July 17 2016 Jericho by Dick Cooper

I’ve never taken any speech classes in the past but I have picked up a few helpful tips along the way. Some who teach speech claim in order to make an effective speech you must say what you are going to say, then say it, then tell them what you just said. I tend to get annoyed being told three times and it seems to me you could get done in one third the time if you just said it once clearly. But to make sure I am going to talk about Jericho today.

I have heard many great speeches and sermons over the years. One reason I knew they were good was because every they would often start by saying something like, today I want to talk about what may be the single most important lesson you as a Christian can learn. So today I wish they were here so we could hear the single most important lesson. I have since forgotten what that was. Instead I am going to talk about Jericho. Over the last few weeks Mike has been talking about some of the aspects that define us as a church. A couple weeks ago when Mike was discussing pervasive scriptures, I like that phrase. It talks about scriptures being more than just something we hear about Sunday morning, but scriptures that permeate every aspect of our lives and influence all our decisions. So when he talked about this he suggested we take a story section and read it from the perspective of different characters in the story. It offers a greater
depth in understanding. So you guessed it, I read through the story of Jericho.

But to get a good picture about Jericho we should move the clock back a bit.

Abraham was a jolly old man and a jolly old man was he. He and Sarah were very old, even older than me when God came to him and told him that he would bless him and give him descendants that outnumber the stars of heaven. But he was already 99. A couple things I know – 99 is really old to start having kids. And having that many kids running around when you are 99 can be a real challenge. But that’s the promise God made. Descendants that outnumber the stars and the land of Canaan where he was residing as an alien.

Genesis 17: 3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. 7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. 8 I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

Now we all know our bible and we know that Abraham didn’t have that many kids and
he really didn’t end his life in Canaan. We know he had Ishmael through Hagar and a handful
others through Ketura. But the promise was through Sarah and he only had Isaac. And then
Isaac maybe only had the two boys Jacob and Esau. Jacob had a handful of boys
through various wives and a whole other series of adventures with the 12 of them. It ends up
with all Abraham’s descendants living in Egypt to avoid a famine in their land. So Abraham – though he lived to maybe 175 didn’t really live to see a great nation nor his promised land.

The bible is funny. I can say with confidence that Jesus is God the man Son of God who lived a man and died on a cross for all of mankind’s sins and then rose again on the third day (not to be confused with the music group) victorious over death and is now seated at the right hand of God the father offering salvation to all who believe. Beyond that most things are kind of grayish. Here is one of those topics: how many years were the Jews actually in Egyptian captivity? You can read 400 years or 430 years or even 215 years. You can go home today and have all kinds of fun discussing and arguing that but I don’t really care. The bible isn’t exactly written as an actual factual textbook but it is written in story form relating God’s involvement in this creation. It’s primary purpose is to provide a clear picture of God, his character and his dealings with us. Historical facts are often helpful and are included but not the primary focus. So today I am only going to discuss the facts that are fun to me.

As I mentioned Israel was captive about 400 years. Don’t care about the details. In Acts 7 it says 400 years.

Acts 7:6New American Standard Bible (NASB)
6 But God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

So for 400 years Israel complained to God to give them their land. 400 years is a long time. As I remember my history Jamestown was 1607 and Plymouth was 1620. In some ways you could say white Americans have been here 400 years. This is what can be accomplished in that much time. Also about that time the first slaves were brought over from Africa. So the black / white issue has been going on for 400 years. It is odd that the white man came in a sense to flee from religious slavery and the black man was brought to live in slavery. 400 years is a really long time.

The Bible tells us around 600,000 men 20 years and older were involved.

Numbers 1: 44 These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each of whom was of his father’s household. 45 So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war in Israel, 46 even all the numbered men were 603,550.

If you double that to include women we are at 1.2 million. Maybe double that including children and elderly. These numbers were men over 20 years old who could go to battle so they may not include elderly or infirm. There could be 3 million people involved. Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo combined are around 2 million people. Chicago is around 3 million people. This could be a group out of Egypt about the size of Chicago. That’s a lot of porta poddies.

In answer to their request God gave them Moses – you all know him. His close friends used to call him holy moses. He was an introvert with a speech impediment but a man who allowed God to use him. He led the tribe after 400 years of waiting and yearning – a great nation that outnumbered the stars – out of Egypt and into the wilderness.

