Lessons From Jericho

If a person travels east from Jerusalem on the highway, in a very short distance, the highway starts descending rapidly, and it continues to go down and down and down. From Jerusalem, with an elevation of about 2,500 feet above sea level upon the central Judean mountain chain, dropping down to the Dead Sea, you go to over 1,400 below sea level. So you're losing a lot of elevation in what is really not that many miles.

As you get down to around the 850 feet level below sea level, you can't help but look, and off to the side is this area of mounds of dirt that stand out for a long distance.

The mounds actually are rubble. There are ruins underneath. These are the ruins that the Arabs called Tel Es Sultan, better known to us as the biblical Jericho. Now, there is a city of Jericho surrounding it, but as you may remember, once upon a time there was a curse placed upon Jericho, and that Jericho has never been rebuilt. In the 1950s, British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon led a group in an archaeological dig that began uncovering ancient Jericho. They found all kinds of interesting artifacts and remains. They found a tower that, using carbon-14 dating, is dated to around 8,000 years before Christ. Now, you're probably thinking, now wait a minute, though, if creation was just before 4,000, why is there some watch tower? Well, that gets into a topic that surely Mr. Reagord or Mr. Frankie will explain to you one day, pre-idamic man, the time when there were hominids, humanoids. We do find evidence, and the Bible doesn't say, so we don't have all the answers, but it is interesting to at least consider what may have been happening. 8,000 before Christ. There are walls that were excavated, walls that were pushed outward all the way around that are dated back to around 1550 BC when it was constructed. That would have been the beginning of the late Bronze Age. And then the destruction. There's a layer of ash. It was obviously burned. The destruction around 1410-1400 BC, which is interesting since there are two camps on dating the Exodus, but we fall in the camp that looks to around 1443 being the year of the Exodus. The 1290 date is just too late for a number of reasons. And then 40 years later, after wandering in the wilderness, places us somewhere around 1403, being the conquest of the Promised Land.

Well, Jericho is mentioned a number of times in the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, but most of what we know about the city from the Bible comes from the earliest chapters of the book of Joshua. Now, as we move toward taking the Passover, probably most of us focused on chapters from the Gospels that looked at the latter week and the latter day and the events thereafter that had to do with Christ's death and then resurrection and, of course, in Acts, the story of his ascension. But we also tend to go back and reread stories of the Spring Festival from the Old Testament. And there are a number. There's not only the Exodus story, like we were picking up there this morning in the sermon, but there is the spring feasts of Josiah's day and of Hezekiah's time. And yet, I tend to go to the early chapters of Joshua, and that's where I'd like to spend the sermon today. It will be helpful if we go to Joshua 1 and just have a brief review of some of the key events of those early chapters, all the way through chapter 7, where we find that one Israelite stole some of what the King James calls the accursed thing, and his old family paid a price. In Joshua chapter 1, we pick it up where Joshua is being reassured, as God had made obvious through Moses's ministry, that Moses's work was going to end, and then Joshua, your servant, is going to continue the story, continue leading the children of Israel into the promised land.

In chapter 1, just notice the number of places he is told to be strong and of good courage. God tells him, I'm going to magnify your name like I did Joshua, or like I did Moses. Notice in verse 11, pass through the camp and command the people, saying, prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Now, later in chapter 4, it tells us that when they actually crossed through and came back up out of the Jordan Riverbed, that took place on the 10th day of the first month, which should make a connection with us from back in Exodus 12, where Israel was told this was the Passover in Egypt. They were told on the 10th day, set aside the Lamb, make sure it doesn't have any blemish, and then it was going to be killed between the two evenings as the 14th began.

