The Joshua Program: Hitting the Wall

​I. The Wall

Jericho.

As the soldiers peered at it through the thick foliage of the distance, they couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated.

The city was named after the “moon god.” One could see why. It had an abundance of water and a pleasant year-round climate. Everything was impressive. Impressive gardens. Impressive marketplaces. Impressive culture and night life. From the distance, one could see ancient skyscraper-like apartments.

But the thing that was most noticeable about Jericho?

A wall.
A double wall.
A thick double wall.
A wall of solid stone.
A wall of solid stone wrapping completely around the city.

And because of the impending invasion, the city gate was closed.

There was no way in.
There was no way out.
There was no way under – without having the guards at the top of the wall pin you to the ground with spears.
There was no way over – without taking an arrow to the chest.

And…
So…
For some reason…

They were planning on going through it. 

The LORD said to Joshua, “March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have the priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven time with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them around a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse.” (6:2-5) 

In other words: March around the city and make some music.
The 6-foot-deep, 15-foot-high double wall will be no match for some jazz.
 
This had to be one of the greatest faith tests that the Israelites had ever faced. Yes, they had just seen God’s Almighty power as he split the Jordan river in half, but there’s a couple of reasons that this faith test was more challenging.


(1) The Composition 
 
Because this wall isn’t made of liquid. It wasn’t easily transported like the Jordan River might have been. It wasn’t able to be manipulated by the simple touch of a hand. This was a solid wall of stone. 
 
Just to give us a better understanding of what that wall was, archaeology in the 1950 has uncovered remains of a wall around the area where Jericho would have been. Based on their finding, the mound of the city was surrounded by a great earth rampart with a stone retaining wall at its base. The retaining wall was some 12-15 feet high. On top of that was a mudbrick wall of about 6 feet thick and 20-26 feet high.
 
The third little pig would have been proud of the people of Jericho. How in the world would you get past that wall?  This task was humanly impossible. There was no technology of any kind that would allow them to destroy it.

So… God’s plan.

Walk.

 
(2) The Tools

A bomb? Didn’t exist yet.
A battering ram? That allows the defenders to attack the single spot – for the hours you’d be at work.
A ladder? You’ll take an arrow to the chest before you get very high.

God says that they should walk.

I was playing BIG JENGA last week with Julianna. Have you ever played BIG JENGA? It’s the board game where you remove one brick from the tower at a time without having it fall over – only it’s a giant version of it.

I remember as I started to get nervous that I might lose. I started marching around, stomping my feet, jumping up and down in hopes that the vibrations might cause the tower to fall during Julianna’s turn.

Nothing.

If marching around a toy the whole point of which is to make it fall doesn’t make that toy fall down, how likely do you think marching around a giant 6-foot-deep, 15-foot-high double wall until it falls down will be?

Not very.
 
 
(3)  Repetition

Because in order to split the Jordan River all that had to happen was the priests touching the river with their feet. Then – instant miracle. This miracle was going to take days. It was going to repetition. It was going to take repetition of the same thing without any visible results.

And the people of Jericho would have noticed:

You idiots. What are you doing?
Oh no, Bob! They’re walking again! Duck!
I’m cowering in fear at the sight of those deadly, deadly trumpets!


In fact, if you’ve ever seen Veggie Tales, this is where the people of Jericho – played by a bunch of peas – come up with this doozy of a song: “Keep walking, but you won’t knock down our wall. Keep walking. But it isn’t going to fall. It’s plain to see that your brains are very small, so keep walking, but you won’t knock down our wall.”

Question – how likely are you to keep doing something if you don’t see any results?
 
God says, “Pray to me and I will hear it.” But…what if you don’t get what you’re praying for?
God says, “Study my Word and I will grow your faith.” When it feels like that isn’t doing anything, do you keep it up?
God says, “Trust in me.” When finances are tight, you’re behind on your mortgage, your ant’s in the hospital and there’s all kinds of stress at work – it sure seems a lot easier to just give up?

Don’t.

When it seems impossible, when it seems like there’s nothing going on, when it seems like God’s not doing anything…

God is at work.
And God specializes in demolishing walls.


II. The Demolition

At least, Joshua thought so.
And he was the commander.

So, no matter how foolish it sounds or how impossible it seemed, the soldiers obeyed.

They obeyed for six days.
They endured ridicule.
They endured doubt.
They endured sore calves.

Then, the seventh day.
 