So even though the Jews were considered aliens and foreigners they were there for 400 years and always looking forward to the promised lands of Abraham. They knew the lands were promised and they knew what lands they were. Then all of a sudden along comes a speech impaired old man telling pharaoh to set my people free. Probably on one hand pretty exciting but on the other, now, after 400 years, they need to pack up and take a hike. 250 miles typically about a month. They knew they would need to only take the necessities. I suppose they had wagons. When I take my wagon to a gig the trunk is full of my sound gear and the backseat of my instruments. That only leaves the passenger seat so after packing all my valuables I would need to choose between Sue or Witt or maybe Zoey. This trip must have been greatly anticipated but also now it is here greatly feared. They are leaving everything they and their ancestors have known for 400 years and only take a few possessions.

God did not choose to take the nice northern route since it was through philistine and Egyptian territory but took a less direct route south. But still there were issues and lessons along the way. At one point Moses talked with God and ended up with the laws of Deuteronomy (10 commandments plus a few others). While he was doing that the people worshiped idols. They wandered and ended in Kadesh Barnea where many of the Jews couldn’t take any more and rebelled against Moses and his brother and sister Aaron and Mirian. Many deserted. I don’t know how many remained but it would seem that those who really believed were the ones left. They had seen the MGM Cecile B DeMille grandiose scale miracles God had done and seen his faithfulness providing day after day and believed He was really there.

We often kid around about how often the Jews would see a miracle and then turn around and do something dumb. We even joke about the disciples. As I was pondering all this it occurred to me that maybe these stories weren’t included as examples to avoid or simply for our amusement at others failures but maybe these were the ones who did well and we should strive for their level of faith. After all how many of us, after living here for 400 years would be willing in the next couple days to leave everything we have worked for and hike into another country with just a handful of possessions and no promise of food or shelter for at least the next 30-40 days while we hike 250 miles into enemy territory to capture it. Oh yeah and we don’t have an army either. Maybe we are the amusement.

I thought about prayers. Don’t know about you but there have been things that I earnestly prayed for maybe even for a week or two. Sometime while sipping my latte I would remember some major issue I was praying for and offer another prayer. These people were way beyond that. They lived in a strange land and never called it home for 400 years. They were mistreated and mocked and never ceased to cry out for God to fulfill his promise – FOR 400 YEARS! That is persistence and devotion and faith.

There was a number of men not allowed in Moses was one. I thought it interesting that the law was brought to the world through Moses. Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. In a way it was like saying that the law does not bring you into the Promised Land.

So after about 40 years in the wilderness, along comes Joshua. While wandering around they scouted out this promised land and found it indeed was flowing with milk and honey – and giants and warriors. Two of the scouts saw no problem with this while the other 10 argued against going in. One of the positive scouts was Joshua. Joshua succeeded Moses and became the new leader of Israel. And they were finally allowed to enter the land.

Once again God parted the waters to let them cross then they worshipped. They finally get in but there are obstacles and adversaries and battles. The first obstacle was Jericho. They approach the city and see a huge walled in fortress all locked up with warriors inside. I’m not sure what Israel thought but God seemed all pleased and said

Joshua 6: 2 “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors.”
The part about a king and valiant warriors may not be a comfort to me.

The Lord continues to give some instructions that don’t exactly sound like typical warfare procedures. Israel was supposed to walk around the city once and not make a sound. Then they do the same again the next day, And the next. For 6 days they should walk around the city and not say a word. Maybe Joshua was thinking ahead about how God made the world in six days and rested the seventh. Maybe they would get to rest the seventh??? Nope. On the seventh they do it all again but this time they march 6 times around the city quietly and on the seventh when Joshua gives the signal they blow a horn and watch what happens.

I don’t know about you but if I had just spent 400 years in a foreign land when I was promised a land flowing with milk and honey and then crossed the parted sea and started my 30 day journey to my promised land only to take 40 years and now here I am in a promised land where I am told this crazy idea for capturing the first obstacle, I may be a bit skeptical. Joshua was convinced. He had talked face to face with God. He must have conveyed his understanding to the people clearly because they seem to have bought into it. They could have become a bit like sheep after all these years of hiking around a desert and followed by rote but I believe for the most part they bought in. They owned the message and they owned the mission.

