Lessons from Joshua 5:7

I'd like you to turn with me to the book of Joshua and chapter 5 and verse 13. We're going to read a few scriptures, these first chapters of Joshua. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold there stood a man over against him with a sword drawn in his hand.

And Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua, See I have given unto thine hand Jericho and the king thereof and the mighty men of valor.

And ye shall compass the city all ye men of war and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of ram's horns.

And on the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times. And the priests shall blow with the trumpets and it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast on the ram's horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a loud voice and the wall of the city shall fall down flat and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. And Joshua the son of none called the priests and said unto them, take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark of the Lord.

Now just for sake of time, verse 18. And ye in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed when you take of the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it. But all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the Lord.

They shall come into the sanctuary of the Lord. Verse 23. And the young men that were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brethren and all that she had.

And they brought out all her kindred and left them without the camp of Israel. Now chapter seven, verse one says, but the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah took of the accursed thing and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethhaven on the east side of Bethel and speak unto them saying, go up and view the country.

Verse 19. And Joshua said unto Achan, my son, give, I pray the glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him and tell him now what thou has done, hide it not from me. And 24 said, and Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah and the silver and the garment and the wedge of gold and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and all that he had.

And they brought them unto the Valley of Acre. Now we know that God will bless the reading of his word with what we have already heard. Just want to encourage us at the end of this session of the ministry today and remind us of course, from the word of God, I haven't read, I could have read a lot more, but we know that these children of Israel were God's earthly people.

God had paid a great price for them in type. When we go back into the land of Egypt, you remember that a lamb had to be slain. It had to be taken.

It had to be slain and the blood had to be shed. And all the firstborn of mankind and all the firstborn of animals, they all belong to the Lord. They were his.

And I think sometimes when we read about the Passover and think about it, we're more occupied with the fact that we're sheltered under the blood and that's as far as some will go. Our sins are forgiven. We're God's people.

But you remember that a little difference in the book of Genesis is the second born one in the family is the important one. And there's a good something for us there. It shows us that as we were born, we were born in sin and then we were born again.

And it's the second one that was born is the important one. But when we come to the book of Exodus, it's not the second born one that's really important. It's the firstborn one, because the firstborn one is the heir.

And God saved God's people. He saved us as well. And we were heirs.

We have an inheritance that lies ahead. And that's what we have read about here in the book of Joshua. Now, they wandered in the wilderness.

And we know the reason for that. We're told that God wanted to know what was in their heart. And there's times of testing in our lives as well.

And sometimes we wonder just why they take place. Well, we should be exercised to know that. And maybe we won't always know it, but at least we know that God is testing us.

And God would test them in the wilderness to see what was in their heart. And I think we've heard that mentioned today, a little bit about the heart. And I think what God was wanting to know, do they really love him? And that would be a good question for us to ask ourselves, do we really love the Lord? The Lord has a great inheritance that we're being brought into.

Peter speaks of it, an inheritance in heaven. And it's preserved for us and we're reserved for it. So there is an inheritance in heaven, but we can enjoy that inheritance now in our lives day by day.

And that's what I would be more interested in. And I think God would as well, to know that we're really enjoying what God has brought us into. We belong to him.

And the first thing we should recognize is that he only has the best for us. We can't improve on what God has for us. God has given us the earnest of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit as the earnest of the inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.

We're going to reign with Christ. But meanwhile, he's saying you have the down payment. You can enjoy these things now.

So I ask myself, am I really enjoying the things of God? There are certain things that we have heard that God wants, but it has been emphasized as well, not only that God wants them, but we're not under law. It's not something cold written on tables of stone. God did a work on our heart.

So our hearts would go out in love to the Lord Jesus Christ. So now they're coming into the land, and this is really the conquest of Canaan. But the first thing they have to learn is there's a captain in charge.

Here this man comes, and you can tell it's a beautiful Christophany or Theophany. It's a picture of the Lord himself. And the Lord comes, and you know, Joshua, he recognizes this Lord with a sword in his hand.

He's the one that's going to bring them into the inheritance. It's not what they're going to accomplish. It's all through him.

So he said to him, are you for us or are you for our enemies? Oh, you say God's for us. We're God's people. Well, you know, there's certain stipulations.

And he said, I'm not for you and I'm not for the enemy. I'm for what is right. And that's what has been emphasized already in the meeting so far.

It's what is right that really counts. And Joshua had a reverence. He had to take his shoes off his feet to stand in the very presence of the Lord.

And you see, we should realize now we're going to enjoy what God has brought us into. We should have a reverence for the Lord. When feet are uncovered and it shows a reverence that we should have for the captain, the one that's going to lead us into the enjoyment of the inheritance.

