
“The Fall of Jericho” Joshua 6:1-27

a place for us to share ideas, talk about life, and learn together.
Introduction
When God originally called the Israelites to be His chosen people, His desire for them was to be a people through whom “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). When Moses was on Mt. Sinai God commissioned them to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6).
They were to be a witness to the world of all that God had done for them. But instead, the people did not follow God’s ways and they did what they thought best (Numbers 13 &14). The Christian family is to be a witness to the non-Christian world of the joy, harmony, and love that comes from following God’s Word. When a community has children who honor and obey their parents there is order and stability. The problem is that many families are not seeking to follow God’s way. The first step in a society of order and stability is for parents to pass the truth of Scripture on to their children.
Deuteronomy 6:1-8
“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Parents were to continually speak and teach about the things of God.) 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (When the parent was not present the home was covered with Scripture, to remind the children.)
Today we are celebrating Mother’s Day. For the godly mother the best honor that could be bestowed upon her is where her child follows the ways of the Lord. Some questions to think about are “How can we honor our mother’s, and how does a woman be a godly mother?” What is the Bible’s teaching on how a child will learn to follow the ways of God?
Directions For Children (Ephesians 6:1-2)
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),
Children (tekna) refers to all children (even adults) not just to small children. Those children who have not yet married and are still at home are to honor and obey. There is a change in the child/parent relationship when a child marries. (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31) Earlier in Eph. Wives are to submit to their husbands, but here children are to obey – it is a stronger word meaning, immediate, absolute obedience.
“Obey” has to do with action, and “honor” has do with attitude.
Example: Little Johnny is told to take out the trash.
“Obey” literally means “to hear under,” listen to what is said and then do it. Children are to listen to what the parents say and then do it. What if they don’t listen? Then the parents must perform an action that will ensure that he will.
“In the Lord” Children are to obey their parents as if they are doing it for the Lord, “it describes the quality of the obedience.”[1] It is important for children to understand that God is over their parents (meaning that they will follow God’s Word) and then the parents are over them (meaning they will follow what they say). When disciplining children, parents can explain that it is both them and God that wants them to obey and honor them. To obey their parents is to obey the Lord, so to disobey their parents is to disobey the Lord. It is also part of the discipleship of the child – parents are teaching them how to follow God, by teaching them to honor and obey their parents.
Parents are therefore shepherds of children on God’s behalf. Parents must know that it is in the child’s best interest to obey and honor them. It is the parent’s responsibility to shepherd them from one point to another. To see that they ultimately reach the destination God has planned for them.
Children learn how to be obedient to God through their relationship with their parents. Have you ever met a child where their parents do not require them to be obedient and honor them? They don’t obey or honor anyone else either. They rebel against authority.
James Dobson says “Developing respect for parents is the critical factor in child management. It is imperative that a child learns to respect his parents – not to satisfy their egos, but because his relationship with them provides the basis for his later attitude toward all other people. His early view of parental authority becomes the cornerstone of his future outlook on school authority, law enforcement officers, employers, and others with whom he will eventually live and work.”[2]
The most important lesson for the child to learn in this period is that He is an individual under authority. She has been made by God and has a responsibility to obey God in all things.[3]
So while obeying is a matter of action, honoring is a matter of the heart. It involves a relationship. Think of this disciplining as a circle of protection. Within that circle is blessing and long life. As soon as the child steps out of that circle of safety, he needs to be rescued from danger of stubborn independence from your authority.[4]
The reason that they are to obey and honor is because it is right. Everything that God commands is right or correct, just, righteous. It is a command from God that children are to obey their parents. This command is not just for the children, it just as much a command for the parents.
When God introduced the law in the form of the ten commandments, the first commandment having to do with relations to others (verses relations with God) was “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Ex. 20:12 – the 5th commandment).[5] A child can have no better inheritance than the godly teaching, examples, and correction of their parents.
2 Tim. 1:5-7 “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Timothy had a Christian family and his mother and grandmother played a major role in his becoming a Christian.
3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
The result for the child who is obedient and honors his parents is twofold.
If the child is outside of this safety of God’s teaching then the child must be corrected back into this circle. They leave the circle through disobedience and dishonor.
