Behind Enemy Lines Series

While parachuting of any kind is risky, the incoming fire of a fortified enemy, raises the danger profile for any special forces mission seeking to get behind enemy lines. Not only does a paratrooper become an easy target, but the sound of the aircraft would also alert the enemy.

HALO stands for High Altitude, Low Opening. This type of parachuting technique can be dangerous. The plane would fly minimally at 25,000 feet and sometimes up to 40,000 feet where it was undetectable even by radar. At such high altitudes of the Earth’s atmosphere, the oxygen required for human respiration is scarce. Lack of oxygen can lead to Hypoxia.

When it was time to jump, your first instruction was not to open your parachute. You would literally move into a free-fall. In a matter of seconds your terminal velocity would be 120 miles an hour, though you might hit speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. You open the chute at the last possible minute, with only enough time to save your life.

With canopy deployment at roughly 2000 feet, there’s just enough time to break your fall so that you land safely behind enemy territory. If you live, you get to fight the enemy.

I think that is an incredibly dramatic and accurate metaphor for followers of Christ, who are discovering the passages of life. The journey into the promised land begins at high altitude...

Ephesians 2.6,10 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus… ...For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Acts 14.22 ...strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

The path into the promises of God begin high, but followers of Jesus eventually must engage the fight below. Authentic Discipleship is to have given our hearts to the only One, who can make us fully alive to go where He sends us, to live into His promises, and to fully enter His Kingdom plans and purposes.

God had brought the Israelites on a HALO mission. From the deliverance out of Egypt through the safe passages of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, the miracles of bread, meat, and water in the wilderness in the desert, and Divine manifestations of God in both cloud and fire - the Israelites stand before the mighty, fortified walls of Jericho and a battle for the city about to ensue.

The battle of Jericho in Joshua 6 begins at the end of Joshua 5. Joshua The Spirit of Christ stood ready with Joshua to lead the Israelites forth into to fight for His promises. He stands with us to - ready to lead.

The land of promise will usually lay behind enemy lines. You and I will have to find our HALO mission. We will have to fight. We will have to work. What promises lay behind the walls of Jericho for you? What life has God called you to fight for, which lies behind enemy lines?

An identity in Christ to live into… ...personal holiness, a maturity of faith, a maturity in your relationships The enemy fortifying

A friend-seeker, a lost family member…

A place of freedom in Christ… Freedom from a habit, a fear, depression - some

A renewal in marriage?

Joshua observed 5 priorities of instruction for the siege of Jericho. They are 5 priorities for us to observe, as well.

1. The Priority of Presence (v. 2)

Jericho was imposing; a fortified city of pagan worshipers and ruthless. Yet for Joshua, it was a place, where he experienced the presence of the Lord and heard the voice of the Lord. Scouting the great fortress of Jericho, Joshua has found a place of worshipful communion with the Lord. Strangely enough, it was a high altitude moment at the bottom of an intimidating challenge.

It was God’s Word to Joshua: See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. See… It was a word that invited Joshua to see from the perspective of the Spirit. It was an invitation to enter the realm of Spiritual

It was a message given to encourage. It was a message intended to animate. It was a Word that humbled and produced dependence. Joshua would not fight this battle without a priority of the Presence of the Lord.

Ephesians 5.18 ...be filled with the Spirit.

The command for all believers is to maintain the priority of continuous replenishment of the Spirit’s presence; a priority of His Presence.

2. The Priority of Motion (v. 3)

The Lord also required a priority of motion. We might also call it readiness.