Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002708
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00:08 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated the world veiled in darkness and confusion about the 00:16 character of God. And still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:23 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel with 00:27 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:33 treasures in God's word today. 00:36 Happy Sabbath. I'd like to say good morning to everybody. 00:43 I'm glad that you're here again. I always want to welcome 00:49 visitors. We always have a nice sprinkling of visitors and we're 00:53 delighted that you've chosen to worship with us here at 00:56 Sacramento Central and I hope that you'll find that we're 01:00 friendly and that this service will be a blessing for you. 01:04 Today we're continuing our study in the life of Joshua and it's 01:09 Joshua part 3. In case you're wondering we'll probably have 01:14 four parts in this study. Joshua Part 3- Covenant and Conquest 01:18 is our title for today's segment of our study. Now we're going to 01:24 be dealing with the subject of the walls of Jericho in 01:29 particular. When we think about something such as the walls I 01:34 can't help but think about the Great Wall of China. I have read 01:39 about it many times before and I did several amazing facts 01:43 relating to the Great Wall of China built about 2000 years 01:47 about they started. It covers a span of about 1500 miles. 01:51 Imaging that. Just one wall that would reach from Sacramento to 01:56 St. Louis. That's about the distance of the pony express 02:00 ride they used to have over that same course or from Miami to 02:05 Maine. I understand now with satellite technology they've 02:10 been able to detect as much as 600 miles of additional wall 02:14 they had not seen before looking down from space with their 02:19 special cameras that had somewhat eroded. An incredible 02:24 human fete. It would have cost more than our entire national 02:29 budget for the United States Interstate system to be able 02:34 to rebuild those walls today. Billions. Someone said 316 02:38 billion dollars they spent on that Great Wall. Now when we 02:42 think of walls, walls are usually there to keep an enemy 02:46 out. Of course the Great Wall of China was built to keep out the 02:50 Mongol raiders. I remember when Karen and I and the boys a 02:54 little more than a year ago went to China. When we first started 02:57 up the Great Wall there were thousands of people there, but 03:01 we wanted to see how far it really went and so we went up 03:04 this one section and we finally got to the place where there 03:08 were absolutely no tourists there. It was kind of fun to 03:11 think here we are in China and there are no people and we're on 03:14 the Great Wall. But we did finally have to get down to 03:16 where the people were to get someone to take a picture of the 03:18 family. It just was mind boggling. We were looking at 03:23 just a little section that had been restored, how big it was. 03:27 As the children of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised 03:30 Land there was a city that was especially known for its walls 03:34 and it was the city of Jericho. These tremendous fortifications 03:39 were there and it represented the beach head to get into the 03:44 city. When you go to France, if you go to Normandy, still today 03:49 on the coast line of Normandy you can see the bunkers that the 03:54 Germans had built to try to repel an invasion. And even 03:58 though they're about 60 years old now because they were 04:01 concrete they're still there. Up in a high point in those 04:04 fortifications it looked like there was no way to get into 04:08 the coast. It was through actually a series of miracles 04:11 that the D-day invasion was a success. Weather was working in 04:15 their favor and Rommel's wife had a birthday so he left the 04:19 front lines. A lot of things contributed to that. In the same 04:22 way when the children of Israel looked at the walls of Jericho 04:27 they knew they were going to need Divine aide to conquer this 04:32 city. Jericho represented a fortress of evil that blocked 04:36 the way to the Promised Land. Now it is very important for us 04:41 to be studying this subject because the Bible tells us that 04:45 I Corinthians 10 verse 11, All these things, speaking of the 04:50 children of Israel, all these things happened to them for 04:54 examples and they are written for our admonition. And of all 04:58 the Old Testament stories that we could be studying, the story 05:04 of Joshua is of great relevance. Why? Because Joshua and his 05:09 experiences will be repeated as God's people enter the Promised 05:15 Land. Joshua and what the children of Israel went through 05:18 just prior to crossing the Jordan and taking the Promised 05:23 Land, those things will be symbolically repeated by you as 05:27 we prepare to be led by our Joshua into God's Promised Land. 05:31 Can you see that there are some parallels there and this is a 05:36 very relevant study for us? The question is, is there a Jericho 05:42 that is blocking your access to Canaan? Does the devil have a 05:47 pagan fortress in your life that you have felt it is impossible 05:51 to overcome? Not going to ask for a show of hands but I want 05:56 you to be praying that God's Spirit will speak to you. 05:59 Is there some pagan fortress that the devil has possession of 06:04 in your life that stands as an obstacle to your entering the 06:09 Promised Land? Would you like to see that fortress overcome? 06:14 Would you like to see it conquered? Would you like to 06:17 experience victory so that you can have that access? Well it's 06:21 going to take a miracle. Because when the devil builds a fortress 06:26 it has high walls. Now we better go back to chapter 5 of Joshua 06:31 to really get the full scope of this story. And I'm going to 06:34 begin with verse 1. Our study today will take us through 06:38 chapters 5 and 6 and we'll stop there. Verse 1 chapter 5 Joshua 06:44 So it was that when all the kings of the Amorites were on 06:48 the west side of the Jordan and all the kings of the Canaanites 06:52 were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of 06:55 the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had 06:59 crossed over, their heart melted and there was no spirit in them 07:04 any longer because of the children of Israel. Now when we 07:08 left our story last time God miraculously parted the Jordan 07:12 River. Remember the priests put their feet in the waters, the 07:15 water stopped, they crossed over and made it safely to the other 07:19 side. A mile and a half away was the city of Jericho. From their 07:23 walls they saw this miracle. The word of this incredible miracle, 07:27 supernatural evidence of God's blessing spread all throughout 07:31 the Promised Land. If you were a Canaanite or a Perizite or an 07:35 Amorite and you were living in the Promised Land, would it make 07:39 you nervous to know how God was with the Israelites and they 07:43 were coming to evict you? I'd be a little nervous. Now it goes 07:47 through a course of