Walking in Faith - Not Fighting - Joshua 6:1-27

Sermon Series: Great Leader, Exceptional Follower

This week we begin the second major section of the OT book of Joshua.  In the first five chapters of Joshua we saw Joshua and the Israelites preparing to enter into and take possession of their promised inheritance – the promise land.  Beginning in chapter 6 of Joshua we start to see the actual conquest of the land taking place.  As we move forward in the book the content of the next several chapters will center on Joshua leading the Israelites to displace the nations that are currently inhabiting the promise land by destroying them.  And just as it was on display in chapters 1 through 5 as the Israelites prepared to enter the promise land, Joshua’s exceptional obedience will continue to be put on display as they begin the conquest of the land.

In chapters 1 through 5 we saw that God made some pretty bold promises to Joshua and the Israelites before they entered into the promise land – promises that required a great deal of faith.  And in chapter 6 we are going to see another bold promise of God that would require a great deal of faith.  So this week we want to devote some time to the concept of faith and to some important ‘rules’ of faith.  Faith is one of those terms we like to throw around a lot in religious contexts and it’s a term that often takes many different nuances depending on the context of how it is used.  But there are some clear principles regarding faith that we need to understand if we are going to be exceptional followers of God, just as Joshua and this particular generation of Israelites were.  So let’s ask the question, “What are some ‘rules’ of faith that we see in chapter 6 of Joshua and throughout the rest of the Bible that will help us be better followers of God?”  And I’m going to argue that in chapter 6 of Joshua we will see two fundamental rules of faith that must be grasped by disciples of Christ if we are going to be exceptional in our following of God.

The author begins this second major section of his book by placing some emphasis on the difficulty of the task before them.  This is not the first time that he has done this.  In Joshua 3:15 the author told his readers that, “as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest) . . .”  The Israelite nation had previously had to do more than just cross over the Jordan River, they had to cross over a flooded Jordan River.  But God faithfully made a way for them to cross over by stopping the flow of the water until they had all passed over on dry ground.  Now the Israelites found themselves inside the promise land, just outside of Jericho, and the author of the text begins by recalling some of the details which were going to make the task of taking over the city extremely difficult.  “Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel.  None went out, and none came in.”  Verse 1 of chapter 6 tells us that the city was on lock down.  Any place that may have been vulnerable for penetration had been closed off and no opportunities were being made for the Israelites to get their foot in the door because no one was going out or coming in.  The inhabitants of Jericho had heard that the living God was present with the Israelite nation and that He had already been working mightily on their behalf, so they were very much afraid of God’s people.  Still, to the Israelites looking at a well fortified and well protected city, the task seemed impossible.  Once again the Israelites were going to need the mighty hand of God working on their behalf if they were going to have any success accomplishing what God had called them to do.  And once again we see a reminder that God was present and was going to help do just that.  In verse 2 God speaks to Joshua and says, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.”  God makes a statement to Joshua assuring him that He had already taken care of that which He had called him to.  Although they had not physically taken possession of the city yet, God tells Joshua that He has already given (completed action) the city, its king, and all of its soldieries over to Joshua and the Israelite army.  It was a “promise” if you will - and a promise like that from God demanded a response from His people.  It demanded faith – faith from Joshua and faith from the entire nation.  So the first fundamental rule of faith that our text makes clear is that God’s promises require faith. 

Promises by nature are always future oriented, so they always require faith.  Consider this example: the last two years during the fall my wife has put out a clear bowl of candy corn as a decoration.  She has put it on our china hutch which is clearly visible to our two year old daughter whenever she is sitting at the table during meals.  And at the beginning of each meal, right after my daughter sits down in her booster chair and catches sight of the bowl of candy corn she looks at me and says, “Two pieces of candy corn, please daddy.”  And each time I tell her, “Kallie, if you eat all your supper then I promise I will give you two pieces of candy corn.”  I can make her a promise that I will do something for her in the future.  But it’s impossible for me to make a promise from the past.  Our language sometimes sounds like we do this, but what we say isn’t really what we mean.  If some asks me the question, “Who won the baseball World Series this year?” I might respond, “The St. Louis Cardinals did.  I know they barely made the play-offs, but I promise you they did.”  The language I use makes it sound like I’m making a promise in regards to an event that has already transpired, but that’s not what I’m really saying.  I can’t really make a promise concerning something that has already taken place.  What I’m really saying (very poorly I might add) is that “I understand that you don’t know who won the baseball World Series this year, but I am promising you that as you are looking for that information (which you don’t have yet – therefore making it future oriented) you will find the answer to be the St. Louis Cardinals.”  So promises made, because they are always future oriented, require faith.

