We turn this evening in God's Word primarily to Joshua chapter 6, but we will actually begin our reading in Joshua chapter 5, the verses just preceding chapter 6, beginning in Joshua 5 at verse 13, and we'll read through to verse 25 of Joshua chapter 6. Dear Saints, this is God's holy and inspired word, and that is why we pay careful attention to its reading. Joshua 5, beginning at verse 13. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked. And 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 to him, what does my Lord say to his servant? And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, take off your sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, see, I have given Jericho into your hand with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march round the city, all the men of war going round the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the Ark. On the seventh day, you shall march round the city seven times, and the priests 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 wall of the city will fall down flat. and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him. So Joshua, the son of Nun, called the priests and said to them, take up the Ark of the Covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the Ark of the Lord. And he said to the people, go forward, march round 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 bearing the seven trumpets of Ram's horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets with the arc of the covenant of the Lord following them. The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets and the rear guard was walking after the arc while the trumpets blew continually. But Joshua commanded 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 of the Lord to circle the city, going round it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And the seven priests, bearing the seven trumpets of ram'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 blew continually. And the second day they marched round the city once and returned into the camp. So they did for six days. On the seventh day they rose early at the dawn of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, Shout, for the Lord has given you the city, and the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab, the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But you keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, 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 silver and gold and every vessel of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord. They shall go into the treasury of the Lord.' So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. 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 sword. 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 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 of iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all 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. And this ends the reading of God's word. Would you pray with me again? Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word this night and bless it to us, our God, we pray. Bless us as we hear these words, our God, so familiar to many of us, our Lord, we pray that you would refresh us with them as we consider your ways and how you work and bring about redemption for your people. We pray asking in Jesus name, amen. In the book of Joshua, that which God has promised, he brings to completion. In this passage that we have read this evening, The gospel is set forth before us in preview as what we might call a type or as a shadow of things to come. There is Joshua. He is commissioned as the prophet like unto Moses with Moses' authority, with Moses' respect and adoration from the people. He is commissioned by the Lord to captain or command the armies of Israel crossing the Jordan and conquering the promised land. In Joshua, the promise to Abraham continues to be fulfilled that his seed would inherit all of the promised land. There's Rahab. She's a heathen, Gentile, prostitute woman who hears of the mighty acts of God and by faith aids the two spies sent by Joshua and finds Israel to be her rescuer. Joshua to be her savior from the imminent slaughter from, in fact, the wrath of God. In Rahab, the promise continues to be fulfilled, that Abraham would be the father of many nations, the deliverer of both Jew and Gentile. Then there was the crossing of the Red, or rather the crossing of the Jordan, as the Lord leads so the people follow in the arc of the covenant, the Lord's covenantal faithfulnesses powerfully portrayed in leading Israel across the river on dry ground. In this, Israel vividly experiences that the Lord delivers like he did with their father, so he has delivered them into their inheritance. In the crossing of the Jordan, the promise continues to be fulfilled in Israel's entrance into the promised land. There is also the filling up of the wickedness of the Amorites and the Canaanites. The completeness of the Canaanites' iniquity earned a divine judgment of what we might call a definitive character. There is also the renewed consecration of the people through the circumcision. There is the renewal day of Passover. And there is the day wherein manna comes no more because the fruit of the inheritance is full and abundant. And there is the day wherein the commander of the hosts of the Lord came to Joshua prior to the conquest of Jericho at the close of chapter 5. In all of these things, the promise to Abraham continues to be fulfilled by the Lord. In all of these things, which summarizes the book of Joshua up to this point, we see that what he says, he will bring to pass. The Lord of hosts powerfully accomplishes and brings to completion that which he promises always. We witness the powerful and holy manifestation of the mysterious figure of God himself. We might say the pre-incarnate son of God. Note how chapter 5 verses 14 and 15 There we see the commander of the Lord's army as he is described in the ESV also could be the captain or the prince or the chief comes from the