paid in Jesus' blood. In the day of judgment, when
all men and women, boys and girls, will stand before the judge of
all the earth, only those whose sins are cleansed in Jesus' blood
will go free and be delivered. And that's the significance of
that red cord that Rahab hung in her window. When the judgment
came, she trusted in the promises that had been given to her. She
trusted Joshua, not just the spies who gave her the promises,
but she trusted Joshua to be her great deliverer. She trusted
that he would be faithful to his word. And when the day of
Judgment comes. We trust Jesus Christ, our great
Deliverer, and we trust that He will be faithful to His promises
as well. And the final thing I want to
notice about this fall of Jericho and the tumbling down of the
walls of Jericho and the victory that was gained thereby. is that it tells us that every
barrier will be removed. This destruction of Jericho reminds
us that it's God's power to remove every barrier set up against
his people and that is designed to thwart his purpose. This is
an encouragement for all the Lord's people. And whether we're
younger or whether we're older, we can all take encouragement
in incidents like this, pictures like this, histories like this,
accounts that are given in scripture of God moving barriers and hurdles
that have been set up before us. The people of Canaan thought
that the city of Jericho was a stronghold and a fortress that
would protect that flank of the nation from anyone coming into
their country from that direction. Jericho was a walled defended
city and yet God showed by this complete destruction that it
would not stand against him and his purpose. Jericho really was
wiped from the face of the map and it would be hundreds of years
before it was rebuilt and only then under some dreadful circumstances. That's a story for another day. But often we feel anxious or
troubled because our enemies seem too strong, or our problems
appear too great, or our strength is too small. Jericho stood against
the Lord's people as a looming barrier and by removing it, So
wonderfully, so miraculously, the Lord made it evident that
he was going before his people to accomplish his purpose on
their behalf. The Lord made it evident that
he was with his people and that he was giving them the promise
of his help. This was a comforting encouragement
to them, to press on into the land, to possess the land, to
follow God's leading. And we can take this as a personal
encouragement as well. No barrier is too great for the
Lord to overcome. No enemy too strong, he will
deliver those he loves, Those he has died for and those he
has promised to save. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.