So let’s ask this question, “What’s the best way for one to demonstrate his faith?”  To live out his faith in action (or obedience), right?  Isn’t that why the NT book of James asks the question, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works” (James 2:14)?  James then says just a few verses later, “so also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17).  So the second fundamental rule of faith that we are going to spend the rest of chapter 6 developing is that faith requires obedient living.  God had declared a promise to Joshua in verse 2 that would require faith, which ultimately needed to be worked out in obedience (action).  So following the promise of verse 2 God began to spell out what Joshua and the Israelites would need to do.  Beginning in verse 3 and continuing through 5 God gives Joshua instructions regarding what the Israelites needed to do – and amazingly it didn’t sound anything like a military strategy.  [Read Joshua 6:3-5]  God tells Joshua to demonstrate his faith in God’s promise from verse 2 by gathering all the Israelite men of war and having them march around the city of Jericho, along with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, and seven priests with trumpets of rams’ horns once each day for six days.  Then He says on the seventh day Joshua is to instruct the men of war, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, and the seven priests with trumpets of rams’ horns to march around the city of Jericho seven times.  As they complete their seventh lap around the city of Jericho the priests carrying the trumpets of rams’ horns were to make a long and sustained trumpet blast and all the men of war were to cry out with a great shout.  And at the end of verse 5 God says to Joshua that if he and the people will demonstrate their faith in His promise by doing these things exactly as He has instructed that the walls of Jericho would fall down and the men of war would be able to go straight up into the city of Jericho.  God had made a promise which would ultimately result in the walls of Jericho falling to the ground and the Israelite soldiers being able to go straight up into the city of Jericho.  But it was dependent upon Joshua and the Israelites’ obedience to the instructions which God had given them.  God’s instructions probably seemed a little strange since they did not contain any traditional war strategies, but God’s directions weren’t up for debate or discussion. 

In verse 6 we see Joshua once again doing what he has been doing all along – being exceptional in the way that he followed God.  Without any question or any hesitancy in verse 6 Joshua called the priests and commanded them to take up the Ark of the Covenant and seven trumpets of rams’ horns.  Then in verse 7 Joshua goes to the people and commands them to do just as God had instructed him.  And in verse 8 we see this generation of Israelites doing just as they had been doing all along – obeying all that Joshua had commanded them.

Verses 8 through 11 give us an account of the Israelites obedience on the first day of their marching.  The author of the text puts forth in some detail exactly how the Israelites went out, how they were obedient to all that God had commanded Joshua, and how they returned to their camp after they had done all that God had commanded until the next day.  In verses 12 through 14 we see the account of the second day in slightly less detail, but still enough detail to see that the Israelites had again been obedient to all that God had commanded.  Then having established a pattern of obedience the author of the text tells us that they continued to do all that God had commanded them to do throughout the first six days.

Verse 15 gets the readers to the seventh day of the Israelites marching around Jericho.  On this particular day Joshua, the priests, and all the soldiers of Israel rose early in the morning (which would have been necessary in order to make the trek around Jericho seven times on that day).  The Israelites continued to demonstrate their faith in God’s promise by continuing to be obedient to all that God had commanded.  On this particular day the Israelites marched around the city seven times as God had instructed and upon the completion of their seventh time around the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns gave a long, sustained blast and Joshua said to all the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city [vs. 16].”  At this point in the text we still have not seen any real military-type action.  The Israelites had not built a siege wall.  They had not set the walls of the city on fire.  They had not put together any type of battering ram to bust open any doors.  At this point all they had done was march around the city in obedience to God’s commands.  Think about this for just a minute.  At this point there is no evidence that anything has changed.  Nothing they have done over the last week has weakened the walls.  Nothing they have done over the last week has damaged the gates of the city.  Nothing they have done over the last week has resulted in any new vulnerabilities to Jericho.  For seven days they have marched without gaining any apparent advantage.  But because of Joshua’s faith in God’s promise from verse 2 and because of Joshua’s confidence in the Israelites’ obedience, he can in that moment declare to the soldiers of Israel, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city.”  That’s amazing!

