KEEP YOUR FAITH

Joshua 5:13-6:7

Faith is absolutely necessary in order for us to experience a great future. I believe right from the start of this series, I did not fail to emphasize the fact that a great future comes as a blessing to those who truly honor the Lord in their lives. And there's nothing that honors God more than anything than entrusting your life completely to Him. I'm sure you're familiar with Hebrews 11:6:

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Evidently, since God is invisible, it is only through faith that anyone will continue to pursue Him. He or she needs to firmly believe that God is true and what He says is true, and pursuing Him will bring rich blessings in life.

This was the kind of faith, which was required in order for Israel to move into the Promised Land. Our text records how the Lord granted them victory over the people of Jericho. This victory was obviously a result of great faith on their part. The New Testament chapter on faith did not fail to mention this:

Let's study this account and discover what they needed to do in order to keep their faith in God.

I     CHOOSE WHOSE SIDE YOU BELONG: (5: 13-15)

Reading the story, we would find Joshua probably surveying Jericho, when he was met by the angel of the Lord who had his sword drawn.

Seeing him, Joshua asked a very significant question, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" Honestly, at the outset, I was expecting the angel would say, "Don't worry Joshua, I am on your side." But the response Joshua got was "Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come."

What do you think was the reason behind the angel's neutrality? I firmly believe that God was impressing to Joshua that since He was the One in-charge of the battle, it was Joshua who needed to choose whose side he wanted to be allied with.

Without a question, people who want to be victorious in their battles in life must be willing to surrender first to God. Paul reminded the Christians in Rome:

Indeed, we have the assurance of being conquerors in Christ. But let's us not miss the implication that before we can be conquerors, we must first be conquered.

This is illustrated in the next verses whereby Joshua will fall face down to the ground before the commander of the Lord. This gesture was a sign of great respect and submission to the authority of the Lord.

How about you? Have you already chosen whose side you belong? Are you fighting for or against the Lord? There a time in the ministry of Elijah that Israel had experience a great famine because they have chosen the wrong side. Elijah challenged the people to make the decision to be on the better side:

It was only after Elijah had proven that God was better than Baal that the people had taken God's side. Today it is important as we face many battles - physically, emotionally and spiritual that we determine that we are on the Lord's side. I hope we keep our faith in God by consistently choosing to be on His side.

II    CARRY OUT HIS INTRUCTIONS: (6: 1-5)

Before we proceed and talk about the battle plans which God has laid out to Joshua, let's familiarize ourselves first with Jericho - the city they were to invade.

Jericho was a city of about 8.5 acres of land, which was built to withstand invasion of enemies. The city was surrounded on all sides by two walls of defense. John Garstang, an Archaeologist, described the walls of Jericho in Joshua's day:

"The outer wall was six feet thick and the inner one twelve feet thick, and there was a rubble-filled space of about fifteen feet between them."

With such an obstacle which stood in the way of the nation of Israel, The Lord gave Joshua the instructions on how to conquer Jericho:

"March around the city once each day for six days. And on the seventh day march around the city seven times. 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 all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."

If you were on the shoes of Joshua, would you have responded, "Let's go for it?" Or you probably have argued, and said, "This is not going to do it." Obviously, the battle strategy was unreasonable, nevertheless in verses 6-7, Joshua responded with an unquestioning obedience.

As the captain of the Israelites army, Joshua's formula for victory was simple - DOING EXACTLY WHAT GOD TOLD THEM TO DO. The question for us is: Are we willing to follow his example? God has clearly warned us against leaning on our own understanding:

The wise king Solomon understood that it is still much better to trust the Lord by obeying Him with all you heart, rather than leaning on your own understanding.

III   COMPLY TILL THE END: (6:3-5)

If go back to God's instructions, you probably have noticed that the entire plan needed seven days all in all. Now the question is: Could God have finished everything in one single day? Absolutely! Then, why did He have to do it on the seventh day? Well, you probably have heard about the significance of the number seven in the Bible. Scholars have interpreted it as the symbol of completeness or perfection. In our passage, I believe the point is God was also perfecting their faith through the waiting process.

Many of us don't enjoy waiting. However, waiting on the Lord could result in great blessings. Dr. Alan Redpath in his commentary on Joshua suggested that many people don't see the answers to their prayers simply because they have stopped one round short in their conquest of their personal Jericho. We may have been doing the right things, but we simply stop doing them.

What is even interesting is Joshua's instruction to the people, which is found in verse 10:

But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!"

Can you imagine the difficulty of this? Several hundred thousand people marching around the city without a word, not even a whisper! The passage does not tell us why they were to be silent, but perhaps it illustrates and teaches the principle of being silent before God and just resting in Him.

We all have the tendency to gripe and complain or reason out, but with God our best option is to be quiet, to just watch and see what He will do in our midst as we continue to trust in Him.

Are you willing to persevere until you have completely obeyed? God promises strength if we wait on Him:

Christian life is a journey of faith. We begin in faith and must finish in faith. If we want to experience a victorious journey, we have to absolutely keep the faith until the end.