three things that happened that sort of 07:50 prepare them for Jericho. We're going to look at those things 07:53 quickly. They reinstituted circumcision. There was a 07:59 consecration and a circumcision that took place. Look at verse 08:04 two. At that time the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives for 08:09 yourselves and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second 08:14 time. Now why is he saying the second time? Well evidently and 08:19 the scholars can't prove this but they have to surmise a 08:22 little bit. When Moses and Aaron first met with the children of 08:25 Israel and said look God's going to do great things for you. 08:29 Consecrate yourselves to the Lord, that at that time they 08:33 were told to reinstitute the ceremony of circumcision God had 08:37 given to Abraham. During the time of slavery they had become 08:41 negligent about the covenants and the ceremonies God had given 08:45 to them. And so before they began to see God's miracles of 08:49 deliverance they needed to reconsecrate themselves and so 08:53 they began to circumcise their sons back in that time. So here 08:58 we are 40 years later. When they disobeyed the Lord at Kadesh 09:02 remember the spies came back. Joshua said we can make it with 09:05 Caleb, the others said we can't. Because of their unbelief they 09:08 wandered 40 years. During that point when God put a curse on 09:12 them to wander, they had not circumcised their sons or 09:15 celebrated the Passover for 40 years. Now they have crossed 09:19 over to the Promised Land. They are preparing to go into battle 09:23 against their enemies they need to return to complete obedience. 09:27 If God is going to work miracles for you there needs to be a 09:32 complete consecration to known duties. I'm going to say it 09:35 again because it's a very important point. Some of you 09:38 have been praying for miracles and nothing's happening. 09:40 Do everything you know how to do to follow everything you know 09:44 you should follow. This is a case in point to prove this. 09:49 When Moses was on his way to first meet with Pharaoh to be 09:53 the great liberator of God's people, Moses, burning bush, God 09:57 spoke to him, told him what to do, where to go. But he wasn't 10:00 quite ready yet. You know what happened? You read in Exodus 10:03 4:24, I get questions on this all the time, and people say 10:07 what is going on here? Exodus 4:24: It came to pass on the way 10:11 at the encampment, the inn, they're on the way back to 10:15 Egypt, Moses with his wife Ziphorah, he's going to meet 10:19 Aaron, the plagues, the miracles the great exodus, before that 10:22 happens, this is between the burning bush and the great 10:26 deliverance, God meets them on the way and sought to kill him. 10:31 An angel of judgment stood in his path. Then Ziphorah his wife 10:35 took a sharp stone. You notice these aren't iron knives. They 10:39 used stone knives for circumcision and I don't want to 10:42 take this too far except to say one of our friends found an old 10:46 flint arrow head on our property I keep it in the desk drawer up 10:50 there in Covelo. It is like a razor even though it must be 10:54 hundreds of years old. They found it just protected. It was 10:57 like a serrated razor's edge. It is extremely sharp. Don't think 11:01 that this would have been crude. It was extremely sharp. For some 11:06 reason even the Egyptians when they embalmed bodies they did 11:09 not use the iron or bronze knives they had. They used stone 11:12 They felt that it was sacred to use stone when cutting flesh and 11:15 I'm not sure for all other reasons for that but... Ziphorah 11:19 Moses' wife takes a sharp stone and cuts the foreskin of her son 11:24 Evidently they had neglected to circumcise one of their sons and 11:30 Moses and Ziphorah were disagreeing on this. Maybe she 11:33 thought it was barbaric. And he said I should but he was going 11:36 along with what his wife said and said ah well all right. And 11:39 the angel said look you're the priest of this family and if 11:41 you're not going to follow me, how are you going to lead these 11:44 people? If you can't be a leader in your own family how are you 11:47 going to lead these people. So finally Moses stopped and he 11:50 said look, God's not going to let me go any farther. There's 11:52 an angel of judgment here. We must obey him. And so she 11:56 grudgingly followed through with the circumcision and said you're 12:00 a bloody man. In other words, this is a barbaric practice. 12:02 I don't understand it. That's what people say about Passover; 12:05 killing animals, the sacrificial system. Why it's barbaric. 12:07 The cross is barbaric too. Blood for sin is barbaric. But if God 12:13 says this is His law, it's His law and He wants us to follow 12:18 these known duties. Now what does that mean for us today? 12:23 First of all, if you want to see great miracles of deliverance 12:27 and victory and you want to see the walls come down follow the 12:31 requirements that God has revealed to you. If you're 12:35 willing to do what God has told you to do you open the way for 12:39 him to do more. He can work miracles for you. But if you're 12:42 being inconsistent in following what God has revealed to you 12:46 then there are limits on what God can do for you. Now he had 12:49 parted the Jordan River for them but he had not brought down the 12:53 walls of Jericho. He said I brought you into the Promised 12:55 Land. Before I can give you victory you must in every area 12:59 be consecrated. They were to renew the covenant. For us, you 13:03 read in Romans 2:29 and there's a lot I could read in the New 13:07 Testament about the spiritual dimension of circumcision. He is 13:10 a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the 13:17 heart in the Spirit, not in the letter. Even Moses in the Old 13:22 Testament said circumcise therefore the foreskins of your 13:26 heart. In other words, there was to be a cutting away of the 13:30 carnal nature, being willing to be led by the Spirit and not the 13:34 flesh. Being sensitive to the leading of God's Spirit. That's 13:38 what all of the entails. And so that's a New Testament 13:42 equivalent of it. Have we allowed the Lord to say we're 13:45 not going to live by the flesh but we're going to live by the 13:49 Spirit. The things that are distracting us from following 13:52 Jesus all the way. Having a tender heart rather than a 13:55 stony heart. That's what this means. In Colossians chapter 2 14:00 verse 11: In whom you also are circumcised with the 14:05 circumcision made without hands, not the physical one, in putting 14:09 off the body the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of 14:14 Christ. You know it's interesting here that with Moses 14:19 after he crossed the Red Sea and he circumcised on his way 14:25 back to Egypt, circumcised his son, crossed the Red Sea, he had 14:28 the Passover and God works these miracles of deliverance for him. 14:32 The same events that preceded the great exodus deliverance 14:37 preceded the great conquest of Canaan. The next thing; they 14:43 renewed the covenant. Now we're in chapter 5 verse 10: And the 14:48 children of Israel encamped