The Lord's Warrior

19, if you're using a church Bible, it's a red...

It's on page 219.

So let's read together.

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and he saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.

Joshua went up to him and asked,

Are you for us or for our enemies?

Neither, he replied.

But as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come.

Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence and asked him,

What message does my Lord have for his servant?

The commander of the Lord's army replied,

Take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy.

And Joshua did so.

Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites.

No one went out and no one came in.

Then the Lord said to Joshua,

See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

March around the city once with all the armed men.

Do this for six days.

Make the seven priests carry trumpets of ram's horns in front of the ark.

And on the seventh day, march around the city seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets.

When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, make all the people give a loud shout.

Then the wall of the city will collapse and all the people will go up, every man straight in.

So Joshua, son of Nun, called the priests and said to them,

Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

Make the seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.

Then he ordered the people,

Advance!

March around the city with the armed guard, going ahead of the ark to the Lord.

When Joshua had spoken to the people,

the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward,

blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord's covenant followed them.

The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets,

and the rear guard followed the ark.

All this time the trumpets were sounding.

But Joshua had commanded the people,

Do not give a war cry.

Do not raise your voices.

Do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout.

Then shout.

So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once.

Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.

Joshua got up early the next morning,

and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.

The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward,

marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets.

The armed men went ahead of them,

and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord,

while the trumpets kept sounding.

So on the second day,

they marched around the city once,

returned to the camp.

They did this for six days.

On the seventh day,

they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner,

except that on that day they circled the city seven times.

The seventh time around,

when the priests sounded the trumpet blast,

Joshua commanded the people,

Shout!

For the Lord has given you the city.

The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord.

Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in the house shall be spared,

because she hid the spies we sent.

But keep away from the devoted things,

so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them.

Otherwise, you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.

All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord

and must go into his treasury.

When the trumpet sounded,

the people shouted,

and at the sound of the trumpet,

when the people gave a loud shout,

the wall collapsed,

so every man charged straight in and they took the city.

They devoted the city to the Lord

and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it,

men and women,

young and old,

cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land,

Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out

and all who belong to her

in accordance with your oath to her.

So the young men who had done the spying went in and bought out Rahab,

her father and mother and brothers,

and all who belonged to her.

They brought her out,

her entire family,

and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

Then they burned the whole city and everything in it.

But they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron

into the treasury of the Lord's house.

But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute with her family

and all who belonged to her,

because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho,

and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

At that time Joshua pronounced his solemn oath,

Cursed before the Lord is the man who undertakes to rebuild the city, Jericho.

At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations,

at the cost of its youngest will he set up its gates.

So the Lord was with Joshua,

and his fame spread throughout the land.

I'm going to ask Derek to come up now.

He's going to preach.

And before he does,

I'm going to pray for him and for us as well.

Okay?

So let's pray together.

Our Father God,

we thank you again for these stories

which have been recorded for us,

to teach us and to tell us

about your salvation and your plan.

We thank you for your gifts in people

who are able to teach your word.

We thank you for Derek who is here with us today.

We pray that you would fill him

and that you would fill us afresh with your Holy Spirit,

that we may understand your word,

apply it to our lives,

that you would change us and transform us

and encourage us through it.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks, Derek.

Well, we have enjoyed being here with you all this week.

It has been great.

And we were especially looking forward to,

and I think we have enjoyed

worshipping with you all this morning.

And especially now as we look to God's word,

we are reminded this is God's word

to all his people over all the earth.

And that's such an exciting thing

to remember and realize.

Now, I've learned a bit about Irish culture

since I've been here.

I haven't learned everything.

And I don't think I may not have vetted

this particular introduction properly.

But we have in the United States

a television show called The Office,

which I understand actually originally came from England.

We have an American version of it.

And there's one particular episode

in which the character who's the manager in The Office,

his name is Michael Scott,

he gets into a bit of a pickle

because he has promised a bunch of primary school students

that when they graduate from high school,

he's going to pay for their college tuition.