So, Joshua, he had served as a general of the armies of Israel. He had trained under Moses in a number of ways. As was mentioned in this morning's sermon, we had Caleb and Joshua. These two are the living adult eyewitnesses to the plagues that fell upon Egypt. A mistake was made. Ten spies came back, as we heard this morning, and they said the people who live there are too big to fight. Let's give up! And so, Israel gave up. The spies had been in the land 40 days, and so God said, 40 years you will wander. 40 years you will pay the price of your sin. And then God would lead the people, the children of Israel, in those who were below age 20, who have now grown up and other generations have been born. Joshua, probably most importantly, serves as a type for Jesus Christ. There are many, many Old Testament types for Christ. Joshua is one. Actually, the Hebrew for Joshua, something close to Yahshua, is the equivalent of the Greek, Iosos. Both of these are translated, well, Joshua or Jesus. Same word, same meaning. They both mean Savior. Israel was going to follow Joshua's lead, cross over into the Promised Land. They would be saved from the waters of the Jordan at one stage. And, of course, the New Testament, Spirit-led, Israel of God, as Paul called the church, will follow Christ on into the kingdom of God. So there are many parallels between the two men. But in Joshua chapter 2, this is where we are introduced more fully to the city of Jericho. And we read in verse 1, now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men. I wonder if Joshua learned a lesson from the time 40 years earlier when one man from every tribe, 12 of them went in and 10 gave an evil report. I wonder. We're not told. He chose two. Set two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, nothing like having a little reconnaissance intel to work with. Go view the land, especially Jericho. That was going to be the first point of conquest. So they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there. Every time the Bible refers to Rahab, I should say almost every time, Rahab is called the harlot Rahab or Rahab the harlot. That's what is recorded about her. They lodged there. The marginal note. No, I'm not seeing where it is. It's all right. The print is getting smaller and smaller.

Well, let's not wrongly judge the two spies. I tended to think of the days of the westward expansion and the days of the wild west and you had some frontier towns and you had you had certain gathering places and the local tombstone had the long branch saloon.

Someone traveling, whether they're following cattle, driving cattle, whether they were prospecting, they could go to that town, go to the saloon, and they could get adult beverages to cut the dust, as they would say. They can get food and they can get drink and they can have some relaxation, play a game of cards, lose everything they had earned that year, and go to the the ancient Las Vegas, which some call lost wages. Anyhow, they can find a place to get a bath, the shave, etc. So these two men went to the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and very likely went there because it was a good place to gather information. Probably went there because it was a good place to blend in and I have no question to ask about who are you or where you're from and what do you want. Rahab's place was described as being up on top of the city's walls. There was a double wall, and so it would provide for a quick means of escape if the need would arise. As we are introduced to Rahab, we realize that it appears that God has been preparing the seedbed of her mind already. Things are transpiring, and very quickly she recognizes the need to give these men a secure place to hide out. So in verse 4, she took the two men and hid them. A word had spread. The king of Jericho had sent men to find these messengers, these visitors. In verse 6, she took them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax, which she laid in order on the roof. That was a part of the harvesting of flax and laying it out in the sun, so it would dry, and then that would lead to the next process, and then making women. The men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. As soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. And then notice the beginning of verse 8. As the gate is closed, she came up to the men she had hidden on a roof. And in verse 9, she said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land. She knew who they were. She knew who they represented. She also knew that the Lord here, the Yahweh, the Almighty God, she recognized something. Something was happening here, and in fact, it was taking steps toward the time when God was going to graft her into the very lineage of King David, and more importantly, of the Messiah Himself.

So, the terror of you has fallen on us that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you. Repeatedly, it is pointed out, the people in Jericho were scared stiff. They had plenty of food and plenty of water laid aside. I say that not because the Bible says it, but because the archaeologists found these huge sealed clay pots that were full of charred grain. Well, you follow the story through. The city was burned, and then covered in rubble, and all these years later, they find here charred grain inside. So, she tells what we have heard. She had heard of what they had done to the kings of the Amorites. Verse 11, as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did they remain any more courage in anyone because of you for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Then she begs of them. She realizes this is going to happen. This city is going to fall. You and your people will be in charge. And she says, Spare my life and the life of my family members. Spare our lives. And that led to, in verse 18, it mentions a scarlet cord. Interesting. Interestingly, scarlet was the color of the tribe of Judah. Salmon, one of the men, generally thought to have been one of these two spies, but it's not exactly stated that way in the Bible, but a Jew named Salmon is the one who married Rahab. Actually, married Rahab, Salmon and Rahab begot a man whose name was Boaz. And that should be ringing a bell from the book of Ruth, Boaz. Boaz was half Jewish and half Canaanite. He is the one that when Naomi came back and with her was Ruth, who was a Moabites, Semitic, but not specifically of the line of Israel.