in Gilgal and they kept the 14:52 Passover on the 14th day of the month, as they were supposed to, 14:56 at even on the plains of Jericho Here they are, they're on the 15:00 plains, they're ready to take possession of the Promised Land 15:04 and they now keep the Passover again. They sacrifice a Passover 15:09 lamb. Was there a great deliverance and was there a 15:11 Passover kept back in Exodus before God worked incredible 15:15 miracles for them? What's the equivalent of the Passover for 15:19 us? At the last supper Jesus renewed the covenant with his 15:23 people. He said Jesus is the Passover lamb. When we celebrate 15:27 the Lord's supper he said. I've longed to eat this Passover with 15:31 you. It's a symbol for Jesus the Lamb, the blood of the Lamb, the 15:35 blood on the door. This whole covenant symbolized that their 15:38 sins were going to be under the blood. That the angel of 15:42 judgment was passing by. All of these nations in the Promised 15:46 Land were about to be destroyed or evicted. They were under 15:50 judgment. But Israel was going to be blessed. What made the 15:54 difference. Israel was under the blood of the Lamb, they were not 15:56 What was it that brought the disaster on the Egyptians and 16:00 especially the firstborn? Those who were in the house without 16:04 the blood, the firstborn perished. It was judgment. 16:08 If we want out homes to be blessed and we want to be 16:11 prepared for that miracle we need to have the circumcision of 16:15 the heart. We need to have the Passover Lamb and be under the 16:19 blood and be prepared for this great entrance into the Promised 16:22 Land. So they renewed the Passover. They circumcised the 16:28 males and that would be all the way from eight days up until 40. 16:32 Keep in mind everyone over 40 was circumcised before they left 16:36 Egypt. And then something else happened that probably was a 16:40 little bit unnerving for them. For the first time in 40 years a 16:43 generation that could never forget the manna ceased. Read 16:50 this here in Joshua chapter 5 verse 12: Then the manna ceased 16:55 on that day after they had eaten the produce of the land and the 16:59 children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of 17:04 the land of Canaan that year. Now also keep in mind it said 17:07 the Passover was kept in the spring. This was the time for 17:11 the first harvest. There was an abundance of wheat and grain in 17:15 the fields from the winter crop. And so they began, as they 17:19 crossed over the Jordan... Ah I probably ought to read chapter 17:23 six just to give you the context here. Look at chapter 6 of 17:28 Joshua verse 1. Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the 17:33 children of Israel. None went out and came in. Did you see 17:38 that? So after they crossed the Jordan these pagan cities 17:41 sequestered themselves. Well they had all these farms that 17:45 were outside the city and so the children of Israel basically 17:48 just went roaming through all of the farms in the countryside, 17:52 the vineyards and things and they're gleaning all they want. 17:57 So as they began to do that, God said look I gave you manna as 18:03 an emergency precaution to sustain you in the wilderness 18:07 You are now in the Promised Land you don't need it any more. 18:11 Some people wonder why God doesn't do miraculously for us 18:15 what he's maybe done in Bible times miraculously. It's because 18:19 he doesn't need to do miraculously what he can do 18:22 naturally. Sometimes people don't go to the doctor for a 18:26 simple procedure where God has given doctors and natural 18:31 medicine the ability to take care of what this problem is and 18:34 they stay at home languishing asking for God to work a miracle 18:37 God says I'm not going to do for you miraculously what you have 18:40 the ability to find naturally. And I think some people have 18:43 tempted the Lord and been foolish in the way they've dealt 18:48 with these things. God performs miracles in our extremity. God 18:52 does not typically rain manna down for us when our 18:55 refrigerator is full. He's practical. Now but think about 19:01 what this might have meant for them. You've got a generation 19:05 that never remembers waking up not finding manna except on 19:10 Sabbath. It fell six days a week but there was none on Sabbath. 19:13 They'd get twice as much on Friday. Now for the first time 19:17 on a weekday they wake up, Ah no manna! Now they're really 19:21 trusting on the Lord and they realize, look there's no turning 19:24 back to the wilderness. The Jordan River is closed back up. 19:27 The manna has stopped falling. God says look I brought you here 19:30 and I expect you to live here and flourish here. You need to 19:33 conquer these nations if you're going to keep eating here. 19:35 Can you understand the message that God was giving them? He's 19:38 basically saying there's no turning back now. The manna's 19:41 gone. You're not going to live in the desert any more. You're 19:45 going to have to conquer the Promised Land. Verse 13: And it 19:49 came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes. 19:52 Lifting his eyes means he may have been kneeling down praying. 19:56 He could have been from the hilltop looking down. And he 19:59 looked and behold a man, seemed to come out of nowhere. And it 20:03 stood opposite him. He's standing right there by him. 20:06 With his sword drawn in his hand Now I want to pause here. What 20:11 does that mean? I can think of three times in the Bible where 20:14 you see this angelic, and I think everyone here knows it was 20:18 not a normal man, we'll get to that in a moment. Three times in 20:22 the Bible where you see some angelic creature with not just a 20:27 sword but a drawn sword. Why do you draw your sword? Because 20:31 you're getting ready to use it. Isn't that right? Is that too 20:35 complicated? How many of you remember when Balaam was going 20:39 the wrong way? God had told him not to go and he insisted in 20:43 going. And you read in Numbers 22:23: Now the donkey saw the 20:47 angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in 20:52 his hand. And the donkey turned out of the way. Finally Balaam 20:56 when he had his eyes opened and he saw what the donkey saw and 20:59 it says and he bowed his head and he fell flat on his face. 21:03 Then you can read where King David, because of bad behavior 21:07 an angel of judgment was going through Israel and David lifted 21:11 his eyes and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing between 21:14 heaven and earth having in his had a drawn sword stretched over 21:20 Jerusalem. So David and the elders clothed in sack cloth 21:24 fell on their faces. Don't forget this. Drawn sword, 21:27 impending judgment. You better get down and humble yourself. 21:33 Now who does Joshua see? He sees this individual with a drawn 21:39 sword and he says to him, Are you for us or for our enemies? 21:45 He's a majestic being. He's fit in the regalia of a warrior. 