Verses 17 through 19 seem to be a brief interruption in the flow of the narrative in chapter 6.  In verses 17 through 19 Joshua gives some reminders to the Israelites.  While these instructions were not part of God’s commands in the first seven verses they are reminders of instructions that had previously been given to Israel and its leaders.  Listen to God’s instructions in Deuteronomy 20:16-18, “But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.”  Joshua reminds the Israelites that everything within the city is supposed to be devoted to God.  All of the living things are to be put to death with the exception of Rahab and all that are a part of her house.  The reason for Rahab’s exemption seems to be her faith in the God of Israel.  While we skipped over chapter 2 in our study of Joshua’s life, chapter 2 reveals a fascinating story about a woman who was an inhabitant of Jericho.  In verses 9 through 11 of chapter 2 we find Rahab talking to two Israelite spies who she was hiding after they had entered Jericho to spy out the city.  In those verses she seems to reveal a faith that she has in the God of Israel saying, “for the Lord your God, He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (2:11).  One of the reasons that all of the inhabitants of Jericho and the rest of the nations were to be destroyed was because if they had been left alive then they would have lead the Israelites astray, teaching them their pagan religions and leading them to worship false gods.  An exception may have been made for Rahab since she seems to have believed in the God of Israel, demonstrating this not only with her words but also by her willingness to hide the Israelite spies.  So Joshua reminds the Israelites to destroy everything that they came across with the exception of Rahab and her family, and all of the gold, silver, bronze, and iron (which was to be put into the treasury of the Lord). 

These instructions seem awfully harsh to many of us.  Understanding it rightly requires us to think back on last week’s text and to maintain a right perspective.  Remember that God is a holy God and that as sinners we are ALL deserving of this kind of destruction.  You may not like the sound of that, but that is exactly what the Bible teaches.  Romans 3:23 states very clearly that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Because God is a holy God there are serious implications resulting from our sinfulness.  Our sin separates us from God – Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians that while we are sinners we are “strangers and aliens” (Ephesians 2:19) in regards to God and those who belong to Him.  The Bible also teaches that our sin is deserving of God’s wrath, which in turn makes us deserving of God’s wrath and destruction.  Listen to John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”  Listen also to Romans 2:5, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”  God is a patient God and it is only because of God’s patience that we have the chance to come to Him in faith, seeking His forgiveness, and are able to find reconciliation with Him through the cross of Jesus.  But did you hear what that verse in Romans said?  We are storing up wrath for ourselves when we continue to live in sin and continue to refuse to come to God by faith in His Son, Jesus.  Then one day as you stand in judgment and give an account for the life you lived and the choices you made, you will be found guilty and will have the wrath of God poured out on you for your lack of faith and lack or obedience.  So while the patience that we are experiencing from God makes some of these OT texts seem cruel and harsh, make sure that you remember God’s holiness.  This was the rightful payment for the sins of these nations with whom God had grown impatient.  We find in Leviticus 18:6-30 a list of the heinous sins that the nations in the promise land were guilty of and in Deuteronomy 9:4-5 we find that it was because of these sins that God destroyed them and cast them out.  “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of those nations that the Lord is driving them out before you.  Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of those nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”  The Israelites must be sure to follow in obedience and to do all that God has commanded, especially in the sense of destroying all that God had commanded them to destroy and devoting to the treasury of the Lord all that was to be devoted to it.  Joshua warns that failing to do these things would make cause destruction to come among the Israelites, just as it was coming against Jericho.

Don’t be overwhelmed by this second fundamental rule of faith – that faith requires obedient living (action).  It’s something we do far more often than you probably realize.  In regards to my earlier illustration, Kallie, if she has faith in my promise to give her candy corn, will sit patiently eating her dinner and show by her patience that she has faith in my promise.  It’s something that she does in response to my promise.  Or think about a husband who tells his wife during the month of April that he is going to take her on a tropical vacation during the first week of December.  His wife, if she has faith in his promise, will go to work and immediately ask for the first week of December off.  If she doesn’t ask off and December comes around and she is scheduled to work then her husband may end up going on the vacation himself.  There are a couple of other things that this wife will more than likely do in demonstration of her faith in her husband’s promise.  A week or two before December arrives she is going to pull out her Rubber-Maid tub of summer clothes to pull out her warm weather clothes and bathing suits.  She may also take some time to go to the tanning bed to make sure she doesn’t get sunburned on her first day of vacation.  These seem like common sense type actions, but be sure to note what they really are – they are active ways of living out and demonstrating a faith that they have in a promise that has been made.  We do this in other areas of our lives, so why would we expect faith in God’s promises to look any different?

