September 21, 2025 • 38 mins
We explore the powerful story of Jericho's fall in Joshua 6, uncovering surprising insights about faith, silence, and God's redemptive work that often get overlooked in this familiar biblical narrative.
• Understanding Jericho's true scale – a city of only 6-7 acres that would take about 15 minutes to walk around
• God's approach to victory involves both His sovereignty (100%) and our obedience (100%)
• The unusual "parade" formation before battle demonstrates worshipping before seeing results
• Silence as the unsung hero of the story – Joshua commands complete silence for seven days
• The psychological warfare of trumpets blowing each morning like an alarm that couldn't be silenced
• Rahab's story as a model of God's mercy – one section of wall left standing amid total destruction
• The walls we build to protect ourselves often become the prisons that hold us captive
• God always preserves a pathway to redemption for those who trust Him
Don't leave with walls built around you. Let them fall today, even now. Go and talk to the Lord before we stand and worship one who deserves so much more than our silence, even though we'll give him both.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Will Hawk (00:04):
All right, guys, if you would go ahead and grab a
seat.
If I can get Audra to come onup to read our passage, that
would be great, as Audra'scoming up.
We'll be in Joshua, chapter six.
Just want to let you guys knowwe do have a baptism class
following church today and wehave lunch and things like that
(00:25):
provided.
So, even if you haven't plannedfor it, but that is something
that you feel the Holy Spiritmay be pushing you toward, we
would love for you to show up.
That'll be in the room rightoutside the sanctuary, off to
the right, and, Audra, I'll handit off to you.
Audra Beaudoin (00:39):
Good morning, midtree.
This morning I will be readingfrom the book of Joshua, chapter
6, verses 15 through 21.
If you have a pew Bible it'llbe on page 181.
Please follow along as I readGod's Word.
(00:59):
On the seventh day they roseearly at the dawn of day and
marched around the city in themanor seven times.
It was only on that day thatthey marched around the city
seven times, and at the seventhtime, when the priest had blown
the trumpets, joshua said to thepeople Shout, the Lord has
(01:23):
given you the city and the cityand all that is within it be
devoted to the Lord fordestruction.
Only Rahab the prostitute andall who are with her in her
house shall live, because shehid the things devoted to
destruction lest, when you havedevoted them, you take any of
(01:48):
the devoted things and make thecamp of Israel a thing of
destruction and bring troubleupon it.
But all silver and gold andevery vessel of bronze and iron
are holy to the Lord.
They shall go into the treasuryof the Lord.
So the people shouted and thetrumpets were blown.
(02:08):
As soon as the people heard thesound of the trumpet, the
people shouted a great shout andthe wall fell down flat so that
the people went up into thecity, every man straight before
him, and they captured the city.
Then they devoted all in thecity to destruction, both men
(02:28):
and women, young and old, oxen,sheep and donkeys, with the edge
of the sword.
This is the word of the Lord.
Will Hawk (02:37):
Amen.
Out of curiosity, I think thefalling of the walls of Jericho
is probably one of the mostwell-known stories in all of
scripture.
So let me just ask a question.
You don't have to like vote,you don't have to.
It'd be cool if you raised yourhand.
I would enjoy that.
(02:57):
Do any of you guys rememberacting out walking around the
walls of Jericho in kids' churchgrowing up?
Okay, all right, wait, wait.
Okay, this is so great, this isso great.
All right, you gave me one ofthese.
I now want one of these becausethe sheer volume of hands.
Okay, so raise your hand.
If that was you.
How weird are Christians?
(03:18):
Okay, like, did you not readverse 21?
Even the donkeys don't make itout of this thing.
And we've got our littleeight-year-olds just do-do-do,
do-do-do and the destruction ofthe Lord comes in on Jericho.
I knew that this was going to bea well-known story, and so I
thought I would start with alittle bit of a question.
(03:38):
I'm not going to put anythingup on the screen, there's not
going to be a poll or anythingalong those lines.
I just want you to answer nextto the person who is sitting
next to you.
And here is my question howlong do you think it took to
walk around, to march around thecity of Jericho?
(03:59):
All right, now I'll give youone hint.
In the event that you didn'tgrow up in the church and you're
like well, I feel pretty out ofplace right now.
I'm gonna help you out.
They walk around at one timefor six days and then, on the
seventh day, they walk around atseven times.
So, whatever your answer isneeds to be 24 divided by seven,
and no greater, because theypulled this off seven times in a
(04:20):
one day span.
So compete with the personsitting next to you.
How long do you think it wouldtake to march around Jericho?
I'll give you 10 seconds tofigure it out.
No googling or chatting orwhatever.
It may be.
All right.
(04:51):
By the way, this shouldn't be along discussion, right?
I mean, like, are you gettinginto it right now?
Well now, if you march at athree mile an hour pace, which
is the average walking, allright, this is a picture of what
Jericho would have looked likeaverage walking, all right, this
is a picture of what Jerichowould have looked like.
Just so you know before we diveinto the story, jericho was not
just the first city that Israelwas going to meet in their
(05:11):
conquest.
It was, in many ways, thegreatest.
We think of it as having onewall.
It actually had two.
There was an inner wall and anouter wall.
Both of them would have beenabout six feet thick.
The outer wall would have beenabout 40 feet tall, the inner
wall about 20.
To us, that doesn't soundimpressive.
We have elevators in their dayand age, no cars or anything
(05:32):
along those lines.
This is a very insurmountabletask.
Additionally, jericho was lowwhen it came to elevation, and
so streams flowed into it,making siege very, very
difficult.
This area to walk around coversabout six to seven acres.
I deleted the scale, but now Iwill give you the scale.
(05:53):
In all likelihood, it wouldtake you approximately 15
minutes to walk around.
Yeah, you guys were like ninehours.
It was a miracle he held thisline.
It takes about 15 minutes.
We think, because of the movieswe watch on the History Channel,
that these cities are sprawlingand wide.
(06:14):
The reason I point this out toyou is because, when these walls
come down, something reallycool and beautiful happens, but
you're going to miss it if youcan't picture it.
So I want you to be able to.
This would be a more true tolife perspective.
You can see some homes, you cansee some roads.
To help you get some realsatellite image scale of what
(06:38):
Jericho would have looked like.
What you need to imagine isthis what you need to imagine is
plains, or almost hills, comingdown into plains and then a
city, almost like a spire,shooting up 40 feet.
It would have looked almostlike.
If you look at the Aflacbuilding I know that it's much
(06:58):
taller, but it's just likeColumbus, columbus, columbus,
aflac, columbus, columbus,columbus.
It would have been like that.
It would have been likewilderness, wilderness,
wilderness, jericho, wilderness.
That's what it would havepanned out.
And it would have looked like.
Now, keep in mind, if youweren't here last week, god's
people were ready, he had doneincredible things.
They are eager, they areexcited, but God makes them, for
(07:19):
one week, slow down and wait.
They have to consecratethemselves, they have to get
holy, they have to pursue him.
They don't just rush headlonginto battle.
And the story, the chapterbefore, ends with Joshua walking
up to a guy who has a sworddrawn and Joshua's like you with
us or you against us?
And the commander of God's armysays nah, I'm not with you, I'm
(07:40):
not for you.
I'm not here to take sides, I'mhere to take over.