same word we get czar from czar or Sarah princess, the captain or the commander or the prince of the heavenly army, the Lord's army told Joshua to remove his sandals in the same language as the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush. The commander, the captain, the prince is leading his army before the army of Israel. Preparing Joshua as he contemplates the city of Jericho before him. That city speaking to him of all of the force, and all of the power, and all of the wickedness, the strength, the might of the enemy of God. How in fact is this little nomadic nation of Israel to displace those who, as those who appears giants before the grasshoppers and are strong and fortified in the land. How? By what means will victory be gained? The one who confronts Joshua at the end of chapter five is identified as the commander, the captain, the prince of the hosts of the Lord. Now, at this point, Joshua, who's also the commander of the armies of the Lord, could have said something, pardon me, I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. I happen to be the captain, I happen to be the captain of the hosts of the Lord, but Joshua doesn't do that. At this point even, he understands, he realizes, what about the battle that is coming? Will it be won by the armies of Israel? And the answer is no. Israel cannot win this battle. The battle will not be won by Israel. In fact, you read the text that we read this evening together, they don't do anything except follow the instructions of the Lord. As the old hymn goes, They trusted and obeyed. And all they do is march around the walls. All they do is shout and blow trumpets as if they were servants to another army. Servants to an army not seen. And brothers and sisters, that's precisely the point. The victory will be won, it will be accomplished, but not by Israel. It will be accomplished by this one who has identified himself to Joshua as the commander, the captain, the prince of the hosts, the armies of the Lord. And that is what then for the experience of Israel and for the experience of the church means grace to us. The captain of this army leads the angelic hosts. This unseen angelic army goes in before the army of Israel, which is witnessed in the falling of the walls of Jericho without a single aggressive move on the part of Israel. Jericho, we are told, was given to Israel at verse two of chapter six. You see, this battle will not be won by Israel. In fact, they don't do anything other than trust and obey their God. All they do is march around the walls. All they do is shout and blow trumpets in accordance to the Lord's command. The victory will be won. It will be accomplished by the commander, by the captain, by the prince of the hosts of the Lord. Israel and Joshua will merely enter into that victory. obtained by the captain of the hosts of the Lord. And that is what then, for the experience of Israel and for the experience of you and me as the church, speaks grace to us. And so you see, in the destruction of Jericho and the felling of the walls, recorded for the church of all ages, we see in part the culmination of all of God's promises given to Israel by grace. These promises are coming to a high point in the Old Testament here now, in the complete annihilation of Jericho. It is as though all of Canaan is given into the hands of Israel in this one victory. The promised land is now Israel's. Now, by saying this, I don't mean to imply that you can just stop reading Joshua chapter 6 and say there's nothing to the rest of the book. I don't mean to imply that chapters 7 through 24, those chapters following this victory, are not important anyway. But the battles to come, that the battles to come are not significant. They are. But you see, the point that I am making is that there is something so very unique about the Battle of Jericho. That's why we come back to it all the time. There is something so very unique about the battle of Jericho that doesn't happen with the rest of the nations in the land which, by the way, total seven in all. That Israel was meant to wipe from the face of the earth. There is something unique in the way that the fall of Jericho is described for us. There is a sense of absolute finality and completion to these events. And I have in mind here not simply the extraordinary appearance of the commander, the captain, the prince of the Lord of the heavenly armies, which assures victory of course, but also the way in which God demonstrates that he is not only the author of this victory, but also the one who accomplishes the victory for his people. Now I'm sure You've read the story many times to yourself or with your children, and I'm just as sure that all of the sevens stood out in your mind then as it did when you read it this evening. First of all, there are the seven nations that Israel will defeat in the land of Canaan. That's not described for you here, but it is in Deuteronomy 7, when the Lord, your God, brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves. And when the Lord, your God, gives them over to you and you defeat them, Then you must devote them to the complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. There are the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets, marching around the city once each day for six days. And then on the seventh day, the seven priests with seven horns were to march seven times around Jericho. And then the seventh march around the city was complete. The priests were to blow the trumpets and the people were to shout with a loud voice. It's not just, you know, hey, let's pick seven. So we're told in verses 20 and 21, so the people shouted and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the trumpet, the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout and the wall fell flat so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him. Then they captured the city. They then devoted it all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep and donkeys with the edge of the sword. We're told specifically in verse 10, that the people were not