Joshua 6:1

Joshua 6:1 says, Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.  Jericho was sealed behind the gates because of their fear of the people of Israel.  I believe more accurately they were sealed behind the gates because of their fear of the God of Israel.  God was not their God, so they feared Him and His people.  People today often seal their hearts against accepting Christ, because they don't want to acknowledge God as their God.  Whether they fear Him or just don't want to acknowledge Him is unimportant, since the result is the same.  Verse two states, And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. God promised Joshua that He had already given the victory over Jericho and its king and men of valor to Joshua.  God didn't tell Joshua to prepare battering rams or any other device or ladders to bridge the wall.  God simply told Joshua that He was giving Joshua the victory.  Verse three declares, And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.  God's battle plan started with having the people of Israel simply march around Jericho for six days.  This does not seem like much of a battle plan.  Still, it required the people of Israel to obey God's command, and I am sure it probably made the people of Jericho feel a little more at ease.  After all, marching around the city didn't really affect them.  God's plan of salvation is very simple, and that is coming to Him through faith in Jesus Christ as one's Savior and Lord.  We are not to go out and force anyone to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and many lost people today who have built up walls around their heart do not feel that the gospel of Christ affects them at all.  No matter how many times the gospel is presented, they simply choose to ignore it.  Verse four adds, And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. The seventh day was to be different.  Seven priests were to bear the ark of the covenant, that represented God's presence with the people of Israel and seven trumpets while marching around the city seven times.  This had to have gotten the attention of those inside the walls of Jericho.  At some point in time, even the person who is the most adamant in denying God is going to be made aware of the reality of God.  God uses many different methods to accomplish this, but as followers of Christ we must be ready to do whatever He calls us to do, even if it seems somewhat foolish to us.  The priests and the people might have been wondering by the seventh day what was really going to happen.  We today might wonder at times if God's salvation plan is enough, but we must acknowledge that it is the only way to defeat sin in the world.  Verse five concludes, And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city shall fall flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.  The plan to get past the walls of Jericho was sounding trumpets and giving a loud shout.  When this was done, then the walls would be laid flat and the people of Israel could enter Jericho.  God could have just as easily leveled the walls by His own power, but He called on the people of Israel to obey His command and to be part of the victory.  Today, God could and does reveal Himself to everyone, and He can do so without our help, but He chooses to allow us to be a part of His victory.  We simply have to follow God's leadership in obedience.

Joshua 5:10

Joshua 5:10 says,  And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.  The people of Israel kept the Passover while they were encamped in Gilgal.  They started their rime in the promised land by observing the things that God had commanded them to do all those years ago.  We today are still to observe God's law, though we are set free from its penalty if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord.  Doing what God commands us to do should always come before anything else.  The people of Israel were not busy preparing for war, but were worshipping God.  Verse eleven states, And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.  They ate of the old corn of the land on the day after the Passover.  This was corn that they found in the land where they were.  God had promised them that the land that He was giving them would be a land of plenty, and this was proof of that.  I don't know everything about what heaven will be like, but I do know that it will be a place where all our needs are met, just as the promised land was a place where all of the needs of the people of Israel were met.  Verse twelve adds, And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.  The manna from heaven stopped that day.  This would have been basically the only food source that these people had known, now it was stopping, because they were where God had intended them to be all those years ago.  We don't find anything saying that they thought that they would starve without the manna.  God may provide for us in a particular way in a particular situation and then whatever the provision He has been providing may stop, but that doesn't mean that He will leave us in need.  The people of Israel had the riches of the promised land to replace the manna.  We will one day have the riches of heaven to replace whatever God has blessed us with in this world, and we can be certain that the things will be so much better.  Verse thirteen declares, 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 his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?  Joshua saw a man with a sword when he lifted up his eyes and looked toward Jericho.  Joshua did not panic or run away in fear, but he simply asked the man if he was for the people of Israel or if he was for their adversaries.  When we encounter people in the world today, we should first determine if they are for God or against God.  We will never be alone when we are doing God's work.  Verse fourteen states, 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?  The man said that he was the captain of the host of the Lord.  The people of Israel were not going into battle by their own strength and might, but by the strength and might of God.  Joshua fell to his face and worshipped.  I believe that he worshipped God and not the man who stood there.  God may send angels to help us in our struggles today, but if He does, we are always to worship God and never the angel.  Joshua then asked the man what was he to do.  We need  to always ask what God would have us do in any situation and be open to His answer, no matter how it may come.  Verse fifteen proclaims, 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.  Joshua was told to remove his shoes because he was on holy ground.  I believe that as followers of Christ that wherever we go, since the Holy Spirit lives in us, should be considered holy ground.  We should never view any place that we go as a place where God is not with us so we don't have to be concerned with following His direction and law.