And, son, I'm going to take itfrom here.
And this is the story of howGod took it from here.
Now, jericho was shut up insideand outside because of the
people of Israel.
None went out and none came in.
And the Lord said to Joshua see, I have given Jericho into your
(08:05):
hand, with its king, its mightymen of valor, this massive city
.
I'm handing it to you, I'mdelivering it to you.
Don't miss this, because I'mgoing to come back to it.
God begins by saying here'swhat I have done.
The trophy is already on themantle.
I've already told you to stackstone since we walked through
the river.
Victory is guaranteed.
(08:26):
I have done this, god says.
And the text moves on and hesays you shall, I have you shall
.
This is something thatChristians struggle with.
We struggle with the percentageof our involvement in the
things that God is doing.
The more reformed leaning youare, the more God does
(08:47):
everything and you just muddlearound in the mud and there is
nothing useful of you and hejust kind of drags you through
it.
The more Arminian you are, themore it's really up to you and
God's like all right, you're onmy team.
Good, really needed a Joshuatie.
The reality of it is God iswholly sovereign and he is
wholly expectant of obediencefrom his people.
They are both operating at 100%.
(09:10):
The expectation is that God is100% in charge and that he
expects 100% obedience and faith, and this is what it looked
like for them.
By the way, your obedience andfaith is going to look a little
different, but just as God givesus clarity through his word to
us, he gave it to them as well.
(09:32):
My people, this is whatobedience is going to look like
For me.
You shall march around the city,all the men of war going around
the city once.
Thus shall you do for six days.
Seven priests shall bear seventrumpets of ram's horns before
the ark.
On the seventh day, you shallmarch around the city seven
times and the priest shall blowthe trumpets.
(09:53):
And when they make a long blastwith the ram's horn, when you
hear the sound of the trumpet,then all the people shall shout
with a great shout and the wallof the city will fall down flat
and the people shall go up,everyone straight before him.
He's saying you're going to gostraight in, there's going to be
no hurdles.
There's going to be nohindrances, there's going to be
(10:13):
no loss.
But I want you to notice thisword shout.
When they make a long blast,you will shout.
One of the cool realities ofthis word and the way that it's
used in scripture is that itcomes from a Hebrew word.
That means two different waysof shouting.
Now, some of you were shoutingyesterday.
Some of you were shouting at atelevision that could neither
(10:36):
hear you nor refs that careabout your existence, but you
shouted nonetheless, as did I,and there are a number of
different shouts.
There are shouts of frustrationand there are shouts of joy.
Here, the two shouts that wesee pointed to are a shout of a
war cry.
This is we are beginning thebattle.
(10:56):
We are giving you everythingwe've got.
We wanna strike terror intoyour hearts, so you will hear us
roar before we come.
That is one part of this shout,but this same word also means
victory.
Now, why do I take the time topoint this out?
All of you know what shoutingis Will.
Is this really the deep Hebrewthat we need to be doing this
(11:19):
morning?
Yes, and I'll tell you why,because what's tucked into this
are two great realities.
God is saying I want you toshout because there is a war
coming and I want you to shoutbecause there is joy and victory
guaranteed.
Both of these things live sideby side 100% you going in as the
warrior that I'm calling you tobe and 100% you yelling that
(11:44):
victory.
Is already certain Unbelieversin the room what you are going
to see in this text and, by theway, this is just how the Holy
Spirit puts things together.
This story and this story haveincredible parallels.
Now, unbelievers, if you arewaiting, and waiting, and
(12:09):
waiting, I would encourage youto listen to the story of a
sister who thought that shecould build walls that lasted 13
years, as though they wouldprotect her.
They did not.
They became the weight of herfall and, by the grace of God,
he held her up.
Christians, if you believe thatvictory is only something you
(12:32):
will find and not something youhave found, you are missing out
on one of the great realities oftrusting in Christ, and I would
have you not miss both of thesethings.
In this text I have you shall.
We get to see their heartfeltobedience and, as a result, we
get to see God bless thembecause of their heartfelt
(12:54):
obedience.
This is called divine humaninstrumentality, the fact that
the divine, who is in charge ofall things, condescends to using
broken people like us.
And when he does, he isinviting us to be a part of the
guaranteed victory that he hassecured.
(13:16):
They are to do what they aretold to do march around some
walls, and God is going to dowhat he says he will do.
Additionally, no one is leftout.
So Joshua, the son of Nun,called the priests and he said
to them take up the Ark of theCovenant this was the box that
(13:39):
was symbolizing the presence ofGod and let seven priests bear
seven trumpets of ram's hornsbefore the Ark of the Lord.
And he said to the people goforward.
Everybody has a part to play Inthis particular service.
Kelsey had a unique part toplay compared to last week and
next week most likely.
(13:59):
Do you realize I don't know ify'all understand this Do you
realize you have a part to playon Sunday morning?
Some of you are coming in forthe first time and you're like
time out.
I'm not serving in a kid's room, I don't even know these kids.
I'm not down for snot and I'mnot down for diapers.
I don't know what you'retalking about.
By the way, we could use thehelp Fall more people coming to
church.
All of you have like a hundredkids Thanks Cape Hearts and as a
(14:21):
result of that, every fallwe're like scrambling and
scratching.
That's one way you could serve,but that's not my point in this
.
My point in this is priestswere a part of this.
Hardened soldiers were a partof this.
There's a fair chance thatbutchers were a part of this,
(14:43):
that people who would never haveconsidered themselves part of
an army were a part of this.
No one is left out.
Everyone has a part to play.
But there is an unusual realityto this very common story, and I
don't know if you've everthought about it.
What is it that they are doingwhen they march around the city
and let armed men pass on beforethe ark of the Lord?
If you were to see this, I'mgoing to ask for somebody to
(15:06):
give me an answer.
If you don't, that's okay.
What would we usually call this?
We wouldn't usually call itmarching.
If a group of people get in aline and they're walking in a
circuit and they're blowingtrumpets, what would we call
that today?
We call it a parade, all right,what'd you say, shane?
Protesting, different, similar,similar.
(15:31):
We would probably call it aparade.
Because they're happy.
They're happy, shane.
It shouts of victory.
We would call this a parade.
We would have floats andballoons and children with
cotton candy and all kinds offun things.
Don't miss out on this unusualreality of a very well-known
(15:52):
story.
They are marching around a citythat is filled with people who
are scared of them and hate them.
They are marching around a citywith 40-foot high walls, with
archers atop them and spearmenatop them.
They are having a parade beforethe battle.
They're having a parade beforethe championship game.
(16:14):
Do you realize how insane thissounds?
Pick your sports team and theninvite them to have the
championship celebration,walking through the streets of
the city before the season haseven begun, and everybody will
tell them impressed with yourconfidence.
But that makes no sensewhatsoever and no one is going
(16:35):
to show up.
That's what they do.
Author Robert Smith says thisparade formation suggests that
God wants us to worship beforehe does the work.
Just going to pause there.
This is suggesting that Godwants us to worship before he
(16:58):
does the work.
Trumpets were blowing andpeople were shouting even before
the walls fell, which thenbrings us to this question
before the walls fell.
Which then brings us to thisquestion Do you wait to worship
until God has given you whatyou're looking for?
Don't get me wrong.