21:49 Maybe it was a little different than what Israel normally wore. 21:54 And he's saying, who are you? Joshua's not afraid. That's 21:58 interesting. And it's almost like Jesus said, He that is not 22:02 with me is against me. Joshua, our Joshua, that what he says, 22:06 are you with me or against me? Joshua in the Old Testament says 22:09 are you for us or are you for our enemies? There's no neutral 22:12 territory in this ground. You're with us or you're against us. 22:16 before we get to the last days everybody is going to be off the 22:20 fence. You're either going to be sealed with the seal of God or 22:24 worshipping the beast and receiving his mark. Worshipping 22:26 his image. You're going to hear Joshua say are you for us or are 22:31 you for our enemies? You cannot play the middle ground in this 22:35 battle between good and evil. So he answers in verse 14 and he 22:40 says, No, I'm not against you but as commander of the army of 22:45 the Lord I have now come. And he's not even saying Joshua I'm 22:49 the commander of your forces. I'm the commander of the forces 22:52 that are helping your forces. You know the Bible refers to the 22:57 Lord as the Lord of Sabbaoth. It's not Sabbath, Sabbaoth, and 23:01 it means the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies. God has his army 23:07 in heaven. Now this is a very unique experience in the Bible. 23:13 You know why? He reveals himself as the Commander of God's armies 23:18 but what you have here is a picture of a mirror. You have 23:24 the most vivid example in the Bible of the type meeting the 23:31 antitype. Two Joshuas meet. Who is this commander of the Lord's 23:37 army? It's Jesus. Joshua on earth is meeting our Joshua or 23:42 Jesus and the commander of the earthly Israel is meeting the 23:47 commander of the heavenly Israel the spiritual Israel and you've 23:52 got this type who is meeting antitype. It is a very 23:56 interesting meeting. They've both got their armor, they've 23:58 both got their sword, one is going to be conquering the 24:01 earthly Jericho, the other is going to conquer the spiritual 24:04 Jericho in the great controversy and so what a meeting. 24:08 That would have been something to see. And one bows before the 24:13 other. Notice. Oh matter of fact I want to read this to you right 24:17 out of the Bible. We've back in chapter 5 and in verse 14 he 24:23 says but as Commander of the army of the Lord I come, and 24:28 Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped him. Now 24:32 you notice three times I've shown you drawn sword, you 24:37 better get on your face. Balaam knew better, David and the 24:42 elders knew better, even Joshua the general of God's people gets 24:47 on his face before this individual. He worships him. 24:49 Not only does he say that he says what does my Lord say to 24:53 his servant and the Commander of the Lord's army said take your 24:57 sandals off your feet. The place where you stand is holy. All the 25:00 things that happened to Moses prior to the great exodus 25:03 happened again as they get ready 40 years later to enter 25:06 the Promised Land. Circumcision, Passover, a Divine meeting with 25:12 God the Son, taking your shoes off your feet for it's holy 25:16 ground and he's in a posture of worship. Who do we worship only? 25:19 Only God. So this commander of God's army is the Lord. Does 25:25 that make sense? It's the Lord Jesus. So now he's saying Lord 25:30 what do you want me to do? As you begin chapter 6 it's 25:34 telling us what God says to Joshua. So let's begin chapter 6 25:38 verse 1. I've mentioned already that he said Jericho was 25:43 securely shut up. Every one was blockaded in the city. They're 25:46 preparing for a siege. None went out or came in. And the Lord, 25:50 this is during this meeting where God's general is talking 25:54 to Joshua, he says to Joshua, See I have given Jericho into 25:58 your hand. He's saying conquer Jericho. This is your next step. 26:03 And Joshua is bowing before him asking for this instruction. See 26:07 I have given Jericho into your had. Just like when God said 26:10 to Moses, I've given Pharaoh into your hand, I've given the 26:15 children of Israel to you. Look at what happens when we 26:19 consecrate ourselves to God. Celebrating the Passover, 26:23 trusting in God's provision, they renewed the circumcision 26:28 bowed down and humbled himself before God, then God reveals his 26:31 will. Have some of you wanted to know God's will, have you 26:34 wanted to see how to get the victory. You consecrate yourself 26:37 the way the children of Israel did and you'll see the walls of 26:40 Jericho come down. What happens here in chapter 5 and the first 26:44 part of chapter 6 recognize that which is holy, worship God. 26:48 Joshua here is worshipping God. Wonderful things happen when you 26:51 follow those steps. The Lord said, I have given Jericho into 26:55 your hand and it's king. That means the devil will be 26:58 overthrown. And its mighty men, the minions of the devil or the 27:01 demons that hassle you. You shall march around the city 27:05 all you men of war. You shall go round the city once. This you 27:10 will do six days and seven priests shall bear seven 27:15 trumpets of rams' horn before the Ark, but the seventh day you 27:19 will march around the city seven times and the priests will blow 27:25 the trumpets. Now I have asked people a thousand times how many 27:29 times did the children of Israel march around Jericho and if you 27:33 catch people without their Bibles open in a crowd you know 27:35 what they all say? Seven times. That's not what it says. If you 27:39 do the math how many times did they march around Jericho? 27:43 What is seven plus six? Thirteen times. How many were at the 27:48 last supper? Thirteen. I know you thought that was an unlucky 27:53 number. But biblically it's the symbol for the 12 apostles and 27:57 their leadership. When they marched around Jericho they were 28:01 to take the Ark with them. The Ark was carried by how many 28:06 priests? There were three priests on each pole, four poles 28:10 you know the poles went all the way through. Twelve priests, 28:15 isn't that right? Led by Joshua. How many? Thirteen. Isn't that 28:19 interesting. Then in addition to that they had seven priests 28:24 blowing trumpets. So 7 and 13 is how many? Twenty. So you've got 28:29 this leading procession of 20 that are marching around the 28:32 city. You've got the 12 priests and Joshua. They had the 12 28:36 apostles and Jesus. Isn't that interesting. You see all the 28:39 parallels that are here. This is just so exciting to me. It just 28:42 shows that God knows all things and they're all in his hand. 28:45 And these seven priests will bear the seven trumpets of rams' 28:49 horn before the Ark. But the seventh day you'll march around 28:52 the city seven times and that's not taking about the seventh day 28:56 of the week. Some people say on the Sabbath day they marched 28:59 around the city seven times and then smothered the people of 29:04 Jericho. That doesn't sound very Sabbath-like. Now how this 29:07 happened, there's a couple of different ways and I probably 29:11 will address it now and then I'll back up and explain more 29:15 about the battle. One of two things happened. Either they 29:19 marched around the city six days they rested the Sabbath and then 29:23 the seventh day of marching which would have been the first 29:25 day of the week, they took it. That's what I'm inclined to 29:28 believe. It's not talking about seven days sequentially. It's 29:30 saying the seventh day of marching. It leaves that one out 29:33 on the Sabbath. I could be that one of the six days they went 29:37 around the city one time was the seventh day Sabbath. Well what 29:40 did they do that day? They marched quietly around the city. 29:43 They didn't fight. The trumpets blew. They didn't even speak. 