A. JOSHUA 5:13-15
1. Joshua meets the "c __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of the L __ __ __ ' __ h __ __ __"
a. The "a __ __ __ __ of God?"
b. the pre - I __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Christ?
2. Exodus 3:1-5
a. another "parallel experience" with M __ __ __ __ for Joshua
b. still more e __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ for Joshua
(1) God goes before him and the people of Israel
(2) The outcome of the battle would rest neither on the shoulders of the military acumen of
Joshua nor the battlefield skills of his troops.
B. JOSHUA 6:1-7
1. v.1 indicates that Jericho ("M __ __ __ C __ __ __?") is sealed tightly shut.
2. In v.2, God informs Joshua that the "battle" is already won!
Victorious Christians have three characteristics:
a. They k __ __ __ the promises of God.
b. They b __ __ __ __ __ __ those promises by f __ __ __ __.
c. They "r __ __ __ __ __" those promises for their own lives.
(1) Romans 6:1-4
(2) "What does reckoning mean? 'Reckoning' in Greek means doing accounts, book-
keeping. Accounting is the only thing in the world we humans can do correctly. An
artist paints a landscape. Can he do it with perfect accuracy? Can the historian vouch
for the absolute accuracy of any record, or the map-maker for the perfect correctness
of any map? They can make, at best, fair approximations. Even in everyday speech,
when we try to tell some incident with the best intention to be honest and truthful, we
cannot speak with complete accuracy. It is mostly a case of exaggerations or under-
statement, of one word too much or too little. What then can a man do that is utterly
reliable? Arithmetic! There is no scope for error there. One chair plus one chair
equals two chairs. That is true in London and it is true in Cape Town. If you travel
west to New York or east to Singapore it is still the same. All the world over and for
all time, one plus one equals two.
Why does God say we are to reckon ourselves dead? Because we are dead. Let us
keep to the analogy of accounting. Suppose I have fifteen shillings in my pocket,
what do I enter into my account-book? Can I enter fourteen shillings and sixpence
or fifteen shillings and sixpence? No, I must enter in my account-book that which
is in fact in my pocket. Accounting is the reckoning of facts, not fancies. Even so,
it is because I am really dead that God tells me to account it so. God could not ask
me to put down in my account-book what was not true. He could not ask me to
reckon that I am dead if I am still alive.
Reckoning is not a form of make-believe. It does not mean that, having found that
I have only twelve shillings in my pocket, I hope that by entering fifteen shillings
incorrectly in my account-book such 'reckoning' will somehow remedy the deficiency.
It won't.
God asks us to do the account; to put down 'I have died' and then to abide by it. Why?
Because it is a fact. When the Lord Jesus was on the Cross, I was there in Him.
Therefore I reckon it to be true. I reckon and I declare that I have died in Him."
( Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life )
3. In v.3-5 God's s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ for victory is revealed.
4. In v.6-7 we see that Joshua, without so much as the slightest hint of misgiving, passes on the
c __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of God to the priests and the soldiers.
C. JOSHUA 6:8-16
1. Israel exercises e __ __ __ __ __ __ __ obedience to the commands of God.
a. This, of course, is the timeless formula for a right relationship with God. If I obey God
completely, I receive from Him the full effect of whatever blessing He has attached to that
command. If I obey partially, or half-heartedly, I might as well disobey Him blatantly.
Either way, the blessing will be completely missed and, even worse, if He has attached to
disobedience a consequence, I will receive a full measure of that.
b. Hudson Taylor described three ways to serve God.
(1) Make your best plans, then h __ __ __ that they succeed.
(2) Make your own plans, than ask God to b __ __ __ __ them.
(3) Ask God for His plans, then o __ __ __ them.
2. How could Israel march around an entire city -- especially seven times in one day?
a. Jericho was not a "city" in the classic understanding of the term; it was more like a walled
fortress or, even, a "castle." Most scholars are confident that the "city" of Jericho
encompassed less than s __ __ __ __ acres!
b. A few assumptions can be made:
(1) Most likely, the entire nation (up to 2,000,000 people!) did not march around the
city. Nor, in all likelihood, did the entire army of Israel (upwards of 600,000 men).
(2) "Even though the Israelites must have maintained sufficient distance from the city
to be safely beyond the range of bow and arrow, it is possilble that the head of the
column had arrived back at camp before the last of the rear guard left."
( Donald H. Madvig: "Joshua," in The Expositors' Bible Commentary, Volume 3 )
(3) "On the seventh day the Israelites set out 'at daybreak' because of all that needed to
be accomplished that day. Considering the size of Jericho and the number of Israelite
troops, it is likely that when 'they circled the city seven times,' the column doubled
over on itself again and again until the city was surrounded many columns deep."
( Madvig: Ibid. )
D. JOSHUA 6:17-21: the complete a __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of Jericho
1. Hebrew: "herem"
a. This word is difficult to translate succinctly into English.
