We're going to take up our series again in Joshua, so if you would turn with me to the book of Joshua. It follows Deuteronomy and comes before Judges, the book of Joshua. We're going to read from chapter 5, starting at verse 13, and reading through the end of chapter 6. Joshua 5, beginning at verse 13, reading through chapter 6. Hear now the word of our God. Now, when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, Are you for us or for our enemies? Neither, he replied. But as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. Then Joshua fell face down on the ground in reverence and asked him, What message does my Lord have for his servant? The commander of the Lord's army replied, Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the Lord said to Joshua, See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of ram's 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 so Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it and he ordered the people advance march around the city with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord when Joshua had spoken to the people the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets and the ark of the Lord's covenant followed them. The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 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. So he had the Ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there. Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests took up the Ark of the Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the Ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them, and the rear guard followed the Ark of the Lord while the trumpets kept sounding. So on the second day, they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day, they circled the city seven times. The seventh time around, when the priest sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise, you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord. and must go into his treasury when the trumpet sounded the people shouted and at the shout of the sound of the trumpet when the people gave a loud shout the wall collapsed so every man charged straight in and they took the city they devoted the city to the lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it men and women young and old cattle sheep and donkeys. Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, go into the prostitute's house and bring her and all who belong to her in accordance with your oath to her. So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belong to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel. Then they burned the whole city and everything in it but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the lord's house but joshua spared rahab the prostitute with her family and all who belonged to her because she hid the men joshua had sent his spies to jericho and she lives among the israelites to this day at that time joshua pronounced this solemn oath cursed before the lord is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city jericho at the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates so the lord was with joshua and his fame spread throughout the land thus far the reading of god's word may he bless it to us i hope that you had a chance to look at the title to my sermon before i got here and i entitled this sermon who fought the battle of jericho i'm also hoping that when you thought of that a song came to your head maybe a song you learned in sunday school or maybe just the song you've heard that famous song joshua fought the battle of jericho and the walls came tumbling down i won't try to sing it i have a i have a heart for you, so I won't do that. But I'm hoping that that at least came to your mind. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho. But maybe you thought, well, he's a seminarian and they think they're pretty smart, so maybe he's trying to trick us with that question. He really wants us to say that God fought the battle of Jericho. That is the answer to the question I want you to have. As we consider this passage tonight, I want us to think about the fact that God fought this battle. God fought this battle. Why is that important for us today? Why is it important that God fought this battle? Because in many ways, situations like this will be things that people point to and say, that right there is why I don't believe in the Christian religion. That right there is why I won't believe in your God. Look at how he behaves. Look at how he cuts down the innocent. How can he be a loving God? How can he be a merciful God when he will let this kind of judgment come on the city? And as we consider this story, that's something we have to wrestle with too. And that's why it's important that we start with answering the question that God fought this battle. Then we look at why he fought this battle. And most importantly, how he fought this battle. And I'd suggest that we see three things here about how he fought this battle. In the first place, he fights this battle by his supreme commander. In the second place, he fights this battle with strange tactics. And in the third place, he fights this battle with severe justice. So with his supreme commander, with strange tactics and with severe justice. So what about this supreme commander? Why do we begin in chapter 5, verse 13, and not in chapter 6? Well, if you're reading in NIV, maybe it's because the Bible tells us so, right? You have a heading there, the fall of