It's normal.
(17:18):
It's just not faith.
It is normal for us to pray andthen praise God once we have
received the thing that we haveasked for, then praise God once
we have received the thing thatwe have asked for.
Pray that something would beremoved and then praise God once
it has.
That is normal, but it isn'tfaith.
Are you withholding worshipuntil God does the work?
(17:42):
Christian, you were never calledto be normal.
You were called to be faithful.
You were called to sing throughtears and celebrate through
brokenness.
You were called to have youreyes, your head, your hope and
your affection so far in frontof you that the things of this
world, the things of this day,the things of your marriage, the
things of this family, thethings of your body, the things
(18:03):
that make you angry, frustratedand disappointed in this life,
can't even shake you because ofthe sureness that the shout of
victory is going to come overyour life.
They walk around for seven daysproclaiming victory, under the
shadow of tall walls, holdingevil people, holding devices
(18:25):
built for their own destruction.
Why?
Because faith is assurance ofthings that we hope for.
It is conviction of the thingsthat we do not see.
And because God's people hadthis, they make the book by
faith.
The walls of Jericho fell downafter they had been encircled
(18:45):
for seven days by faith.
God showed up.
They did what he asked them todo by faith.
Rahab the prostitute did notperish With those who were
disobedient.
She did what God had asked herto do.
She honored him.
Robert finishes his quote bysaying Anyone can shout after
(19:07):
the walls fall, but can we shoutbefore they fall, knowing that
they will fall, because God saidthat they would Believer?
Can I just mention a couple ofwalls that are guaranteed to
fall in your life?
Shame is guaranteed to fall inyour life.
You have been justified inChrist, which means all of the
(19:28):
shame and all of the guilt thatcaused you to build 13 years of
40 foot high walls, thinkingthat you are protecting
yourselves by not sharing thestory of your own brokenness
amidst a people who aredefinitely broken, worshiping a
God whose mercy is endless.
This is a wall that isguaranteed to fall If you are
trusting in Christ.
His word tells us that hisspirit dwells within us, which
(19:51):
means the believer that you are10 years from now is gonna be so
much greater than the believeryou are today.
The things you are strugglingwith today are not a guarantee
to be a thing that you arestruggling with tomorrow.
Are you hopeless?
Do you have despair?
Expect that wall to fall.
Your sickness, your brokenness,your anger, your despair.
Expect that wall to fall.
Your sickness, your brokenness,your anger, your frustration,
(20:15):
your disappointment.
Do you know, believer, thatit's going to fall?
When a friend of mine passedaway in his 40s, I've shared
this story with you His familythat had been praying for his
healing, that had prayerrequests on one side of the
fridge and answered prayers onthe other.
They took a request that saiddaddy gets better and after his
death they moved it to the otherside.
Why?
Because the wall was guaranteedto fall as he has a new body
(20:35):
and walks in newness of life.
But here is the question whatlap are you on?
Are you on lap one around thecity?
Are you on lap one around thisworld?
Are you on lap one around thisreality in your own life?
Do you have faith for six morewalks around?
It may take a minute.
13 times they walk around thiscity faithfully before God ever
(21:02):
does anything.
Kelsey, I want you to know howmuch I appreciate you sharing
your story.
I really appreciate the number13 coming up.
13 years of waiting as God'speople walk, 13 times wondering
is he good enough, strong enoughand faithful enough?
And what happens?
Well, just as Joshua hadcommanded the people, the seven
(21:23):
priests bearing the seventrumpets before the Lord went
forward blowing the trumpets forthe ark of the covenant of the
Lord.
Following them, the armed menwere walking before the priests
who were blowing the trumpetsand the rear guard was walking
after the ark while the trumpetsblew you ready Continually.
God's people were so annoyingto the people who lived in
(21:46):
Jericho.
But before that happened, Idon't want many of you who have
heard this story to miss what Ithink is the unsung hero of this
story.
I've never heard anybody talkabout it and it is by far my
favorite reality of this text.
I'd never seen it and Iprobably preached on this a
number of times.
(22:07):
Joshua commanded the peoplenotice the quotes here.
He's speaking.
We have his actual words.
You shall not shout or makeyour voice heard.
Neither shall any word go outof your mouth until the day I
tell you to shout, then youshall shout.
So he caused the ark of theLord to circle the city, going
about at once, and they cameinto the camp and spent the
(22:28):
night in the camp.
I'm going to take this verse andI just want to show you verse
10, but I'm going to break itout because I want you to see
something that I had not seen.
We talk about noise and wethink about them marching.
We think about the hornsblowing and we think about them
shouting.
We think about the walls comingdown, but do you think about
the seven days of silence before?
Look at how many times Joshuatells them be quiet, don't speak
(22:55):
.
Do you know how eerie it musthave been to live in that city?
Do you know how odd it musthave been?
They've fought battles before,but they've never fought an army
called Israel, which means Godfights for them.
They fought battles before, butnot against a nation for whom
(23:19):
which God ripped a river openthat they could walk right
through.
And Joshua looks and he saysnot once, not twice, but three
times.
And what is fascinating aboutthis is no one speaks in the
text for seven days.
(23:41):
Now, I slid over here because Ican't actually prove this for
sure.
It's not explicit in the text,but what you're going to see is,
when they wake up early in themorning to sound this abundantly
annoying alarm, joshua doesn'tspeak to them to tell them what
to do, they just do it, whichmeans they may not have just
(24:05):
been silent when they weremarching around the city.
It may have been a nationcommitted to silence for one
entire week.
Silence as they walk, entireweek.
Silence as they walk.
Silence as they eat.
Silence as they get ready tosleep, silence as they care for
(24:26):
their children.
Silence is the unsung hero ofthis well-known story.
And I wonder, christian, Iwonder American, if you
appreciate silence?
I looked at Bruner.
I actually walked up to you assoon as you did the call to
(24:47):
worship and I was like hey man,good text.
He didn't know it was in it, Ididn't know he was going to say
it.
The Lord, your God, is in yourmidst.
This is how he began worshiping.
He is in our midst, a mightyone who will save.
He will rejoice over you withgladness and he'll quiet you by
his love and he will exalt overyou with loud singing.
(25:11):
Silence does not mean absencewhen it comes to pursuing the
Lord.
But are you comfortable with it?
For God alone, my soul waits insilence.
From him comes my salvation.
What salvation are you needingin your life right now?
For some of you, it may besalvation from your sin.
It might be.
I need God to forgive me.
(25:31):
For some of you, it's salvationin a difficult relationship,
salvation at work.
Are you trying to fix it?
Are you making lots of plans orare you sitting in silence when
words are many?
Transgression is not lacking,but whoever restrains his lips
is prudent.
This one's my favorite.
Better is a handful ofquietness than two hands full of
(25:58):
toil.
Quietness than two hands fullof toil.
Being silent in half a measurewill outwork two measures of
your hard work if you are beingsilent before the Lord.
Then Joshua rose early in themorning and the priests took up
the ark of the Lord.
Notice no quotes here.
This is day one and he doesn'tsay a thing to them.
(26:19):
He just wakes up early in themorning and the priests are
awake as well.
They know exactly what they'resupposed to do.
No alarm clocks back then, andthe seven priests bearing the
seven trumpets of the ram'shorns before the ark of the Lord
.
