Today’s Sermon Notes: 5-18-2025
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Joshua: Courage Over Fear
A Sermon Series
“The Fall of Jericho”
Joshua 6:1-27
Introduction
Joshua chapter 5 ends with Joshua encountering the commander of the Lord’s Army, “And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” God is continuing His plan of redemption for all of the world, and Joshua and the Israelites are going to be apart of this process. But there are some big themes that we are going to see, 1) God requires His creation to choose to follow Him by identifying and submitting to Him, or face the consequence of judgement and destruction (you must choose a side) 2) When God gives people an opportunity to break away from identifying with the world and to become part of His people they should do so (respond to God’s grace).
Prayer
The Plan Given From God (vv. 1-7)
Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. 4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” 6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” 7 And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”
Silence For Six Days – Watching Grace Pass You By (vv. 8-14)
8 And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. 9 The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. 10 But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” 11 So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. 12 Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. 14 And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.
Faith Explained (vv. 15-21)
15 On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. 16 And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. 17 And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18 But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. 19 But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” 20 So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. 21 Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.
Showing Faith By Continuing Onward
The solders are given very specific instructions – we are going to march, and then at a certain point the walls will fall (and when that happens): 1) leave Rahab and all in her house alone, and 2) don’t keep anything for yourselves; destroy everything.
2 Corinthians 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
2 Kings 5:12-14 records his response, “Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
Hebrews 11:30 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.”
Showing Faith By Dedicating Everything to the Lord
Showing Faith to Avoid the Judgment of God
Leviticus 18:27 “ . . . for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean,” and as part of their religion they sacrificed children to their gods (Duet. 12:29-31) “When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you. . . You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.”
“Behold, to the Lord your God belong . . . the earth with all that is in it.” Deuteronomy 10:14
All of creation belongs to God.
Genesis 18:25 “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
The position the Bible wants us to arrive at is not us sitting in judgement, determining according to our morality who should be judged and who should not be judged – instead we should ask “How do I avoid judgement for my iniquity?”
Jesus and the disciples were walking along and talking about how people had died, Luke 13:4-5 “. . . Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. . .”
God Will Always Keep His Promises (vv. 22-25)
22 But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” 23 So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. 24 And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 25 But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
How Can a Person Be Saved From God’s Judgement?
Hebrews 9:27 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” We place our faith in what Jesus did on the cross, bearing our sins upon himself. In obedience we keep His commands and then we wait – either to join Him in glory or to meet Him in the air at His appearing. We identify ourselves with Him in baptism and we remember Him in the Lord’s Supper.
John 14:1-3 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Those That Cover Over Sin Will Be Cursed (vv. 26-27)
26 Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. “At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates.” 27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.
1 Kings 16:34 “In his days (king Ahab) Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”
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[1] Francis A. Schaeffer, Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2004) 110.
[2] James Montgomery Boice, Joshua We Will Serve the Lord (Old Tappan, New Jersey; Fleming H. Revell, 1989) 75.
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“The Hearts of the People Must Be Right Before Moving Forward” Joshua 5:1-15