to shout or make their voices heard until Joshua gave them permission, which he did in verse 16, on what day? Yes, on the seventh day. The point being that the bulk of this so-called battle of Jericho is a description of how the people followed God's instructions, followed the Lord's command through Joshua. The significance of the number seven in Scripture, you know, it's extraordinary, right? There's symbols all through it, right? The Scriptures, the number seven is highly figurative, it's symbolic, and it signifies completion, wholeness, fullness. And so when creation's complete, right? God rests the seventh day, creation's finished. The seventh day becomes, for the Old Testament saint, a day to look forward to. It's a day of rest, a day symbolizing that eternal and unending rest found in God. It's a day of complete and final rest in God's promised land. So I think it's safe for us to say that it's significant here, that the Israelites here facing the first battle against the seven heathen Gentile nations of Canaan are given all these unique marching orders in order to find victory. Not to mention that all of the marching orders are somehow related to the number seven, and that the miraculous bringing down of the walls occurs on the seventh day. And Israel, as Israel enters its final promise, it does so on the seventh day, entering into the fullness of God's promise to them and Abraham. You see, there's something unique. There is something unique about this victory, even when compared to the other victories that are found in this book. There is a sense of completeness, a sense of finality to this victory, as though going into Jericho communicates and says, it's all ours. We've got one battle down, but that battle means we've got it all. God's communicating not only to the Old Testament saints, but to us as well, that there is much more going on in this victory over Jericho than meets the eye. When God brings down the walls of Jericho, we need to see a complete victory over all the land. Not just over Jericho, but over all of the land. It's what we might call sort of an Old Testament version of the already-not-yet. They've got the city already, they just haven't got the whole of the country or Canaan yet. But its victory is sure. When God brings down the walls of Jericho, we need to see a complete victory. It's as if in this one victory, all of the land has been given over to Israel. It previews the most certain victories to come in the rest of the book, as well as the rest of redemptive history. The Lord will undoubtedly prevail in bringing his people into his land of promise. There is then a complete victory in view as we read through the events of Joshua 6. It's a complete victory wherein the Lord is the sole author and finisher. The Israelites simply obeyed the commands of the Lord and then entered into the victory accomplished for them by the Lord's act of bringing down the walls. In fact, you can imagine the Israelites marching around the walls of Jericho, which were all shut up inside and outside so that none came in or went out, we're told. You can imagine the Israelites in there marching, wondering, what are we doing here? Why aren't we getting ready to fight? You can imagine them thinking we look like fools going around and around and around. Isn't this just a useless exercise in futility? What are we doing? You can imagine it. But the amazing thing is that's not what happened. The amazing thing about these events is that Israel and Joshua leading them did not think this way. They took the Lord at His word and at His promise and trusted that He would do that which He has said He would do. And since He said He would give them the land of Canaan, so it must be. And so like Rahab, who by faith gave refuge to the spies, so also did Israel live by faith, thereby bringing down the walls of Jericho. Israel trusts and obeys her God here. It is by faith that the walls of Jericho fell. You ever hear that before? It is by faith that the walls of Jericho fell. That's kind of strange sounding language for us, that by faith the walls of Jericho fell, that Israel's faith brought down the walls of Jericho, but that's precisely how the preacher to the Hebrew puts it. In chapter 11, that faith chapter of Hebrews, chapter 11 verse 30, By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. You see, the chief emphasis in Joshua lies most certainly on God's act of giving the city of Jericho into Israel's hands. But given the amount of detailed instruction that precedes and surrounds this act, this victory, we see that when Jericho falls, when the walls fall, is by faith. This act of God will be accomplished through faith. Faith will lay hold of the truth and the reliability and the faithfulness of God, and of God's Word. concerning what he has said he will do. Faith will lay hold of God's promise. So tell me then, was Israel's seven-day march around the city useless? Was it silly? Was it fruitless? To many onlookers, it may very well have seemed pointless. To the residents of Jericho, may very well have been jeering at them from the city walls. Look at those people, they're just sort of circling, going round and round and round. They got a priest in the front, they're carrying a little box called an ark. What are they doing? They may very well have been jeering at those little people going round and round in circles, but to Israel, it was the word of God. and they obeyed every command by faith, we're told. This chapter of Joshua has a prophetic message for the church today. It must persevere in its wilderness journey and carry out its charge in the obedience of faith, even when and especially when those seem fruitless in the eyes of the world. I'm told this morning you guys took the Lord's Supper So did we. What does that look like to the world? Looks like foolishness. You come here Lord's Day by Lord's Day and you hear some guy talk about some book. That looks like foolishness to the world. But God tells us in his word, he promises. He says, by this word and through this word, I reveal myself to you. I