They walked on and they blewthe trumpets continually and the
(26:39):
armed men were walking beforethem and the rear guard was
walking after the ark of theLord While the trumpets blew
what does the Bible want you torealize?
Continually.
And the second day they marchedaround the city once and
returned to the camp, and thisthey did for six days.
Do you know what this issupposed to feel like?
I'll tell you.
Set a seven second timer.
(27:02):
The worst sound in all of theworld, in my opinion, is the
sound of an alarm going off whenyou wake up in the morning.
This one how many of you hatethis right now?
Yeah, yeah.
How many of you hate this rightnow?
Yeah, yeah.
This is what Jericho dealt within an alarm.
(27:27):
They could not snooze for atleast 15 minutes early every
single morning, and then silence.
I want to take you there.
I want to take you there on dayone, when Jericho wakes up and
kids start crying because andyou got seven dudes, so when one
(27:52):
of them takes a breath, you gotsix other guys who were sending
it and for at least 15 minutes,the guys who were sending it,
and for at least 15 minutes,probably more like half an hour
this alarm just keeps ringingand they can't find their phone
and the snooze button is brokenand they can't turn the thing
off.
And then finally, let's justsay, after half an hour it goes
(28:13):
silent and their heart rate inJericho drops.
And they look at each other andthey say in Jericho drops.
And they look at each other andthey say what was that?
What is going on?
They just blew horns for 30minutes and didn't say a word
and now they walked back homeand it's silent again.
Day two comes exact same thing.
They get woken up in themorning.
(28:34):
Day three, day four, day five,day six an alarm that they
cannot turn off.
But on day seven somethingchanges.
On the seventh day, god'speople rose early at the dawn of
the day and they marched aroundthe city in the same manner,
(28:54):
but they do it seven times.
It was only on that day thatthey marched around the city
seven times and by then you knowwhat Jericho is doing.
Kids, get up.
Everybody, go brush your teeth.
They're just gonna keep blowingthis trumpet for another 30
minutes.
All right, let's just go.
Let's start making somebreakfast.
Let's get on with our day.
They've been doing this for sixdays.
They're gonna continue doing it.
(29:22):
The trumpet ends after about 30minutes, but the feet keep going
and then the trumpets eruptagain and everybody in the city
begins to look around.
What's going on?
You know what?
They just doubled up.
They just doubled up, they gotconfused, and then it snoozes.
And then it goes again andagain and again.
The alarm that they werehearing was the alarm that God
(29:45):
had been sending for hundreds ofyears, and instead of waking up
, they kept snoozing it.
I know that there are many ofyou who are in the room right
now and you have lots ofproblems with what you read in
verse 21, that God woulddecimate an entire group.
But what I want you to realizeis on that seventh day, there
(30:07):
was an alarm being sounded thatthey fully ignored.
On the seventh day, at theseventh time, when the priest
had blown the trumpets, joshuasaid to the people shout, for
the Lord has given you the city.
And here's what's fantastic.
You see it right there inquotes.
All of a sudden, the textbegins moving in slow motion and
(30:29):
as their hands come up to shout, the text takes you somewhere
else.
Notice the number 16 and thenthis when this shout ends, the
city and all that's within it isgonna be devoted to the Lord
for destruction.
Finally, after 400 years thisis Genesis 15,.
God had given them 400 years toturn and come back to him, and
(30:53):
they had snoozed and snoozed andsnoozed and snoozed.
And after this shout ends, it'sgoing to him.
And they had snoozed andsnoozed and snoozed and snoozed.
And after this shout ends, it'sgoing to happen.
As their hands are coming upand their lungs are filling up.
When this shout ends, onlyRahab, the prostitute and all
who were with her in her houseare going to live.
God is going to make a statue,he is going to build this model
(31:17):
of mercy that cannot be missed.
When this shout ends, he'slooking at his people and he's
saying keep yourselves from thethings that are devoted to
destruction.
When I give you this victory,don't put your hands on the
things that want to kill you.
When this shout ends, get allthe silver, all the gold, all
the bronze, get all of thesethings.
You don't know it yet, but thisis how we're going to build the
(31:39):
very temple that you're goingto be worshiping in in the years
ahead.
When this shout ends, 400 yearsof God's promises and
preparations collide.
So the people shouted and thetrumpets were blown, and as soon
(32:02):
as the people heard the soundof the trumpet, the people
shouted a great shout and thewall fell down flat.
The concept here in scripture isthat not one stone is left on
top of another.
It's not like there's heavycrumbling on the east but not on
the west, so they've got toweigh in.
The whole city shakes andcrumbles to dust.
(32:25):
Well, not the whole cityexactly, because when the entire
landscape goes flat, all thatis left is this one little piece
of wall, this one tower.
To God's grace, this one heldup stone of mercy.
(32:48):
What is it that remained?
But the two men who had spiedout the land?
Joshua said go into theprostitute's house and bring out
from there the woman and allwho belong to her, as you swore
to her.
So the young men who had beenspies went in and they brought
(33:10):
out Rahab and her father and hermother and her brothers and all
who belong to her, and theybrought all her relatives.
They put them outside the campof Israel.
They moved them from all of thebrokenness, from all of the
destruction, from all of thenoise and from all of the clamor
.
Verse 25, rahab, the prostitute, and her father's household and
(33:35):
all who belong to her, joshuasaved alive and she has lived in
Israel to this day.
What happens when the walls comea tumbling down?
A pillar to his grace isextended, extended across all
the centuries, for those whowould run to him for shelter In
(33:55):
the midst of ongoing destructionand noise.
Everybody in the city must havelooked up and they must have
seen this one thing thatremained a signpost of hope that
has been lifted up One roomwith one wide window, with one
red rope hanging from it, a redrope of God's promised
redemption for all who would puttheir trust in him, for all who
(34:20):
would say I've spent 13 yearsor 30 years, or 13 months or 13
minutes building walls that Ithought protected me, hiding
myself inside, not letting theworld know the great brokenness
that was inside of me.
So now you and I and we get todecide who we are going to be.
(34:40):
Do you feel safe inside thosewalls that you have built?
Does your shame and yourbrokenness and your darkness
does it feel well, protected bywhat you have built up?
Because they believe that thewalls would protect them?
It would protect everythingthey held valuable?
If only they could have justseen that their walls were
holding in the very vile thingthat God would have rescued them
(35:03):
from.
If I were to put it simply andnot be real pastoral, I would
say it this way Don't cling tosomething that's trying to kill
you.
Don't hold fast to somethingthat's trying to drown you.
Don't connect yourself tosomething that is not connected
to God or to Godwardness or life.
Each of us must decide if wewant to be found amidst the
(35:28):
rubble that we cause or theredemption that Jesus makes out
of it.
And the beauty of that is youhave a choice.
You have a choice.
This is a great story ofmilitary victory, but it's a
better story of spiritualvictory.
I love you guys and I know youand I talk to you and I praise
(35:51):
you for this.
You do this stuff all the time.
You say here's what I'veprojected to the world.
Let me tell you what's going oninside, and the walls are going
to have to come down, but I amtrusting that God will leave
enough for me to cling to, andhe always will.
What are you hiding behind andwhat do you want?
To be in the midst of therubble that you cause or the
(36:17):
redemption that Jesus can makeout of it?