He was very accommodating, and as it turned out, he was a near-Kinsman, and he ultimately redeemed the land but also married the widow Rahab. Excuse me, Ruth. Boaz, through Ruth, begot Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse is the father of King David. So we see how it begins to tie in.

Rahab is actually mentioned two times in the New Testament. I'll just give you the references, but first one is in the faith chapter, Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 verse 31, by faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe. So it tells us she believed when she received the spies with peace. And then the apostle James in his epistle, he refers to Rahab when he's making his argument about, I will show you my faith by my works. And in James 2 verses 24 and 25, he refers back and uses Rahab as an example. Was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? So it was viewed as being an act of faith.

In Joshua we go to chapter 3, and then we can again just summarize this. Something that comes along and is emphasized over and over in chapter 3 is the Ark of the Covenant. In this chapter, the Ark of the Covenant is mentioned 10 times. The Ark also is a type for Jesus Christ. They were told when it's time to move, keep your eyes on the Ark, where it goes, you follow. Where it goes, you follow. And as the story unfolds in the next chapters, the Ark was carried by the priests when their feet touched the waters of the Jordan at flood stage, the waters were held back. The priests with the Ark went and stood at the bottom of the riverbed. All of Israel passed by, and then as they walked on out, as they departed the riverbed, the waters flowed again. Israel followed Joshua in entering the land of Canaan. Israel followed the Ark, both of them being types of Christ. Watch the Ark. Where it goes, you follow. And as the New Testament age, we keep our eyes on Christ. Where He leads, we follow. We step in His footprints. If we go to verse 15, where we have just at the end of the parenthetical statement, for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest. You see, this is taking place in the spring of the year. And during the spring of the year, one, the Sunday inside of Unleavened Bread, is the Wave Sheaf offering. After the Wave Sheaf, then you can eat the produce of the land, and we find that's exactly what they did. Then they had 50 days. They start bringing in, first, the barley.

Rippings just a little ahead of the wheat. And then they go to the wheat. By following the Ark, they safely cross over into the Promised Land. Their ancestors, 40 years earlier, as they left Egypt, they had passed through the Red Sea. And it says of them that they were, quote, baptized into Moses. That action, even though they walked through on dry ground, that action was a harbinger, a forerunner, for what we know as the New Testament, right of baptism. And now Israel, under Joshua, is going to have the waters held back. Again, the riverbed is spoken of as being dry. They walk across on dry ground, but the process of going down into what normally would be filled with water and coming back up. They go into a situation of certain death, normally, but then they come back out. Their lives are spared, or shall we say they were saved. And then they stepped onto the ground of the promised land, and they were given a brand new life. We heard in the sermon at First Holy Day, Romans 6. Romans 6, around verse 3, verse 4, it talks about we were buried with Him, Christ, through baptism into death.

That as Christ was raised by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life. And so, these are forerunners for the New Testament baptism, where we go through an experience where the old David or the old whoever dies. But we don't stay under the water. We come back up, and it's symbolizing a new life, a new life where we follow Christ. In chapter 4, just again a little bit from chapter 4, it came to pass when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan.

So, Joshua gives instructions, 12 men, one from each tribe. Go get a big stone from down in the riverbed, bring it back up. And as if you carefully read it, Joshua actually went and arranged 12 stones down at the bottom of the riverbed where the priest had stood holding the ark. But then the men were to bring 12 stones up, out, and into that area around Gilgal, where they were going to encamp.

And there was a memorial that was made, because it was to remind them of what God had done for them. In chapter 4, verse 20, those 12 stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua was set up in Gilgal. He spoke to the children of Israel, saying, when your children asked their fathers in time to come, saying, what are these stones? Then you tell the story that God held back the water, and we crossed safely into the promised land.

