Good morning. Turn with me to
Joshua, the book of Joshua chapter six. Very familiar story. Don't have
anything new to say, just hopefully something old and refreshing. Joshua chapter six. This is the
story of Joshua and Jericho. All of you are very familiar
with it, I think. In the first verse, it says Jericho
was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel. None
went out and none came in. Two things I want to address
here. First of all, let me bring you up to this point in history.
Moses had led Israel across the Red Sea on dry land. But after the exodus, he was
forbidden to take the people of Israel, the children of Israel,
the children of Jacob, into the Promised Land. in that the law
which he had given had no remedy, and to typify our Lord Jesus
Christ, Moses, was not permitted to enter the land. God raised up another man named
Joshua, who would finally lead them into the promised land of
Canaan. Now, I wanna think about Joshua's name for just a second.
Joshua's name, Joshua, in the Hebrew is the same name as Jesus
in the Greek, and it signifies and means Savior, Joshua, Savior,
the Lord. Joshua means to save. Repeatedly throughout the scripture,
Joshua's name's mentioned as Joshua, the son of Nun. Why? Why is it repeatedly pointed
out to us, Joshua, son of Nun? Well, his dad's name, Nun, is
derived from a Hebrew word that means perpetuity, Nun. Joshua, the son of perpetuity,
the son of Nun. Perpetuity means forever. Forever. Perpetuity means forever. So
what does that make Joshua? It makes his name to mean Savior. The son of perpetuity. Joshua,
Savior, the Son of God, the same name as Christ. Christ, the Son
of God. His father's name infers that
he had no beginning. And no ending. And it means that
Joshua was the son of one who had no beginning and no ending. And that ought to make it obvious
that Joshua was and is to be seen here as a type of Christ
whose father had no beginning and no ending. Now look at verse
one. Moses is dead. Joshua had already
led these folks across the Jordan River to possess the promised
land. He had crossed the river into
the edge of the country and the land, which God had promised,
way back to Abraham. They're now in the edge of that
promised land. Moses was a type of the law,
as I've said. He delivered the law. And the
law can only condemn us, and it contains no remedy for sin. It just reveals sin. And that
being the case, we must be delivered by Joshua, a Savior, a picture
of our Lord Jesus, Savior, the Son of God. Now Jericho, Jericho
in verse one means his moon. And if you look at history, in
the record of history, This was the seat of moon worship for
the Canaanites, those people that possessed that land. It
was only six miles from where Joshua and the children of Israel,
the children of Jacob, had crossed the River Jordan. You don't hear
much about cities who have a king, but this king, there was a king
for this city named Jericho. Walls of that town, if you will,
city, it's huge, were so high and so thick that they built
houses on top of it. They built houses, dwelling places
on top of the walls. They were so secure in and of
those walls, thinking of those walls, taking confidence in those
walls that they built houses on top of them and felt perfectly
safe in doing so. Its gate was shut according to
its custom, especially when it was dark. If your Bibles have
reference notes, you'll notice that the note concerning Jericho
there in the first verse, it says, did shut up and was shut
up. That's concerning the gate, the
security of that town. Now at this point in time, why
was it shut? That's the question that came
to my mind. And the only answer can be because
of the children of Israel. The inhabitants of this city
at this point in time were terrified of this people who had assembled
outside their gate. They had heard about the Red
Sea party And these folks coming across that Red Sea on dry land,
that was the knowledge that they had
of how God had delivered this people from their oppression
in Egypt. And they'd heard of the river
parting and their crossing on dry land, even the Jordan River. There were probably over two
million people in the House of Israel at this point in time.
When they crossed the Red Sea, Exodus tells us that there were
600,000 men of war, able-bodied men, on foot when they crossed
that. And if every one of them had
two kids and a wife, that'd be over 2,400,000 people, in fact,
four times what are on foot. Probably over two million, we'll
say that anyway. It came out of Egypt, and these
folks were keenly aware of how they had been miraculously brought
to this point, and they were scared to death. Scared to death. Now Israel stood within their
eyesight, two million people within eyesight outside their
city, and they had good reason to be scared. There was not one
of them, in spite of their fear, they, in their obstinance, refused
to even wave a white flag. They didn't want anything to
do with these people. They'd made their preparations.