Come to him Seek forgiveness.
Hide no more, because his graceis sufficient and he gladly
offers it.
If you need to sit, sit.
If you want to stand and singband, y'all go ahead and come on
up.
If you want to meet, talk,celebrate, pray, I don't care.
(36:45):
All I care about is this Don'tleave with walls built around
you.
Let them fall.
Today, even now, go and talk tothe Lord before we stand and
worship one who deserves so muchmore than our silence, even
though we'll give him both.
All right, guys, if you would go ahead and grab a
seat.
If I can get Audra to come onup to read our passage, that
would be great, as Audra'scoming up.
We'll be in Joshua, chapter six.
Just want to let you guys knowwe do have a baptism class
following church today and wehave lunch and things like that
(00:25):
provided.
So, even if you haven't plannedfor it, but that is something
that you feel the Holy Spiritmay be pushing you toward, we
would love for you to show up.
That'll be in the room rightoutside the sanctuary, off to
the right, and, Audra, I'll handit off to you.
Audra Beaudoin (00:39):
Good morning, midtree.
This morning I will be readingfrom the book of Joshua, chapter
6, verses 15 through 21.
If you have a pew Bible it'llbe on page 181.
Please follow along as I readGod's Word.
(00:59):
On the seventh day they roseearly at the dawn of day and
marched around the city in themanor seven times.
It was only on that day thatthey marched around the city
seven times, and at the seventhtime, when the priest had blown
the trumpets, joshua said to thepeople Shout, the Lord has
(01:23):
given you the city and the cityand all that is within it be
devoted to the Lord fordestruction.
Only Rahab the prostitute andall who are with her in her
house shall live, because shehid the things devoted to
destruction lest, when you havedevoted them, you take any of
(01:48):
the devoted things and make thecamp of Israel a thing of
destruction and bring troubleupon it.
But all silver and gold andevery vessel of bronze and iron
are holy to the Lord.
They shall go into the treasuryof the Lord.
So the people shouted and thetrumpets were blown.
(02:08):
As soon as the people heard thesound of the trumpet, the
people shouted a great shout andthe wall fell down flat so that
the people went up into thecity, every man straight before
him, and they captured the city.
Then they devoted all in thecity to destruction, both men
(02:28):
and women, young and old, oxen,sheep and donkeys, with the edge
of the sword.
This is the word of the Lord.
Will Hawk (02:37):
Amen.
Out of curiosity, I think thefalling of the walls of Jericho
is probably one of the mostwell-known stories in all of
scripture.
So let me just ask a question.
You don't have to like vote,you don't have to.
It'd be cool if you raised yourhand.
I would enjoy that.
(02:57):
Do any of you guys rememberacting out walking around the
walls of Jericho in kids' churchgrowing up?
Okay, all right, wait, wait.
Okay, this is so great, this isso great.
All right, you gave me one ofthese.
I now want one of these becausethe sheer volume of hands.
Okay, so raise your hand.
If that was you.
How weird are Christians?
(03:18):
Okay, like, did you not readverse 21?
Even the donkeys don't make itout of this thing.
And we've got our littleeight-year-olds just do-do-do,
do-do-do and the destruction ofthe Lord comes in on Jericho.
I knew that this was going to bea well-known story, and so I
thought I would start with alittle bit of a question.
(03:38):
I'm not going to put anythingup on the screen, there's not
going to be a poll or anythingalong those lines.
I just want you to answer nextto the person who is sitting
next to you.
And here is my question howlong do you think it took to
walk around, to march around thecity of Jericho?
(03:59):
All right, now I'll give youone hint.
In the event that you didn'tgrow up in the church and you're
like well, I feel pretty out ofplace right now.
I'm gonna help you out.
They walk around at one timefor six days and then, on the
seventh day, they walk around atseven times.
So, whatever your answer isneeds to be 24 divided by seven,
and no greater, because theypulled this off seven times in a
(04:20):
one day span.
So compete with the personsitting next to you.
How long do you think it wouldtake to march around Jericho?
I'll give you 10 seconds tofigure it out.
No googling or chatting orwhatever.
It may be.
All right.
(04:51):
By the way, this shouldn't be along discussion, right?
I mean, like, are you gettinginto it right now?
Well now, if you march at athree mile an hour pace, which
is the average walking, allright, this is a picture of what
Jericho would have looked likeaverage walking, all right, this
is a picture of what Jerichowould have looked like.
Just so you know before we diveinto the story, jericho was not
just the first city that Israelwas going to meet in their
(05:11):
conquest.
It was, in many ways, thegreatest.
We think of it as having onewall.
It actually had two.
There was an inner wall and anouter wall.
Both of them would have beenabout six feet thick.
The outer wall would have beenabout 40 feet tall, the inner
wall about 20.
To us, that doesn't soundimpressive.
We have elevators in their dayand age, no cars or anything
(05:32):
along those lines.
This is a very insurmountabletask.
Additionally, jericho was lowwhen it came to elevation, and
so streams flowed into it,making siege very, very
difficult.
This area to walk around coversabout six to seven acres.
I deleted the scale, but now Iwill give you the scale.
(05:53):
In all likelihood, it wouldtake you approximately 15
minutes to walk around.
Yeah, you guys were like ninehours.
It was a miracle he held thisline.
It takes about 15 minutes.
We think, because of the movieswe watch on the History Channel,
that these cities are sprawlingand wide.
(06:14):
The reason I point this out toyou is because, when these walls
come down, something reallycool and beautiful happens, but
you're going to miss it if youcan't picture it.
So I want you to be able to.
This would be a more true tolife perspective.
You can see some homes, you cansee some roads.
To help you get some realsatellite image scale of what
(06:38):
Jericho would have looked like.
What you need to imagine isthis what you need to imagine is
plains, or almost hills, comingdown into plains and then a
city, almost like a spire,shooting up 40 feet.
It would have looked almostlike.
If you look at the Aflacbuilding I know that it's much
(06:58):
taller, but it's just likeColumbus, columbus, columbus,
aflac, columbus, columbus,columbus.
It would have been like that.
It would have been likewilderness, wilderness,
wilderness, jericho, wilderness.
That's what it would havepanned out.
And it would have looked like.
Now, keep in mind, if youweren't here last week, god's
people were ready, he had doneincredible things.
They are eager, they areexcited, but God makes them, for
(07:19):
one week, slow down and wait.
They have to consecratethemselves, they have to get
holy, they have to pursue him.
They don't just rush headlonginto battle.
And the story, the chapterbefore, ends with Joshua walking
up to a guy who has a sworddrawn and Joshua's like you with
us or you against us?
And the commander of God's armysays nah, I'm not with you, I'm
(07:40):
not for you.
I'm not here to take sides, I'mhere to take over.
And, son, I'm going to take itfrom here.
And this is the story of howGod took it from here.
Now, jericho was shut up insideand outside because of the
people of Israel.
None went out and none came in.
And the Lord said to Joshua see, I have given Jericho into your
(08:05):
hand, with its king, its mightymen of valor, this massive city
.
I'm handing it to you, I'mdelivering it to you.
Don't miss this, because I'mgoing to come back to it.
God begins by saying here'swhat I have done.
The trophy is already on themantle.