Anybody seen that episode?

Okay.

The Americans raised their hand, yeah.

Now, the problem is

he doesn't actually have any money.

Well, I suppose he has some money,

but he can't come through on the promise.

It was an empty promise.

And so Michael is trying to explain himself.

He's trying to justify himself

and say why this is not such a bad thing.

And this is what he says

as he tries to explain himself.

He says,

I've made some empty promises in my life,

but hands down,

that was the most generous.

As if to say,

a generous empty promise

is any better

than an empty promise

that is not generous.

But of course,

that's not the case, is it?

An empty barrel of water

is of no more use

to a thirsty man

than an empty glass of water.

An empty promise

is an empty promise.

And so, you know,

sometimes we've all experienced

being on the receiving end

of empty promises.

We've all experienced

the uncertainty

that comes from

not knowing

if somebody's really going to come through

on their promise for us or not.

And so many of the promises

that people make today

are empty.

They may be generous.

They may be quite generous.

But they're empty.

And it's not just other people.

It's not just

what you might promise

to somebody else

or what somebody else

might promise to you.

But we make promises

to ourselves

that are empty also,

don't we?

How many of you,

I don't know

if this is a cultural thing here,

but do you make

New Year's resolutions

in Ireland?

Okay.

Raise your hand.

Be honest.

Raise your hand

if you made

a New Year's resolution

this year.

Oh, come on.

Oh, come on.

Nobody?

Okay.

A few of you

raised your hand.

Are any of you

to this day,

you've been totally faithful

to your New Year's resolution?

Anybody?

No.

Of course not.

And that's why most of you

didn't raise your hands

because you get to a certain point

where you realize

it doesn't matter

what I promised myself.

Right?

I'm never going to do that again.

Or I'm going to start doing that.

You know,

it's,

I'm going to lose weight.

I'm going to start running.

Or I'm not going to do

this habit anymore.

Or I'm going to,

you know,

for those of us

who like to think of ourselves

as super spiritually,

I'm going to wake up

at four o'clock every morning

and pray for two hours.

And, you know,

or something like this nature.

Or I'm going to read the Bible,

you know,

three times a day.

Or whatever it is,

we make these promises

to ourselves.

We resolve.

But they're empty.

Our promises to ourselves,

they may be grand,

they may be generous.

I shouldn't use the word

grand improperly,

sorry.

They may be generous,

but they're empty.

So the question is,

is there nowhere we can turn?

Is there no one we can turn to

for a promise that is not empty?

If we're so used to giving

and receiving empty promises,

then where do we find someone

who can give us a promise

that he can keep?

Because it takes a couple of things

to keep a promise.

It takes the intention

to keep it.

It takes the power

and ability to keep it.

It takes the resolution

and the steadfastness,

the faithfulness,

we might say,

to keep it.

Well, I think we're going to find

an answer to that question

in today's text.

But before we dig into

Joshua chapter 5,

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

let's back up just a bit

and set some context

for those of you maybe

who haven't been here.

Every week,

as Johnny has been preaching

through Joshua,

the book begins

with God's chosen people

on the verge of realizing

a promise that was made to them.

They're on the verge

of this land

that was promised to them.

A promise was given,

a very generous promise.

And the question is,

is this an empty promise

or is this a promise

that's going to be fulfilled?

The first time they tried to enter,

they failed.

They failed,

according to Scripture,

by virtue of their unbelief.

They didn't believe the promise.

So the problem was not

the promise was empty,

the problem was

they didn't believe it.

And by virtue of that,

they failed.

So this is

possession of the promise 2.0.

Or this is

sort of the second attempt

to possess the promise of God.

And so what's really interesting

in these first couple of chapters

of Joshua

is that this really is

the second time.

And everything is occurring again.

Everything that had happened before.

This is basically

an affirmation

that the present generation

that's about to

attain the promise of the land

are, in fact,

the same people of God

as those who received

the promise originally.

You have a new leader

replacing Moses

in the person of Joshua.