Jericho. Well, not all scholars agree that this ought to be treated together with the fall of Jericho. I think it should be. I think the NIV has cut a good balance here. Why? Because Joshua is near Jericho when this story starts. What do you think he's doing near Jericho at this point? Well, the Lord has told him that he will be with him, that he will deliver over the Canaanites into the hand of the Israelites. But Joshua hasn't been told how that's going to happen. And he shows himself here to be a fit commander of the people. What does a good military commander do before he goes into battle? He surveys the ground. He sees what he's going to be up against. In all likelihood, that's what Joshua is doing near Jericho. He's taking a look at the city. He's spying it out. He's looking at the ground that the Israelites are going to have to fight. And while he's doing this, he sees a man. A man standing before him with a drawn sword. This also kind of shows us the stuff that Joshua is made of. Because he sees this man with a drawn sword, and what does he do? He approaches him. He says, who are you? Are you for us, or are you against us? I think if I ran into somebody with a drawn sword, I might not be so eager to approach them. But that's what Joshua does, isn't it? He steps forward and says, who are you? Who are you for? Are you for us, or are you for our enemies? And he gets an interesting answer. No. Now, kids, maybe sometimes you come down for breakfast and your mom asks you, would you like cereal or would you like toast? Usually, you know, those are your two choices. You know, you're not going to be able to say no. Those are your two choices. So it's an interesting response that this commander gives him, isn't it? Are you for us or are you against us? No. I am the commander of the Lord's army and I have now come. It's an interesting response to Joshua's question. And it's as if he's saying, I'm not for you or against you, you're for me. I am sent by Jehovah, I have now come. This is in accordance to the promise the Lord gave his people. Because after they had made the golden calf and given false worship to Jehovah, he said, when you go into the land, I can't go with you, because I may break out and destroy you. But I'll send my messenger with you. He will go before you so that you won't be forsaken. He will drive out the nations before you. And here we've crossed over into the Jordan, over the Jordan with the people of God into Canaan. And we've been waiting for this last thing, for the messenger to come. The messenger who will come and drive out the Canaanites before the people. And the messenger has come. He says, I'm the commander of Jehovah's army and I have now come. and now Joshua realizes that he is dealing with no mere man, doesn't he? Because he falls down on his face. And we have here he falls down in reverence. I think the ESV captures it a little better when it says he fell down and worshipped him. Because the question remains for us, who is this messenger of the Lord? Some have argued it's an angel. It's an angel who has appeared before Joshua. Some have even suggested it's Michael, the archangel, who appears before Joshua. Well, I disagree with that. Because what happens when he falls down? I think they actually accurately have it in the ESV. He falls down and worships. And what do we know from the book of Revelation? There's a couple times John falls down to worship angels, doesn't he? And what do the angels tell him when he tries to fall down? They say, don't do it. I'm a fellow servant of yours. Don't fall down and give me worship. Angels in the service of the Lord don't accept the worship that's due to the Lord Himself. So I don't think it's a mere angel who's standing before Joshua. I think there's more evidence for that too, isn't there? Because when Joshua asked, what will you command of me? He says, take off your sandals. You're standing on holy ground. As we've gone through this series, we've seen how there are many parallels to the experience of Joshua and the experience of Moses. how Joshua is taking up in many ways the mantle of Moses. And here he has a similar experience because where was Moses commanded to take off his sandals when he approached the burning bush? And why was he to do that? Because God was there. I think God is here too. He's before Joshua. He's the commander of the Lord's army. Who is the commander of the Lord's army? It's Jesus Christ. If we look at Revelation 19, you can turn with me if you'd like. Revelation 19, John sees the vision of the rider on the white horse. Revelation 19.11 says, I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads a winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. This is the commander of the armies of the Lord. This is the one whom they follow. This is Jesus Christ, a pre-incarnate vision with a sword in his hand, who comes to Joshua and says, I am the commander of Jehovah's army and I have now come. What a comfort that must have been to Joshua. As he looked at this fortified city, many archaeologists say this is one of the oldest fortified cities in the world. It's a city who stood the test of battle. It's a city that would pose Israel's first challenge. And it proved to be a tough challenge. As Joshua surveyed the land, he might have asked, How exactly are we going to take this city? How are we going to conquer? How are we going to move forward? And what does he see? The commander of the Lord's army has now come. What a