If we were to read Isaiah chapter six, we would read of a seraphim with their feet covered. And again, in a way we could maybe relate that to what we have in the inheritance. The seraphim were saying to the Lord, don't look on my little walk on my testimony.

It's not worthy. They realize their weakness. And if we're going to get into the inheritance, we need to realize our weakness, but we should never forget God's greatness.

So we have the captain in charge and he's impartial and we must go according to his direction if we're going to enjoy the inheritance. We see, of course, reverence for him would lead to obedience for Joshua did exactly what he said. Now there are conditions for victory and they should have realized, and they did seem to at first.

And like us, we, some of us, our memories aren't too good. We forget. But at the beginning he said, now you've got to do exactly what I say.

And it's a beautiful picture. It's maybe teaching us a great lesson ourselves. He said, you know, well, we know that the walls could have fallen down in the first day.

Why did God make them go around for six days and then seven times and 13 times in all? Why did God do that? Well, some of the wise people in the world, they say, you know, the foundations of the walls weren't too good. And you know, all the vibration and so on. Well, I don't know.

They kept silence. It must've been something for those people inside the city. They're wondering what's going to happen.

And I believe the reason was a way we can learn it from a way back in the days of Abraham. And Abraham told the children of Israel, you're going to be under bondage, but you're going to be brought out. And he said, things are going to happen.

But he said, the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And I believe God was so patient. He was giving him an opportunity to repent.

He didn't repent. They thought we're safe. Nothing can happen.

I thought too of the Lord and his dealings with Judas, how he gave him opportunity time and time again to repent, but he didn't repent. And I think as well, this would have been a tremendous thing for Rahab the harlot and for her family. And they would be wondering what was going to happen.

They would be waiting, you know, at the window to see the children of Israel go around. And they'd likely be occupied with the Ark of the Covenant and it's covering of blue. And I'm sure it would thrill their souls.

But you know, they not only had a window in the house, but they had a door. It's kind of strange thing, isn't it? That on a wall for protection, there'd be a window and a door, but the window was to the outside, but the door was to the city on the inside. And all those that were saved.

And I'm sure when they heard the blast of the trumpet, they knew what was going to take place. We're going to be delivered. The Lord's going to deliver us.

We could maybe in our little minds relate this to the Lord's coming, the shout and the trumpet and these here. And they would say, my, we're about to be delivered. And God has delivered us from judgment back at Calvary.

And then what happened to Rahab and her family? They were taken out of the house, saved and were put outside the camp. Never back into the city. The walls collapsed.

And that city that's a graphic picture of the world was destroyed. But God gave them opportunity. God is patient.

I wonder how patient I am. I would have said they don't deserve an opportunity. But you know, that's one of the attributes of God that I really appreciate.

The long suffering of God. Do you appreciate it? That God gave you opportunity after opportunity, but anyhow, they come in and they conquered the land. But then what took place? We find that everything that was in that land was consecrated to God.

This might be strange for us in our English language, but accursed is the same as consecrated. When Job's wife said to him, curse God and die, I don't think she really wanted him to swear. As we would say, take the Lord's name in vain, and then you may as well die.

She said, bless Lord and die. Likely, I would think Job a wise man, like Job wouldn't have a foolish wife, though I suppose it's possible. But it wasn't a cursed thing.

God has provided for us, most of us I'm sure, wonderfully. I have more than I ever thought I would ever have, materially, not just spiritually. But he said, there's things that are devoted to God.

In other words, there's a great victory that God has wrought, and God must have his portion first. I wonder, is that true in my life? Does God get the best? There used to be a preacher in Ireland called Cur Duff, a strange name, but he used to exhort the believers to give God the best part of your life. And how did he illustrate it? Well, it's only some people can do it this way.

He illustrated from a can of salmon. Maybe you didn't know that salmon came in cans even. I didn't even know it came without cans.

I was already married and had a family. But John West, middle cut salmon, the middle cut was supposed to be the best. You know, it was that stuff with bones and everything in it that were all soft.

But we didn't know any better. And he illustrated that, that's the best, the middle cut. Don't wait till you retire and think you're going to do all these things.

You get as old as some of you don't know if you'll ever be doing very much more really. But go in for, give him the best part of your life and give him the first fruits of what you have. Everything in the land was devoted to him, was valuable, all devoted to him.

But then it was taken. So what happens now? He took of the accursed thing. He took of what belonged to God.

And he didn't seem to think that he ever would be caught. And you know, after all, it wasn't a very bad thing that he did really, was it? You know, you're coming into a new land. Some of us have left the old country somewhere in Europe or somewhere, and we're in a new land, and you like to get a new start.

Be tremendous just to get an ache and sin. Well, this will give me a good start. And his family was all for him.