They were not to forget what God had done for them that day. But as was mentioned this morning, isn't it interesting how quickly human beings forget? Chapter 5. Again, we're just summarizing. We're getting a background, because we've got six points to draw a little bit. In chapter 5, we have those dreaded words of verse 2. At that time, the Lord said, Joshua will make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.

It had happened 40 years earlier. But you see, for the 40 years in the wilderness, they were paying the price of sin. They were, so to speak, cut off from their covenant with God. It was suspended. The younger generation, the males growing up, were not circumcised. And now, before they can participate, they need to have the sign of the covenant, the sign of the covenant. And so, the circumcision takes place. And in verse 9, then the Lord said to Joshua, this day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. Therefore, the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.

Gilgal is a word that means rolling. And it is drawn from the use of a knife of flint with the males who had the foreskin removed. And they threw it over in a pile and called it the hill of the foreskins.

But let's move from that topic. But it is important. It's symbolized. They are now re-engaged in the covenant with God. They have the sign of the covenant. And they are now going to prepare for keeping the Passover, renewing that covenant. So in verse 10, the children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.

Verse 11, and they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover. Unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day. Now, again, remember the law. The law was until you offer a wave sheath, don't touch the produce of land. The Bible here doesn't say, but this had to have fallen in the weekly configuration like we have this year, where actually day one of unleavened bread falls on a Sunday, a first day of the week. And that was the day that the wave sheath was offered, or they could not have by the law eaten the produce of Canaan that day and afterward.

Well, as it continues on, it tells us the end of verse 12. They no longer had manna, so the manna ceased. That was their food, the bread of affliction, the food they were given to sustain them while they were paying the price of sin.

Fascinating story at the end of chapter four, where type meets anti-type, face to face. Also, an insight into Joshua himself. He was a fearless man. Verse 13. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, you know, as the commander of the army. Probably couldn't help but just turning his eyes that way, maybe walking over closer to see what was about to transpire the next day. Then he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold a man stood opposite him with a drawn sword in his hand. So did he turn, run back, and get 12 guys to come with him? No. Joshua went to him and said, Are you for us or for our adversaries?

Verse 14. So he said, No, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come, and Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, and said to him, What does my Lord say to his servant? You see, this is not just a powerful angel. This is a pre-incarnate Christ. This is the God of the Old Testament. He is personally there to lead the angelic hosts, to do their duty in pushing down walls and giving the deliverance. Verse 15. Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take your sandal from off your foot, or the place where you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. Now, does that remind you of another story?

A man who saw a bush that was ablaze, but not being consumed, and he walked over to it. The man's name was Moses, and he was told, Get your shoes off. This is holy ground. Holy ground is where God is present.

In chapter 6, now Jericho was securely shut up. Because of the children of Israel, none went out, and none came in. It had to have been horrible, horrible to be inside and realize the sheer numbers and the reputation of the children of Israel. The Lord said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho into your hand. It's king and the mighty men of valor. And the plan is laid out. March around the city.

March around it once for six days. The seventh day you march around it seven times. The order of the time will come. You give the order. The people will shout, and that's when the walls would fall down. Let's go to verse 15.

But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only, they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said that the people shout, for the Lord has given you the city. And they shouted. He gave commands. All right, Rahab, the harlot, and her family, you're going to spare. Look for the scarlet cord in a window. Well, verse 20, the people shouted, and the walls fell down flat. And people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

The story goes on. The two spies hurried in, got Rahab and family, and they were spared.

Joshua had reminded them, don't take anything and put it in your possession. The silver, the gold, etc., all the valuables, these go to the treasury of the Lord. These are gods. These are dedicated. Do not take of the accursed thing.