I've already told you to stackstone since we walked through
the river.
Victory is guaranteed.
(08:26):
I have done this, god says.
And the text moves on and hesays you shall, I have you shall
.
This is something thatChristians struggle with.
We struggle with the percentageof our involvement in the
things that God is doing.
The more reformed leaning youare, the more God does
(08:47):
everything and you just muddlearound in the mud and there is
nothing useful of you and hejust kind of drags you through
it.
The more Arminian you are, themore it's really up to you and
God's like all right, you're onmy team.
Good, really needed a Joshuatie.
The reality of it is God iswholly sovereign and he is
wholly expectant of obediencefrom his people.
They are both operating at 100%.
(09:10):
The expectation is that God is100% in charge and that he
expects 100% obedience and faith, and this is what it looked
like for them.
By the way, your obedience andfaith is going to look a little
different, but just as God givesus clarity through his word to
us, he gave it to them as well.
(09:32):
My people, this is whatobedience is going to look like
For me.
You shall march around the city,all the men of war going around
the city once.
Thus shall you do for six days.
Seven priests shall bear seventrumpets of ram's horns before
the ark.
On the seventh day, you shallmarch around the city seven
times and the priest shall blowthe trumpets.
(09:53):
And when they make a long blastwith the ram's horn, when you
hear the sound of the trumpet,then all the people shall shout
with a great shout and the wallof the city will fall down flat
and the people shall go up,everyone straight before him.
He's saying you're going to gostraight in, there's going to be
no hurdles.
There's going to be nohindrances, there's going to be
(10:13):
no loss.
But I want you to notice thisword shout.
When they make a long blast,you will shout.
One of the cool realities ofthis word and the way that it's
used in scripture is that itcomes from a Hebrew word.
That means two different waysof shouting.
Now, some of you were shoutingyesterday.
Some of you were shouting at atelevision that could neither
(10:36):
hear you nor refs that careabout your existence, but you
shouted nonetheless, as did I,and there are a number of
different shouts.
There are shouts of frustrationand there are shouts of joy.
Here, the two shouts that wesee pointed to are a shout of a
war cry.
This is we are beginning thebattle.
(10:56):
We are giving you everythingwe've got.
We wanna strike terror intoyour hearts, so you will hear us
roar before we come.
That is one part of this shout,but this same word also means
victory.
Now, why do I take the time topoint this out?
All of you know what shoutingis Will.
Is this really the deep Hebrewthat we need to be doing this
(11:19):
morning?
Yes, and I'll tell you why,because what's tucked into this
are two great realities.
God is saying I want you toshout because there is a war
coming and I want you to shoutbecause there is joy and victory
guaranteed.
Both of these things live sideby side 100% you going in as the
warrior that I'm calling you tobe and 100% you yelling that
(11:44):
victory.
Is already certain Unbelieversin the room what you are going
to see in this text and, by theway, this is just how the Holy
Spirit puts things together.
This story and this story haveincredible parallels.
Now, unbelievers, if you arewaiting, and waiting, and
(12:09):
waiting, I would encourage youto listen to the story of a
sister who thought that shecould build walls that lasted 13
years, as though they wouldprotect her.
They did not.
They became the weight of herfall and, by the grace of God,
he held her up.
Christians, if you believe thatvictory is only something you
(12:32):
will find and not something youhave found, you are missing out
on one of the great realities oftrusting in Christ, and I would
have you not miss both of thesethings.
In this text I have you shall.
We get to see their heartfeltobedience and, as a result, we
get to see God bless thembecause of their heartfelt
(12:54):
obedience.
This is called divine humaninstrumentality, the fact that
the divine, who is in charge ofall things, condescends to using
broken people like us.
And when he does, he isinviting us to be a part of the
guaranteed victory that he hassecured.
(13:16):
They are to do what they aretold to do march around some
walls, and God is going to dowhat he says he will do.
Additionally, no one is leftout.
So Joshua, the son of Nun,called the priests and he said
to them take up the Ark of theCovenant this was the box that
(13:39):
was symbolizing the presence ofGod and let seven priests bear
seven trumpets of ram's hornsbefore the Ark of the Lord.
And he said to the people goforward.
Everybody has a part to play Inthis particular service.
Kelsey had a unique part toplay compared to last week and
next week most likely.
(13:59):
Do you realize I don't know ify'all understand this Do you
realize you have a part to playon Sunday morning?
Some of you are coming in forthe first time and you're like
time out.
I'm not serving in a kid's room, I don't even know these kids.
I'm not down for snot and I'mnot down for diapers.
I don't know what you'retalking about.
By the way, we could use thehelp Fall more people coming to
church.
All of you have like a hundredkids Thanks Cape Hearts and as a
(14:21):
result of that, every fallwe're like scrambling and
scratching.
That's one way you could serve,but that's not my point in this
.
My point in this is priestswere a part of this.
Hardened soldiers were a partof this.
There's a fair chance thatbutchers were a part of this,
(14:43):
that people who would never haveconsidered themselves part of
an army were a part of this.
No one is left out.
Everyone has a part to play.
But there is an unusual realityto this very common story, and I
don't know if you've everthought about it.
What is it that they are doingwhen they march around the city
and let armed men pass on beforethe ark of the Lord?
If you were to see this, I'mgoing to ask for somebody to
(15:06):
give me an answer.
If you don't, that's okay.
What would we usually call this?
We wouldn't usually call itmarching.
If a group of people get in aline and they're walking in a
circuit and they're blowingtrumpets, what would we call
that today?
We call it a parade, all right,what'd you say, shane?
Protesting, different, similar,similar.
(15:31):
We would probably call it aparade.
Because they're happy.
They're happy, shane.
It shouts of victory.
We would call this a parade.
We would have floats andballoons and children with
cotton candy and all kinds offun things.
Don't miss out on this unusualreality of a very well-known
(15:52):
story.
They are marching around a citythat is filled with people who
are scared of them and hate them.
They are marching around a citywith 40-foot high walls, with
archers atop them and spearmenatop them.
They are having a parade beforethe battle.
They're having a parade beforethe championship game.
(16:14):
Do you realize how insane thissounds?
Pick your sports team and theninvite them to have the
championship celebration,walking through the streets of
the city before the season haseven begun, and everybody will
tell them impressed with yourconfidence.
But that makes no sensewhatsoever and no one is going
(16:35):
to show up.
That's what they do.
Author Robert Smith says thisparade formation suggests that
God wants us to worship beforehe does the work.
Just going to pause there.
This is suggesting that Godwants us to worship before he
(16:58):
does the work.
Trumpets were blowing andpeople were shouting even before
the walls fell, which thenbrings us to this question
before the walls fell.
Which then brings us to thisquestion Do you wait to worship
until God has given you whatyou're looking for?
Don't get me wrong.
It's normal.
(17:18):
It's just not faith.
It is normal for us to pray andthen praise God once we have
received the thing that we haveasked for, then praise God once
we have received the thing thatwe have asked for.
Pray that something would beremoved and then praise God once
it has.
That is normal, but it isn'tfaith.
Are you withholding worshipuntil God does the work?
(17:42):
Christian, you were never calledto be normal.
You were called to be faithful.
You were called to sing throughtears and celebrate through
brokenness.