You have a new experience

with the spies,

whereas before

the spies were unfaithful,

now the spies

come back

and make a faithful report.

You have Israel

responding with faith

to the spies' report.

You have a whole new

crossing experience

of the Jordan River

instead of the Red Sea.

You have a circumcision

occurring again

earlier in chapter 5.

And you have the Passover

occurring again.

Both of those things

are very significant

because the people of Israel

who are there

on the verge

of receiving the promise,

they're saying,

we are the people of God.

The circumcision

was given as a sign

that we belong to God

and His promises

are our promises.

And the Passover

was a ritual

that would have

connected them

back to the original Exodus

and said,

that was our story.

That's the story

of our people.

That's the story

of God at work

among His people

and that's us.

And so all of those things

that are happening

as Israel is standing there

on the verge

of receiving the promise,

everything is falling

into place

to reaffirm

that these are

the people of God

and He has given them

a promise.

Now what is that promise?

Well, the promise was

I will be your God

and you will be my people.

And that included

a couple of elements.

One of those elements

was land.

You see, you have God

who is king,

you have people

who are subjects,

and then you have land.

And all those things

together would constitute

in that way of thinking

the kingdom of God.

This was the promise.

But there was a problem.

Guess what they found

as they were ready,

they had actually

already crossed,

they were ready now

to possess the land,

but there's already

somebody there.

There are already

other nations

living there.

And it's even worse

than that.

They're prepared

to defend themselves.

They're planning

to fight.

So how are we going

to receive this land?

Is this just

an empty promise?

Was this God

just being overly optimistic

and hopeful,

but it's not going

to come through?

Or will something

else happen?

And this is where we are

as we step into

Joshua chapter 5,

Joshua 5:13

verse 13.

As we look at this text,

I'm going to go ahead

and give you

the main point,

the big picture,

just in case

you're tempted

to lose sight

of the forest

for the trees,

you can kind of

keep coming back

to this.

This is the main point

of this text.

God is a divine

warrior

who,

by His holy

presence,

secures His promises

for His people,

judges His enemies,

and saves

those who have faith.

Let me say that again.

God is a divine warrior

who,

by His holy

presence,

does three things.

He secures

His promises

for His people,

He judges

His enemies,

and He saves

those who have faith.

And so,

at its core,

this is a story

about God,

as all the stories

of Scripture are.

It's a story

about God's presence,

God's gift,

God's holiness,

and so let's look

at this story.

We see at the end

of chapter 5,

this very interesting

occurrence.

Joshua looks up

and sees a man

standing in front of him.

This mysterious figure

who identifies himself

as commander

of the Lord's army.

Well, who is this commander

of the Lord's army?

Well,

obviously,

we can see a couple

of things,

or at least one thing,

very obvious.

This is a warrior.

After all,

what does it say?

It says he sees a man

standing in front of him

with a drawn sword.

This is somebody

ready to fight.

This is somebody

ready for battle.

This is a warrior.

And then he identifies

himself more specifically

when he says

in verse 14,

I have now come

as commander

of the Lord's army.

This is a phrase,

the idea of the Lord's army,

or Yahweh's army,

specifically,

the God of Scripture

as opposed to

the various other gods

of that time.

God's army

would have been understood

to be primarily

the angels

or sort of,

you know,

a heavenly host,

a heavenly army.

But it could also be

God's people

if they were willing

to fight on his side.

And this is the question,

you know,

Joshua asks,

are you for us

or for our enemies?

And the response is,

well,

I'm sort of on my own side.

I'm on the Lord's side.

I fight for the Lord's army.

So, Joshua,

the question really is,

are you for us

or for our enemies?

And Joshua,

like we so often do,

wants to sort of claim God

for whatever our cause is

or whatever our nationality is

or whatever,

you know,

we might want God

to be on our side for.

But the real question is,

you know,

God commands his own army.

Are we in that army?

So the question for Joshua is,

are you for me

or for my adversaries?

Now,

this is an example.

As we ask the question,

who is this commander?

