Joshua Generation Series 9.  Joshua 6: 1:5              

This story of Joshua and the people of Israel on the edge of Jordan, and how they crossed to Canaan and entered into warfare to possess the land, is a very remarkable type of the Church of Christ and its passage to the battlefield. It is useless expecting success or victory in this spiritual battlefield unless we are prepared to take the Word of God as our one authority. We must be prepared for implicit, undeviating obedience to the Word of God.

Spiritually, Jordan represents Calvary. The ark of the covenant is the type of Christ. Just as the ark went first and stood in Jordan while all the people passed over, so Christ carried the whole of His Church in Himself into the death of Calvary. The waters of judgment came upon Him as He hung upon that cross, and the whole Church of Christ was buried in Him, and, so to speak, “blotted out” in their connection with the fallen race of Adam—even as “all flesh” was “blotted out” by the waters of judgment at the Flood, when only Noah and his family escaped by being carried through the waters of death in an ark (Genesis 7:23). “Surely you do not get through to the heavenly (or spiritual) sphere simply by faith in Christ’s death?” Some persons may say “Yes, you do!”  No bridge. That is right—no human way! There is no bridge which the human vision can see, but just a going down into the death of Christ by an act of choice and faith. By taking Christ’s death as our own, and by the co-working of the Holy Spirit (Colossians 2:12), the child of God sinks down into Christ’s death like the stones dropped down into the very center of Jordan, and from that fact the Spirit of God quickens the new life in Christ. When you have taken your position by faith that you are buried in the Jordan waters, you must be ready for the Holy Spirit to take the knife and deal with whatever there may be of the “flesh” dominating your life. He will bring about what Paul calls the “circumcision of the heart,” which is the true circumcision of God.

Galatians 5:24 is also a passage which meets the case here: “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.”

1. The Captain with the drawn Sword over Against a Dumb City-Josh 6:1; 5:1; Prov. 22:3; Isa 26:20-21; Ps. 127:1.

It is futile to oppose God. He will bring your walls down. Bars and bolts are no match for Him. Acts 12:10; 16:26.

We have to walk by faith and not by sight- Josh 6:1; Cor. 5:7; Rom. 4:19-21; Heb. 11: 1; Luke 11:21-22.

Those who walk by sight always limit God and they argue that they are right! Numbers 13:28, 31; Duet. 1:28; Ps 78:40. The promise is sure. We have to put faith into action. For example, you don’t say “I have headache” and after you ask God for healing you are still lying down (Mark 9:23; Matt 8:8:13)

1. The Promise and the Plan- Josh 6:2-5
2. See, I have given ……. into your hand– This was when the walls were yet standing. Josh 6:2; 2 Pet. 1: 3, 4; 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb 11: 1. Jericho was Israel’s by divine donation. All we have to do now is receive -not stand on one spot and say “Amen, Amen” in a religious fashion. Take it is yours. 1 Cor. 4:7; Mk 11:24, John 1:12; Matt 10:8; Acts 8:15; 2:38; 19:2.
3. Instructions for Conquest-Josh 6:3-5; John 9:7; Luke 17; 12-1; Acts 14: 7-10. God’s methods of deliverance are so simple that we always stumble over it. Only those who are “fools for Christ’s sake -see it” and follow through (1 Cor 4:10; 1:17)
4. God’s Method vs Man’s Suggestions and Ideas…Is 55:8-9; Prov 1: 5-6. If Joshua had conferred with a war council of elders, they would not have come up with what the Captain of the hosts of the Lord told Joshua in Josh.6:3-5. May the Lord grant us such faith that when we cross over problems it will bring ALL the glory to God.

Please pray and take steps on many “things”. Remind yourself of soul winning. Remind yourself of the outlines we had a few weeks back on possession of things. Let your results show you heard God.