comfort. What a comfort to God's people to know that the commander of the army of Jehovah himself is there with them. The supreme commander. Of course, the next thing is we have a strange tactic for taking this town. The commander is here, and the command comes. Circle the city. Get horns. Establish a guard. Have an armed guard go before the Ark of the Covenant. Have trumpets go before the Ark of the Covenant. Have a rear guard behind it, and follow out in battle. And surround the city. And when you've surrounded the city, go home. I couldn't help but imagine what the commander of Jericho might have thought seeing this spectacle. In these days, there was only really five ways to attack a fortified city. You could try to go under the wall by tunneling. You could try to go through the wall by breaking it down. You could try to climb up over the wall. You could try to get in by tricking them into letting you in. Or you could put the town under siege. Now, tunneling, obviously, would be pretty difficult. It's hard to mask the fact that you're tunneling into somebody's city. And once you've tunneled in, you have a very small opening. It's a very dangerous way to try to get into a fortified city. So that's probably not what they would try to do. Plus, this is an old city with probably deep walls. Might have proved difficult to tunnel in. It's hard to go through heavily fortified walls. You subject yourself to attack from the people on the wall while you're trying to pierce it. So your choices usually are to try to go over it, to try to trick your way in, or just to put it under siege. Now we're told at the beginning of chapter 6 that Jericho's been shut up tightly. Nobody comes in, nobody goes out. And it's probably because they'd been fooled once before. Remember, they knew that spies had come in. They couldn't find them. They chased after them and never saw sight of them again. So somehow they'd slipped in and out. They weren't about to have this happen again, so they shut it up completely. Nobody came in or out. So getting in by deception would prove difficult. Getting in over the wall is difficult, too. One of the things that made Jericho such a strong city was that they had enough fortified men to protect almost the entire wall at the same time. Some cities had such a long wall that they didn't have enough men to defend them all at the same time. But Jericho, they assume, had enough fighting men in it to stand a man about every six feet on the wall, all the way around. And you can imagine how tough it would be to actually get up to a wall, Climb up the wall while your defenders are trying to repel you and to force your way in that way. So as we have often in the Bible, we see fortified cities are often besieged. And what you usually do there is you surround the city with your men and you make fortifications and you make sure no supplies get in or out. You just cut off everything. Try to cut off their water, cut off their food. And we know from the verse when they crossed the Jordan, this was the time of the harvest. So they'd probably gathered in a lot of food. Maybe they thought the Israelites were going to set up for a long siege. Some sieges in the Bible last a long time, years. Maybe that's what the commander of Jericho thought he was seeing as they circled the city. Maybe he thought it's a little strange to see this box or whatever it is covered in a blue cloth being marched around with a guard before it and behind it and trumpets. Maybe it's a little strange to see an army moving so quietly around the city. But maybe he thought they were just besieging the city, preparing to dig in and make fortifications. What happens? They surround the city and then they just keep walking. and they go back to their camp. You can imagine what the commander might have been thinking. What's going on here? What kind of tactic is this? What are they hoping to accomplish by this? And early the next morning, the same thing happens. They march out again, and they surround the city, and they go home. And it happens again and again. This strange marching around. Then what happens on the seventh day? They start circling more than once. Maybe you can imagine a lookout saying, alright, something different is happening. I'm going to go talk to the commander and see what he wants us to do. There's a new, there's a shift in tactic. Now there seems to be more people walking around and around. They're not stopping. They just keep circling. Maybe he says, well, we better get everybody up on the wall to defend it. Who knows what they're going to do now? And then there's a mighty shout, and the walls come crashing down. It's a strange tactic because it makes no earthly sense. You just expose yourself to danger marching around a fortified town and not digging in. And you confuse the commander of the town who's trying to defend against a military tactic. What happens? He puts his men on the wall because he's not sure what's happening. What happens when the wall comes crashing down? So do its defenders. And now they're surrounded by fighting men who just pour into the town from every direction. It's an awesome deliverance, isn't it? And it's clear who fought that. Joshua may have fought the battle of Jericho after the walls came down, but who did the heavy lifting? It was the Lord who struck the walls down. It was the Lord who struck the walls down at the cry of His people. Shout to the Lord. And there's a great shout, and the walls come down, the