Accursed was placed, verse 26, on anyone who had rebuilt the city of Jericho. But let's notice a little bit more from chapter 7, because here we find the one man sinned, and many paid for it with their lives. Joshua, again, he had lots of experience commanding the military. He once again, Jericho had been overthrown. Up the road, they're headed to Ai. Joshua sends some spies. And let's see, into verse 2, go up, spy out the country. The men went up and spied Ai. Joshua made a mistake. He made a mistake. He listened to the report, brought back. And it is though pride began to send its tentacles out. It's as though the Israelites are saying, that's right, we is bad. Just send a few in. Don't send the whole army, just a few. And you remember the story. Three thousand were sent, and they turned tail and ran from the men of Ai, and 36 Israelites were killed in the process. And so then we go, the story takes us to Joshua getting the news, and he falls on his face before God. And verse 10, the Lord said to Joshua, get up, why do you lay on your face? And he tells him, there's sin in the camp. Somebody stole that which is not theirs. And through whatever means that we aren't told, the offending tribe is Judah. And then it's specifically the line of Zera, the line of Zabdi, the family of Carmi, all the way down to a man named Achan. And in verse 21, verse 21, we read, he at least fesses up and admits his sin. When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred chuckles of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty chuckles, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent with a silver under it. So messengers sent, and sure enough, the man was telling the truth. And sin has a price, though. Sin carries consequences. And Achan, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep. His property was all taken. The lives were snuffed out by stoning, and then the lot of them was burned with fire. And the chapter ends by calling this place the Valley of Acore. Acore. Hebrew word meaning trouble. He had troubled Israel. We'll leave the book of Joshua now. And there are some lessons I like to draw from this story. It's a fascinating story. I find myself going back to it so often. Point number one. Point number one. No sin is too great.

No sin is too great. In a resurrection somewhere down the line, Rahab will find that she is almost always referred to as Rahab the harlot. No sin is too great. As the events around Jericho unfolded, we find that God was working out something there. And she acted by faith, and she took actions by faith to save the lives of the spies. And God then forgave her sins of a lifetime. She was given a completely clean slate to the point that God then grafted her into the very line within Judah from whence would come David and the Messiah Himself. She was grafted into Judah. She became the great-great-grandmother of King David. Salmon threw Rahab, the Boaz who threw Ruth had Obed, who had Jesse, who had David. There are scriptures that I'll just refer to for you. I have them in my notes, but if you want, make a note of them. Isaiah 1 verse 18. Isaiah 1 verse 18, the key phrase, though your sins be a scarlet, they shall be as white as wool. White as wool. White as snow, actually. Two different phrases. One time that uses wool, one time uses snow. Though her sins must have been grievous running whatever happened at that house, it was washed clean. Another one, Psalm 103 verse 12. Psalm 103 verse 12. Beautiful analogy that the Lord removes our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west.

And that is a fur piece. It's a long way. And then the third one, 1 John 1 verse 9. 1 John 1 verse 9. John said, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As we said here today, we all have trouble with that person we look at at the mirror. There are those times when God opens our eyes and we see something within ourselves that we don't relish, we don't like. Maybe it's something that we just abhor.

We will make many, many mistakes, but regardless of what the sin may be, we are told, go to God. Ask forgiveness. Ask for the strength to take steps in going forward and overcoming. Because we are reassured through the example of Rahab that no sin is ever too great.

No sin is too great. Or number two, no wall is too high. No wall is too high.

Jericho was hidden behind a double wall. That's what the archaeologists found, the double wall. By standards of warfare at that time, whether you're walking up as an army or riding chariots or riding horses, a wall made the city behind. If they had supplies to live, it made it impregnable, or so it would have seemed. But with God, all things are possible.

There are times when we, and I love the phrase as it is in the old King James, the story of the two sons, the story of the prodigal son. The prodigal son squanders all of his inheritance. He ends up working for somebody, feeding pigs, and wishing he could eat some of the hog food. That's pretty low. But the old King James uses the phrase, when he came unto himself, he had one of those gadget moments. The light comes on and he sees. We have those as well. There are times when we come unto ourselves, we recognize that there's a high, a very high wall around us, in front of us, that we somehow have to go through.

And we go to God. Christ is the one that said, ask and you shall receive. We go to God, asking a miracle and asking God to give us the strength to walk the unleavened life, resist temptation, and breach whatever seemingly unscalable wall that may be in front of us at a given time.

