Remember Joshua? God's man who was to lead the Israel warriors into the Promised Land? A war was needed for God's people to take over the land for their own, and Joshua was appointed by God to be their leader. He was an all right kind of guy.
When Joshua and his men got close to Canaan, Joshua looked up and saw a man standing right in front of him with a drawn sword. Joshua asked, "Are you with us or against us?" And the man answered, "Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have come." Joshua fell face down in reverence, and asked, "Do you have a message for me from the Lord?" And the messenger said, "God has delivered you from harm, if you follow my instructions. March around the city of Jericho once with all your armed men. Do this for six days. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing their trumpets When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout, then the walls of the city will collapse and the people will go into the city, every man straight in." So, Joshua ordered the people to do that very thing.
On the seventh day, Joshua got up early and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets and the rear guard followed the ark. All the time the trumpets were sounding, but the people restrained from their war cries. They circled the city seven times and at the seventh time around, Joshua commanded the people to shout. "Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!" The people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet and the shouts of the people, the wall of the city collapsed. Every man charged straight in and they took the city, and devoted it to the Lord. But Rehab, the prostitute that had helped the Israelites who had spied out the city, was spared, along with her entire family. The gold and silver, bronze and iron was kept for the treasury of the Lord's house.
God's purpose in all of this was to keep the people's faith and religion from becoming contaminated. God did not want the plunder to remind Israel of Canaanite practices. And further, God had Joshua pronounce this solemn oath, "Cursed before the Lord is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city of Jericho." So, this is the plight and the sorrow of the city of Jericho. This curse was fulfilled in 1 Kings 16:34 when a man named Heil rebuilt Jericho and consequently lost his oldest and youngest sons.
Joshua today is celebrated by Sunday School children who so ardently sing, "Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho...and the walls came tumbling down."
In Jericho's case, the leaders and the people listened and obeyed God, and the results were what God had predicted and desired. When Israel eliminated sin from their community, the result was good. When they followed the desires of God and not their own, their result was like Jericho. When people obey God, His encouragement follows, His presence is known, His guidance and promise of victory is revealed, and His permission is given, and others know the people have followed God. Blessings always come when we turn from sin and follow God wholeheartedly.
It ain't easy, but it's better than getting poked in the eye with a stick! And I'm not kidding! Sin just wears me out, but I'll find an excuse for whatever it is because it's so hard to admit I have indulged in some thing that is repugnant to God. Better to get rid of it, at all costs! Ask someone to pray for you. It will truly help.
Your friend who knows the reality of sin and its harm,
Jo INMN
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