After all, we can give the Lord plenty after this. But first of all, we'll just take this little portion for ourselves and we'll get really a good start in the land. But you know what happened? It's human nature.

We come into the New Testament at the beginning of the church, we have the same thing, don't we? Ananias and Sapphira, not being honest with the Holy Spirit, thinking it's okay. We'll get credit for giving everything when they're holding back. Wonder how much we're holding back on God, not only in our possessions, but in ourselves and in our service for him.

Are we really giving him the best? Are we putting everything into it? You know, when I was growing up, I wasn't saved, but my folks were, and those that were like them, they could see my life centers all around the Lord and the local assembly. They didn't have money to do a lot of other things, but I'm not sure that would have mattered anyhow. My father had an accident in the shipyard and a plank of wood fell 30 feet and hit him on the head.

Knocked him out for a while, sent him into the hospital. You know what some people said? Not his friends, but some of the people he worked with said, sue the shipyard. It was the biggest shipyard in the world where the Titanic was built.

Sue the shipyard. And he said, why would I sue the shipyard? I have all that I need. I don't know if he thought about Abraham.

I didn't think about him at the time, but he said this, the world would make me rich. I tell people, that's why lawyers call their daughter Sue. They want to sue everything and get back.

My father said, I have everything that I have. Why would I sue them? I said, sue them and give it to me. But I'll tell you something, I learned a tremendous lesson there, that satisfaction isn't in money or wealth.

And I'm glad my father and my mother are both gone, of course. My mother said, I'm going to leave you a couple of thousand pounds. I said, would you do me a favor? Maybe you thought I was going to ask her to give it to me now.

I didn't. I said, spend it on yourself. I don't need it.

But here's Akin, and he takes it as covets. The other thing, we can be covetous. Well, I tell you, I was thinking about this a little bit when my brother Murray was speaking and I thought of you.

Covet a lazy boy, just invite him over to stay with you. Maybe you'll get one cheap. Anyhow, it's bad to be covetous, isn't it? God doesn't expect a person to be covetous.

And the time's almost gone. But here he is. And of course, you know what happened to sin was found out.

His sin of this one man affected all the Lord's people. And this is possible today. I mean, it's probable there could be sin among God's people.

Hopefully there's not. But there could be. And you know, we wonder sometimes why we don't see a lot more blessing.

We need to examine ourselves, make sure I'm not the hindrance. I used to be preaching the gospel, nothing was happening. And I told the Lord, if I'm the hindrance, take me out of the way.

I don't do that anymore. I'd be afraid that he would take me out of my word. But this is serious.

And the sad thing is this, that if he had only waited, he couldn't wait like he saw. That was a big problem with many of us. We can't wait.

And of course, they were defeated when they went to AI. I feel like saying, Joshua, why didn't you ask the captain? He's in charge. No, no, we only need a few.

That's what they thought. We don't need a big army to go up to that little city. And it was a great defeat.

But do you know what happened after the defeated AI? Joshua said, go in and take all you want. And Akin could have had all that he wanted. If he had only waited, it wasn't very long.

He could have waited and he could have all that he wanted. So we find at the end of his life, and we'll just go right there right now, we have the consequences of sin. Should have consulted the captain, but he confessed his sin.

They should have learned the lesson. And of course we could learn the lesson. There's no time to go through the whole thing, but through the Jordan and I died with Christ and then my responsibility to cut off the flesh.

This is something they didn't maybe realize what it, but we realize, and when it comes to the end, we find that he lost everything. Instead of gaining his gold and his silver and his Babylonian garment, I tell you, God give us, gives us far, something far better than that. And he brings us into the inheritance so that I might enjoy our Christianity, enjoy our salvation.

There's something wrong if we're not. And what is wrong is this. We're not depending on the captain of our salvation.

The one that saves is the one that keeps. And he's the one that brings us into all the many blessings that we can enjoy. Like the grapes of Eskol, we often talk.

That's one of my favorite little things to talk about. It's brought into the wilderness so they could see what a great place God's bringing me into. Why is there such a, not just a little bunch of grapes, great big bunch of grapes, because they speak of joy and there's no end to the joy that God is bringing.

He loves us. We belong to him. That's what took place at the Passover, new ownership.

And he wants the best for us. And he wants us to be fruitful at the pomegranates. What about the figs? They speak of sweetness, don't they? He wants us to be sweet and to be enjoying these things.

We don't endure our Christianity. We enjoy it and we enjoy it. Hopefully, we will enjoy it because we're depending on him.

Nothing to do with us. He's the one that we can do all things through Christ who pours strength into me. So may the Lord bless his word to each one of us with what already has gone before for his name's sake.