Life Verse: Joshua 6 (Battle of Jericho) RUMC 7/2/17

Life Verse: Joshua 6 (Battle of Jericho)

RUMC 7/2/17

Athletes hit the wall. NASCAR drivers try to avoid the wall. Some think a wall on our southern border is a great idea… others think it is the worst idea ever, President Regan famously said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall.” We depend on walls to keep the animals out and our private lives inside our homes. We also depend on walls to keep those who are dangerous to society locked away for a long time.

Walls are everywhere; but not all walls are made of brick and mortar. Sometimes we build walls in our heads and our hearts that are more impenetrable than any wall built with human hands.

Today’s life verse is about a wall. Or rather, it is about how the people of God responded when they faced a wall.

Noah chose this last Life Verse in the series because he heard the preacher at his other grandma and grandpa’s church preach about it and he wanted to see if I would have anything different to say. I think he may also, whether he knew it or not, have stumbled upon one of the hardest things in life.

•           What do we do when faced with what seems to be impossible?

•           Even more difficult, what do we do when the wall that stops us is in our mind?

•           Most difficult of all, what do we do when the wall is not too big, but our faith is too small?

The people of Israel overcame tremendous odds. What were the odds that they would make it out of Egypt, survive 40 years in the desert, and actually stand at the doorway to the land God had promised them? In human terms, the odds were probably a zillion to one. I guess God was not very good with numbers bigger than ten, because in spite of those odds God brought them over, around, or through some of the biggest barriers they could imagine.

Finally, they stood at the entrance to the Promised Land. They had finally arrived! As they entered the land, however, they discovered yet another seemingly insurmountable barrier.

They discovered that they are not the only ones in the Promised Land. There were groups of people with funny sounding names like the Canaanites, the Jebsusites, the Hitites, the Amorites and the Philistines.  Just across the Jordan River was a Canaanite town called Jericho. Does anyone remember what I told you about Jericho a while back? You didn’t know there would be a test? You never know with me though.

On Palm Sunday, I told you that at an elevation of 846 feet below sea level Jericho is the lowest city in the world. There are lower places on the planet, but they do not have a city built on them. 

 Jericho was not just a city. It was a fortress. Archeologists, of course, did not find the walls intact, (which would have proven this story untrue) but from what they can tell, the bottom of the wall was a 12-15 foot high stone retaining wall. That was capped off by a 20-26 foot high brick wall 6 foot thick. The two walls together varied from 40-46 feet high all the way around the city. That would be a daunting barrier to any army.

That was not the end of the story. That first wall surrounded a 46-foot embankment. On top of that embankment was another retaining wall that was 12 feet thick  And on top of that another 6 foot thick brick wall that rose another 20 feet.

Some archeologists theorize that the wall had a double purpose. Being 846 feet below sea level, flooding might have been a major problem. It might have been a floodwall. That may be true, but I am also sure that it was built to be an impressive, seemingly impenetrable fortress,  with walls that together would appear to be 6-7 stories, tall to discourage any would be attackers.

Joshua was understandably overwhelmed by the sight of the walls of Jericho. He was probably standing there with his mouth hanging open when the Angel of the Lord’s Army stood before him and told him to take off his shoes. God said, “This land is yours and “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers.”

•           Joshua measured the walls of the city in his mind and realized he had a problem.

•           He remembered the stories about giants living there and realized he had an even bigger problem.

•           He thought about his rag tag militia and in his own heart, he had already lost the battle.

In Joshua’s eyes, the wall was a problem, but that was only the beginning.

•           On top of the city wall, Joshua built a wall called fear.

•           On top of the wall of fear, he built another wall called doubt.

•           By time he added wall upon wall, Joshua’s problem made the brick walls of Jericho look like child’s play.

Isn’t that the way we do it too?

Life has challenges. There is no disputing that. Most of our walls are not made of stone and brick like the walls of Jericho.

We face walls of job loss, financial strain, family problems, marriage problems, sickness, and death. We face walls of injustice, prejudice, xenophobia, and ignorance. We face walls of alcoholism, drug abuse, and every other kind of addiction. We face walls of mental illness, broken hearts, and hopelessness. We face walls of every kind, some on the outside of us others on the inside.

When we Face problems usually we choose one of two alternatives

We worry or we try to solve them ourselves.

 ”Worry has been described as “faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster and belief in defeat...worry is wasting today's time to clutter up tomorrow's opportunities with yesterday's troubles.

Worry is like fog. A dense fog that covers a seven-city-block area one hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops. Not much is there but it can cripple an entire city. “

 Jesus knew the power of worry. He counseled his disciples against robbing tomorrow to worry today. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

When I am faced with a problem, I just cannot figure out… a wall I cannot conquer, I lay awake and worry, (do any of you do that)  but when I do I notice that  in the dark quiet of the night, my worry builds walls bigger than when I started.

