Read Joshua 6

Keeping God’s Word (And Our Own!)

God was precise in His instructions for taking Jericho: take the ark of the Lord and march around the city once for six days with the priests blowing their trumpets, and after you march around it once, return to camp. Then march seven times on the seventh day, and when the priests finish blowing their trumpets on that seventh day, shout! With that shout, God said that “the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him” (Joshua 6:5).

Can you imagine what the people of Jericho must have thought? The Israelites march around once, then walk away. The second day the same thing happens. Every day for six days straight, they walk away after marching around the city once. What are they doing?

Then, on the seventh day, they don’t stop after one lap. They don’t stop the second time around. They keep marching. Three times. Four. Jericho must have wondered why they were not attacking. Five, six, seven. And now they’re shouting after that seventh trip. Jericho’s watchmen, standing on top of the wall, feel the stones shift under their feet. The wall is coming down. All around the city, the wall is crumbling, falling apart. Nothing is left standing, except for one section.

Inside that one section is the house of the harlot, Rahab. The spies had promised to spare her and her family if they remained in their house. The Israelites had obeyed God, the harlot had followed the spies’ instructions, and all of Jericho was destroyed except for her family.

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Joshua had not told Israel to obey God’s orders? What would have happened if they refused to march? If they questioned His wisdom? If they said, “We don’t see the point”? Those stones would not have shifted. The wall would have stood still. Israel would not have defeated Jericho.

Faithful obedience is required of all who desire to follow God. Keeping His Word, and keeping our own word, is required! The children of Israel followed His instructions, and they kept the promise they had made to Rahab.

Are you keeping God’s Word? Are you keeping your own?

Read Joshua 5:13-15

“Are You For Us Or For Our Adversaries?”

It was a fair question, wasn’t it? You are the leader of the people ready to fight and take the land away from Jericho, and you see “a Man…with His sword drawn in His hand” (Joshua 5:13). He appears powerful, but not menacing. Would you not ask Him the same question? “Whose side are you on? Are you for us or for them?”

The answer is telling. “No.” This Man was on no one’s side. What mattered was whose side Joshua and the children of Israel chose. “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come” (Joshua 5:14).

Eliza E. Hewitt and William J. Kirkpatrick wrote a song in the late nineteenth century, “Who Will Follow Jesus?” That’s the proper way to look at it. It is not a matter of, “I want to do this, and I hope Jesus goes with me.” We should instead say, “I want to know what Jesus wants me to do, and I will follow Him!” As the songwriters asked in their song, “Who will follow Jesus? Who will make reply, ‘I am on the Lord’s side; Master, here am I’?”

The Man that stood opposite Joshua before Israel took Jordan was none other than the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ Himself. “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

Notice Joshua’s immediate response to this declaration: “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, ‘What does my Lord say to His servant?’” (Joshua 5:14). Is this our response to the Lord’s presence? When we open His Word to study, do we approach it with this attitude? Or do we simply look for justification for our actions, not seeking to follow Jesus but hoping that He will follow us?

We must approach God’s inspired Word with reverence. It is the “Holy” Bible. The “Holy” Scriptures. “Holy” Writ. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Do not treat His Word as a snack that you occasionally nibble on during the week as you wait for Sunday. Sit down and feast on the spiritual diet every day, asking as you read, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

Read Joshua 3-4

Crossing the Jordan

God often used extraordinary events to demonstrate His approval of an individual. In the case of Moses, He worked many signs in the presence of Pharaoh and later in the presence of the children of Israel. In Joshua’s case, the Lord again demonstrated that He was with Joshua as the leader of Israel. “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Joshua 3:7). Perhaps there was some trepidation among the people after the passing of the man who led them out of Egypt; God wanted to set their minds at ease and show that He was still their protector and guide, and that He was now working through Joshua the son of Nun.

Just as the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry ground, on this occasion they passed through the Jordan in the same manner. “About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho” (Joshua 4:13). Finally, they were preparing to fully obey the Lord and take what He had given them.

As a memorial of this event, Joshua commanded twelve men to each take a stone from the Jordan. These twelve stones were set up in Gilgal as a reminder of what God had done for them and as a teaching opportunity for future generations.

What extraordinary events has God done to show that He is with you? Did you read your Bible today? That book is the product of miraculous inspiration! Have you reflected recently upon Jesus’ crucifixion? That demonstrated the powerful love of God for you! How long has it been since you read about the resurrection of Jesus? That act proved His power over death!

What in your life resembles the memorial stones? Did you partake in the Lord’s Supper this past Sunday? There you have the weekly reminder of that love that drove Jesus to the cross.

How do we know that God is with us today? When we live according to the words that He revealed in the Scriptures, when we remember His Son’s death each first day of the week, and when we look forward with hopeful anticipation to the resurrection, we can know that God is with us. “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5).

Read Joshua 1

Be Strong and of Good Courage

Three times in the first chapter of the book of Joshua, the Lord told Joshua to “be strong and of good courage” (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9). Moses, the brave leader of the Israelites had just died, and now this man Joshua, who had helped Moses and trusted in the Lord, was chosen to lead God’s people.

Can you imagine yourself in such a situation? Taking the place of the man who has led the nation for forty years, who stood up to Pharaoh, who patiently guided the stiffnecked people through the wilderness. Are you ready for such a challenge?

Many great men and women of God, whose faith and whose courage were above average, have passed on. Who will fill their shoes and keep preaching the gospel and encouraging the church as faithfully as they did?

We must encourage our young people now to think about their future in the church. We need boys who want to grow up to be elders, deacons, preachers, and Bible class teachers. We need girls who want to marry those future leaders and who want to raise their children in the Lord and who wants to teach other women and children how to follow Jesus.

Parents and grandparents have such a tremendous influence on young minds. We must be intentional about this! Just as the young evangelist developed a “genuine faith” by watching and emulating his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5), we must be setting a proper example for the young people around us to follow. And as we set that example, remember the words God had for Joshua, “Be strong and of good courage!”

Joshua needed that encouragement, but notice that he received it from more than just God. The children of Israel encouraged their new leader as well, saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go….Only be strong and of good courage” (Joshua 1:16, 18).

When is the last time you encouraged the elders where you serve? Or the deacons who are working hard to see that their areas of work are effective? Or the preacher who has faithfully delivered the gospel message week in and week out? Make it a point this week to tell them, “Be strong and of good courage!”