Directions For Parents (v. 4)
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
By Roman law of patria potestas a father had virtual life and death power not only over his slaves but over his entire household. He could cast any of them out of the house, sell them into slavery, or even kill them – and be accountable to no one.[7] As an example of this, a newborn was placed at his father’s feet to determine his fate. If the father picked it up, the child was allowed to stay in the household. If the father walked away, the child was disposed of (exposed).
So today in many ways the father has great power to determine what happens to the child when they are older. Though pateres (fathers) usually refers to male parents, it was sometimes used of parents in general. But because the father is to be the head of the family (see Eph. 5:22), it is more than likely that he would be the one to provoke the child.
“To provoke . . . to anger” suggests a repeated, ongoing pattern of treatment that gradually builds up a deep-seated anger and resentment that boils over in outward hostility.[8] It is behavior that parents (specifically fathers) do that disrupts the relationship between father and child, thereby making it harder for the child to honor and obey.
Such treatment is usually not intended to provoke . . . anger. What then can a parent do to “provoke their children to anger?”
Paul is “ruling out excessively severe discipline, unreasonably harsh demands, abuse of authority, arbitrariness, unfairness, constant nagging and condemnation, subjecting a child to humiliation, and all forms of gross insensitivity to a child’s needs and sensibilities.”[9] Colossians 3:21 helps us understand why the father should not provoke to anger, “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”
“but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (v. 4 b)
“discipline” refers to the overall systematic training of children. It carries with it the idea of correction of wrongdoing, as seen in the proverb, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” (Prov. 13:24).
(Nouthesia) “Instruction” is literally a “putting in mind” and also includes the connotation of correction. It refers to the type of instruction found in the book of Proverbs, where the primary focus is on training and teaching of children. It deals with principles of behavior, more than factual information. It deals with applying Scriptural principles to the child’s life verses “what is the capital of Arizona?”
The key to right discipline and instruction of children is its being of the Lord. Everything parents do for their children is to be of Him – according to the teaching of His Word. “Ultimately, the concern of parents is not simply that their sons and daughters will be obedient to their authority, but that through this godly training and admonition their children will come to know and obey the Lord himself.”[10]
This morning are you “in the Lord?” Just as children are to follow their parents as if they are following the Lord. Parents are to teach them the things of the Lord by being in the Lord. But you cannot do this if you don’t know the Lord, if you do not know His Scriptures, or are not living the Christian life as taught by the Bible.
Most parents want their children to succeed at life, but they think that it is by playing the right sports, by attending the right school or college, by never ending extra-curricular activities. This is not what the Bible teaches.
Scripture teaches that children succeed when their parents are living a godly life (example), when through this example they teach their children the ways of God (wisdom) and correct them when they get off this path.
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[1] SDF Salmond, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, The Epistle to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967) 375.
[2] James Dobson, The New Dare To Discipline, p. 18
[3] Ted Tripp, Shepherding a Child’s Heart, p. 133
[4] Ted Tripp, Shepherding a Child’s Heart, p. 148
[5] The fifth commandment acts as a hinge between how we relate to God (the first four commandments) and how we relate to other people (the last six commandments). But it is how we treat our parents that directly correlates determines the quality and quantity of one’s life.
[6] John MacArthur, Ephesians Commentary, p. 315
[7]Ibid, p. 315
[8] Ibid. p. 317
[9] Peter T. O’Brien, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999) 446.
[10] O’Brien, 446.
Joshua: Courage Over Fear
A Sermon Series
“The Hearts of the People Must Be Right Before Moving Forward”
Joshua 5:1-15
Introduction
Joshua is reading and studying the writings of Moses – he is meditating on it, talking about it, and he is seeking to do it. Rahab is waiting with the red cord tied to her window, for the army to arrive at Jericho. The people have miraculously crossed over the Jordan River, and now the peoples of the land are aware of their presence.
Prayer
The Setting of the Covenants (vv. 1)
As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.
For the Cananites, these events were horrifying. Over two million people were gathered across the Jordan in the Jordan valley. They clearly were preparing to attack them, but there was the Jordan river in between and it was at flood stage, so they had a little time to prepare for the attach. But then came news that they Jordan River had miraculously stopped flowing and the people crossed over “on dry ground.”