This would be an example

of what's called

a theophany,

which is just a big word

that means

God showed up.

God is there.

And I think there's

compelling evidence

that this is God

in some form

appearing to Joshua

because of one reality.

And that is found

in verse 15.

The commander of the Lord's army

said to Joshua,

remove the sandals

from your feet

for the place

where you are standing

is holy.

And Joshua did so.

Holiness

is going to be

a significant theme

throughout this entire passage.

And it's set up right here.

As Joshua,

prepared to enter into battle,

is confronted

with an appearance

of some sort

of God himself.

And wherever God is,

is holy.

holy.

That's what you need

to understand

about holiness

this morning,

is that wherever God

is,

is holy.

I understand

the Queen of England

was here

recently.

And,

we went to the

English market

yesterday

and toured around

and I saw a little

plaque that apparently

had been unveiled.

I guess the Queen

had showed up there

and a plaque

had been unveiled.

I've never seen

the Queen

in person.

But I would imagine

had I been there

that day,

had I been in that market

on that day

when the Queen

was there,

I may have acted,

I don't know if I would

have acted differently,

it wasn't like I was being

particularly rude

or anything,

but I would have been

sure to be on my best

behavior, right?

The Queen is here.

This is somebody

important.

Because somebody

is important here,

then to be here,

there's something

significant about it.

There's something

momentous about this.

Because the Queen

is here.

And so,

had you had children

there,

you would have made

sure they were

on their best

behavior and maybe

not acting the way

they normally do

or you might have

been particularly

respectful or

whatever.

It's the nature

of somebody

important being

there makes

that entire

location special.

Well,

now,

multiply that

times,

and I know

this is mathematically

incorrect,

but multiply it

times infinity

because I don't

know what else

to multiply it

by.

Alright?

Imagine God

was there in the

market.

Then it would be

holy ground.

Not just special,

not just interesting

or unique,

it would be

holy ground.

And the reason

why this is so

important to grasp

is because,

remember,

wherever God is,

is holy.

holy.

I think the

whole point of

this whole story

is to say,

God is here

among his

people.

His people are

taking the land

and now the

land is holy.

Now,

that may be

misunderstood in

our modern context

and I'll try to

clear that up as

we go,

but that's an

important idea.

God is in the

midst of his

people.

And so what

does that make

them?

It makes them

a holy people.

So God is the

divine warrior

and God is

holy.

As we move on

to chapter 6,

we see that God

gives gifts

and God makes

promises.

We read in

verse 1,

it says,

Now Jericho was

strongly fortified

because of the

Israelites,

no one leaving

or entering.

The Lord said

to Joshua,

Look,

I have handed

Jericho its

king and its

fighting men

over to you.

This is an

encouraging word

for Joshua

on the eve

of combat.

For the

commander

of the

Lord's army

who is

holy

with his

sword drawn

to say

to Joshua,

I have

given you

this city.

It was a

gift.

It wasn't

something that

Israel was

supposed to

somehow earn

or somehow

deserve.

That wasn't

the point.

The point

was it was

a gift.

I have

given it

to you.

It was a

promise.

It was a

promise given

as a gift.

And that's

important because

this is not

the story

of one

ethnic group

being morally

superior to

another group

and thereby

deserving to

take their

land.

There would

be a

misunderstanding

of this

whole book

of Joshua.

Turn to

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7.

In verses

6-8

it says,

For you are

a holy

people.

That idea

should sound

familiar.

You are a

holy people

belonging to

the Lord

your God.

The Lord

your God

has chosen

you to

be his

own

possession

out of

all the

peoples on

the face

of the

earth.

The Lord

was devoted

to you

and chose

you,

not because

you were

more numerous

than all

peoples,

for you were

the fewest

of all

peoples,

but because

the Lord

loved you

and kept

the oath

he swore

to your

fathers.

He brought

you out

with a

strong hand

and redeemed

you from

the place

of slavery,

from the

power of

Pharaoh,

king of

Egypt.

God

chose

this

people.