29:46 They were commanded to be silent. Then they went back to 29:47 the camp. Well if God tells you to do that on the Sabbath you 29:52 do it. Not hardly working. So we don't know exactly how they 29:56 fit in. I'm inclined to think they marched around the city 29:59 six days, they rested and then on the first day of the week, 30:03 the seventh day of marching that's when God gave them the 30:07 victory. That's when the Holy Spirit was poured out too wasn't 30:09 it? You know the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first day 30:12 of the week. I'm not trying to make a case for Sunday here 30:15 but it was after the Sabbath that these things happened. 30:18 God began his new work. All right. Let's keep going here. 30:21 I want to go back and piece by piece look at what's happening. 30:24 God now told them that they are to overcome the walls of Jericho 30:29 I took this picture from ancient Syria, this fortification here. 30:33 A very ancient fortification. Just to give you an idea. 30:35 The walls of Jericho were very high. Matter of fact, if you've 30:40 got your Bibles turn with me and look at Deuteronomy chapter 9 30:43 verse 1. Don't lose your place in Joshua, but Deuteronomy 9 30:48 verse 1. Moses is, before he dies, reciting to the children 30:52 of Israel how they're going to get the victory and he says, 30:57 Hear O Israel you are to cross over the Jordan today and go 31:01 in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself. 31:06 By the way, some of you have thought how can I ever overcome 31:10 the fortresses the devil has in my life. They are great, they 31:15 are mighty, but by God's power you can do it. Listen to what it 31:19 says in Deuteronomy 9 verse 1: Greater and mightier than 31:23 yourself. Cities great and fortified up to heaven. 31:28 The walls were fortified up to the sky. He was especially 31:33 talking about Jericho. Walls that reach up to heaven. 31:37 So the walls of Jericho were very high and it was very 31:40 difficult to penetrate them because there was a rampart that 31:44 went around the city as well as the inner wall. Now several 31:48 things are happening here in fighting the walls of Jericho. 31:52 Humanly speaking it was impregnable. It was a bulwark 31:55 that could not be overcome. What was to go around the city. 32:02 First it said you'll take the priests. You've got 19 priests. 32:08 Seven of them are on rams' horns. What are the priests 32:11 today? We're talking about how our Joshua is going to lead us 32:15 into the Promised Land so let's look at this. Is there a modern 32:18 equivalent for the priests today Exodus 19:6 in case you're 32:23 wondering. The priests were not just a cast within Israel. Even 32:28 Moses said all of Israel, you will be to me a kingdom of 32:32 priests and a holy nation. All of us are to be priests and make 32:37 atonement and bring people to God. The work of the priest was 32:41 to teach the word, to offer sacrifice, to intercede. 32:46 Revelation 1 verse 6, you might write some of these down: And 32:50 he has made us, this is New Testament now, God has made us 32:54 a kingdom of priests to his God and Father; to him be glory and 33:00 dominion forever and ever. II Peter 2 verse 5: You also as 33:04 living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy 33:09 priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God 33:12 through Jesus Christ. All right. If we're going to get victories 33:17 for Christ again... By the way, this world is the territory of 33:22 an enemy king. Just as our Joshua when he entered the 33:27 Promised Land, they were invading enemy territory. 33:31 The land belonged to them but it had been kidnapped by Canaanites 33:36 Who made this world? Jesus did. Has it been invaded by an enemy? 33:41 Didn't Jesus even refer to the devil as the prince of this 33:45 world? He's the king of this world. Most of the people in the 33:48 the world recognize him, the majority by far serve him. So if 33:52 you and I are going to go forth conquering for Christ what does 33:56 that mean? Winning souls for Christ. If we're going to do 34:01 that, we've got to go out as his priests. What was their weapon 34:04 that they used? What were the priests carrying? A couple of 34:09 things. What's mentioned? They bore the Ark. Twelve of them 34:14 bore the Ark. What's the Ark? A golden box. Is that our power? 34:19 What was in the Ark.? The 10 commandments were in the inside 34:24 and the Law of Moses, the word of God, the Torah, was in a 34:29 pocket on the outside. They were carrying the word of God with 34:33 them. That Ark is a very important symbol for the word of 34:40 God. Joshua chapter 6 verse 6. Joshua the son of Nun called the 34:43 priests and said to them. Take up the Ark of the Covenant and 34:46 let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before 34:50 the Ark of the Lord. So what is going to give us power to bring 34:55 down the walls of Jericho? The word of God. Now not only are we 34:59 priests, what are the priests to carry? The word of God. What 35:04 gives us power? The word of God. More than that they had seven 35:12 trumpets. You still with me? Isaiah 58, what is 35:15 that trumpet? Verse 1. Cry aloud, 35:19 spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people 35:23 their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. 35:26 Why? Because when we hear about sin we go to Jesus for salvation 35:30 So people are to talk about sin and salvation. Isaiah was a 35:33 prophet. He was to lift up his voice. What do prophets say? 35:37 The word of God. Like what? Like a trumpet. That's what I try to 35:41 do every Sabbath morning and several times in between is to 35:44 proclaim the word of God. This is what brings down the 35:47 fortifications of the devil. You remember the scripture reading? 35:50 The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are mighty 35:53 to bringing down the fortifications of the enemy. 35:56 I'm not done. Ezekiel 33 verse 6 is talking about the trumpets. 36:00 But if the watchman sees the sword coming, watchman on the 36:04 wall sees an army coming, and does not blow the trumpet and 36:07 the people are not warned, I'll require the blood of those 36:11 people at the watchman's hand. Do you know something the world 36:14 doesn't know? Do you know something as a Christian the 36:19 world does not know? Do you know something about the priorities, 36:22 what really matters, what's going to last that the world 36:26 doesn't know? I think you do. And we've got a responsibility 36:30 not to put our light under a bush but to let our trumpet 36:34 blast and let people know what the truth is. The word of God is 36:38 his trumpet. Now how can you read Joshua's story in chapter 36:43 six about seven trumpets and not hear echoes from Revelation? 