Day 2

Tuesday, January 26 – Day 2

SURRENDER & SELF-EMPTYING: Josh 6:1,2 – (SESSION 3)

Right at the start, Joshua 6:1-2 confounds both Joshua and us with contradictory logic. “Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua SEE, I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.” As Joshua looked toward the city, his eyes could not have seen it as defeated. But Christians are not supposed to look with physical eyes alone. Joshua was being asked to look with faith, trusting God to keep His word. In the will of God, the city was as good as taken. All His servant was required to do is ‘Believe it!’

Joshua probably had no problem in believing the Lord – even at this early point. He had seen God work from before the crossing of the Red Sea. If God now says that Jericho is defeated, then it is a defeated city as far as he is concerned. But not everyone has that same capacity for faith. And that is one reason the Lord leads the human leader. On Monday morning, or whatever the first day was, the order was given to the priests to take up the ark and the trumpets. The generals ordered their troops into position and the sound of the horns was heard, with everyone moving out. After a few minutes, the rest of Israel fell into place, keeping as quiet as church mice. Probably the majority of Israel truly believed that Jericho would fall. But nothing like that happened even as the sun started to go down over the western ridge, and Israel returned to her camp.

The next morning Joshua issued the same orders, and they were repeated by the high priest and the generals. Again, there was high expectation among the people, but again nothing happened. On day 3 everything was repeated, but probably a few hearts were filling with doubt – even murmuring. Based on our knowledge of human beings, by mid-week some were losing their confidence, their faith in the leadership of their pastor. At some point several probably began accusing Joshua of self-promotion, misuse of resources and outright foolishness.

But that was as much a part of God’s arrangement as the fall of the wall itself. God’s people may have faith, but often that faith is accidentally misapplied. Faith in marching, in knocking on doors, in yearly revival meetings, in church programs are not faith in God. Faith in Joshua or Moses, Paul or the Apostle John is not faith in the Lord. Israel needed to lose the confidence they had in themselves, their leadership, their past victories, and current service. Like Jonah, like Moses, like Elijah and every other great servant of the Lord, the nation needed to be stripped bare – emptied of everything but faith in the miracle-working God.

Then by the end of the twelfth trip around the city, many in Israel were physically worn out. They had to drag some of the kids around the city. Some were ready to quit; ready to lynch Joshua and elect a man with a lower vision. But Joshua knew that with one more circuit, God would step in and give them the victory. Those were seven days of self-emptying. And there has never been a saint of God who did not need that from time to time – and some of us need it more often than others.

So, as we collectively seek God for direction in our lives and in our church, let us engage in self-emptying so that there will be room for HIM to deposit HIS will into our lives.

WITNESS PROTECTION: Josh 2:1-13 (SESSION 4)

The world has a general knowledge of our God, and Jericho was no exception. Rahab told the two spies of Israel, “We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.” Ch. 6:1 says, “Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel.” To be more precise, the city was shut and barred because the Canaanites had heard what God had done through the children of Israel. In light of what they had heard, they needed to protect themselves. And in fact, they felt fairly well-protected. So, they stocked the city with supplies for a long siege. They made sure that their wells were in good order. They shut and secured the city gates and stationed warriors along the walls with trumpets or other devices to call for back-up.

Meanwhile Rahab hatched a plan to safeguard the men that had been sent to spy out the land. As we learn when reading chapter 2, the city had some suspicions about Rahab – the harlot. The king of Jericho demanded that she produce the spies from Israel who had crept into the city before it was shut up and before Israel crossed the Jordan. People suspected, but could not prove, that she had sympathies toward Israel.

When Jericho was destroyed, Rahab, the lowly prostitute, was spared. Her actions demonstrated her reverence towards the ones God had sent. Her actions displayed her faith, and God is not a respecter of people, He is a respecter of faith.

Acts 10:34:35: Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But, in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

God will always honor faith. It is not important to Him who displays the faith provided it is displayed and not misplaced. Let us place our confidence in Him. Seek Him and His righteousness and He will lead us in the way He wants us to go.