They walked.
They walked again.
They walked a third time and heard the ridicule from the soldiers at the wall.
They walked a fourth time and heard the doubting from the soldiers behind them.
They walked a fifth time and started to doubt themselves.
They walked a sixth time and heard Joshua’s command, “Keep going. God is with us. This will happen. Trust him.”

Then, they walked a seventh time. And as they made their way around to the same rock that they had seen so many times this past week – the priests stopped.

They lifted up their trumpets.
They pressed them to their lips.
They blew with all of their might.
And Joshua commanded them, “Shout! For the LORD has given you this city!”

The soldiers looked at one another.
They shrugged their soldiers.
They shouted.

And as they shouted, suddenly, they heard a bass added to their music.

It wasn’t coming from the trumpet.
It wasn’t coming from a fellow soldier.
It was coming from the wall.

The rocks began to tremble.
The fortification began to give way.
And the men shouted even louder. 

When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet the wall collapsed. (v.20)

And they took the city. (v.21)
 
III. What Now?
 
1. Hire the Same Demolitionist 
 
Nobody has the power to knock down walls like our God.

Not Home Builders, Inc.
Not Demolitions ‘R Us.
Not even the U.S. Army with all its fire power.

No one is an expert demolitionist like our God.

And the greatest wall torn down isn’t even this one from Joshua 6. Take a look at what Isaiah 30 says: Sin is like a high wall.  That’s because sin does what walls do: It separates. Us from God. It makes it so that God’s on one side and we’re on the other side.

There is a disconnect.
There is a barrier.
There is a barrier of sin between us and God!

Maybe you’ve done sins and you’ve felt that.
Distant.
Alone.
Apart from God.

And there’s nothing we can do about it. No dynamite of doing good has any effect. The TNT of trying hard doesn’t make a dent.  Even the hard-swung wrecking ball of “I’m really doing my best God,” will fail to tear that wall of sin down.

No one human can tear that wall down.
You can’t tear that wall down.
Only God can. 

And He did.


Ephesians 2 says this, “Formerly you…were separate from Christ…without hope and without God in the world. But…in Christ you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace! Jesus has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility!” (v.10-14)
 
Understand what it’s saying:

Jesus is the spiritual TNT.
Jesus is the spiritual dynamite.
Jesus is the wrecking ball to knock down the wall of sin and leave us barrier-less…connected to God!

And finally….it means God is the one to turn to no matter what kind of wall your  facing.

Financial wall?
Relationship wall?
Sickness wall?

Remember:
God destroyed the wall of sin.  God destroyed the wall of Jericho.
Whatever wall you got? It’s no problem for him. 


Hire him for all of your problems.


2. Appeal to His Grace

But…what if you’re part of the wall?

Do you remember Rahab? She was not an Israelite. She had a job that was not remotely God honoring – she was a prostitute. Yet when she heard that God was going to take back the Promised Land – she didn’t fight.

She appealed to God’s mercy.

Look what happens in verse 22 - Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all that belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.” So…the young men went in and brought out Rahab and all who belong to her.”

And here’s what’s most interesting. Her house – had been built into the wall. Yet it was the wall that was destroyed! How did Rahab make it out?

Answer: God.

Even though she was a part of the wall (and by her sins against God was a part of the spiritual wall), God had mercy on her. God kept her alive. God brought her out. God spared her.


Have you built your own wall of sin between you and God?
Do you feel like you are a part of that wall?
Do you figure – there’s no way he’ll spare me?

Appeal to his grace.

Because while God is powerful – knocking down walls, our God is merciful to spare those who built the wall.

Simply put:
Without Jesus, you aren’t getting to God.
With Jesus, you are.

Repent.
Call on his mercy.
Believe in Jesus.

You will not be destroyed with the wall.
You will be saved.
You will be a recipient of God’s incredible mercy.

3. Shout  

Because those battle cries must have turned into cries of praise! God had done the impossible. God had knocked a wall down. God had kept his promises.

God had done the same for you:

He did the impossible.
Jesus knocked down the wall of sin.
Jesus kept his promise.

Shout for joy!

Don’t just do it here – but do it out there.
Do it when you go home to see the rest of your family.
Do it when you’re around your friends.
Do it on Facebook.
DO it on Instagram.
Do it at work, at the coffee shop and at the workout club.

Wherever you are – shout God’s praise! Tell others about the GREAT Things he has done.
Tell others about our God – and the walls he has brought down.

Amen.