36:46 Type into your computer, I'm assuming you've got a Bible 36:50 program. Type in seven trumpets. It's going to appear two places. 36:53 It's going to appear in Revelation and it's going to 36:57 appear in Joshua chapter 6. Does the Bible tell us before 37:01 our Jesus, our Joshua, comes back that seven trumpets are 37:05 blown by these angels? I think there's a parallel there friend. 37:09 Revelation 8 verse 2: And I saw seven angels stand before God 37:13 and to them were given seven trumpets. This is happening just 37:17 before Jesus comes to take the world back just like Joshua came 37:21 to take the Promised Land back. It once belonged to Abraham but 37:26 they lost because they wandered into Egypt. Revelation 11 verse 37:31 Then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud in 37:35 heaven saying the kingdom of this world is become the kingdom 37:39 of our Lord and his Christ. Now. I've got to be real careful what 37:45 I say here so I'm not misunderstood. People are 37:48 probably going to take my sermon and they're going to edit it and 37:49 just take one section out of context and get me in trouble. 37:53 I can't help that. You can make a person say anything if you do 37:58 that. But I want you to hear carefully. I believe firmly in 38:03 the historic interpretation of prophecy. I believe those seven 38:07 trumpets in Revelation represent the military history of the 38:11 church from the first coming to the second coming. Seven 38:15 churches, Revelation chapters 2 and 3 represent the religious 38:18 history, covering the religious history from the first coming 38:21 to the second coming. We are now living in the age of the church 38:24 of Laodicea. The seven seals represent a political history of 38:28 the church from the first coming to the second coming. I believe 38:32 that. But I think there may also be, Pastor Doug doesn't know 38:37 everything, but I think there may also be a last day 38:40 fulfillment of those seven trumpets. I'm not one of these 38:44 people who think that the fiery mountain is a meteor or any of 38:47 those things but I'm not sure what the answers are. But in the 38:51 same way that the sun turning dark, the moon turning to blood, 38:54 the stars falling from heaven, we know that's happened 38:57 historically hasn't it? If you know anything about Seventh-day 39:02 Adventism 101 you know that. But you know Revelation says those 39:06 things happen in quick succession at the second coming. 39:08 There's a dual fulfillment there It could be that there's going 39:13 to be some form of dual fulfillment. When they march 39:17 around the city of Jericho did it take 2000 years or did they 39:21 do it quickly in seven days in succession. I think that we're 39:24 going to see some things happen very quickly and there could be 39:27 some parallels. I'm not sure. I'm not dogmatic about this but 39:32 I just thought I should share that with you. And Revelation 11 39:35 verse 19: The temple of God was open in heaven after the seventh 39:40 trumpet is sounded and the Ark of his Covenant was seen. When 39:43 they sounded the seven trumpets on the seventh day here in 39:47 Joshua with the Ark in their midst; what's in the Ark? 39:51 The Law of God. Were they at all bashful about the 10 39:55 commandments when they entered the Promised Land or did they 39:58 have them right out front? The children of Israel when they 40:01 entered the Promised Land, were they hiding the 10 commandments 40:04 somewhere or was it right out front? Will God's church have 40:07 the 10 commandments right out front when we enter the 40:10 Promised Land? Should we be bashful or apologetic about the 40:15 10 commandments? Ohhh. I heard a sermon this week, a local 40:20 preacher. He was preaching on the 10 commandments. It just 40:25 broke my heart. They're just a mirror. We don't have to keep 40:28 them. It's just so we can see our sins and go to Jesus. It's 40:31 not really required that we obey them and we're not under the law 40:36 now we're under grace. And I think that's a doctrine of 40:40 devils if ever there was one. And how many time preachers say 40:46 that. When God says thou shalt not, is that a suggestion? 40:51 Is that something we're to say he was having a bad day and so 40:57 it was a recommendation but you know, nobody's perfect. 41:00 It's a command. They haven't changed. And when the church 41:03 of God is apologetic and making excuses about breaking the 41:06 commands of God and they're kind of hiding the Ark of the 41:10 Covenant, that's really sad. When Jesus comes back there's 41:14 going to be a people of Israel. Spiritual Israel is going to be 41:17 marching with the Ark right out front. They're not going to be 41:21 apologizing for it and for the Law of God. But there's still 41:25 more happening here. So these things are parallels for us. 41:30 Now they had rams' horns. Those rams' horns were... A horn in 41:35 the Bible was a symbol for power and if you've ever kept sheep... 41:39 Have any of you ever seen these mountain sheep butting each 41:43 other with their great big gnarly massive horns. They've 41:46 got heads that must be tougher than woodpeckers because you can 41:50 hear it across the mountains. When I lived in Tockras Canyon 41:52 we had these mountain sheep that went up there and every now and 41:55 then you'd hear pong and you'd hear this big echo through the 41:59 canyon. Their heads, bam, are powerful. It's amazing that they 42:03 don't take Tylenol when they fight like that during 42:06 the rutting season. 42:07 But it was a symbol for the Jews of power. You notice 42:11 these different powers and divisions of Daniel. One had 42:14 different horns and it meant their power because this was a 42:18 shepherd economy. That was the power. When they poured the oil 42:21 of the Holy Spirit on someone and they were anointed as either 42:25 king or priest, it was a horn filled with oil because they 42:28 wanted the power of the Holy Spirit. That horn represented 42:32 power. So when they are blowing the trumpet with a ram's horn it 42:36 represented the power of the word, the Ark, the word. The 42:39 priests, the word. What is it that's bringing down the walls 42:42 of Jericho, by the way? What did Jesus use to fight the 42:46 devil in the wilderness. He had one thing, the word. It is 42:51 written. That's what defeated the devil and brought down his 42:54 fortress. You hear me say this all the time, but it's not going 42:58 to change. Our power as Christians is the word. It is 43:01 the word that will keep us from sin. It is the word that is 43:03 going to give us victory. It is the word that is going to help 43:05 us conquer and bring others to Christ. It's us being totally 43:08 saturated and absorbed in every fiber by the word of God. We 43:12 have to be living epistles of the word. That was what went 43:15 before them when they went into the Promised Land. It says they 43:20 shouted. Now I want to get into that here. You read in Joshua 43:23 on the seventh day... I just want to take you back. I don't 43:27 want to rush through this. Can you imagine being in Jericho at 43:30 that time. And you see the children of Israel one day. 43:35 They come out and talk about a somber processions. They could 43:38 probably look off the walls. The walls were probably crowded with 43:40 thousands of people that were looking down. Historians tell us 43:43 these walls were massive. They may have been a much as 50 feet 43:47 wide at the base, 30 feet wide at the top and this was the 43:50 inner wall. The outer wall also went around the city. Matter of 43:55 fact at this time I'll show you some of the archeology of 43:58 Jericho. You're in there and you see this army of a million. They 44:02 come and they quietly, without uttering a word, march around 44:06 the city. The priests are intermittently blowing the 44:09 trumpets as they make one circuit around the city. Their 44:13 pucker must have been sore after six days of doing that, right? 