WHAT FAITH BRINGS (PART 15)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms... and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

Hebrews 11:30, 32-34

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When the Israelites first entered the Promised Land, the very first major city they came upon was Jericho and as they looked upon the walled fortress, we read about a supernatural encounter starting at the end of the fifth chapter and ranging into the first five verses of chapter six in the Book of Joshua:

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and 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 facedown 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 the gates of Jericho were securely barred 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. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. 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, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” Joshua 5:13-15 , 6:1-5

Now, I don’t know about you but I find this completely fascinating because you may remember Moses and how he encountered the Lord in a big way before receiving direction as to what the future held and how the Lord would be working in the midst of it. Even the command Joshua received to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground was like the order given to his predecessor.

In the case of Moses, God promised to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of Egypt and their leader, Pharaoh, so they could journey to the land of Canaan, the land promised to them as far back as Abraham. Now that they had entered that promised land, God was at work delivering it into their hands and the first step in that process was conquering Jericho.

Note how detailed the Lord’s instruction is to Joshua. It involved a daily procession of all armed men and seven priests carrying “trumpets of rams’ horns” as they marched around the walls of the city in front of the ark of the covenant.

After six days of this same action, the seventh day would serve to be the moment of truth and ultimate victory. It would be different than the six days before because the Israelites would “march around the city seven times”, this time with the priests blowing the trumpets of rams’ horns during each lap. After that last journey around the walls, the priests would “sound a large blast on the trumpets” followed by the entire Israelite army giving out a loud shout, and immediately, the walls of Jericho would miraculously collapse, allowing the army complete access to the city. Victory would be there’s if they followed the Lord’s exact instructions in faith.

As you read the rest of Joshua, chapter 6, that’s exactly what happened. The Israelites obediently carried out God’s command to a tee and as a result the scriptures tell us they devoted the city to the Lord before routing it and everything in it with the exception of the prostitute Rahab and her family who we looked at a few messages ago. Because she had provided refuge for the two Israelite spies who had scouted Jericho and made the way for them to escape safely, she and her family were spared and allowed to live with the Israelite people.

You know, as we look across the landscape of the Old Testament and the story of the Israelite people, there isn’t a single instance when they didn’t gain victory when they were obedient to God and held onto their faith. The writer of Hebrews mentions just a few people - Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets – in his discourse on faith but they all had this in common. Through their faith and devotion to God, they were given the power in battle to conquer kingdoms and rout foreign armies.

And so we add the long list of things a believer gains through exercising faith, this time the blessing of victory in the midst of life’s battles, especially the attacks and assaults of Satan as we walk upon the battlefield against him daily. Like the Israelites more than 2,000 years ago, we experience the victory over our adversaries when we maintain our trust in Him and draw from His power. And ultimately, through God’s promise of salvation through His Son Jesus, Christians gain the blessed assurance of victory over death and the grave, and a move to eternal life in Heaven.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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