They'd built their wall, and they were behind it. They were
secure. And in verse two, our Lord assures Joshua. He says,
I've given into thine hand Jericho and the king thereof and the
mighty men of valor. Now in the first chapter of this
book, Joshua one, the Lord assured Joshua that there shall not any
man be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As
I was with Moses, so will I be with you. I will not fail you,
and I will not forsake you. Isn't that what our Lord was
told by the Father? He shall not fail. In our security,
in our salvation, in our redemption, and in reconciliation, the word
Lord here in this second verse is Jehovah. In the previous chapter,
the Captain of the Lord's Host, in the last few verses, just
before this chapter, there's a person that comes to Joshua
and his name is Captain of the Host. And that one who called
himself the Captain of the Host is here speaking as Jehovah. So the captain of the host, our
captain, the captain of our salvation is Jehovah. Is Jehovah. Imagine that. A man that walked
on this earth, the God man, is Jehovah. The only manifestation
that we will ever have of God. The only visual manifestation
that we'll ever have. He was seen of men, God was seen
of men and angels. Angels had never laid eyes on
him before. God's a spirit. Gotta move on. Now notice our
Lord's words in verse two. I have given, past tense. It's
over. It's done. This thing is as good
as done. Jericho belongs to you. And in
verse three to five, we have an account of what believers
consider a miracle of grace and salvation from our Lord. But
to most people, it's nothing less than foolishness. And God
has chosen the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The captain of the Lord's host
here gives directions how they were to lay siege to this city. Discomposing of the city was
to be by all ye men of war. Now remember, there were 600,000
of them. that left Egypt. I don't know
how many were here, but that's how many left Egypt. And they
didn't assemble any battering rams. They didn't bring in any
tanks. They didn't dig any trenches. And there was absolutely no military
preparations made for the siege of this city, none, because it
had been promised that God would give them that city. Only one
thing was required. The Ark of God had to be carried
by the priest around that city once a day for six days, and
then seven times on the seventh day with the men of war in silence. They just marched. And the priest
had to blow the trumpets. of ram's horns. They were ram's
horns. They weren't brass ones. They didn't have anything. They
weren't that well to do. They couldn't make horns out
of brass. They made it out of ram's horns. That sounds pretty foolish, doesn't
it? for men to march around the city
to conquer it. Just march around it. Isn't this
the way our Lord's laying siege to the present evil world that
we live in? For instance, in 1 Corinthians,
it says the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it's the power of God. We preach Christ crucified. unto
the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness.
Now why did God appoint this way, the foolishness of preaching?
How shall they hear without a preacher? He chose this to magnify his
own power and his mercy and his own name, that he might be exhausted
in his own strength, not in the strength of instruments and technology
and the hands of men, but to put honor upon his ark. This ark had to be carried in
that march. That was the presence of God.
That was the presence of the God-man, the dwelling place of
God. They were carrying the dwelling
place of God. which was the token of our God
and of his presence. And it was also to put honor
upon the priests. Now, ordinarily, the priests
were excused from any acts or any battles of war. On this occasion,
they were to carry the ark and sound the trumpets, seven of
them, seven priests. The instruments of their war
were trumpets. And it's the trumpet of the gospel
that saves us. It's the trumpet of the gospel
that preserves us. It's what delivers us. The foolishness of preaching. The message of Christ crucified.
The message of reconciliation. the message of redemption and
the substitutionary work of the death of Christ. And it was to
try their faith. Whether they would submit to
what seemed absolutely foolish to obey and to simply believe
God's covenant promise to deliver. That's what we do, which is nothing. That's what we do. Look at verse six. Notice how
this battle opens up. It says, take up the ark. Those people didn't move. They
didn't move a muscle. They didn't do anything except
follow that ark. It begins with the movement of
the ark. If the Lord Jesus moves forward, the people move forward. The people are to follow, just
as when they were in the wilderness. In the book of Revelation, we're
called those which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. And to repeat it again, this
jubilee trumpet was a type of the gospel of Christ. The pastors
and teachers of our day, of our God and Savior today, sound an
alarm in this evil city in which we
live. And they hold up Christ to be
viewed by us sinners, announcing pardon, mercy and peace to those
who will trust Christ and announcing vengeance upon the unbelieving
inhabitants of Jericho who despised Christ and refused to bow. The end of them is pictured in
this history right here. Look at verse seven. He said
to the people, this is directed to the women and the children.