(1) noun: "d __ __ __ __ __ __ thing"
(2) verb: "d __ __ __ __ __," or "utterly d __ __ __ __ __ __"
b. According to The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, "herem" can be understood to
indicate "something or someone which was absolutely and irrevocably consecrated so that
it could not be redeemed. Any one or anything so exclulsively 'devoted' to God was
irrevocably to be either placed in the service of God or utterly destroyed."
c. Perhaps we might use the term to mean something like " s __ __ __ __ - holiness."
2. ref: Leviticus 27:1-29, particularly v.28-29
3. Examples from Scripture:
a. the a __ __ of the covenant
b. N __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
(1) S __ __ __ __ __
(2) S __ __ __ __ __
(3) J __ __ __ the B __ __ __ __ __ __
c. the C __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
(1) Genesis 15:1-20
(2) Deuteronomy 9:1-6
(3) Deuteronomy 20:10-18
E. JOSHUA 6:22-27
1. R __ __ __ __ and her family are spared the judgment of God.
a. Joshua 2:8-21
b. ref: Matthew 1:5
Hebrews 11:31
James 2:25
c. The g __ __ __ __ of God is operational even in the midst of Holy j __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
2. A second curse is laid to Jericho (v.26).
ref: 1 KINGS 16:34
HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE?
A. Like Joshua, our confidence for facing the challenges of life must rest solely on the covenant
f __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of God.
1. God goes b __ __ __ __ __ His people!
2. The v __ __ __ __ __ __ has already been won!
B. The promises of God are tied directly to the quality of my o __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
1. I must k __ __ __ God's promises.
2. I must b __ __ __ __ __ __ them by faith, not by presumption.
3. I must r __ __ __ __ __ God's promises to my own life. It is in the arena between "belief" and
"reckoning" where I do battle with Satan. He is too smart to try to convince me that the Bible
isn't true, or that God is a liar. He works on my own nagging self-doubts: Maybe I'm not good
enough to be blessed by God. Maybe I don't deserve victory. Maybe my fears are justified; I am
too weak to overcome this foe! WRONG! My "goodness" or my relative "weakness" have
nothing to do with the receipt of God's blessings into my life. How does a believer overcome
the world?
a. 1 John 5:1-5; 18-20 [ NKJV ]
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who
begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of
God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we
keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever
is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world --
our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son
of God?
We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he has been born of God keeps
himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we
may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This
is the true God and eternal life.
b. Where is my battlefield?
(1) 2 Corinthians 10:5-6a [ NKJV ]
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down
strongholds, casting down arguments and every thing that exalts itself against
the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ....
(2) ref: Ephesians 6:10-18
C. I need to be reminded of the h __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of God, the s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of
even the "best" people, and the r __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ which is made available to
those who receive the gift of eternal life through f __ __ __ __ in Christ Jesus.
1. Psalm 24:1-2
2. Isaiah 6:1-13
3. Romans 2:10-18
4. Romans 3:21-26
5. John 3:14-19
6: Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 6:1-23
D I S C U S S I O N G U I D E
1. Joshua 5:13-15 describes a "theophany," which The Evangelical Dictionary of
Theology defines as "a visible or auditory manifestation of God."
a. The following passages describe other theophanies:
(1) Exodus 3:2-6 (the b __ __ __ __ __ __ b __ __ __)
(2) Exodus 40:34-38 (God going before the children of Israel as either a
pillar of f __ __ __ or of c __ __ __ __ )
(3) 1 Kings 19:11-12 (the "s __ __ __ __ , s __ __ __ __ voice")
(4) Matthew 3:13-17 (the Holy Spirit in the form of a d __ __ __)
(5) Acts 9:1-8 (thegreat l __ __ __ __ and v __ __ __ __ of Christ)
b. Do you believe theophanies still come? Why, or why not? ___________________
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c. There are those who believe that a theophany occurs every time the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper is celebrated. This is called the doctrine of transubstantiation.
Give one argument for and one against that doctrine. Use Scripture if you can.
FOR: ____________________________________________________________
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AGAINST: _______________________________________________________
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2. Rahab's family was saved from the curse God had placed centuries earlier on the
inhabitants of Canaan. Why?
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What does this reveal to us about God? _____________________________________
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ref: Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
2 Peter 3:8-9
3. One of the most chilling lessons in today's sermon was the concept of "herem."
Read 1 Samuel 15:1-34 for a later Biblical account of this hard-to-understand
"consecration for destruction."
a. What was Saul's sin in this account?
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b. What is wrong with his rationalization for his actions (v.20-21)?
c. Paraphrase v.22-23 into one sentence of your own composition.
d. Why was Saul's confession in v.24-25 rejected by Samuel in v.26?
e. This doesn't seem fair, does it? Was there anything Saul could have done to
avoid God's judgment?
f. Are you shocked by v.32-33? How would you go about explaining this passage --
even this entire chapter -- to a skeptical unbeliever? Try to articulate an
understanding of the holiness of God within your answer.
