A Memorial to Holiness and a Trophy of Grace - Joshua 6

We have been journeying for a few weeks through the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. Today, we've made it to what is probably the most famous story story or well known story in the book of Joshua. If you didn't know much about the book of Joshua, what was in there, what it was about, you probably might be familiar with chapter 6, the story of the crumbling of the walls of the city of Jericho. I've been studying this for a couple of weeks, thinking a lot about the city and this passage, and about the application it might have for our lives today, and I'm reminded, as I'm thinking about this the last couple of weeks, how often we use the wordwall as a metaphor for difficult or challenging situations that we face. How often have you said things like this? Have you ever said, "I hit a wall maybe you're a runner or an athlete or something, at some point in your training or in your competition, you say, "I hit a wall, I couldn't go any further. Maybe you've said, "Our backs are up against the wall." Maybe you've said the phrase, "I feel like I'm beating my head against a brick wall." You ever said that? Some of you, "Hey, nding, you've been been in that situation before." We say things like, "I feel boxed in I feel cornered, I feel like I'm facing a wall of resistance. We often think of walls as metaphors for challenging, difficult, sometimes situations that feel insurmountable. And maybe as I said those phrases maybe you've said or thought those phrases recently, maybe even today, you feel like you're in a situation where you hit a wall in some ways. You feel your back is up against a wall. You feel like you're beating your head again against a brick wall. You feel cornered or boxed in. If that's your situation right now I hope you'll find some encouragement from this pass is that we're going to spend the next few minutes in. In fact, I' even encourage you to think about what that wall is in your life right now. What is that situation that feels insurmountable to you And think about that, consider that as we move through this pass and see what what God might have for you this morning. We're finally in the land. The children of Israel had been journeying toward this land for generations. It's a promise that God had made generations ago to a man named Abraham, a promise passed down generation to generation, a promise that, for the last generation, the last 40 years, had been put on hold because of the disobedience and the lack of faith of the people to enter into the land God had for them. But finally, that generation, that unfaithful generation has died out, and a new generation has been given the opportunity to step foot for the first time into that promised land God had for them. God has miraculously parted the Jordan River, and they are now camped on the western side of that river in the land God had promised then. But it's not over yet. God would keep his promise. God would give them victory if they were faithful, if they were obedient, but that's not going to come without challenges and obstacles. Today, we're going to see one of the accounts of the victory God's going to give them as they put their faith in him and trusted him, and I hope that as we look at this today, you'll somehow find yourself in the story. That's the challenge anytime you read the scripture, is to find yourself there. What does this have for me? It's a challenge when we look at Old Testament stories these narrative accounts of events that have happened thousands of years ago, or hundreds of years ago, that are recorded for us, and we say, what does that have to do with me? Find yourself in the story. The question you should be considering today is, how do I bridge the gap from something that happened in the other part of the world, another time, another culture. What are the lessons, those transferable principles, those lessons that apply to my life today? I want you to think today about the walls in your life. The challenges, the obstacles. And today we'll see how God brings down the walls of Jericho Perhaps there are walls in your life that he wants to bring down. What are they? Maybe today you would say there are spiritual walls in your life. You feel very distant from God. You want to know Him. You want to understand H, you want to connect with him, but he feels so distant. There's a wall between you and God. Maybe you've hit a wall in your spiritual journey Your growth, your faith somehow is stalled out, and you wish somehow to break through that. Maybe it's in a relationship where you feel there are insurmountable situations that causes it to feel beyond reconciliation, maybe a financial situation that has your back against a wall maybe a health crisis that has you feeling cornered, maybe just some frustration that life is not going the way you wanted right now, and you feel like you're beating your head against a wall, perhapshaps the key for you today is found in this passage. Maybe the lessons that the Israelites learned about crumbling walls apply to you and the same steps that they took might be the steps God is going to compel you to take as you find yourself in their story. Let's jump into it. Chapter 6, verse 1. Now, Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. No one went out and no one came in. Let's talk about Jericho. Jericho was located about five miles west of the Jordan River. They've just crossed the Jordan, so it's