FAITH TO FOLLOW GOD

Pastor Jerry Rockwell

 

FAITH TO FOLLOW GOD

 

Joshua 6:17-27

Introduction: What do you know about faith? Sometimes that is an elusive matter. We have all used the illustration of watching an airplane take off and land and believe in the laws of aerodynamics. Yet it is one thing to believe an airplane can fly and yet another to get into the plane and place your confidence in the plane to do what you have believed. That is called faith, when one commits something, they don’t understand or comprehend fully.

This is the story we find here in Joshua. There are two groups of people who exercise faith. One is the people of Israel. They have been told that God was going to give them Jericho, but the procedure proscribed by Joshua is a little unusual in warfare in which many of the fighting men were accustomed to. It is a little like the early battles between the British who had colonialized America and were fighting the Indians. They had been used to a certain style of warfare in Europe where two opposing armies would mass their troops and attack each other openly. The Indians had not been trained in British/European warfare and knew nothing about the rules of battle used by these invaders of their land. They would hide behind trees and rocks and cause havoc with the British soldiers. This was very frustrating to the British until they altered their tactics and began to fight the Indians in a different way.

The Israelites found in a similar fashion that the methods of Joshua (given to him by God) were a little unconventional. They were being asked to expose themselves to the enemy in a way that they were unfamiliar with. Marching around a city for six days and then seven times on the seventh day was not in their SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). This brought them to the point of faith in trusting the leader God had appointed to give them the victory. It so happens his name is the OT version of the NT Jesus. 

The other group of people who had to exercise faith was the family of Rahab. The two spies had promised her that when they came to take the city of Jericho that her house would be a place of safety. If any of her family expected to be safe from the destruction and death that would come upon the city they had to be in the house of Rahab which was on the city wall (Josh. 2:15). They had to have the faith of Rahab that this God of the Israelites would carry out the promise, and the men could be trusted as well. You can imagine the internal panic they experienced when they began to see the walls of Jericho begin to crumble around them. The temptation to flee the place of safety where they were was probably very great. Yet much to their dismay and amazement Rahab and her family were in the only safe place on the wall. 

We need to have a few faith lessons. Hebrews 6:12 (KJV) That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.; Hebrews 11:30-31 (KJV) 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. The people exercised faith when Joshua told them to “shout” and the walls came down. The two verses in Hebrews 11:30-31 verify the action of the seven days and Rahab and her family. All of these trusted what they were told. What or who do you trust today? Do you have confidence in God and commitment to Him that He is able and willing to carry out what He promised? This passage is about trusting in God and depending on Him to do the impossible and the improbable. Take note of Joshua 6:9. The people were instructed in this verse to “the rereward [the rest of the people] came after the ark.” The focus of the people was to be on the “ark of the Lord” One writer makes a significant statement that should be taken note of about the “ark of the Covenant.” He said, 

“Notice that the central feature of the procession was the Ark of the Covenant─it is mentioned eleven times in this chapter [Josh. 6]. This was the symbol of Israel’s faith. They were able to walk around the city in silence because, even though they did not know what God was doing, God was with them. The Ark had brought them through Jordan; it had been the symbol of their past experiences of the power of God. If you read the chapter [6] you will find that the eleventh verse tell [sic] us that ‘the ark of the Lord [sic] encompassed the city.’ In answer to that shout, in response to the blowing of the trumpet, the walls collapsed, in response to the blowing of the trumpet, the walls collapsed, and the people marched through victorious.” Yes, God walked around Jericho with the Israelites thirteen times before the word was spoken by their commander. ‘Shout,’ said Joshua, “for the Lord [sic] hath given you the city. 

Then in Joshua 6:10-11 the “ark” gave leadership to the people. Sometimes we just don’t think God is capable to do what He said He would. Let’s examine this passage and learn some lessons on faith that will help us keep our dependence on God on track. It is important for the New Testament believer to believe God’s instruction located in the Bible.

We want to look at four things in this passage: 1) The condemned; 2) The consecrated; 3) The confidence; and 4) The commitment.

