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.
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,
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,
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
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
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
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
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,
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
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
5 through 8.
Jeremiah chapter 4 verses 16 through
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 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 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
seeing the
nations come
to faith
transformed
by Jesus Christ.
It is in
Christ's
glorious
name we pray.
Amen.