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. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Joshua 6:3 So what does the marching accomplish? Is there a clever strategy at work here? I think is serves 2 purposes: First, motion keeps us alert. The children of Israel had already tasted the grain and the fruits of the promised land. They had crossed over Jordan and stepped out of the wilderness. They had crossed the border. Yet, neither the Lord OR Joshua would settle for a plateau of arrival and rest. Now was the time for motion, a time for mobilization and readiness. Get moving! march! Ready yourselves for battle! Goals reached during times of transition must never be mistaken for arrival. Over time it is easy to lose momentum and become frozen; captive to comfort, slaves to the dependable, locked into a stagnant place. The NT leaves no room for un-intentional faith: And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Romans 13:11-12 Second, marching can serve notice to the enemy. How many old news reels are filled with the parades of old Soviet troops marching through Moscow or the Nazi military of Hitler’s German with that ridiculous high kick? It was more than a celebration of an empire. It was mean to get coverage. The march around Jericho was more than a threat. It was a reminder that the people marching around that city were people, who had passed through the Red Sea and had crossed the Jordan River by the hand of God, and that God’s promises now lay within their camp. It was like the boxer measuring his opponent for his next barrage of punches. When the church is loving its community or worshiping its Savior it is serving notice on the enemy that the God, who has loved us without measure and has delivered us from the power of sin, has an inheritance for us lying within their strongholds in families, strongholds in hearts, strongholds in communities. When a follower of Jesus is steadfastly reading the Bible, passionately
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 14:52:39 +0000
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