  1. The Cursed. Here we find the things cursed pointed out by God. There are two things here that are accursed.
  1. The city of Jericho, Josh. 6:17, 26. Jericho, along with the city of Babylon are the only two cities in the Bible which are considered accursed or cursed. Not even San Francisco, California fits into this category, nor did Sodom, only Babylon and Jericho. Also, note that in Joshua 6:26 that Joshua issues a “curse” on the city for the future when he said, “Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.” This was fulfilled completely and precisely 426 years later as described in 1 Kings 16:34 (KJV) In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun. One of the things which verify the truth of scripture is the fulfillment of prophecy.  
  2. The accursed thing, Josh. 6:18-19. Have you ever considered what was cursed by God? Here we find that some things were “accursed.” The word used can have the idea of “condemned” or “consecrated.” I believe both meanings are found here. The city was condemned along with its occupants and its property. To the Israelite, it was not theirs to take for themselves. It was condemned for the people’s use but consecrated for God’s use. We find the Lord Jesus Christ is seen in type here. He was cursed but consecrated. The Bible says, “Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree” (Gal. 3:13). Jesus was “cursed” for our sakes, but He was also “consecrated” to God for God’s use. That use was for our redemption. We have seen the “condemned” now let’s look at the consecrated.
  1. The Consecrated, Joshua 6:19. We find here also another aspect of the consecrated thing (which is accursed to the believer) and that is the “firstfruits.” God said to the Israelites, “But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD” (Josh. 6:19). This was something they should have known because of God set a standard of the “firstfurits” in Exodus 23:19 (KJV) The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. . . There is also a passage in Malachi 3:10 which gives instruction to this matter. If you read the context, you find an interesting concept about what is dedicated to God. It says in Malachi 3:6-10 (KJV) 6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. tithe

We need to understand that the first things we possess belong to God or else they fall into the category of the “accursed.” This means the first things of our life belong to God. Exodus 13:2 (KJV) Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. We need to realize that the first things belong to God. Do you know what is to be first in our life? Matthew 6:33 (KJV) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. When we put God first and all that we have then God will add to us the things that we could not imagine. Here is an interesting thought. We will look at this next week, but the “accursed” thing here is defined in Joshua 7:1, 20-21. When God told the children of Israel He would give them a land, it was to be flowing with “milk and honey” not “gold and silver.” We have a distorted concept about what is an indication of the blessing of God. We are like the Jew who thinks that because some has been made wealthy then it must be because God blessed them. This is not found in the scripture. Milk and honey are both types of the word of God according to Psalms 119:103 (KJV) How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 1 Peter 2:2 (KJV) As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. We have a false view of what God wants to do in our life. We think if we can win the lottery everything will be okay. Or get Morgan & Morgan to win a law suite for us and set us up for life. We have looked at the condemned, the consecrated, now lets look at the confidence.

  1. The Confidence. This confidence was in God, Joshua 6:20-21. We have alluded to this in the introduction about the methods of warfare the people of God were asked to employ. What God was wanting to teach them was that the battles of the people of God are not done in a conventional way. We can remember Ephesians 6:12 (KJV) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. This demands a confidence in God that the world knows nothing about. It has been my experience in the time I have been exposed to a drug rehabilitation program that most people who have an addiction are hesitant to trust God. They have prayed to God to take it away from them and nothing has happened. Do you know why? Because it is not a one-way street with God. He wants a person to take steps into the realm of faith. You see faith is not only “resting upon God’s promises” but also “complying with his precepts.” (A.W. Pink, Joshua, page 169.) Pink says, “It is far too little to recognized that conforming to God’s revealed will is also required of faith. Faith always has to do with God: He is its Object and His Word is its Rule and Regulator. It was by faith that Noah and his family were delivered from the flood, yet it was because he took to heart the warning God gave him, and being moved with fear complied with His directions and ‘prepared an ark to the saving of his house’ (Heb. xi.7). . .The man after God’s own heart did something more than .” We have looked at the condemned, the consecrated and the confidence. Now let’s look at the commitment.
  2. The Commitment. This was Rahab and her family’s commitment to God found in Joshua 6:22-25. The family of Rahab (as well as Rahab) trusted that the two spies could be trusted because God could be trusted. They committed themselves to the word of a couple of foreign spies who came from a nation that was seen as an enemy by the people of Jericho. I want you to note a couple of things about these people who trusted the spies and God. 
  1. In Joshua 6:23 we are told the family of Rahab was “without the camp of Israel.” This is significant since we are told in Hebrews 13:11-12 (KJV) 11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Redemption begins “without” the camp and that is where Rahab and her family began. Jesus was crucified outside the camp (Jerusalem) Hebrews 13:13 (KJV) Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 
  2. In Joshua 6:25 we are told that Joshua “saved Rahab… her father’s household, and all that she had: and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day…” Hebrews 11:31 (KJV) By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. 

 

 

Conclusion: What kind of faith do you have? Does your faith believe God and act upon what He has said? Unless we act on the precepts of God and follow Him, our faith is vain. Paul said that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6 (KJV) But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.) James 2:18 (KJV) Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. [Emphasis added.] Practical faith not only believes but also behaves. Our behavior must demonstrate we know and trust God.