44:17 That would have been unnerving. And then they go back. They come 44:20 back the next day, walk around the city. Then on the seventh 44:24 day it's like a crescendo is building. Seven times on the 44:28 seventh day they go around the city. And Joshua warns them 44:33 straightly. He says you don't say a word. You are not to utter 44:37 a word until I give you the command. That means that God's 44:41 people are to speak what Christ wants us to speak when Christ 44:45 wants us to speak. It's not to be ours, it's to be his. 44:47 And when I tell you, you're to do what? Shout! I was waiting 44:53 for a chance to say that and wake some of you up. It's in 44:58 context. And I've often thought what were they doing when they 45:03 doing when they shouted. Before I answer that a very similar 45:09 story. Look at II Chronicles 13 verses 14 and 15. And when Judah 45:14 looked around, Judah was at war with Israel. The southern 45:19 kingdom of Judah led by Abijah was at war with Jeroboam. This 45:26 Jeroboam was the wicked king of the north and they were totally 45:32 surrounded. And when Judah looked around to their surprise 45:36 the battle line was both in the front and in the rear. They're 45:39 surrounded. It looked hopeless. And what did they do. They cried 45:42 unto the Lord. The priests sounded the trumpets, the men 45:47 of Judah gave a shout and as the men of Judah shouted it happened 45:52 that God struck Jeroboam and all of Israel before Abijah and 45:55 Judah and they fled. They got the victory when the priests 45:59 blew the trumpet. The priests were in their midst. 46:02 They shouted and they gained the victory. The Lord himself 46:06 will descend from heaven with a shout. Now if I were to ask 46:11 you to shout at the count of three, I'm not going to do that. 46:15 It just doesn't sound dignified in church and I don't want to be 46:19 misinterpreted for the wrong kind of church. But if I were to 46:23 ask you to shout that what would you shout? I mean how does a 46:27 person shout? Have you ever shouted at your kids. What do 46:30 you shout? Their name? Get out of the street. Whatever it is. 46:34 You know, you usually shout something. I guess that there 46:37 are some people that have like the Marine shout. They just 46:42 hoo yah! You know, it isn't just a noise. But there's only one 46:45 time in the Bible I thought what did they shout? I did a study. 46:48 What did they shout? There's a prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. 46:54 Rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion. Shout oh daughter of 46:58 Jerusalem. Behold your king is coming. He is just and lowly. 47:02 Having salvation, lowly, riding upon a donkey. When Jesus 47:06 fulfilled that prophecy and he came down into the Israel and 47:09 the people shouted, you know what they shouted? Hosanna. 47:15 They shouted Hosanna. Now I don't know if that's what Israel 47:21 shouted. It's a very ancient word and the word Hosanna 47:23 is an explanation of adoration for God. It's a shout of praise. 47:29 Hosanna. Did you ever do that? Just on the spur say Hosanna. 47:33 Maybe you've got a hallelujah. Do you ever do hallelujah? 47:37 You're going to think I'm trying to make you Pentecostal, but I'm 47:40 not. We're reading the Bible here. I think they may have 47:44 shouted Hosanna, praise to God. Otherwise it's just incoherent 47:49 noise. How much better that there's some meaning to the 47:52 noise. Now as they went around the city the seventh time on the 47:56 seventh day and they shouted the Bible tells us; well let's 48:03 go to it. Joshua chapter 6 and they rose early in the morning 48:09 and Joshua then gave them instruction. On the seventh day, 48:14 verse 15, they rose early, about the dawning of the day. They 48:18 marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On 48:23 that day only they marched around the city seven times and 48:26 the seventh time it was so when the priests blew the trumpet 48:30 that Joshua said to the people shout for the Lord has given you 48:34 the city. And the roar of those million men plus the trumpets 48:39 blaring all went up at one time and Joshua said the city shall 48:43 be doomed by the Lord to destruction. That's what's going 48:47 happen to this world when our Joshua comes back. And all who 48:52 were in it. Only Rahab, oh remember her? Only Rahab the 48:56 harlot shall live. She's mentioned in chapter 2. She and 49:00 all who are with her in the house because she hid the 49:03 messengers we sent. And he goes on to say, You by all means 49:07 shall keep yourself from the accursed thing lest you become 49:11 accursed. This will be part of our study next week. Verse 20: 49:14 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets and it 49:17 happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the 49:21 people shouted with a great shout. The earth rent with the 49:26 sound. And the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up 49:31 into the city, every man straight before him. In other 49:33 words the wall just fell down flat and they could just go 49:35 right into the city. And you can expect the people in the city 49:38 had no fight left in them. I mean they were so... Their 49:43 nerves were probably a wreck watching this and then the shout 49:46 and the walls coming down. They probably figured look I'm doomed 49:51 There'll be no fight in the lost when Jesus comes either. And 49:54 they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and 49:57 woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey with the edge 50:01 of the sword. It was annihilated. 50:02 What's going to happen to all of the world who are not saved? 50:05 Isn't there going to be a complete destruction? 50:08 And Joshua said, Oh you know what I don't 50:12 want to read that yet. I have a moment here before we're done. 50:15 Let me read you a little archeology about Jericho. I was 50:20 at the ancient city of Jericho. It's a true story. They know 50:24 right where it was. It's one of the oldest cities in the world. 50:29 Through the last century, this is a report by archeologists 50:34 found in Reasons to Believe or in Answers in Genesis. 