He set

his affection

and his

love on

them,

but not

because they

were such

a great

people,

for reasons

that are

mysterious

that we

may never

understand,

but probably

having something

to do with

the fact

they were

the smallest

of all

peoples.

God

chose

them and

gave them

a promise

and that

promise

involved

giving

them a

gift,

giving

them

the

land.

There's

an application

for this

for us

because if we

go to

Hebrews

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4,

we understand

that this

same idea

of God

giving his

people in

the Old

Testament

this land

as a

gift.

We have

a similar

promise

ourselves.

It's really

the same

promise

sort of

fleshed out

more

fully.

In

Hebrews

Hebrews 4:1

chapter 4

verse 1

it says,

therefore,

while the

promise to

enter his

rest remains,

let us

fear that

none of

you should

miss it.

He's

writing here

in the

New Testament

to New

Testament

Christians

saying the

promise to

enter the

rest was

not an

Old Testament

promise.

It

remains.

If you

back up to

chapter 3,

you see that's

the context.

The context

he's talking

about is

the parallel

with Israel

entering the

promised land.

And the

writer of

Hebrews is

saying this

promise is

still in

front of

us.

It's not

behind us.

It's still

in front of

us.

And then you

read down in

verse 8 where

it says,

if Joshua had

given them

rest, God

would not have

spoken later

about another

day.

See, our

promise, we

have a promise

of eternal

rest.

Just as a

promise was

given to

Israel of

this land,

we have the

same promise,

don't we?

It's a

promise given

to us in

Christ.

I know it's

given to us

in Christ

because of

Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

9 where it

says in

verse 12,

He entered

the most holy

place once

for all,

not by the

blood of

goats and

calves, but

by His own

blood, having

obtained eternal

redemption.

And so

Christ, by

His own

blood, obtained

in eternal,

that means

forever,

redemption,

being brought

out of

something,

being purchased

for something

else.

And we

have clarity

of what that

is a few

verses later

in verse

15.

Therefore,

He, Christ,

is the

mediator of

a new

covenant,

so that

those who

are called

might receive

the promise

of the

eternal

inheritance,

because a

death has

taken place

for redemption

from the

transgressions

committed under

the first

covenant.

you see,

Christ, by

His own

death, secured

for us, for

His people, a

promise, a

rest that is

still in front

of us, an

eternal redemption

that begins when

we put our faith

in Christ, but

the fullness of

the promise is

still in front

of us.

And so, just

as for Israel,

this land,

Jericho, was a

gift, and they

should never think

of it as anything

else but a gift

freely given by

God to a

people who did

not deserve it.

So, when we

think of the

promise that is

out in front of

us, we should

never come to

the point where

we think, you

know, it was

really, you

know, God

really knew what

He was doing

when He saved

me, because,

you know, He

really foresaw

that, you know, I

was going to be a

great Christian.

You know, God

is awfully smart.

No.

This was a

gift.

Don't forget

that.

And this whole

story is constructed

to remind Israel

forever and ever

and ever that they

didn't take

Jericho.

God did.

God gives gifts

and makes

promises.

Next, we see in

verses 3 through

14 that God is

present among His

people.

God is present

among His

people.

In verses 3

through 14, we

have a

explanation of

a continuing

explanation.

God speaking to

Joshua with

instructions.

And then Joshua

transferring those

instructions to the

people and then

they begin the

first six days of

following through

with those

instructions.

We've already read

that text.

You can look back

and see some of

these things that I

refer to.

But here are a

couple of key

ideas in these

verses.

Number one is the

ark.

Now, the ark is a

box that they would

carry around, but it

wasn't just a box.

You see, in the

Old Testament, there

were many very

profound realities,

very abstract sorts

of things that are

hard to understand,

and they were all

made very concrete,

very tangible,

things you could

touch and smell

and feel and look

at.

That's why there was

a sacrificial system

with blood, so that

you could see the

animals that you

were slaughtering, so

that you could feel,

so you could feel

the blood on

yourself, so that

you could see that

you were applying

blood to an altar

or to the ark.