the first city they're going to come to in their conquest of the land. It's an interesting place. It's the site of more than a dozen ancient cities, built and destroyed, one right on top of another, and it might be one of the oldest fortified cities in the ancient Near East, and some scholars suggest it might be the oldest city on Earth the oldest fortified city on Earth. We have evidence that takes us all the way back to 8,000 B.C of a fortified city existing in this location. It was a prominent city, its age and its location, made it a prominent city in that region. It was the strongest fortress in the land of Canaan. It was going to be the most difficult walled city they would encounter, and it was going to be key to opening up all of Canaan to them, the center of the land will now be open to the children of Israel as they make their way into it. It's actually not a very large city. In my mind, I always pictured it much, much larger. Scholars tell us it was probably somewhere between seven and nine acres And to give you a reference for that, this piece of land our church is on is seven acres. So the city of Jericho is not much larger than this land that we're sitting on here today. 750 feet below sea level, this is nothing spiritual. I just thought it was interesting. It's the lowest city on the planet, below sea level is the city of Jericho. It's well supplied by spring water, sometimes called the city of Palms. The word Jericho also sounds like the Hebrew word for moon. It might have at one time been referred to as Moon City, a center for the worship of the moon God. So we see these cities that we're going to encountter through the book of Joshua, and all throughout the Old Testament. These are not just military battles, these are spiritual battles. It's not just sometimes a matter of, is our army stronger than your army, but is our God greater than your God And that would have been the case here, the battle of Jericho. Archaeologists have explored this for years, and it's always cool we see the archaeological discoveries lining up with the accounts of scripture. And recent evidence has confirmed a city walled city in the 15th century B.C., on the site there that would have lined up perfectly with our timeline in the Old Testament, our timeline of Joshua's life in the Book of Joshua. When we discover it here in chapter 6, it's strongly fortified. It's shut up inside inside and out. No one's going in, no one's going out. There are walls, two rings of walls. The outer ring was six feet thick. The inner ring, the walls were 12 feet thick, probably somewhere between 15 and 20 feet high. There were springs inside there. They were well supplied, and they could withstand a siege of many, many months as the Israelites camped outside their city. Verse two, the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I've given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. God says, "See, I've given you the city." I think the word "C is interesting because he can't see, because the city shut up. And no one's gone in, no one's going out. And they knew the spies were in there earlier, so they've locked the gates, no one's leaving, no one's coming in And God, so what you can't see on the inside of this city is that they've already been given into your hand. I've given you the victory. This tends to describes an action that as if it were already accomplished. It's going to happen in the future, but it's as good as done. The battle has been won. We sing about that earlier They were fighting a battle that was already won. God had already ensured them victory. Joshua 1, three, God said, every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon. I have given you, just as I promised Moses." And Joshua chapter 2, when the spies went into the city, Rahab, the prostitute said, "I know that the Lord has given you the land This has been handed over to the people by the hand of God. Neither the walls, nor the warriors. We're going to be a match for God. Josh, we needed this encouragement. If you remember the story, we did some batting around earlier through our study. 40 years earlier, they set spies into the land. There are stories recorded for us in numbers chapter 13. And if you go back there, you'll notice there were two things that discouraged the people from going to the land. One was the size of the people, and the other was the size of the walls. So 40 years ago, they said,We'll never take that city. The walls are too big." So, here we are 40 years later. God said, "Don't worry about those walls. The city has been handed over to you I've taken care of the physical and the spiritual challenge you're about to face here. Verse three, he gives them the game plan. This is God, giving Joshua the plan at this point.You shall march around the city, all the men of war, going around the city once.Thus you shall do for six days Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priest shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him. This is an unconventional plan of attack. If you're to study how you take a walled city in that day, there were five ways you could conquer the city. One, you could get a ladder and go over the top. A second, you could dig a tunnel and go underneath. Third, you can get some battering rams and just punch a hole right through the middle of it. Four, you could lay senge to the city till everyone inside stars to death or fifth, you could sneak in, kind of like the story of