You were called to have youreyes, your head, your hope and
your affection so far in frontof you that the things of this
world, the things of this day,the things of your marriage, the
things of this family, thethings of your body, the things
(18:03):
that make you angry, frustratedand disappointed in this life,
can't even shake you because ofthe sureness that the shout of
victory is going to come overyour life.
They walk around for seven daysproclaiming victory, under the
shadow of tall walls, holdingevil people, holding devices
(18:25):
built for their own destruction.
Why?
Because faith is assurance ofthings that we hope for.
It is conviction of the thingsthat we do not see.
And because God's people hadthis, they make the book by
faith.
The walls of Jericho fell downafter they had been encircled
(18:45):
for seven days by faith.
God showed up.
They did what he asked them todo by faith.
Rahab the prostitute did notperish With those who were
disobedient.
She did what God had asked herto do.
She honored him.
Robert finishes his quote bysaying Anyone can shout after
(19:07):
the walls fall, but can we shoutbefore they fall, knowing that
they will fall, because God saidthat they would Believer?
Can I just mention a couple ofwalls that are guaranteed to
fall in your life?
Shame is guaranteed to fall inyour life.
You have been justified inChrist, which means all of the
(19:28):
shame and all of the guilt thatcaused you to build 13 years of
40 foot high walls, thinkingthat you are protecting
yourselves by not sharing thestory of your own brokenness
amidst a people who aredefinitely broken, worshiping a
God whose mercy is endless.
This is a wall that isguaranteed to fall If you are
trusting in Christ.
His word tells us that hisspirit dwells within us, which
(19:51):
means the believer that you are10 years from now is gonna be so
much greater than the believeryou are today.
The things you are strugglingwith today are not a guarantee
to be a thing that you arestruggling with tomorrow.
Are you hopeless?
Do you have despair?
Expect that wall to fall.
Your sickness, your brokenness,your anger, your despair.
Expect that wall to fall.
Your sickness, your brokenness,your anger, your frustration,
(20:15):
your disappointment.
Do you know, believer, thatit's going to fall?
When a friend of mine passedaway in his 40s, I've shared
this story with you His familythat had been praying for his
healing, that had prayerrequests on one side of the
fridge and answered prayers onthe other.
They took a request that saiddaddy gets better and after his
death they moved it to the otherside.
Why?
Because the wall was guaranteedto fall as he has a new body
(20:35):
and walks in newness of life.
But here is the question whatlap are you on?
Are you on lap one around thecity?
Are you on lap one around thisworld?
Are you on lap one around thisreality in your own life?
Do you have faith for six morewalks around?
It may take a minute.
13 times they walk around thiscity faithfully before God ever
(21:02):
does anything.
Kelsey, I want you to know howmuch I appreciate you sharing
your story.
I really appreciate the number13 coming up.
13 years of waiting as God'speople walk, 13 times wondering
is he good enough, strong enoughand faithful enough?
And what happens?
Well, just as Joshua hadcommanded the people, the seven
(21:23):
priests bearing the seventrumpets before the Lord went
forward blowing the trumpets forthe ark of the covenant of the
Lord.
Following them, the armed menwere walking before the priests
who were blowing the trumpetsand the rear guard was walking
after the ark while the trumpetsblew you ready Continually.
God's people were so annoyingto the people who lived in
(21:46):
Jericho.
But before that happened, Idon't want many of you who have
heard this story to miss what Ithink is the unsung hero of this
story.
I've never heard anybody talkabout it and it is by far my
favorite reality of this text.
I'd never seen it and Iprobably preached on this a
number of times.
(22:07):
Joshua commanded the peoplenotice the quotes here.
He's speaking.
We have his actual words.
You shall not shout or makeyour voice heard.
Neither shall any word go outof your mouth until the day I
tell you to shout, then youshall shout.
So he caused the ark of theLord to circle the city, going
about at once, and they cameinto the camp and spent the
(22:28):
night in the camp.
I'm going to take this verse andI just want to show you verse
10, but I'm going to break itout because I want you to see
something that I had not seen.
We talk about noise and wethink about them marching.
We think about the hornsblowing and we think about them
shouting.
We think about the walls comingdown, but do you think about
the seven days of silence before?
Look at how many times Joshuatells them be quiet, don't speak
(22:55):
.
Do you know how eerie it musthave been to live in that city?
Do you know how odd it musthave been?
They've fought battles before,but they've never fought an army
called Israel, which means Godfights for them.
They fought battles before, butnot against a nation for whom
(23:19):
which God ripped a river openthat they could walk right
through.
And Joshua looks and he saysnot once, not twice, but three
times.
And what is fascinating aboutthis is no one speaks in the
text for seven days.
(23:41):
Now, I slid over here because Ican't actually prove this for
sure.
It's not explicit in the text,but what you're going to see is,
when they wake up early in themorning to sound this abundantly
annoying alarm, joshua doesn'tspeak to them to tell them what
to do, they just do it, whichmeans they may not have just
(24:05):
been silent when they weremarching around the city.
It may have been a nationcommitted to silence for one
entire week.
Silence as they walk, entireweek.
Silence as they walk.
Silence as they eat.
Silence as they get ready tosleep, silence as they care for
(24:26):
their children.
Silence is the unsung hero ofthis well-known story.
And I wonder, christian, Iwonder American, if you
appreciate silence?
I looked at Bruner.
I actually walked up to you assoon as you did the call to
(24:47):
worship and I was like hey man,good text.
He didn't know it was in it, Ididn't know he was going to say
it.
The Lord, your God, is in yourmidst.
This is how he began worshiping.
He is in our midst, a mightyone who will save.
He will rejoice over you withgladness and he'll quiet you by
his love and he will exalt overyou with loud singing.
(25:11):
Silence does not mean absencewhen it comes to pursuing the
Lord.
But are you comfortable with it?
For God alone, my soul waits insilence.
From him comes my salvation.
What salvation are you needingin your life right now?
For some of you, it may besalvation from your sin.
It might be.
I need God to forgive me.
(25:31):
For some of you, it's salvationin a difficult relationship,
salvation at work.
Are you trying to fix it?
Are you making lots of plans orare you sitting in silence when
words are many?
Transgression is not lacking,but whoever restrains his lips
is prudent.
This one's my favorite.
Better is a handful ofquietness than two hands full of
(25:58):
toil.
Quietness than two hands fullof toil.
Being silent in half a measurewill outwork two measures of
your hard work if you are beingsilent before the Lord.
Then Joshua rose early in themorning and the priests took up
the ark of the Lord.
Notice no quotes here.
This is day one and he doesn'tsay a thing to them.
(26:19):
He just wakes up early in themorning and the priests are
awake as well.
They know exactly what they'resupposed to do.
No alarm clocks back then, andthe seven priests bearing the
seven trumpets of the ram'shorns before the ark of the Lord
.
They walked on and they blewthe trumpets continually and the
(26:39):
armed men were walking beforethem and the rear guard was
walking after the ark of theLord While the trumpets blew
what does the Bible want you torealize?
Continually.
And the second day they marchedaround the city once and
returned to the camp, and thisthey did for six days.
Do you know what this issupposed to feel like?
I'll tell you.
Set a seven second timer.
(27:02):
The worst sound in all of theworld, in my opinion, is the
sound of an alarm going off whenyou wake up in the morning.