There is a passage in

Acts 17:11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

Paul taught in the synagogue and probably many people listened. I thought it interesting that he says of the Bereans that they were noble-minded because they searched the scriptures to see for themselves whether what was said was true. It wasn’t more bull-headed pig-headed or argumentative but noble-minded to do that. It is important that we search the scriptures for ourselves until we “own” what we believe. It is truly wonderful having a pastor who studies and is very knowledgeable about the scriptures who challenges us weekly. But simply accepting what is said from the pulpit isn’t noble minded. That is no minded. Searching the scriptures and developing our own convictions is the nobility God wants to see in each of us; to own the message and to own the mission from God directly to each of us.

Around 30 years ago the Brenners and Sue and I went on a wilderness mission. We were a team that our church sent to Cleveland to plant a new church. Just the four of us. Actually the Brenners had just had their first child and were a bit delayed. We had recently had our 4th child so we were a pretty formidable team. We left our friends and family and support to travel to a foreign land. It wasn’t long before we all felt a bit stretched and lost. At least I did. We were a part of a bigger adventure and it seemed like soon we were forgotten, stranded and even betrayed. These were all probably reactions to the fact that I felt inadequate and overwhelmed. I imagine the Jews may have had similar feelings at times. But Sue and I have talked often about those times and we would not want to change them. We found that in many ways we had become comfortable following what everyone else was doing with kids, marriage, jobs, church, whatever. But during this time we found ourselves often asking what do we do now? There weren’t many people around to discuss our issues with. We would pray, read and discuss what we felt God would have us do and we soon found that we had bought the message and mission that God had directed us. I am not talking about just a lone wolf type of belief and understanding. There are personal convictions but there must also be community convictions. Somehow God is able to deal with us as individuals and as a community at the same time. We are all in this together.

In closing, we all have or will or are going through rough wilderness times. Those are god’s growing grounds. We may not like it but God sees these times as necessary. They made Israel focused and intent and ready to endure the difficulties in taking their land. It made them appreciate the milk and honey. When we work and suffer for something we appreciate it all the more. Once we have the prize it can be easy to take things for granted and coast and loose the love and joy. So remember as we struggle through our wilderness that God can make even the most strongly fortified massive stone walls crumble and fall down in His best timing.

One thing that stood out to me through all of this is that through this entire history, God was with them. Through all their troubles in Egypt for 400 years and the wilderness and the into the promised land, with all the difficulties and hardships and setbacks where it could have seemed that God had deserted them, he was really there with them the whole way. They got their nation and they got their land and their faith grew deeper and their resolve more steadfast which is really what interests God the most.

Do I have time to review Achan?...

This battle was difficult but the Jews part was fairly simple. March and don’t say anything for 6 days. The seventh day march six times and don’t say anything then on the Seventh blow the horn and shout. After they shout the walls fall and they are to go in destroy everything except Rahab, then pile the loot in the center because that is Gods. However, one guy named Achan decided to take some loot. I think maybe instead of focusing on God’s grace and faithful provision Achan was maybe still focused on all the troubles they had gone through and maybe was hoping to hold back a bit in times of need. But God’s viewpoint is interesting:
Joshua 7:1 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
Achan’s sin was done in private but was definitely a private thing. The next battle was against Ai. They confidently went out and convincing got beaten badly. Many Israelis dies that day. They soul searched to find why this happened and found Achan. They asked him to give glory to God and tell why he did this.
Joshua 7:20,21 “Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.” A shekel is about 19 ounces. At today’s prices that is $76,000 silver (3800 ounces) and $1,263,500 gold (950 ounces) the mantle probably was a kings robe.
He saw, he coveted, he took and he hid. How easy it is to be enticed by the world’s riches and lose our focus. It seems that the rest of the people were intent on following God’s leading. They had grown accustomed to seeing God work in unusual ways and were ready to listen to Gods direction on each step.

When Joshua started God came to and and instructed him and then promised

Joshua 1:5-9 5 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

He knew he was asking a lot of Joshua but he knew Joshua was a man who loved his God. In a similar way He has spoken to each of us in

Matthew 28: 18-20 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And just like with Joshua he will be with us.