The climax of this chapter now comes and goes in two short verses, verses 20 and 21.  “So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown.  As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.”  The highly anticipated conquest of the first city of Jericho is not recounted in any detail or length – but quickly and matter-of-factly stated in two verses.  Why?  One commentator states the answer this way, “This fits the general outlook of the book [of Joshua], that military matters belonged to God and that He would effortlessly fight Israel’s battles.  Protracted attention to battle details would undermine the sense of the effortless taking of the land of Canaan.  What is emphasized in this account are the ritual preparations for the battle (vs. 2-19) and the follow-up to the taking of the city, in which the faithfulness to earlier commands and agreements is highlighted (vs. 22-26).”

Verses 22 through 27 give the reader a brief account of what transpired after God caused the walls of Jericho to fall and had given the Israelites victory.  We see the fulfillment of the spies’ promise to Rahab in verses 22, 23 and 25.  We see the total destruction of Jericho in verse 24.  We see the curse Joshua places on Jericho and anyone who attempts to rebuild it in verse 26.  Finally we see a statement about Joshua and his fame, not only spreading throughout the Israelite nation, but now spreading throughout the entire land.

The story of the fall of Jericho as it is recounted in the book of Joshua makes it clear that the victory of the Israelites over Jericho was not the result of the Israelites going to battle against Jericho and its inhabitants.  It is a story about faith.  God made a promise to the Israelites which they believed in faith and the Israelites demonstrated their faith by their exceptional obedience to all that God had commanded them to do.  So it was by faith and the working out of their faith that the walls of Jericho fell.  This is exactly how the author of the NT book of Hebrews put it, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days” (Hebrews 11:30).

When we are living in sin, separated from God, and storing up the wrath of God toward ourselves, we are in a helpless and hopeless condition needing the mighty hand of God to work on our behalf, much like the Israelites did while they were camped outside of Jericho and the city itself was shut up.  But just as God made a promise to the Israelites, promising to give the city, its king, and its valiant men over to them, God (from the time that He cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden) had promised to provide a way of salvation and reconciliation to all of humanity trapped in its sinfulness.  Then in fulfillment to that promise God wrapped Himself in flesh and sent His Son, Jesus, to be our rescuer.  Jesus, lived a perfect life of righteousness while He was on earth, but willingly died a death that He did not deserve.  He offered Himself as a substitute for sinful humanity.  He willingly took the sin of humanity and its consequences upon Himself, suffered the wrath of God poured out on Him, and died the death that each of us deserved.  But in a great demonstration of His power and might, He overcame both sin and death and now offers us the greatest gift we could ever be recipients of – salvation.  God’s salvation is very much a promise.  It is a promise to forgive sins and reconcile us to Him.  But like any promise, this promise requires faith.  And the faith in that promise must be demonstrated by action.  We demonstrate our faith in Jesus’ substitutionary death on our behalf accomplishing our salvation, by repenting from the sin that we have already committed and then surrendering all of ourselves to Him.  We forsake ourselves and own desires and live a life set-apart for Him and His glory.  It is a promise that God will step in and do for the hopeless and helpless what we could not do on our own, just as He did for the Israelites in their encounter with Jericho.  And while God’s instructions to them seemed strange, it seems strange to many today that our salvation is accomplished by someone other than ourselves.  But that’s the promise that God has made – that our salvation will come through another, through Jesus Christ.  God’s promise requires our faith and our faith must be demonstrated in our repentance and complete surrender to Him.

So let me conclude this week with this question, “Have you responded in faith to God’s promise to salvation and are you demonstrating that faith by your repentance and surrender?”

Small Group Questions for Discussion:

1. What was the significant promise that God made to Joshua in the first part of chapter 6?  Was this something which had already been completed or was it something which was still yet to be accomplished?  So what did this promise require from Joshua and the Israelites?

2. If somone professes to have faith in something what is the best way for him/her to demonstrate that faith?  Read James 2:14, 17.  According to these verses: (a) Is faith intended to be a lone ranger? (b) How is faith that exists by itself described?

3. What action/work did God require of Joshua and the Israelites to demonstrate their faith in the promise He made in verse 2?  Were Joshua and the Israelites obedient to this work/action and if so, to what degree?  What does this say about their faith?  What was the outcome of their faith (demonstrated by their works/actions)?

4. Read Romans 1:16.  What is the promise Paul makes about the gospel?  What does this promise require?  What actions/works should accompany that faith?  Are we doing this?

5. Read Acts 1:8.  What is the promise Jesus makes in this verse?  What does this promise require?  What actions/works should accompany that faith?  Are we doing this?

6. Read Leviticus 20:26 and Ephesians 1:4.  What was the promise made to the Israelites that is now made to believers in Christ?  What does this promise require?  What actions/works should accompany this faith?  Are we doing this?