Joshua 5:1

Joshua 5:1 says, And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.  What God was doing was not done in secret.  The kings of the Amorites and the kings of the Canaanites heard what God had done, and they lost all their spirit to fight.  When God is truly at work in the world, I don't believe there will be any doubt that He is the One doing whatever is being done.  The world may not lose their desire to fight against God, but we as His people must realize that the victory is already His and never lose our spirit to stand with Him.  Verse two declares, At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.  The people of Israel were to be circumcised for a second time.  This ritual had not been kept up during the wilderness wanderings, so many of the men had not been circumcised.  Verse three adds, And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.  Joshua did as God commanded, and so did the men of Israel.  Though the command went to Joshua, it affected all the men of Israel.  Like them, we must be ready to obey when we know that God has given us a command, even if the message comes from another Christian.  Verse four continued, And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.  All those who had come out of Egypt had died in the wilderness because of their lack of faith in God.  It is a shame when a person comes so close to the promised land, or especially salvation, and then lacks the faith to go all the way with God.  Verse five states, Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.  As stated already, those born in the wilderness had not been circumcised, which was the way that they were identified as followers of God.  Today, people of  every generation must come to God through faith in Christ.  Just because our parents are Christians does not make us automatically a Christian also.  Verse six adds, For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.  Just as God had said, those who refused to enter the promised land the first time they were there died in the wilderness.  We need to follow Christ closely by faith so that we don't wander needlessly in the wilderness.  Verse seven declares, And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.  The children of those who came out of the wilderness were circumcised by Joshua, which then identified them as God's chosen people.  Verse eight says, And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the clamp, till they were whole.  The people stayed in camp until they were healed.  We today need to make sure that we are spiritually well before undertaking any task that God calls us to.  Verse nine declares, And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.  The reproach of Egypt was the lack of faith on the part of those who came out of Egypt but lacked the faith to enter the promised land.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, all the reproach of our past sins is removed.

Joshua 4:12

Joshua 4:12 says, And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:  The people of Reuben, Gad and half the people of Manasseh passed over ahead of the rest of the people of the other families of Israel.  These were the ones who were going to eventually stay on this side of the Jordan.  Even when we aren't planning to leave where we are permanently, we as followers of Christ, still have a responsibility to support other Christians as much as we possibly can,  We are all in the fight against evil in the world.  Verse thirteen states, About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.  Even though God had promised them the land, they were to be ready and willing to fight for it, under God's guidance and power.  We are assured of our heavenly home, but we must still be willing to fight against sin in the world today, under God's leadership and power.  Verse fourteen declares, On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.  God fulfilled His promise to Joshua to make him like Moses in the sight of the people.  No one person will ever be indispensable in the work of God, and even if someone is seen as a great man of God, it is God Who should be glorified and not the man.  Verse fifteen states, And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,  Then verse sixteen adds, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.  Joshua himself was not making the plans of how to defeat the enemy, but God was.  When we are engaged in spiritual warfare today, we must rely on God's leadership if we are to be victorious.  Verse seventeen says, Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.  The priests had been in the Jordan as God divided the waters, but now they were to have another purpose.  When we have completed one task for God, we need to move on to the next one that He calls us to.  Verse eighteen declares, And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.  As soon as the feet of the priests landed on dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their normal state.  There was no longer a reason for the water to be parted, because most of the people were not going back.  When we have been delivered out of a bad situation, there is no reason to go back into it.  Verse nineteen states, And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.  This tells us when the people of Israel passed over the Jordan, and that they camped in Gilgal, east of the border of Jericho.  They had yet to face any opposition.  There may be times in life when we seem to face very little opposition as followers of Christ, but we need to know that if we are faithful to God that the opposition will be coming.  Verse twenty declares, And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.  Joshua built the altar of the twelve stones taken from the Jordan at Gilgal.  Verse twenty-one adds, And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?  Joshua reminded the people that they were to be ready to tell their children what the stones meant when they asked.  We today must be ready to tell our children what the cross of Christ means to those who are saved.  Verse twenty-two adds, Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.  Joshua basically said that the altar signified the people of Israel passing over the Jordan on dry ground by the power of God.  Today, we must teach our children the meaning of the cross, that it represents God's delivering us from the power of sin and death.  Verse twenty-three continues, For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:  Joshua said they were to give all the credit to God, just as He had been given credit when they came out of Egypt.  God was still with them and at work then, just as He had been when they were following Moses.  As long as we are faithful to God, He will always be at work in our lives.  Verse twenty-four concludes, That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.  God did not demonstrate His power just for the children of Israel, but for the whole world to know that He is God.  God's work still testifies to Him today, and those who will not accept Him will always be without an excuse for not doing so.