This one how many of you hatethis right now?
Yeah, yeah.
How many of you hate this rightnow?
Yeah, yeah.
This is what Jericho dealt within an alarm.
(27:27):
They could not snooze for atleast 15 minutes early every
single morning, and then silence.
I want to take you there.
I want to take you there on dayone, when Jericho wakes up and
kids start crying because andyou got seven dudes, so when one
(27:52):
of them takes a breath, you gotsix other guys who were sending
it and for at least 15 minutes,the guys who were sending it,
and for at least 15 minutes,probably more like half an hour
this alarm just keeps ringingand they can't find their phone
and the snooze button is brokenand they can't turn the thing
off.
And then finally, let's justsay, after half an hour it goes
(28:13):
silent and their heart rate inJericho drops.
And they look at each other andthey say in Jericho drops.
And they look at each other andthey say what was that?
What is going on?
They just blew horns for 30minutes and didn't say a word
and now they walked back homeand it's silent again.
Day two comes exact same thing.
They get woken up in themorning.
(28:34):
Day three, day four, day five,day six an alarm that they
cannot turn off.
But on day seven somethingchanges.
On the seventh day, god'speople rose early at the dawn of
the day and they marched aroundthe city in the same manner,
(28:54):
but they do it seven times.
It was only on that day thatthey marched around the city
seven times and by then you knowwhat Jericho is doing.
Kids, get up.
Everybody, go brush your teeth.
They're just gonna keep blowingthis trumpet for another 30
minutes.
All right, let's just go.
Let's start making somebreakfast.
Let's get on with our day.
They've been doing this for sixdays.
They're gonna continue doing it.
(29:22):
The trumpet ends after about 30minutes, but the feet keep going
and then the trumpets eruptagain and everybody in the city
begins to look around.
What's going on?
You know what?
They just doubled up.
They just doubled up, they gotconfused, and then it snoozes.
And then it goes again andagain and again.
The alarm that they werehearing was the alarm that God
(29:45):
had been sending for hundreds ofyears, and instead of waking up
, they kept snoozing it.
I know that there are many ofyou who are in the room right
now and you have lots ofproblems with what you read in
verse 21, that God woulddecimate an entire group.
But what I want you to realizeis on that seventh day, there
(30:07):
was an alarm being sounded thatthey fully ignored.
On the seventh day, at theseventh time, when the priest
had blown the trumpets, joshuasaid to the people shout, for
the Lord has given you the city.
And here's what's fantastic.
You see it right there inquotes.
All of a sudden, the textbegins moving in slow motion and
(30:29):
as their hands come up to shout, the text takes you somewhere
else.
Notice the number 16 and thenthis when this shout ends, the
city and all that's within it isgonna be devoted to the Lord
for destruction.
Finally, after 400 years thisis Genesis 15,.
God had given them 400 years toturn and come back to him, and
(30:53):
they had snoozed and snoozed andsnoozed and snoozed.
And after this shout ends, it'sgoing to him.
And they had snoozed andsnoozed and snoozed and snoozed.
And after this shout ends, it'sgoing to happen.
As their hands are coming upand their lungs are filling up.
When this shout ends, onlyRahab, the prostitute and all
who were with her in her houseare going to live.
God is going to make a statue,he is going to build this model
(31:17):
of mercy that cannot be missed.
When this shout ends, he'slooking at his people and he's
saying keep yourselves from thethings that are devoted to
destruction.
When I give you this victory,don't put your hands on the
things that want to kill you.
When this shout ends, get allthe silver, all the gold, all
the bronze, get all of thesethings.
You don't know it yet, but thisis how we're going to build the
(31:39):
very temple that you're goingto be worshiping in in the years
ahead.
When this shout ends, 400 yearsof God's promises and
preparations collide.
So the people shouted and thetrumpets were blown, and as soon
(32:02):
as the people heard the soundof the trumpet, the people
shouted a great shout and thewall fell down flat.
The concept here in scripture isthat not one stone is left on
top of another.
It's not like there's heavycrumbling on the east but not on
the west, so they've got toweigh in.
The whole city shakes andcrumbles to dust.
(32:25):
Well, not the whole cityexactly, because when the entire
landscape goes flat, all thatis left is this one little piece
of wall, this one tower.
To God's grace, this one heldup stone of mercy.
(32:48):
What is it that remained?
But the two men who had spiedout the land?
Joshua said go into theprostitute's house and bring out
from there the woman and allwho belong to her, as you swore
to her.
So the young men who had beenspies went in and they brought
(33:10):
out Rahab and her father and hermother and her brothers and all
who belong to her, and theybrought all her relatives.
They put them outside the campof Israel.
They moved them from all of thebrokenness, from all of the
destruction, from all of thenoise and from all of the clamor
.
Verse 25, rahab, the prostitute, and her father's household and
(33:35):
all who belong to her, joshuasaved alive and she has lived in
Israel to this day.
What happens when the walls comea tumbling down?
A pillar to his grace isextended, extended across all
the centuries, for those whowould run to him for shelter In
(33:55):
the midst of ongoing destructionand noise.
Everybody in the city must havelooked up and they must have
seen this one thing thatremained a signpost of hope that
has been lifted up One roomwith one wide window, with one
red rope hanging from it, a redrope of God's promised
redemption for all who would puttheir trust in him, for all who
(34:20):
would say I've spent 13 yearsor 30 years, or 13 months or 13
minutes building walls that Ithought protected me, hiding
myself inside, not letting theworld know the great brokenness
that was inside of me.
So now you and I and we get todecide who we are going to be.
(34:40):
Do you feel safe inside thosewalls that you have built?
Does your shame and yourbrokenness and your darkness
does it feel well, protected bywhat you have built up?
Because they believe that thewalls would protect them?
It would protect everythingthey held valuable?
If only they could have justseen that their walls were
holding in the very vile thingthat God would have rescued them
(35:03):
from.
If I were to put it simply andnot be real pastoral, I would
say it this way Don't cling tosomething that's trying to kill
you.
Don't hold fast to somethingthat's trying to drown you.
Don't connect yourself tosomething that is not connected
to God or to Godwardness or life.
Each of us must decide if wewant to be found amidst the
(35:28):
rubble that we cause or theredemption that Jesus makes out
of it.
And the beauty of that is youhave a choice.
You have a choice.
This is a great story ofmilitary victory, but it's a
better story of spiritualvictory.
I love you guys and I know youand I talk to you and I praise
(35:51):
you for this.
You do this stuff all the time.
You say here's what I'veprojected to the world.
Let me tell you what's going oninside, and the walls are going
to have to come down, but I amtrusting that God will leave
enough for me to cling to, andhe always will.
What are you hiding behind andwhat do you want?
To be in the midst of therubble that you cause or the
(36:17):
redemption that Jesus can makeout of it?
Come to him Seek forgiveness.
Hide no more, because his graceis sufficient and he gladly
offers it.
If you need to sit, sit.
If you want to stand and singband, y'all go ahead and come on
up.
If you want to meet, talk,celebrate, pray, I don't care.
(36:45):
All I care about is this Don'tleave with walls built around
you.
Let them fall.
Today, even now, go and talk tothe Lord before we stand and
worship one who deserves so muchmore than our silence, even
though we'll give him both.
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