And so, all of the

rituals in the Old

Testament are not

random.

They're like object

lessons that we give

to children as we

try to instruct them

about very complicated

concepts.

And so, in the Old

Testament, when you

see the ark, just

realize this is

supposed to be God.

Wherever the ark

is, that's where

God is.

In fact, that was

the whole symbolism

of it all, wasn't

it?

You have this

mercy seat on top,

which is actually a

throne.

It's a throne of

mercy.

You have the ark,

which is the object

inside the most

holy place, and so

once a year, that is

the object that has

to be atoned for, or

that's where you

atone for your sins

of the nation, is at

the ark, because

that's where God is.

And so, in this

story, as you see

all of these

references to the

ark, and there are

many, the picture

there seems to be

you have this ark

just going around

in circles around

the city.

And all these

references to the

priests, and the

only reason the

priests are important

is because they're

the ones who

handle the ark.

What's actually

quite mysterious is

that this entire

thing is a

religious ritual.

Priests?

The ark, which is

a religious object?

This is not

combat.

That?

This isn't a

military strategy.

This is some kind

of worship service.

This is some kind

of religious ritual,

which is really

confusing because

God is just

walking around

circles around the

city, and why?

Well, it's because

God is present

among his people,

and he wanted to

make that clear,

that he was there

in the midst of

his people.

There are other

references in this

passage.

In verse 27, at

the end, it says

God was with

Joshua.

We can even back

up to the end of

chapter 5 and see

that the commander

of the Lord's army

says, I have now

come, right?

Presence.

So throughout this

passage, there's this

continuing theme that

God is here, God is

present with us.

God is present among

his people.

And there's

application here as

well, isn't there?

Because God is

present with his

people now through

Jesus Christ.

Emmanuel?

God?

What?

With us.

We see this in

Matthew chapter 1,

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

in verses 22 and 23,

where it says this,

now all this took

place to fulfill what

was spoken by the

Lord through the

prophet.

See, the virgin will

become pregnant and

give birth to a son,

and they will name

him Emmanuel, which

is translated, God

is with us.

Just as, you know,

when you think about

this story, there are

other references in the

New Testament that make

this clear, but as you

think of this story and

you think of God present

among his people,

people marching

around the city,

sort of being

transported, carried

around the city by

these priests, I

think it's a helpful

picture for us to

keep in mind.

That that's where our

hope and confidence is,

that God really is

present among his

people.

We don't have to go

try to knock those

walls down by some

military strategy.

We simply need to

believe that God

really is here among

his people, among us,

through Jesus Christ,

and through the

spirit of Christ.

And I think that has

a special relevance

when we think about

what we call the

Great Commission,

right, in Matthew

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28, when

Jesus says, I will be

with you always to the

end of the age.

That's a reality that

we have to trust.

I don't know really

how to explain that

any better to you than

to just sort of give

you an example in my

own life this morning.

As I thought about,

and as I was praying,

you know, God, I want

your word to build up

your people.

I want your spirit to

be here and be at

work.

And, you know, I

don't want to, you

know, the worst thing a

preacher can imagine is

to just stand up there

and talk to himself

and nobody get it,

right, nobody be

changed, nobody grow,

nobody be fed by God's

word.

So I was praying as I

often do and just

asking God to,

to be here.

And then it dawned on

me, what am I

preaching about?

God is here.

God is present among

his people.

God will do the work.

And it was encouraging

for me, myself, in that

situation.

And I'm sure that there

are situations you

might encounter where

it would be helpful to

recall this event and

think of God marching

around the city with his

people and then

realize that God is

present with you.

Believe it by faith.

God is present among

his people.

As we continue on and

we see the results in

verses 15 through 27,

we see that God's holy

presence, because

remember he is present

and he is holy,

God's holy presence

results in two things,

in one of two things.

judgment or salvation.

After all, the people do

what they are instructed.

They perform this

religious ritual, this

consecration ritual, really

it is, which goes back to

the issue of holiness.

Right?