the Trojan horse. You find some way to sneak into the city. God said, we're not going to do any of those. I'm going to give you a sixth one. You're going to get the ark of the coven, you're going to get some trumpets, and we're just going to march around this thing for a week. It's a crazy plan that God gives Joshua Notice when they start to march, there's no mention of ladders, there's no mention of battering rams, there's no mention of shovels. He tells him, "Take with you some trumpets and take you with you the arc of the Covenant. What is the ark of the Covenant?" That comes up a lot. You may be familiar with it, but it was built during the time of the exodus, during that time of the desert. It was a wooden chest overlaid with gold, and inside of it were the stone tablets God gave Moses on Mount Sinai. They would carry this thing everywhere. It was among them represented the presence of God When they built the tabernacle in the desert, the Ark of the cup,venant was placed in the Holy of Holies, the most holy place in the tababernacle. Later, when the temple of God would be built, the ark of the covenet would be placed in the temple of God. You say, "Where is it today? We're not sure. The last we saw it was in 1981 when Indiana Jones rescued it from the Nazis. Actually, that's not true. The last time we know of the Ok of the Covenant was about 500 B.C. And since since that time, we're not sure where the Ark is today, if you want to have a fun afternoon, just Google where is the Ark of the Covenant today, and you'll get some pretty cool theories of where it is. Some fun things you'll read if you search that on your own. Take with them the Ark, take with you the trumpets. These would have been not musical instruments, but instruments to be used to signal. Torns to be used to signal people in religious or military contexts. Go around the city, six days, one lap, seventh day, makes seven laps. Seven was the number of completion in the Bible. We see God creating the world in seven days. We have revelation, letters going to seven churches. We see God, cied rain after seven days that Noah was in the ark. You read through the Bible, it said the number seven quite a bit as a symbolism for completion. You'll make this complete journey around these walls, and then the walls will fall. So, over six, Joshua gives the plan to the people. Joshua, the son of a nun, called the priest, and said to him, "Take up the ark of the covenant, let the seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark of the Lord And he said to the people, "Go forward, march around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord. And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests hearing the seven trumpets of rorns before the Lord, went forward, blowing the trumpets with the ark of the covenant following them. The armed men were walking before the priests, who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually But neither shall any to me, but Josh were committed to the people, you shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout. So he caused the ark to circle the city, going about it once, and they came to the camp. and spent the night in the camp. So Joshua now gives very detailed instructions. I want you to notice this as we move through this. The very meticulous attention to detail. God tells Moses, God tells Joshua, Joshua tells the people, the people do it exactly as Joshua told them, just as God told Joshua, the focus is on obedience meticulous, obedience, exactly to what God was telling us to do. We also see throughout this chapter, the presence of the ark. In fact, in just 13 verses that we've covered so far are about to cover, the arc is going to be mentioned 10 times over and over again. In fact, if you look closely at verse 8, you'll see in verse 8, the ark, the word arc, and the word love Lord, are used interchangeably. What he's saying? It's not just the ark doesn't just represent God. The ark is the presence of God among you. What is he saying? If these walls are coming down, it's going to be because God was with you. If you're going to carry out this planet, it's going to be because God was in your midst. You're going to trust me, you got to trust that I'm with you. We would take our kids to movies when they were little, and sometimes at the movie may get a little scary.. They're kind of nervous, but it might be a scary part. They want to make sure that we strategically placed mom and dad interspersed among the kids Everyone wanted everyone wanted a parent beside them. We were in the midst of our kids, if you saw us in the AMC theater back in the day. They wanted the safety, the security, the assurance that were right in the middle of them. That's what the people needed, the arcule or the pri presence of the Lord, in their life as they face this, what seems to be an insurmountable wall in front of them. Verse 12, Joshua got up early in the morning, the priests took up the ark of the Lord, the seven priests bearing the s seven trumpets rams's horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually, and the armed men were walking before them and the rear guard was walking after the Ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blewlew continually. And the second day they marched around the city once, returned in the camp, so they did for six days. Again, this great attention to detail. Firstse 15 on the 7th day, they were rose early at the dawn of the day They marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blownown the trumpets, Joshua said, the people shout, for the Lord has given you the city. Of our 17 he pauses here, we're so excited. We're, all right, they're gonna come the walls are going to him now. No, wait, stop, be somebody. I'm going to tell you one more thing. Before the horns blow, before the people shout, before the walls crumble, I want to tell you what we're gonna do when we get there. So we're 17, three things you're going to do when you get in the city. He said, in the city, and all that's within it shall be devoted to Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messen whom we. But you keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take lest when you have devoted them, you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. But all the silver and gold in every vessel of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord They shall go into the treasury of the Lord. Okay, three things, we get into the city. Three things you can do. Number one, you're going to devote everything everything to the Lord by destroying it. Everything's going to be destroyed. Two, everything except Rahab the prostitute and her family. You're going to find them and bring them out alive, and then three, everything that can't be destroyed, gold, silver, bronze, iron, you're going to gather that up, and you're going to bring it into the treasury of the Lord. So destroy everything except for Rahab and her family, spare Rahab and her family, show grace to her because of the kindness she showed to us and the faith she put in our God, and then everything that can't be destroyed the gold, the silver, etc. don't keeping it for yourself. You're going to gather all that up. You're going to bring it to the treasury of the Lord, and we're going to put it there. Don't keep any gold or silver for yourself. Why is that important?? You're going to find out next week, okay? It's foreshadowing. Someone, when these walls come down, you going to put some gold in his pocket, and it's going to bring bad things on the camp, but come back next week for that. Verse 20. The people shouted, the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat so that everyone went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. Now verse 21. Now, this is hard. Once you look at verse 21 This is a tough one. Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys with the edge of the sore. Part of this devotion of the city to the Lord was to kill everything as a sacrifice to God. How are we to understand that? Isn't that hard? Anybody else troubled by verse 21? I' confess you, you, many times I'm reading the Bible, and I will come across the verse, and I will say, I don't understand this verse. anybody ever read a book verse the Bible, say I don't understand this verse. Yeah, it happens to me all the time. That's okay, okay? Bring those to me, we'll figure them out together But here's what I often mean, if I also confess to you. Many times when I say, I don't understand this verse, what I really should be saying is I don't like this verse. Right? Some of the verses we think we don't understand, we just don't like. It says what it says. You call Blake Harsson, our resident Hebrew scholar, say, he'll say same thing in Hebrew as it is in English. kill everybody. That's hot. That's tough. And it doesn't sit well with us. What's going on here? We look at the Word of God, and we see, this is the word of God. If he is truly God and he is sovereign, and this is truly His word, I got to deal with verses that I don't like sometimes, and this is one of them. So what is going on here? Two reasons for the destruction of everything in the city. One was judgment The other was protection. Judgment and protection, judgment against the sin and the wickedness of the Canaanites. God was going to carry out his judgment on an immoral people. He has the right to do that as a whole holy God, to judge the sin of these people, and he was going to use the Israelites to bring about that judgment. Canaanite was a wickeduse me, Jericho was a wicked city Violent, wicked idolaters. I was reading one author called it "The Vegas of Canaan." The more I studied, Jericho, I realized that's an insult to Vegas. It was far more wicked. At In fact, it was talking to Blake, H about this, teaches Hebrew and Old Test, Midwestern Seminary, one of Blake, who just read scripture you know him. And he said, yeah, think about it, Matt. He said, the most redeemable part person in the city was a prostitute. He said,That gives you a baseline. The one person that gets it right is a prostitute. That's how terrible this city is. They'd reached the point of no return. God had endured with him for for generations. It wasn't like he woke up one day and said, "Let me judge Jericho These people had rebelled against him generation after generation, and it had reached a point of no return. Judgment was inevitable. Second reason was for their protection. They were going to enter into this land, and God wanted to protect the Israelites from the future Canaanite spiritual influence. Sin is desperately contagious. Sin will infect everything, and their level of society was so contaminated by evil all the way down to these children, raised by their wicked parents, that God God was going to eliminate all of this evil to protect the Israelites and the purity of this new nation entering into this land, versus like this trouble us so