  Other times, when faced with life’s challenges, we respond like toddlers “I can do it myself.” We try to solve them by ourselves. We decide there must be some way over, around, or through this wall and by golly, I am going to find it. What we forget, is that much of the time we are the ones who created the problem in the first place But we just can’t help ourselves.

There is a classic story, which illustrates what we’re up against. A scorpion who wanted to get across a river. There were no bridges and he didn't know how to swim. So he asked Mr. Frog to ferry him across.

You can understand that Mr. Frog was very nervous about this idea. "No way," he said. "What kind of a fool do you take me for? I know what you'll do. We'll get out there and then you'll sting me and I'll drown."

"I wouldn't do that," protested the scorpion. "I mean, think about it. If I were to sting you, I'd drown too."

Well, that made sense to Mr. Frog. So, still a bit reluctantly, he let the scorpion climb aboard and they started out on their little voyage across the river. Halfway across, the unthinkable happened. Without warning, the scorpion screamed, kaaaaai! Plunged his stinger deep into the frog's flesh and he unloaded both barrels of his killer poison.

As they both headed for the bottom of the river, the frog sadly asked: "Why'd you do that? Now we're both going to die."

The drowning scorpion, a little baffled himself, managed to confess with his last breath: "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it. It's simply my nature."

It's simply a fact of Planet Earth that scorpions have to sting frogs. Even if it means their own demise. They have to do it.

And you know what? It is our nature to think we can do it ourselves. Even when we know we can’t, we have to try.

It is my nature too. But most of the time when I try to solve my own problems…I have to admit, at best I do it the hard way… and usually I just create bigger problems.

We cannot worry our walls away, nor can we move them by ourselves.

 Let's get back to the story to see how Joshua dealt with his problem.

Joshua had a big problem. But we see that God had a bigger promise.  Joshua knew that his problem was not nearly as big as God's promise. You notice God did not tell Joshua to go conquer Jericho all by himself. He made a promise. That promise was “I have delivered Jericho into your hands"

Joshua had a promise. We have promises too:

•           We have a promise that “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

•           We have a promise that says, “Lo I am with you even until the end of the age.”

•           We have our promise that says, “I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.”

•           We have a promise that, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever should believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life

Problems? Yes, we have problems, but we also have promises from God. And God is God who always keeps his promises. Just like Joshua then, we have a choice to make. We can worry about our problems or we can stand on God's promises. Joshua chose to stand on God's promises. God promised him that he had delivered Jericho into his hands. The proof is that even though we talk about “the Battle of Jericho,” there was no battle. God took care of it just as he promised. That's what happens when we give up our worry and rely on God’s promises.

In the story of the Battle of Jericho Joshua has a problem. Joshua has a promise from God. However, the story doesn't end there. Joshua also has a partner. Joshua has a partner because he trusts in God.

God tells Joshua” Trust me and we will do this together. This is how we're going to do it. You take the ark of the covenant”… What was the Ark of the Covenant? It was the symbol of the presence of God with them. Essentially God is saying, “I’ll come with you… You take the Ark of the Covenant and your men and March around the city one time every day for 6 days. On the 7th Day, we will march around the city seven times. The priests will be playing the trumpet. When you here the priests let out a long blast on the trumpets… have all the people let out a loud  shout and the walls of the city will come tumbling down.” God didn’t send Joshua away to conquer Jericho… he went with him as a partner. And God brought the walls down himself.

Many people have tried to demythologize this story. Some have tried to explain away how the walls of Jericho could be brought down by the acoustic waves created by the people shouting.

Some have tried to claim that the people of Jericho would be so frightened that they would open the gates and let the Israelites come in without a battle.

No matter how many rationalizations they may offer, there are still only two truths in this story.

•           Joshua believed God’s  promise

•           Joshua let god be his partner.

That’s where we can learn a lesson. We worry and try to do it ourselves. Joshua trusted and let God do the heavy lifting.

In spite of our perceptions, we are not solo performers. If we trust in God’s promises and God’s presence, we never face any problem alone.

God is with us when we struggle with our budgets, when we lose our jobs, when are marriages are on the rocks, when our lives seem so turned upside down that we don't know which way is up. God promises I will never leave you or forsake you.   You don’t have to climb the walls by yourself.

Joshua trusted in God and the walls came down.

What will you do?

•           Whatever you wall is, you could beat your head against it until it falls down, or until you fall unconscious.

•           Whatever you wall might be, you can try to climb over it, but you will likely keep sliding back down.

•           Whatever you wall might be, you can try to run around it, but you will eventually fall exhausted.

•           Whatever you wall might be, you can try to dig under it, but you will probably be crushed by your pride.

OR

OR you can trust in God’s promises. “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

 You can let God be your partner. “With God all things are possible.”

I promise you when you face a wall… and I’m sorry to say you will face a wall of some kind in your life. You can’t go over it. You can’t go around it. You can’t go under it… you might as well go with God.