Joshua 4:1

Joshua 4:1 says, And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,  After the people had crossed the Jordan, God again spoke to Joshua.  God had said all He needed to say until they crossed over in obedience to Him.  Once we are sure what God wants us to do, we may not hear anymore from Him until we obey His command to us.  If we are not going to obey God's command to start, He cannot very well speak to us along the way.  Verse two states, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, Joshua was take twelve men, one out of every tribe of Israel.  These men were to be called for a particular purpose, just as people today are called for a particular purpose.  Verse three declares, And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.  They were to take twelve stones out of the Jordan, where the priests feet had stood, and carry them to the lodging place.  Verse four states, Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:  Now, we don't have a person call us to do what God has for us to do, but we have the Holy Spirit.  Someone may encourage us to do a particular task for God, but unless the Holy Spirit calls us to do it, then we are better off to not do it.  Verse five adds, And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:  Joshua told the men what they were to do.  These were not small pebbles that they were to get evidently, but large stones.  Verse six continues, That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?  These stones were to be a memorial to God for the coming generations.  We today need to make sure that we leave a big memorial to God in the way that we live our lives so that the coming generations will be curious about God.  They will not find the answers about God in the world.  Verse seven declares, Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.  The stones were to be a memorial to God for cutting off the waters of the Jordan as the people of Israel passed over.  Today, the cross is the memorial to the sacrifice of Christ.  When people ask us about the significance of the cross, we must be able to tell them what it means.  The cross is a sign that Jesus provides a way for us to cross over into our promised land, which is heaven.  Verse eight proclaims. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.  The people obeyed not Joshua, but the command of God through Joshua.  All we can really do is ask people to follow the commands of God that come from His word and the Holy Spirit.  Verse nine says, And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.  Joshua set up the memorial, and it remained until that day.  Christ set up the memorial, the way to salvation, on the cross, and it remains until this day and until He returns.  Verse ten adds, For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.  The priests had remained in the Jordan until all that God commanded had been accomplished.  We, as followers of Christ, are the priests of today, and we must remain in the Jordan, or doing whatever it is that He calls us to do, so that others may be saved and God may be glorified.  We are not called to a place of safety for ourselves with no concern for others, but are called to reach out to the lost world no matter the cost to us individually.  Verse eleven concludes, And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.  After all the people passed over, then the ark of the covenant and the priests passed over in the presence of all the people.  When we obey God, He is with us by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives if we are followers of Christ, and God goes before us to keep us spiritually safe.  Now, the Holy Spirit is with us at all times, but unless we are being obedient to God's will, then God cannot keep us safe.