much, because we fa fail to appreciate the holiness of God and the gravity of sin. That God is holy, and God takes sin seriously. It was a struggle for me is I realized that rather than being appalled or shocked by God's judgment, I ought to marvel at his grace. I ought to ask not the question, why would God bring about such a terrible act of judgment? I ought to ask the question, why does God not do this more often? And instead of being shocked by it, be so enamored by his grace that he doesn't wipe out more cities this way This was a symbol of God's holiness and a reminder of his justice, a reminder of his hatred of sin and rebellion and wickedness. Now, here's the beauty, we see his grace, verse 22. But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, Go into the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her. So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers, and all who belonged to her And they brought out all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel, and they burned the city with fire, and everything in it, only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the the house of the Lord, but Rahab the prostitute, and her father's household, and all belonged to her, who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive and she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out. Jericho. He found the two spies who went to land. They're going to know exactly where her house is. They're going to be able to recognize her, and they say, "Guys, as soon as the walls fall, your job is to go straight to the house of Rean. and make sure she's spared Why? Not just because her kindness she showed them, but because of her faith. The New Testament, in two places, Hebrews 1131, in James 225, Hold up Rahab as an example of saving faith. It wasn't just she helped you, so go save her. She helped you, but she helped you because she put her faith in your God. And because of her faith, she was spared. She was an example of faith saving us from judgment. In the midst of the ruins of Jericho, Rahab is a trophy of God's grace. and mercy." Verse 26. Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, "Curse before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation and the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates, so the Lord is with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land. You remember two weeks ago, when they crossed the Jordan, God had them set up a monument, 12 stones they stacked up in Gilgau. And he said, "Those stones will be a reminder of God's faithfulness. Anytime you see those stones, you' going to remember remember God's faithfulness and bring you across the Jordan River In the same way, the ruins of Jericho will be a memorial. He said,Rather than build it, we're going to leave it broken. We're going to leave it destroyeded. And this the ruins of Jericho will, for your people, for years to come, be a memorial to God's holiness and God's righteousness in God's judgment. In fact, he says, we're going to put a curse on it. Anyone tries to rebuild, it's going to cost him the life of his firstborn. We're actually, you can read this later on your own 1 Kings chapter 16, 1 Kings 1634, 500 years later someone will attempt to rebuild Jericho, and the curse he will face the curse of Jericho laid out here in verse 26. It is to remain a memorial to God's Holiness, left in ruins. Okay, what do we do with this? Let's bridge the gap now. We saw the walls crumble. marching, and trumpets blown in the Ark of the Covenant, the destruction of all the things in the city. What does this teach us today? Four keys to seen walls crumble. Four keys to seeing walls crumble. What is the wall you're up against today? Maybe one of these keys or some assortment of them is going to help you today. Number one, submit to God's authority. Submit to God's authority. Now, the marching of the men, the blowing of the trumpets, the crumbling of the walls, this is what we remember This is what we really focus on. But the battle really begins at the end of chapter 5, Rustin covered chapter 5 last week, so if you weren't here, you go back and catch that online. But I want to just dip back there for just a second, to the very tail end of it, because I think the story doesn't begin in chapter 6, verse 1. The story really begins in chapter 5, verse3. It was the year 1227 A.D, where someone said, what't it be helpful if the Bible was broken up in chapters? And aren't you glad they did that? How much easier is it to find our way through the Bible? There was a little girl, her name is Maddie. She's 10 years old. She was in the first service. She loves to her mom said she loves to follow along as we go through the passage. So she wanted to look it up ahead of time. So I told Maddie the passage. Bef before the service ever began, she got in the table of contents and she found Joshua chapter 6. Aren't you glad we can do that? Otherwise, say, "O, just keep flipping till you see the word "Jericho." Okay? So chapter divisions are helpful, but chapter divisions are not inspired by God. They're put there later to help us. Sometimes they break the story up. And this, I think, is one of those cases. I think if you really want to read the story of Jericho don't start in chapter 6, start in chapter 5. Listen to it, verse 13. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked him, behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, are you for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, "No, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord Now I have come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped and said, "What does my Lord say to his servant?" You see where the victory started? It starts right there. It doesn't start with the first lap, it doesn't start with the blowing of the trumpets. It stop the shouting the people. It's when Joshu Joshua fell in his face before the Lord and said, I am surrender to you, my commander, I will do whatever you tell me to do." You see, that's the key. If you get that right, chapter 6 is just pretty easy to do. If you get that wrong, you're never going to do chapter 6. So what all hinges right here, Rustin took us through that last week. He gave us that key question, or that key application last week.Don't ask't ask God to be on your side. be on God's side. That's what he's doing here. He's saying, "You are my commander." Let me ask you, are you submitted, submitted to the Lord's authority? You see, so often in the Christian life, we want a Savior, but not a Lord. We need a Savior and a Lord. We want God's help, but we don't want his authority. We want an adviser, not a commander. Joshua didn't go and say, "Could you give me some advice on how to take Jericho?" Joshua knelt before the Lord and said,, "Our victory is in your hands You are the only hope we have. You see, so often we focus on the guidance and not enough on the guide. What do you want in your life? Do you want God to be your advisor, or do you want him to be your Lord? Submit to him. Submit your walls to him, submit your challenges to him, submit your life to him. bow before him and say, "You are my commander. I just don't want your advice. I need your help in everything." You ever talk to someone who wants advice from you, and you give him advice, but you know without a doubt, they're not going to take it. It, I don't know what we're doing wasting some time here. I'm giving you advice, you're going to do what you want to do anyway. And sometimes you even think, I'll do this sometimes. I'll think, man,, if you if you would just do exactly what I tell you, this problem would be fixed. They're not going to do it. You know, how sometimes we go to God like that. God, give me some advice on what I ought to do. And God says, if you would just do exactly what I tell you, you wouldn't be in this spot. You do it exactly what I tell you. I'll take you through it. You follow my plan, you trust me, I'm going to take you through this. We don't need advice. We need a commander. We need an authoritative Lord that we've submitted ourselves to. Am I on God's side? Second, trust his plan. And say, once you've submitted to him, then you're saying, okay, give me the plan, no matter how crazy it is. Now matter if this thing I unfolds the way I want or not the way I want, it doesn't matter, because I'm going to trust your plan now. I've submitted my life to you, I committed myself to you I'm going to trust you. And this is what the focus is on in this passage. It's not about trumpets and walls and marching. It's about meticulous attention to the detailed plan that God gave them. Will you trust me? Many in this room that are are my age, you may have learned a lot about chapter 6 from the Veggie Tales version of the story as your children watched it. Many of you, that are in your 20s, may have learned a lot about chapter 6 from Veggie Tales themselves. How many of you saw the Veggie Tales version of Joshua chapter 6, okay? In my in depth study of this pastor this week, I went back and consulted it. It's's not quite the same as the passage in scripture. In that story, if you remember, the residents of Jericho spoke with a French accent, they were Peas, and they threw slurpees at the Israelites as they marched around their walls. It's not exactly who' seen the Bible, but some of the concepts are the same. I don't remember which vegetable said it, but there's one point in the episode where one of the vegetables marching around the wall, being mocked by the French peas on the edge of the wall, says, it's not because we're crazy. It's because God told us to do it this way. That's there's's some truth there. Israelites said, it's not because we're crazy. It's because we' God told us to do this. God's going to tell you to do some stuff that look crazy, and it feels crazy. And you're not going to say understand why God's leaving you down the path he's leading you down. Will you trust him? See, I try to I make plans three ways. Sometimes I make the best plan I can just hope it works out. Sometimes I get a little bit spiritual, I'll make my own plan and then ask God if he'll bless it for me. And then sometimes if I'm really thinking straight, I'll ask the Lord what his plan is and then try to do his plan. You kind of are guilty of those three different approaches, aren't you? We need to quit making our own plans and then hoping God blesses him, and we need to go first to the Lord and ask him his plan. God, what should I do? Get in His Word, get on your knees in prayer, get in community with other believers who will help you and pray with you and walk with you through this, and seek the Lord. Do you trust His plan? that His plan is better than your plan? Finally, follow third, follow God's lead. Follow his lead. Now, you submitted your life to him. God, I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to trust you. I have got my own ideas, but I'm going to