people stream in. This strange tactic is the Lord's tactic. It's the Lord's tactic to show that He has delivered them in. And it's not come from their own hand. Finally, we have a severe justice, don't we? We like to talk about the walls coming tumbling down. That's a pleasant thing to think about. It's pleasant to think about the power of the Lord being shown against His people. But what happens when the walls fall down? What happens when the people rush in? What are they told to do? The city and all that is in it is to be devoted to the Lord. Now that's how we render it in English, but really the idea is devoted to destruction. Everything that lives in the city, everything that breathes in the city is to be killed. And the people that we heard about this morning who were mockers and scoffers say, this is the God you serve? This God who would order people to go in and butcher the occupants of this town, women, children, anybody they found. What kind of God is that? It's exhibit one against the Lord for a lot of people. But this just shows that you serve a vengeful God. Neither he ordered something that was unjust, totally unjust, and is not concerned at all about justice. It's just bloodthirsty and mean. Or his servants are just bloodthirsty and mean. And he didn't really have anything to do with this. This is the bloody-minded Jews rushing in to kill the people of the land. And they say this is not what a good God would do. This is not what a loving God would do. This is not what a merciful God would do. To strike down the innocents like this. That begs the question, doesn't it? Are they really innocent? because that's the test of whether justice has been done. The test of justice is, is this a good people? Have they done anything wrong? Is it really unjust for the Lord to act this way? If we go back to when the land was first promised to Abraham, over 400 years before this incident, he was told you will inherit this land, but not yet, because the sin of the Amorites is not yet complete. 400 years before this, God was looking at a sinful people living in Canaan. Shows that he's long-suffering, that he's patient, but that he also does not ignore sin. He saw it even that far back, even at the time of Abraham, hundreds of years before this sin was going on before him. When the Israelites are told how to conduct themselves when they live in the land in Leviticus 18. They're told, be careful how you act. Don't defile yourselves in the land. Because the occupants who are in the land now defiled themselves. They participated in all kinds of wickedness. And because of their wickedness, the land is vomiting them out. And if you won't behave as the Lord wants you to behave, the land will vomit you out too. this is a wicked people and the land is casting them out the Lord is coming in judgment for their wickedness or if we turn to Romans 1 Paul gives us a very clear picture of what the wickedness of people who ignore the Lord what they're like and why God's wrath comes against them Paul writes the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened that's the picture we're given God is plainly known from his creation and what had this people done they turned to Baal they turned to foreign gods and given them credit for what the sovereign Lord had done and he made himself plain to them didn't he because when the spies come to Rahab what does Rahab say we've heard of everything the Lord has done in Egypt we heard how the Lord brought you across the Red Sea everyone here is terrified so save me promise to this Lord who's delivered you that you'll spare me and my family because he's clearly powerful he's clearly to be feared And when the people crossed the Jordan River, what happened? We're told everybody heard what happened And the land was filled with fear And what do the occupants of Jericho do? They shut up the city They're determined to resist the Lord And to resist His people They persist in their opposition of the Lord and to borrow an analogy from tolkien it's like children standing on sandcastles trying to defend them when tide comes in children i don't know if you've ever done that at the beach you build a sandcastle and it's this great sandcastle and all of a sudden the tide starts coming closer so maybe you dig a trench try to protect it a little bit but the tide keeps coming and once the tide comes in there's nothing you can do your sandcastle is just going to get wrecked The water flows over it and it's destroyed. That's what resisting God is like. It's like trying to stand and defend a sandcastle against the tide. And Jericho is poised in opposition to God's people. And think of those days of marching around. Are we ever given any indication that they sent out to them, said, Spare us. Treat with us. We'd like to make your Lord God our God. We know what he's done. No, they resist God. They're determined to shut up and resist him. They're closing their hearts to him. Determined to oppose him and his people. People of God, this is what the world is like today. Jericho is a picture of the unbelieving world. Determined to shut up against the Lord our God. Determined to hold fast against Him. We read in Psalm 2 this morning about that, didn't we? That the nations shake their fists against God. They say, let us break His chains. Let us throw off His fetters. What happens? He dashes them like pottery. That's what happens here. This is a picture of the final judgment of God. Because when we talked about the