From a worldly wisdom, this would be the time to attach. Leveraging the miraculous crossing, having received the report from the spies about how the people’s hearts were melted – attack now while their spirits were shaken.
“But the wisdom of God is not like human wisdom, and it was far more important that the hearts of the people be right with God than that they gain a momentary military advantage.”[1]
The hearts of God’s people have to be right before any campaigns can be successful.
The Covenant of Circumcision – Identifying (vv. 2-7)
2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.”[2] 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.1 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. 5 Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
It does not make strategic sense to march your army right into the teeth of a lion’s head and then completely incapacitate your entire army for “as long as it took them to heal.” But God says, “make flints knives,” so Joshua did it.
“Circumcision was the mark of the covenant; it signified membership in the covenant people of Israel, just as baptism signifies membership in the covenant community of the church today.”[3] It was how God showed that these were His people, and it was also a human response or action taken to show that they are, or want to be apart of God’s people. It was an outward sign of an inward condition.
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Exodus 4:24 God has called Moses to lead God’s people out of slavery and Egypt, he has given multiple excuses, but now he is on the way back to Egypt to do it, “At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
The family consists of Moses, his wife Zipporah, and their two sons. As the family is making their way from Midian to Egypt, they stop at an inn. While they are at the inn, something happens to Moses that the family comes to realize is a life threatening and is directly coming from the Lord. “However, the real question is not how God assaulted Moses but why?”[4]
Those that had wanted to kill Moses in Egypt are dead, but now God is his enemy? God had just given him another round of instructions for what to do when he had gathered the elders of Israel together (vv. 21-23). Moses was the one who God appeared to in the burning bush, and called to lead God’s people out of Egypt – why now, would God seek to kill him?
This passage has many challenges to interpretation – but there is one big idea that anyone seeking to understand what is going on here sees. Circumcision is important to God at this moment in history.
Genesis 17:9-14 helps us to understand what is happening, “And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Moses had not circumcised his son – he had not kept the covenant. So, Zipporah grabs a stone knife and circumcises the son Gershom, and then places the piece of skin at Moses’ feet. When Moses gives excuse after excuse God patiently gives answers and seeks to reassure Moses, “I will be with you.” But when Moses neglects to circumcise his son, that becomes a matter of life and death. By Moses not following the word of God given to Abraham he “shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Moses almost lost his life because he did not follow the Word of God.
God’s people are identified as His people by the following of His law.
Moses has incurred the wrath of God upon his life because he didn’t pay attention to what was required. What are we supposed to get from this passage? We have to pay attention as we enter into the presence of God (Moses and Joshua removing their sandals), and we have to pay attention as we enter into service of God (Moses as he travels to Egypt and Joshua before going into battle). We ignore God’s Word to our peril.
Zipporah takes the bloody piece of skin and smears it across Moses’ foot. Later, God’s people will take blood from a lamb and smear it across their doorposts. These are blood signs that they are seeking to follow God’s commands (circumcision and lamb’s blood). Jesus’ blood would be smeared across an old rugged cross. What must God’s people do to be saved from the angel of death? What must Moses do to be saved from God’s wrath? What does Joshua have to do be victorious in the Promised Land? Blood has to be shed in a way that God accepts.
“Circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant with his people. Within the covenant there is grace and life. Outside the covenant are judgement and death. Moses by not circumcising his son is acting like an Egyptian, rather than a member of God’s covenant people.”[5] These two groups go all the way through human history and on which side of the line you are standing on is eternally important – on one side will be eternal grace and life, and on the other will be eternal judgement and death.
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There is a fundamental life lesson that Moses needs to learn before he leads God’s people. God has established a blood covenant with His people. “First, God showed Moses the wages of sin by placing him under the wrath of God. But then God’s deadly wrath was turned aside – or “propitiated,” by the blood of circumcision. Blood is mentioned specifically because of a sacrifice and thereby identified with it. It was not a full sacrifice, but it represented Gershom’s entire person, offered in Moses’ place. Moses was saved from God’s wrath by the shed blood of a substitute.”[6]
Hebrews 9:22 “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
God is wanting to show His people how to be saved. This salvation story goes all throughout all of the Bible, but it includes the Abrahamic covenant – which Moses apparently ignored and failed to keep. Every human being is a sinner who stands under the wrath of God. The only way to be saved from eternal death is for God’s wrath to be turned aside, which can only be done through an act of blood.