He said to the people, you women, children, and haves, the young
men under 20 years old, I'm told, they were to march in the rear. That's what rearward means, or
re-reward means, rearward. They were behind the arc. They were to march behind the
arc. It must have been a sight to
behold. How many of them were there?
I don't know. All I can tell you is there's
over two million of them that came out of Egypt. What a spectacle that must have
been. I know nothing about music, verse eight, look at that. But
I understand that that trumpet, which stayed blue, could only
blow one note. I want you to play a B flat for
me after we finish here. a B flat, one note. And while they marched, the priest
blew continually. These trumpets were made of ram's
horns that I've said. They were nothing you'd want
to show off. Why? I think it's that the excellency
of the power of God, the foolishness of preaching is pictured here. When they blew that horn, it
was the preaching that is pictured and compared to the sounding
of these ram's horns. And in this picture, the entire
kingdom of Satan is thrown down by the preaching of the gospel
in the power of God. That's what happened. The preaching
of the gospel brought this city down. Scripture says the weapons
of our warfare are mighty through God. to the pulling down of strongholds. That's what this city was. It
was a stronghold. These strongholds that we build
as unbelievers, the walls are gonna fall now or later. We're all going to bow. Now look
down at verse 16. At the last day, on the seventh
day, after encompassing the city the seventh time, they were to
give a shout. They marched around the city
once a day for six days, but on the seventh day, they marched
around the city seven times. You reckon they believed those
walls were gonna fall? They did. They did. They were
foolish enough to believe it. And that's the power of God in
our salvation. We can't believe and then all
of a sudden one day we can't help but believe. And immediately the walls fell.
It says, Joshua had promised they would fall and their shout
that they made After the trumpet's sound was a shout of faith. They
believed Joshua and the walls of Jericho would fall, and by
this faith, the walls were thrown down. The trumpet sounded that
promise that Joshua, their savior, had made to them, and their shout
was a cry of prayer. To heaven. For help. And they got it. The walls fell. Some commentaries that I've read
use this to show that we must not expect a complete victory
over our own corruption of heart until our very last day, the
seventh day. That's when we're going to shout
in victory over sin and death. When we come face to face with
the Lord Jesus. When we see him, we'll be like
him. Just as he is in his perfection. Now we've grown under sin. desiring
to be rid of it. And we even strive to pray, we
shout, help. But after all's done, it's not
gonna happen until the end of the seventh day. Then judgment
shall be brought forth unto victory. And at the same time, when our
Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the sound of the trumpet,
Satan's kingdom's gonna be completely removed, but not until then. Verse 17, before they enter Jericho,
Joshua gives directions for their conduct when they enter the city.
I want you to look at this closely now. Notice in Joshua's instruction
how the line is drawn between those that fear and worship our
Lord and those that take confidence in the works of their own hands
and the walls of protection that they've built with their own
hands. The people of that city knew Joshua was coming and they
were scared to death, I've said that. But in spite of their fear,
their obstinance dictated that their thoughts, dictated their
thoughts to decide we will not have this man rule over us. We're
here and we're gonna stay here. That's foolishness. But there
was a whore in that city. A harlot, to use proper terms,
I guess. Look at verse 17. Only Rahab
the harlot shall live. She and all who are with her
in the house because she hid the messengers that we sent. See that? This is what is called
faith. She believed God. They promised
her that they'd spare her or that she would be spared. She
just had to hang that thread to identify her place in Christ. That scarlet thread, which was
symbolic of the blood of Christ. She hid the messengers that we
sent. That's what's called faith. She believed God. And the people
shouted, verse 20, and blew with the ram's horn. And it happened
when the people heard the sound of the ram's horn, the people
shouted a great shout and the wall fell under it. And the people
went up into the city, each man in front of him, and they captured
the city. You see how the Lord fights for
his people? And when you recall this story, spiritualize it to
the subject of salvation by our Lord Jesus. Our almighty Joshua,
creator of heaven and earth, you can rest assured that in
an infinitely higher degree, this will be the triumph of God
our Savior. He will be followed in by his
redeemed army in that day when all the walls which are fenced
up to heaven fall down before him and is redeemed marching
in with him in front of him. In that day, they will be singing
a new song. Now has come the salvation and
power and the kingdom of our God. and the authority of his
