Fall of Jericho

But the warning signs are all around us now to see.

And Christians must be at their battle stations fighting for the faith so others can be informed about the deception that is in our midst.

And that's why today's message from Pastor Jeff is appropriately called, What to Do Until He Comes.

It's the last message in Pastor Jeff's series, Face Off, Fighting for the Faith.

Hey, I'm trying to amass all these people to my side.

Man, major red flag ought to go up.

Joshua in Joshua chapter five, he's getting ready to fight the battle of Jericho.

And before he fights the battle of Jericho, Jericho battle is in Joshua chapter six.

only-Can you imagine? Yeah

Like, I need Battle of Jericho armies of like, just-

[laughs]

... like, it's just so freaking loud whenever...

It's just a beautiful picture of the fact that this is the way God has provided.

God has made very clear that when they crossed the Red Sea and when they crossed the River Jordan, it is by God's supernatural power and the supernatural power is actually paralleled here they walk across on dry ground the waters are pushed back all right so as we saw in terms of the center here of the book of Joshua in its first half you have the conquest and of course you have Joshua and the battle of Jericho By the time you get to verse six, by the way, back in terms of continuity and discontinuity, we need to look at chapter five.

This is where after all the wandering in the wilderness, when evidently they did not circumcise their sons, all the males of Israel are circumcised as what? A restatement of commitment to the covenant.

So the covenant was continuous.

So you've got some older people, older men who are being circumcised this way as well.

They have the first Passover.

And then, as I say, you end up with the battle of Jericho.

And the whole point here is that this happens just as God commands.

And so we'll talk about that when we get to chapter 5.

The battle of Jericho is contained in the book of Joshua.

We'll start with the conquest of Jericho pretty early on, and then the culmination comes in chapter 6.

And it involves a woman named Rahab, who the Bible calls Rahab the harlot.

To talk us through the story and the history surrounding it is author and historian Tony McMahon.

There's quite a lively debate among historians and archaeologists about whether or not the siege of Jericho actually happened.

There must have been battles.

The Jewish people, the people of Israel, clearly fought with their neighbors.

And indeed, the Bible states that on the seventh day, after circling the city seven times while the priests blow ram's horns, the walls do miraculously collapse.

The Israelites rush in, destroy the city, and spare only Rahab and her family.

One of the most shocking things about the Siege of Jericho and its aftermath is that, like so many battles in the Old Testament, nobody is spared, essentially.

Men, women, children, even animals are killed in the fields.

But one thing we do know is that we can trust our God, who is the same God for Israel as He is for His church today, to be with us, to give us strength, to work miracles as we take our walk of faith each and every step of our way to God's kingdom.

But God will use a trumpet blast in the future to signal another battle, just as He did at the Battle of Jericho, and that battle is the day of the Lord.

This day, the Feast of Trumpets, pictures that time in the future when the day of the Lord will begin.

As we know, this world is ruled by Satan.