This city is being set

apart.

It's being made holy.

It's a way of

consecrating the entire

land.

That's why they had to

destroy it completely.

It was like a first

fruits sort of offering.

So they do all of

this and then the walls

come down, don't they?

The walls come down and

the people do what they

are instructed to do.

In verse 16 it says,

After the seventh time

the priests blew the

trumpets and Joshua said

to the people,

Shout, for the Lord has

given you the city.

But the city and

everything in it are set

apart to the Lord for

destruction.

Only Rahab the

prostitute and everyone

with her in the house

will live because she

hid the men we sent.

But keep yourselves from

the things set apart or

you will be set apart for

destruction.

If you take any of those

things, you will set

apart the camp of Israel

for destruction and bring

disaster on it.

For all the silver and

gold and the articles of

bronze and iron are

dedicated to the Lord and

must go into the Lord's

treasury.

God's holiness results in

judgment or salvation.

It's judgment for those who

even though they fear God

in some sense, ultimately

reject God and entrench

themselves behind walls,

refusing to believe and

instead choosing to remain

as they are.

And it's important to

understand that this is

not a story of ethnic

cleansing.

I've already mentioned that

this is not a story of

ethnic superiority.

It's also not a story of

ethnic cleansing.

It's not a story of some

sort of simple, just, you

know, people greedy for land

and coming and taking it.

Because this was judgment.

It wasn't just like God was

looking around and saying,

my people need a place to

live.

That looks convenient.

Let's go over there.

No, the people in Canaan

were under God's judgment.

This was not just an act of

conquest.

It was an act of judgment.

God in His holy presence as

He's marching around the city,

as the trumpets are

announcing His presence, as

the trumpets, as they often

do in Scripture, announce the

coming judgment of the Lord.

This was a proclamation of

judgment against Jericho.

They hid behind their walls.

They had nowhere else to go,

but they had these big walls to

hide behind.

And perhaps they thought they

were safe.

We know that they were fearful

because Rahab tells the spies as

much.

They were afraid.

They understood that they were

not dealing with something that

they could handle.

But it didn't lead them to seek

salvation.

It didn't lead them to seek some

sort of treaty.

It didn't lead them as it led

Rahab to proclaim, this is the

true God.

I want to join you.

No, they didn't seek escape.

They just doubled down and tried

to hide inside their fortress, even

though they were scared.

Sometimes we can fall into the

same trap.

It's easy to fear God.

It's easy to be afraid of God.

And yet never repent.

Yet never seek that salvation.

Never seek that rescue because

we would rather just keep building

up walls and sort of try to be

safe from the judgment of God,

even though the trumpets are

sounding and the judgment is

coming and we hear it, we hear it,

it's happening every day.

We hear this proclamation, but we

don't want to believe it.

And so God's holiness becomes

judgment for us.

Now it's important to note that

this same principle would apply to

other nations later in history as

they would judge Israel.

I'm going to give you a few texts

you can read later.

I don't have time to go into them,

but Jeremiah chapter 4 and verses

Jeremiah 4 · chapter mention

5 through 8.

Jeremiah chapter 4 verses 16 through

Jeremiah 4:16–21

21.

Leviticus 18, 24 through 28.

If you're taking notes, look up

those passages.

Those are passages that make this

point clear.

But I will read one verse, and that

is Isaiah chapter 1 verse 7.

Isaiah 1:7

Isaiah is speaking to the nation as

they are running away from God.

This is much later in history.

They are now, they possess the land,

but they are running away from God.

And it says this,

Your land is desolate.

Your cities burned with fire.

Foreigners devour your fields

before your very eyes.

A desolation demolished by foreigners.

The exact same judgment would later

come upon Israel.

That's how we know this has nothing

to do with ethnicity.

This has nothing to do with ethnic

cleansing or just sort of,

some sort of conquest for land.

This has to do with God and His people

in holiness.

And I think that this story was

included in the history here in Joshua

precisely to teach and encourage

God's people that, you know what?

God gave us this land.