Christ, because the accuser of our brothers is thrown down. The one accusing them before
God, day and night, he's done. He's done, we're free. Verse 21, 25, I wanna give you
a very quick synopsis of it. Verse 21, they destroyed all. 22, the spies are to bring in
the woman, bring out the woman. from there. Verse 23, the young
men that were spies bring out Rahab, her father, her mother,
and her brothers, and all of her family. In verse 24, they
burn the city. In verse 25, Joshua saved Rahab
the harlot alive. I think these verses should be
brought together because when you combine them, they describe
what Paul said in Romans chapter 11. He said, behold the goodness
and the severity of God. What a contrast there is. It
says that they utterly destroyed all in verse 21. I hesitate to
even attempt to describe this scene I don't know how many were
in that city, but they were told to wipe them out. They killed
every man, woman, child, ox, and ass. There was nothing left
breathing of any species in that city, completely annihilated. And then they set fire to it. Our Lord said in Exodus, I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom
I will show mercy. And Paul stated it this way in
Romans. He has mercy on whom he will
and whom he hardeneth and whom he will he hardens. There's only one answer to those
statements, and that's an answer of faith. Listen to me. Shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? And you can't believe that aside
from a miracle of grace and regeneration, a rebirth in Christ. Paul said in Romans, what shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he said to Moses, I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. It's not of him that willeth,
it's not of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
The people of the city of Jericho were shut up and had shut themselves
up in unbelief. They refused to live under the
dominion of Joshua, Savior. And consequences inflicted upon
that people was right, was right. Verse 22 and 23, but now move
your eyes from those that perished and look at the one God saved.
He saved a whore, a sinner, and her whole family. She was in that wicked place
just like all those others were. What made the difference? Flashly speaking, there wasn't
one thing. They were all sinners. But Rahab
found grace. She was like Noah. And Joshua directed those spies
to bring out the woman. She didn't walk out, they brought
her out. And that's what the Lord does for us. There are few
places in the scripture where Rahab's ever called by name without
her occupation being added to it. Rahab the harlot, the harlot
Rahab. But even in verse 23, look at
that. It's just Rahab. It's just Rahab. Why? Because she found grace
in the eyes of God. In the eyes of Joshua, her Savior. In verse 24, when Rahab and her
family were brought out, the city was burned. And the way to Canaan was open.
There was no more obstruction. They walked in. For purpose of
this story, anyway. The promised land was laid open.
In verse 25, Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive and her father's
household and all that she had. And she dwells in Israel to this
day. Now that's talking about At the
time Joshua wrote this book, she's still living there. But
you know what? She's still living there today,
too. Suffice it to say this in conclusion. There's an exact number of God's elect that are going
to be saved. And when the last one is saved,
the last one is quickened to life and faith in Christ. This world is done. That's what happened here. Our Lord. is gonna set this world on fire
and it'll burn like a matchstick. Foolishness? Go ahead and build your walls.
I choose to believe. And I realize that you can't. Absent new life given you. Listen to this and see if it
might describe Rahab. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought you to be? In all holy conversation and
godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of
God wherein the heavens being on fire will be, shall be dissolved. and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.
That's our promised land. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found
in him, in peace, without spot and blameless. and account that
the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. I pray that His long-suffering
is the salvation of someone here today. Because when the last
one's called, it's over. It's over. Why will you die? Why will you die? I forgot who
preached the message on that now, but that's how come I remember
it. In the meantime, Gene, God's
preachers just keep on marching, keep on blowing. If you give me just a second
more, I realize I'm five minutes over. I want to tell you something about
Rahab. Rahab, you know her reputation, you know her lifestyle, you know
who she was. She wound up marrying a man named
S-A-L-M-O-N. I don't know whether it's Salmon
or Salmon. But they had a son and his name
was Boaz. And Boaz is the one who redeemed
Ruth, the Moabitess, a very, very notorious woman, too. She was a Gentile. She knew God
from a gourd. Can you imagine the conversation
that Rahab could have had with Ruth? Ruth come to her and say,
Rahab, I can't believe Boaz redeemed
me. a Gentile Moabitess, and Rahab say, hey girl, sit
down. I got some things I can tell
you about amazing grace. Lord bless you.