follow yours. God, would you just lead me, guide me through this? I trust you, I submitted to you. I'm going to follow you. We can do that with confidence. Verse 2, he says, I've given you the land. You can trust him. You can be confident that we're fighting a battle he's already won, and we know how the story ends as we sing it about. Confidently follow his leadership in your life, consistently, from beginning to end. When we read about the Israelites marching on the wall later in the Newestent, Hebrewbrews chapter 11, verse 30, says this, By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days meticulous attention to detail. Don't stop walking. I wonder how many times things are not working out in my life because I quit a lap early of March for a day or two, maybe a third day, a fourth day, but I didn't complete the plan. I gave up too soon, consistently, completely follow him. Have you stopped watching? Have you kind of given up because you didn't see the results, or things got difficult, or things got uncertain? Will we be faithful, confidently, consistently, completely faithful to the plan of God, submit to him, trust him, follow him, and watch God turn barriers into stepping stones in your life Finally, the most important lesson from chapter 6 is to surrender to God's grace, surrender to God's grace. The most important lesson found in this chapter is one with eternal implications. The greatest wall in your life is your sin that separates you from God. And you've either that's been dealt with or it hasn't. The only way for that to be dealt with in your life is through faith in Jesus Christ, trusting His grace and His mercy. You see the contrast in this story Between the holiness of God and the mercycy of God. Verse 17, the city was devoted to destruction, but Rahab and her family were spared. We don't know how many more could have been spared. They heard the stories of the. God of Israel. They knew they were out there. Rahab put her faith in God and was saved. Ves 24 and 25, While the city burned, Rahab and her family were saved not just because she helped out these spies, but because she put her faith in the God of the spies. And the ruins of Jericho will remain forever a reminder of God's holiness, while Rahab remains forever a trophy of his grace. destroyed walls of Rahab and of Jericho, and the rest rescue of Rahab remind us of both the justice and the mercy of God, the holiness and the grace of God. And we see that theme all throughout scripture. When God destroyed the world by a flood, Noah was spared by God's grace. When God destroyed the city of Sodom, Blot was saved by God's grace. In the middle of the judgment of a holy God is the the offer of grace and mercy, and we have that today because of Jesus That's why Blake read earlier from John chapter 3. I'm going to put these back up. We had these read earlier in our worship services. This one you might know, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, whoever believes in H should not perish, but have eternal life We love that verse.. Jesus died on the cross for me, and if I believe in Him, I have eternal life, but we have to keep reading. Listen to how it continues. Verse 17, for God did not send his Son into the the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he's not believed in the name of the only Son of God. We have the opportunity. Just as Jericho was a picture of God's holiness and God's grace. The destroyed walls and the rescued prostitute. The cross is another reminder of God's holiness and his mercy where the demands of his holiness, demands for justice, demands of a righteous God were met on a cross so that we could have his grace and his mercy. Have you put your faith in his Son Jesus Christ? God's patience will not endure forever. He did not patiently endure with Jericho forever. There was a day where the walls came down. There'll be a day when things will crumble again. What side of the wall will you be on? When the walls crumble? Rahab was rescued because of her faith. Today, you can be safe by your faith in Jesus. Would you pray with me? That's you today. You'd say, there is a wall in your life, a wall separating you from God, you recognize that, and you recognize your need for forgiveness. You can call out to him right now, Jesus, I need your forgiveness. I can't tear down this wall on my own. I believe that your death on the cross brought down this wall of my sin. Jesus, forgive me. Jesus, I need your mercy., Jesus, I want you not just as my Savior, but as my Lord. I'm submitting my life to you. That could be your prayer today. Maybe you've prayed that before you're following Jesus today. Your prayers is God, let me submit to your authority. God, how many of my walls are because I'm not submitting to you, I'm not trusting you, I'm not following you. God, let me trust your plan. Let me follow your plan. God, I pray for the one here today who doesn't know you, who's separated from you by a wall of sin, when you open their heart to the good news of the gospel, the grace that you extend to Rahab, the grace you extend to all who put their faith in Jesus today Father, for those who have quit a lap short, helped them depress on those who are trying their own plan instead of your plan, bring their hearts back to a place of submission before you. Let us walk with you in our midst following your plan for our lives, trusting your grace and your mercy. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.