Joshua 3:9

Joshua 3:9 says,  And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.  Joshua did not call the people to hear his words, but to hear the words of God.  When we gather together today in the name of God, we need to make sure that it is His word that tis being proclaimed.  I believe that even more than that, when we as Christians go out into the world that we should have everything that we say reflect our relationship with God.  Verse ten states, And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.  Joshua said that they were going to be able to know that God was with them and was able to drive out all the people who stood before them in the promised land.  As followers of Christ, we must never forget that God is with us and will enable us to do anything that He calls us to do, no matter how great the task.  Verse eleven declares, Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.  The people of Israel were to know that God was with them because the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was to pass over the Jordan before them.  We today have no physical sign that God is with us, but by faith know that Jesus Christ has already defeated sin and death for us.  Verse twelve states, Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.  Each of the twelve tribes was to select one man to represent them.  As Christians today, every believer has the same Man to represent them before God, and that Man is Jesus Christ.  Verse thirteen proclaims,  And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.  As with the Red Sea, the waters were to part.  This didn't happen before the priests set foot in the water, but as they did.  Had the priests not stepped out in faith in the God of the whole earth, the water would not have parted.  Until we step out in faith, God may never accomplish very much through us.  If we are waiting until we feel that everything is perfectly safe before doing what God has called us to do, then we may always be on the bank on the other side of the promised land.  Verse fourteen states, And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;  Verse fifteen adds, And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)  The people got ready to follow the priests, who came to the Jordan that was overflowing.  This, like the parting of the Red Sea, was not some marshy area or shallow river, but an overflowing one.  Sometimes, it may seem that things are overwhelming, but if we act in faith, God will mke a way fir us to do what He calls us to do.  Verse sixteen declares, That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.  The Jordan river piled up on one side and dried up on the other side of the priests and the people passed over.  If the people around them were watching and had not already heard of the power of God, it would seem that this should have shown them His power.  When we are doing what God calls us to do today, we must make sure that the lost people of the world know that God is the power behind what we do.  Verse seventeen adds, And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.  The priests stood firm in the middle of the Jordan until all the people of Israel had passed over on dry ground.  We today must stand firm in our calling through Christ until we have passed over to the promised land, which for us is heaven.

Joshua 3:1

Joshua 3:1 says, And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.  Joshua and the people of Israel got an early start, and came to the Jordan, where they stopped before they passed over.  Once again, they were on the edge of the promised land.  In this life, we will always be camped on the edge of the promised land.  Though we can never pass over until we die or Christ returns, we must always be ready to go.  Verse two states, And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;  They were camped there for three days.  Verse three declares, And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.  Then, the officers went throughout the host, the people of Israel, and said that when they saw the ark of the covenant and the priests bearing it that they were to follow it.  The ark of the covenant represented the presence of God.  Today, we need to make sure that we are following the will of God when we move to do something for Him.  Since the Holy Spirit is with us always, we must simply seek God's leadership in all that we do and not move on without that leadership.  Verse four adds, Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.  The people were told to keep a space between themselves and the ark of the covenant, and then to follow where it went, because they were going where they had never been before.  Though we do not have a physical separation between us and the Holy Spirit if we are followers of Christ, we still need to make sure that wherever we go, even if it is somewhere that we have never been before, that we are following the leadership of God.  Verse five proclaims, And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.  Joshua told the people to sanctify themselves, because tomorrow God was going to do wonders among them.  I believe that if we are going to see God do great wonders among us today that we as His people must first sanctify ourselves.  The lost people of the world are definitely not going to sanctify themselves before God, but we as Christians can never afford not to, and we can only be sanctified by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse six adds, And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.  Joshua told the priests to take the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people.  Again, this represented God going ahead of them.  Verse seven declares, And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.  God told Joshua that as of that day He would begin to magnify Joshua so that the people would know that He was with Joshua just as He had been with Moses.  Earthly leaders may come and go, but God will always remain the same, and He will call people to various tasks in the world.  As followers of Christ, we simply need to follow those that He places in positions of authority through the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse eight adds, And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.  Joshua was to tell the priests that when they came to the Jordan that they were to stand still in the Jordan.  They were now on the brink of passing over to the promised land.  We today will always be on the brink of the promised as long as we live.  We will not pass over into the promised land until God brings us there.