God made this land holy.

And the same thing can happen to us

if we reject the covenant.

If we reject God.

What prevents the same thing

from happening to us?

But it's not just a proclamation of judgment,

but it's also salvation, isn't it?

Because there is somebody here

in this story who is saved,

which reminds us that salvation is possible.

Even as God encircles us

proclaiming His judgment,

salvation is possible.

It's possible for those outside.

It's possible for the outsiders,

which in fact,

all of us were at one time,

outside the people of God.

And so we see the example of Rahab,

who according to Hebrews 11,

by faith Rahab was saved.

This was the issue.

Rahab saw all the same things

that the rest of her people saw.

But she had faith.

And so when the spies came,

she basically turned against her own people

and said,

I'm with you.

Your God is my God.

Your people are my people.

And it's interesting,

Rahab broke with a couple of specific things.

She broke with her people

and she broke with her past.

Right?

She's a prostitute.

And I know that there are so many people

here in Carraghline

and Ireland

and across the world.

And if only we had the chance

to sit down with him and say,

you know,

there was somebody in Scripture

who made that break

with her own people

and her own past

and by faith

was saved out of judgment.

You know,

everybody else in this city

is destroyed

except for Rahab and her family.

Salvation,

it's rescue.

And of course,

we understand

now in the New Testament

that all of this

is pictured in the cross,

isn't it?

The judgment

and salvation

in the presence

of a holy God

which presents for us

I think a very clear application.

Is God's holiness

judgment for you

or is it salvation?

Are you entrenched

like a fortified city?

Or do you seek mercy

as Rahab did?

Have you come to Christ

with empty hands

saying,

I'm leaving

my fortification behind

because I want to be rescued.

I don't want to be destroyed.

I want to be numbered

among Christ's people.

The road to life is narrow.

The road to destruction

is broad.

Don't let the crowd

on the broad road

keep you from putting

all,

all,

all of your hope

in Jesus Christ.

Let Rahab

be your example.

And I think

in closing

I would just

want to summarize

a couple of things.

Number one,

what I've tried to say today

is that

Jesus Christ

in this context

it is God

but we now understand

specifically this

we can put this

in the context

of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ

is a divine warrior

who by His

holy presence

secures

God's promises

for His people

judges His enemies

and saves

those who have faith.

Trust the promises

heed the warning

and trust

in Jesus Christ.

and I especially

want to apply that

now

to all of you

as a church

as a body

as you hear this word

from the Lord together.

Believe that God

is present among you.

His promises

are true.

He is at work

in the world.

He is bringing

the nations

to faith in Christ

through the power

of the gospel.

Believe.

Believe in the power

of the gospel.

Don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid

as a church

to step out

in faith

and to do

what you feel

like you need

to do

for the sake

of the gospel

because God

is with you.

Do not be afraid.

Don't let fear

control you

when you look around

and realize

you are outnumbered

and the task

of taking the gospel

to this city

feels so momentous

and there are

so many fortifications

there are so many

barriers

but God is with you.

Jesus Christ

is with you

and his gospel

is advancing.

It will advance

here in Karagline

through you

his people.

It will advance

to the ends

of the earth

through you

his people.

Believe.

Trust.

By faith

that God

is present

with you.

Trust the promises.

Heed the warning

and trust

in Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father

this is a story

of your great power

and of the battles

you fight

for your people.

But Father

this is also

a story

as Hebrews

reminds us

of faith.

It is a story

of the faith

of your people.

Father

I pray today

that you might

give birth

to faith

in hearts

in this very room.

That they would

see their sin

and be repulsed

by it.

That they would

see the coming

judgment on their

sin

but that at the

same time

they would see

a Savior

who beckons them

and says

come

come out

from the city

of destruction

and find life.

Lord I pray

for your people

here today

that you would

give us faith

believing your

presence

believing your

promise

and marching

forward

marching forward

for the cause

of the gospel

for the cause

of your kingdom.

A mighty army

not engaged

in military battle

but a mighty army

marching with

the presence

of God