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“search the scriptures” John 5:39
Having crossed the Jordan, Israel were now faced with another great obstacle barring their entrance into the Promised Land in the form of the city of Jericho.
Jordan was a natural barrier, but Jericho was a man-made barrier; it stood in the way of God’s people and their enjoyment of the inheritance. It represents a world system that must be overcome if the child of God is to advance into the good of all that God would have him enjoy. The world will always come between the believer and the divine. Various cities and countries in scripture are emblematic of different aspects of the world.
Sodom portrays the world in its corrupt and immoral depravity. The saints of God have been set apart from ‘this present evil world’, Gal. 1. 4.
The Egyptian world provides everything for the natural man, all that would appeal to his senses. Moses forsook it by faith, ‘choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season’, Heb. 11. 25.
Babylon then speaks of a great commercial and religious world system in defiance of God. The believer is to be uncompromisingly separate from it - ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins’, Rev. 18. 4.
Jericho represents the world as a barrier to the believer entering into the good of the inheritance. It was ‘straitly shut up’, Josh. 6. 1. It was intimidating and appeared to be invincible, its great walls seemingly impregnable. Could it be overcome? If so, how? We will see that just as the waters of Jordan opened up before the ark of God, so the walls of Jericho will come tumbling down before the presence of the very same ark.
Joshua chapter 5 contains the secret to overcoming Jericho. There are great principles to be learned in this chapter that will equip us for advancing towards Jericho in the next chapter. In fact, these matters are indispensable if we are to overcome the world. Notice four things:
‘At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time’, Josh. 5. 2. Circumcision involves the cutting off of the flesh, both literally and symbolically. If we are ever going to overcome the world, we need to put a knife to the flesh. How searching this is! ‘But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof’, Rom. 13. 14.
After Israel defeated the kings in chapter 10 of Joshua, they returned to Gilgal, but, in chapter 7, when they went up to the little city of Ai to take it, they failed miserably. After the great victory of overcoming Jericho, a return to Gilgal is most conspicuous by its absence. All of this is most instructive to us - Gilgal is the safe place; it is there that the flesh is judged.
They kept the passover, Josh. 5. 10. The hearts of the people must have gone out to Jehovah in gratitude as they recalled the great day of national redemption when, under the blood of the lamb, they found shelter from coming judgement. God brought them out in order to bring them into the land of Canaan.
‘Christ our passover is sacrificed for us’, 1 Cor. 5. 7. We too have been delivered not only from judgement, but to enjoy all that we have been brought into in Christ. Salvation is just the beginning. The keeping of the passover in Joshua chapter 5 reminds me that I have been redeemed to enter into the good of the inheritance. It is all mine by right, I have a title to it.
‘And they did eat of the old corn of the land’, Josh. 5. 11. The old corn was simply the produce of the land. The diet of the Israelites furnishes us with great typical lessons as to our feeding on Christ.
The roast lamb in Egypt speaks of the sufferings of Christ; it gave Israel the strength to leave Egypt. The manna in the wilderness reminds us of the One who came down from heaven to meet the need of a hungry world. The corn speaks of the risen Christ. The corn sprang up and this is most delightful when we consider the rich inheritance that Canaan represents, because it is all ours by virtue of a risen Christ. By feeding on truth connected with a risen Man we will gain strength to overcome the world.
Joshua chapter 5 closes with a revelation of the Lord Himself, appearing as captain of the Lord’s host with sword drawn and ready for action. As ever, the manner in which the Lord appears is directly relevant to the circumstances of those to whom He appears. What an encouragement this must have been to Joshua just to know that the presence and power of the Lord was with him, as it is to us as we seek to overcome this world.
Even after all the preparation of chapter 5, Joshua must have been further strengthened to hear the Lord say to him, ‘See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour’, Josh. 6. 2.
The three words ‘I have given’ made all the difference - not only was victory guaranteed but that victory would be a divine work. As Israel marched around the walls of Jericho, they would have felt their own powerlessness to achieve victory. This is doubtless one of the lessons that God was impressing upon them as they marched. The sure promise of God’s word would resonate within every faithful heart - victory was already accomplished.
It is always wholesome to feel our own weakness because in weakness is strength. It is when we become self-confident and self-assured that we are in danger of falling. Likewise, it is great to know that by God’s help the world can be overcome!
‘Faint not, Christian! Though the world
Hath its hostile flag unfurled;
Hold the cross of Jesus fast
Thou shalt overcome at last’.
James Harrington Evans, 1785-1849
I think it is safe to say that the battle of Jericho must have adopted the strangest strategy in the annals of military history.
Picture a daily circuit of the city for six days in a row and on the seventh day seven circuits of the city. What a peculiar sight it must have been to the eyes of the citizens of Jericho, a people walking around their city daily without a word spoken, no battle cry, no arrows shot, or spears thrown, and, in addition to this, they are carrying a covered box on their shoulders.
This was all contrary to human logic, but is that not just what characterizes the ways of God? ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord’, Isa. 55. 8. Paul wrote, ‘we preach Christ crucified … unto the Greeks foolishness’, 1 Cor. 1. 23. The gospel message, presenting a man who died on a cross as the means to eternal blessedness, was deemed folly by the rationalistic mind of the Greeks. This, however, is no surprise because Paul in the same Epistle tells us that ‘the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’, 1 Cor. 2. 14.
We should not be too concerned if we are treated as an enigma in this world. As believers we are fundamentally different, we do not fit in and are not meant to!
So, if Jericho cannot be conquered by human methods, how will it be overcome? ‘By faith the walls of Jericho fell down’, Heb. 11. 30. Faith is seen in just doing what God asks us to do - ‘this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith’, 1 John 5. 4. Faith believes God even though it may not be able to logically process what God has said or asked. We must not lean on the arm of the flesh. Paul says in Second Corinthians, ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds’, 2 Cor. 10. 4.
And so, with simple and unquestioning obedience Israel marched around the city. We should never underestimate the importance of obedience to the word of God. There was a day when King Saul thought he knew better than to obey the explicitly clear command of the Lord. God said to destroy Amalek completely, but Saul said (by his actions), ‘No, I know a better way!’ He would learn the weighty lesson that ‘to obey is better than sacrifice’, 1 Sam. 15. 22. Our Lord Jesus would stress to His own, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’, John 14. 15.
Pivotal to the march around Jericho was the ark of the covenant. It occupied the central place, uplifted on the shoulders of the priests. With soldiers to the fore and soldiers to the rear, there was the ark, the unmistakable symbol of the Lord’s presence with His people.
This reminds us that in order to overcome the world the person of Christ must be given the place of supreme importance in my life; He must be uplifted and central to all that I do. I will never know overcoming power if He is on the outskirts of my life, kept merely on the periphery.
The New Testament writers emphasize how vital this is. Paul reminds us of the importance of Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, Eph. 3. 17. If Christ is at home in my heart, not merely passing through as a visitor but residing there, He will impart strength and the ability to overcome. Likewise, in the writings of Peter, he exhorts ‘sanctify the Lord God in your hearts’, 1 Pet. 3. 15. Darby helpfully translates this statement, ‘sanctify [the] Lord the Christ in your hearts’. In other words, I am to set Christ apart in my heart, enshrine Him who is Lord, He who is worthy of complete authority over my life. John will speak of the glorious hope of one day being with and like our Lord, 1 John 3. 1-3, but in the present time this eager expectation must have a practical effect upon my life and thus he says, ‘every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure’, v. 3.
Many other scriptures could be cited to impress this truth upon us, but I think this will suffice to show that occupation with Christ and subjection to Christ is the all-important issue in the Christian’s life to enable him to overcome this world.
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