50:38 Throughout the last century no less than four separate 50:42 excavation teams have found remains of a collapsed mud brick 50:46 wall at the base of a stone retaining wall. Scholars now 50:49 agree that the wall fell down but they differ on the date. 50:53 Bryan Wood, another highly regarded archeologist, dates the 50:56 destruction of the wall at the time of Joshua about 1400 B.C. 51:00 That would be accurate, probably about 1406. Interestingly, at 51:05 the north end... Now Rahab was going to survive. All the wall 51:10 fell, it said, except Rahab's house, which means that one 51:15 section of the wall survived. Here's a picture on the screen 51:19 I want to show you of Jericho in archeology. When they did 51:22 excavations evidently it had two walls; a big bulwark, a ramp of 51:26 earth and very high walls and you can get a little perspective 51:30 there from the size of the people of what that might have 51:32 looked like. At the north end of the wall at the tel, that means 51:37 the hill Jericho, archeologists made some astounding discoveries 51:41 that seemed to relate to Rahab. The German excavation of 1907 51:45 through 1909 found that the north part of the wall, the 51:48 stretch of the lower city, the wall did not fall as everywhere 51:52 else. A portion of the mud brick wall was still standing. Isn't 51:56 that interesting? One section was still standing. I don't have 52:00 time to read all this to you. It says according to the Bible 52:03 in Joshua 6 that they burnt the city with fire. They found when 52:08 they excavated ancient Jericho the ashes were three feet thick. 52:12 Furthermore, they found their jars were still full of grain. 52:15 It was not a siege where the people had time to eat their 52:19 food. It must have been during the harvest. Their jars were 52:22 still full of grain and the walls all fell down flat 52:26 completely around the city. You can read more about this online. 52:30 It's a very interesting study. But I like what Joshua says here 52:36 We're back in chapter 6. He said now the city is doomed to 52:41 destruction except for Rahab. And then it goes on. He says to 52:46 the young men in verse 22: Go into the harlot's house and 52:51 from there bring out the woman and all that she has as you 52:55 swore. It's not talking about her possessions. What was the 52:59 all that she had? Her family, the people. And the young men 53:04 who had been spies, they went and they brought out Rahab, her 53:08 father, her mother, her brothers and all that she had. She 53:13 brought all of her relatives and left them outside the camp of 53:16 Israel. So they're out there in the desert. And they burned the 53:19 city and all that was in it with fire. What's going to happen 53:22 to this world when our Joshua comes? The elements will melt 53:25 with fervent heat and the earth and the things that are in it 53:29 will be what? Burnt up. But Rahab and everyone in her house 53:33 is spared. You know what I think is a great story. Joshua spared 53:38 verse 25, Rahab the harlot and her father's household and all 53:43 she had. She dwells in Israel to this day because she hid the 53:47 messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. This is a 53:51 beautiful story. Rahab is something like Mary. Mary had a 53:55 bad reputation and yet she found grace from Jesus and she ends up 54:00 being the first one to view the resurrection. And she invites 54:04 Jesus and she is sister of Martha and Lazarus and they 54:09 invited Jesus into their home and Lazarus is resurrected. 54:13 There's some parallels there. She ends up becoming a mother 54:16 in Israel. She marries somebody. You know who I think she 54:20 married? I think she married one of the spies. Because I mean you 54:25 could just picture it. Joshua says to the two spies, go find 54:28 Rahab. You know what she looks like. I don't know. You were 54:31 there. Bring her out and they bring her out and she says now 54:34 what do I do? Well, I'll try and help you out. And I think one 54:38 of those spies, his name was Salmon, because the Bible says 54:42 that Salmon married Rahab. The Bible says that. And they had a 54:47 son whose name was Boaz and Boaz married Ruth and then she had a 54:51 son named Obed who then got married and had a son named 54:55 Jesse who then had a son named David. Rahab ends up not only 54:59 being a mother in Israel, she ends up being a mother of Christ 55:04 She becomes one of the ancestors of Jesus. Talk about a wonderful 55:09 story of grace. You know this is a parallel of what's happening 55:13 in the last days. Our Joshua is going to come. Our Lord will 55:18 descend from heaven with the trump, with a shout. The walls 55:21 of Jericho are going to fall. Babylon is going to crumble. 55:26 You notice it says that she was saved out of the destruction. 55:30 Babylon is fallen, come out of her my people, lest you receive 55:34 of her plagues. God is calling his children out of Babylon. 55:38 And there are so many parallels for the last days from this 55:41 story that we can relate to. One of the most beautiful things is 55:45 if we just make God and his truth and his word central in 55:49 our lives, whatever fortress the devil might have in your life 55:53 those walls will crumble through the power of our Joshua and he 55:57 can give you the victory friends We are soldiers on our way to 56:01 Promised Land. That's good news. All things are possible even 56:05 though it may look hopeless at times. If we put our trust in 56:09 our general. You want to do that friends? The house of Rahab can 56:13 still stand if we believe in Jesus and we put him before us. 56:18 Let's pray together. Father in heaven, Oh what a 56:22 wonderful story. Lord, we thank you and we praise you for the 56:26 stories that encourage us of victory in conquest. We know 56:30 that the victory followed consecration, Lord. And I pray 56:34 that you will circumcise us in our hearts. Help us be tender in 56:38 our conscience. Take away the stony hearts out of our flesh. 56:42 Lord and give us hearts of flesh Embed, inscribe the new 56:47 covenant on our minds. And then Lord I pray that we will claim 56:51 that Passover blood over the doors of our lives and that we 56:55 can be under the blood. Help us to humble ourselves and bow 56:59 before you as Joshua did before Joshua that we might experience 57:03 victory in our lives. May we surround ourselves with the word 57:07 recognizing we're an army of kings and priests bearing the 57:11 Ark of the Lord, blowing the trumpet because Jesus is coming 57:15 soon. Lord some have come with special needs for special prayer 57:19 and I pray whatever the fortress that the devil might have in 57:23 their life that you will bring the walls down and give them 57:28 complete victory that the old fortifications of the enemy will 57:32 be left with nothing but rubble and ashes and that we can move 57:36 forward and take possession of the Promised Land. Lord we know 57:40 Jesus is coming soon. We want to be found in that house as 57:45 Rahab and her family that has the covenant token. And I pray 57:49 that we can find deliverance when our Joshua comes. We know 57:52 soon we're going to hear that shout and that trumpet blast. 57:55 I pray we'll be faithful to do everything we can to bring 57:59 others into the house of salvation to survive your coming 58:03 And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen |
Revised 2014-12-17