make myself known and through this word that comes to you, I will bring life. To the world, the things we do look silly, odd, foolish. Trust the promises of God, dear saints. The church must trumpet the continuous sound of God's word in its preaching. and it must rest in confidence that in God's time, its great leader, Jesus Christ, will give the signal that will finally collapse even the strongest bulwark of hostile power to God that holds sway in this world. Dear saints, we live through the transforming grace given us in obedience to God's word, but we don't live in obedience to God's command so that we may gain a victory. The victory's already yours. because Christ has destroyed the powers of wickedness once and for all at the cross. To use New Testament language, we might say you obey the commands of God because He first loved you and has drawn you to Himself so that you now love Him. You're to be encouraged by the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is already accomplished for you, even as it's set before you in a book like Joshua. that your joy would overflow with thankfulness and love for God. As we come to a close this evening, I want you to see something of the grace of God throughout this passage, as it comes to how it comes to expression beautifully here. In verse 21, God commanded the slaughter of every inhabitant inside Jericho, both man and woman, young and old, and all the oxen, sheep and donkey, all wickedness wiped away with the edge of the sword. Now, you can read over that pretty quickly, but you need to pause there. Because in case you didn't hear it, that includes old people, boys and girls, little babies and their mothers. This destruction cannot be sugarcoated. This is a picture of the end of the world, you understand. The end of wickedness. We cannot sugarcoat these passages and make it to make it more palatable. This is mass destruction of wickedness. Now, where is the grace and love of God in this that I just mentioned? Well, you see the wonder and the beauty of it all is in the midst of the destruction is that Rahab and all her family were spared, that any were spared. that any were spared. And that's a message of grace to you and me. Figuratively speaking, you too were shut up within those walls of Jericho under the weight of God's wrath until someone came to bear God's wrath for you, that you would be spared. So that's a message of grace. You see, that's grace when the commander of the Lord of hosts, the captain of the Lord of hosts, the prince of the Lord of hosts, not only wins the victory for you and you enter that victory by grace through faith, yes, but the wonder of it all is that your captain took the wrath, poured out on Jericho to himself, that you would be spared like Rahab. And all that is required of you is to rest in the promises of God. Rest in his grace. Rest in his accomplished victory for you already. The victory is already won. The testimony to your humility is that you enter into the triumph that is accomplished and completed for you already. in Christ, your commander, your captain, your prince. And that's how you give him glory. That's what he wants from you. The only thing of value is for you to enter into the victory and the triumph of Christ so that you may in all humility, so that you may affirm that it is all of grace. Listen, if you're sensitive to a certain lack of spiritual power in your life, maybe with regard to temptation, to various sins that plague you, if you're having difficulty spiritually, this is a message for you, you see, because it's the gospel. And it's grace, wonderful, life-transforming grace. So let me tell you that this is something that we call good news. When you go to this, you're God. Because it really is good news, believing on Jesus Christ and resting in His victory over all of His and your enemies. As it was the captain of the Lord of hosts who won the complete victory for Israel, so also Christ won the victory for you. Rest in it! Delight in it! Rejoice in it! Yes, there are several battles that remain in your life. Several battles that remain until Christ returns in consummation, but you can be assured that as certainly as the promised land of Canaan was given to Israel of old, is as certain as the true heavenly promised land above has been given to you. Because of Christ's victorious death, resurrection, ascension on high where He is now. You see, it really is good news! For it is by grace that you've been saved, not of yourselves. This is all a gift given to you, as Canaan is given as a gift to Israel. For you, dear saints, in the fullness of God's revelation, we know who our captain, commander, and prince is. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The prince of the armies of the Lord, whose victory for us is effectual, and that we praise Him for. You see, in that great day, all people of true saving faith will rejoice in God and will worship Him forever. They'll sing together, hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for His judgments are true and just. For He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged on her the blood of His servants. And just like the saints of Joshua's day, dear saints, including Rahab, we too look for that city which is to come. and we shall be brought into the great and glorious triumphant victory of our King and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Captain, Commander of our salvation. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you, O Lord, for a glorious and victorious salvation. Met you, we can say it was all of grace. You have accomplished it all for us, O Lord. And we simply enter in on the train of Jesus Christ. So all blessing and honor and glory is yours, O Lord. And so might your name be honored among us, and might we, our God, might we as your people simply find rest in you, in your completed salvation. Help us, Lord. A people so, so often busied with doing, doing, and doing. On this, the day of rest, our God, help us, Lord, to find rest in Thee. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.