white rider, when does the white rider ride forth? At the final judgment with a sword in his hand. People make the mistake of saying, well, we've seen Jesus Christ, right? He came in humility. He came in meekness. He opened his hand to people. He told them to draw near, to repent and believe. But that's not how he's coming again. At that time, the option for mercy will be closed. And he'll come with a sword in his hand. And his justice will be severe. Because as we learn in the Catechism, question and answer 11. Sin is an affront to the eternal majesty of God. It requires an eternal punishment. It's a serious thing to offend the Lord. It's a severe justice that we see in this passage. But you know what we're also reminded of over and over again in this passage? When we look at the severe justice of God, we're reminded that He is also merciful. How are we reminded that He's always merciful? Well, look when the commands are given to destroy the city. What always comes after it? Look with me in chapter 6, verse 17. The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Devoted to destruction. But what comes right after that? Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared because she hid the spies. It's a reminder that there is mercy amidst this judgment. Look again at verse 20 and 21. Wall collapsed, every man charges straight in. They devote the city to the Lord and destroyed with a sword every living thing. What happens in verse 22, Joshua says, go find Rahab. She's to be spared. Bring her out. Then again in verse 24, then they burn the whole city and everything in it. But what's in verse 25? But Joshua spared Rahab. And she lives with Israel to this day. Back when we talked first about Israel coming into the land, we noted that the story of Rahab is in the second chapter. Before there's any conquest, there's a story of mercy. There's a reminder that God makes provision to save people from judgment. That when he comes in judgment, his judgment will be severe. His justice will be severe. But it won't be justice without mercy. Because he's redeemed a people to himself. We've looked at the wickedness of Canaan. But really, the Israelites shared the same wickedness. We are all people who are participating in a rebellion against God. Who by our nature want to resist Him. Want to shut up against Him. Want to refuse to let Him into our hearts. Want to be obstinate in our pursuit of our own desires above what He would want and above what was beneficial for our neighbors. We are like the occupants of Jericho. And unless God stretches forth His hand to save us, we would be subject to the same fate. This is a reminder that this is the kind of judgment that's coming to the whole world. And in conclusion, it's a reminder to us that the door is still open. The Lord's hand is still stretched forth in mercy. And He says, come, repent and believe and have your sins forgiven. Have this wrath be poured out on me, on the cross. Partake of my sacrifice. Be found in me, so when the judgment comes, there's deliverance for you and not destruction. It's a glorious promise that many of us enjoy. But it's a word that desperately needs to get out to our dark and dying world. That there is a judgment coming. And even though that judgment is wholly just, it's terrible for those who are not found in the Lord. When the time comes when the white rider rides forth, there are going to be people that ask the mountains to fall on them because it's terrible to face. Might our prayer be that of Peter, that the whole world might be saved, that this gospel message might go forward so that more and more people might be gathered in and saved rather than lost like those who stand up against the Lord. And at this time we're reminded again of Psalm 2. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed by the way. But blessed are those who find their refuge in Him. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for this wonderful reminder of the power that is at your command. We thank you for this powerful reminder that you are a God who delivers his people who spares us from destruction but we also recognize Lord that you are just and that though you are patient and long suffering we know that there is a final judgment coming when the hand that you've extended to all the world will be taken back and in it will be a sword and Jesus Christ will ride forward not in mercy but in justice to judge the living and the dead. We pray, Lord, that we might be found in Him when that time comes. Whether it be in our lifetime, Lord, or whether it be many lifetimes after we've already gone to glory. May the word of your gospel go forward so that those who are trying to hold out against you might have their defenses broken down by the Holy Spirit. That their hearts of stone might be replaced by a heart of flesh. That they might not be found as objects of your destruction, Lord, but as objects of your mercy and your love. Lord, help us more and more to be instruments, to have that burden for the lost. To desire not to see the wicked consumed, Lord, but to see the wicked renewed. Lord, help us bring that message to a dying world. And sustain us, Lord. Remind us that we have a supreme commander who goes forth for us in this life and in the next, in the world to come. We ask that you would come quickly, Jesus. Save us from this world and help us to be instruments of change in it until you come again. Hear us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.