By Jesus dying in our place, he turned aside the wrath of God against us. For the Israelites their covenant sign was circumcision – this is an act done to associate themselves with God and with His covenant. But what about Christians? How do we (today) show our association with God?
Colossians 2:11 “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” In the OT the covenant of association was circumcision and in the NT the covenant of association is baptism. But just like circumcision doesn’t make you a follower of God, getting wet in baptism doesn’t make you a Christian – it has always been and will always be a matter of the heart.
The Covenant of the Passover Meal – Remembering (vv. 8-12)
8 When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
(v. 9) “And so the name of that place is called Gilgal,” the word Gilgal means “rolling” but was rolling away? God explains it, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” The reproach was that they had not done what God said was to be done for those who wish to be called His people. An entire generation now are following the law. There is reproach from God when His people don’t follow His ways.
Then they celebrate the Passover; they remember the covenant that God has made with them, and how they are to live as His people. But they can’t celebrate the Seder meal (remembering how they had been slaves) until they had been circumcised (the God given way of identifying themselves as God’s people). God’s people were saved from slavery – they remember, as God’s people, how God had saved them.
And from that day forward “the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land.” God stops the manna and the quail – but how are about two million people going to eat? They are now in “the land flowing with milk and honey.” They would be expected to plant crops and follow God’s law regarding planting and harvesting.
Two principles come together – 1) God expects his people to have the right heart and 2) he will give you what you need to accomplish the task (a land flowing with milk and honey) but he expects you to the work (of conquering). The manna has stopped, if they don’t fight and move forward, they don’t eat.
We tend to think that what we do is the most important, but just as important as what we do, is who we are as a person. There are thousands of soldiers lined up to fight this battle – but God would rather have their hearts, more than their swords.
The Battle Will Always be the Lord’s (13-15)
13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. 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.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
There are two clues to who “the commander of the army of the Lord” is: 1) “Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped” If it were an angel he would told him to stop worshipping him, so this being allowed Joshua to worship, which would only be right if it were God, and 2) ““Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy” This reminds us of Moses and his encounter with God at the burning bush where Moses is also told to take off his sandals (Ex. 3:5).
Notice the commander’s response to Joshua’s question, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” The commander says, “no” I am not for you, and I am not for your enemy – “I am here to lead God’s army. I have come” What is far more important than sides, is who does God identify as His own – who is fighting with Him.
God’s Plan Will Be Accomplished –
Pray that you can be apart of it.
Joshua and God’s army would be fighting together, but make not mistake who was leading (God has arrived and He is in charge) – Joshua and the people have to have the ability to discern God’s voice to know what to do. What you are on the inside, guides the actions you take on the outside – it gives you the ability to hear God’s voice.
2 Kings 6:17 Elisha’s helper woke up early one morning and when he looked up he was surrounded by enemy forces, and he was afraid, “Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
Matthew 26:552-3 when Judas has come to betray Jesus with a kiss, Peter draws his sword, then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?”
God wants us to have eyes to see the bigger picture going on around us –
So God meets with Joshua and when Joshua asks, “What does my lord say to his servant?” He tells him that where he is standing is holy ground (take off your shoes). What makes is holy is the presence of God. Worship is appropriate, questions are tolerated (two swings and two misses) but shoes need to be removed. Then the commander tell him (chapter 6) the plan to conquer Jericho.
1) Identifying as God’s People (circumcision/baptism) 2) Following God’s Commands (The Passover Meal/The Lord’s Supper) 3) Worshipping and Receiving Instructions.
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[1] James Montgomery Boice, Joshua We Will Serve the Lord (Old Tappan, New Jersey; Fleming H. Revell Company, 1989) 57.
[2] For the effects of circumcision on an army see Gen. 34.
[3] Boice, 57.
[4] Philip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word, Exodus (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 117.
[5] Chester, 49.
[6] Ryken, 119.