Also, when Jesus walked the earth, one asked him during that time, who then, Lord, can be saved? And he said that with God, all things are possible. All things are possible. So let us rest assured no wall is too high. Point number three. Faith must be lived.

Or as the Apostle James wrote, I'll show you my faith by my works. I'll demonstrate my inner conviction and belief by the way I live life. Faith must be lived. The Israelites walked by faith as they followed the ark that went down into the riverbed, and then they walked through, seeing the waters build up upstream.

The Israelite men acted in faith by submitting to, receiving the sign of the covenant, circumcision. I always read that, and I wonder how uncomfortable marching around a city might have been.

The Israelites walked by faith as through those days they circumnavigated the city, and then seven times on the last day. But Rahab, as well, came to believe in God, and she lived her newly forming faith by taking actions to spare the lives of the representatives of the children of Israel. Whenever I think of living our faith, it reminds me of a poem. At home, we have one particular work of poetry. I'm not saying it's the only one we have, but one consists of the poetry of Edgar Guest. Edgar Guest is the one, one of his more famous ones, is just titled Sermons We See. And in the lyrics, the four stanzas, he talks about how I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any any day. And through the lines, he talks about how your tongue might run too fast, but there's no mistaking who you are and what you do, how you live. I have the last stanza here I'll read. Edgar Guest wrote, One good man teaches many men believe what they behold. One deed of kindness noticed is worth forty that are told. Who stands with men of honor learns to hold his honor dear. For right living speaks a language to which everyone is clear. Though an able speaker charms me with his eloquence, I say, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. Let our lives, let our lives be walking, talking, yes, sermons of the kingdom of God, because faith must be lived. Number four, sin always destroys. We see that repeatedly in the story of Israel. They mumbled, they grumbled, they lusted. They wanted a God they could form and fashion and look upon with their own eyes. Jericho was the center of the worship of a moon goddess, a Canaanite moon goddess. The time had come for a number of purposes of God to be fulfilled, one being the destruction of that evil rotten society. But in this story, we find a man whose name was Achan. He yielded to his own lust. He stole of the devoted things. He committed sin. His actions led not only to the loss of his own life but of his family and their animals, animals, and all of their property. But that example again reminds us that sin is most contagious. It always taints. It always brings leads toward ruin. Sin destroys Christians as well.

I spoke last evening to the webcast of the Philippines about leaven, leaven and sin. Many parallels as we look at how leaven works, we see how sin works. Then we have the information necessary to be able to try to suppress or stifle the growth of sin in our lives. But Paul said to those at Corinth that live 11 leavens the whole lump.

But then he went on to say that we are to live the unleavened life of sincerity and truth. Unleavened bread teaches us the story, the lesson over and over. We have seen the enemy and we find he is us. Some of us are old enough to remember the old comic strip Pogo.

And there was if you just do a search, we have seen the enemy and you can find it online.

Pogo and his friend, what were they? Possum and an alligator. They come out of the swamp and they come upon a human trash dump. And that's where the caption is, we've seen the enemy. And he is us. He is us. Well, unleavened bread reminds us the problem is us. We battle, we struggle with our own nature, we struggle with sin, we struggle with the pulls of society. We struggle to resist the devil so that he will flee from us. We struggle to remain in the fight. Won't be long, unleavened bread will end for this year. But hopefully we have been reminded every day of our lives, look long and hard, keep checking to see if the devil see if the door is left open somewhere to allow the adversary to have a footing, a foothold into our mind. Sin always destroys. Number five, overcoming takes place one step at a time. One step at a time. Now, I know he's known around the country, but Dave Ramsey was financially, or he is a financial planner out of Nashville, and he has written books, he has programs, he has some steps on how to get yourself out of debt. That essentially, if a person wakes up and realizes, I'm deep in a hole, I've dug, what do I do? He said, if you've got five debts, find the smallest one. Pay what you can on the others, but that smallest one, focus on it. You get any extra money. He says, live on rice and beans and then beans and rice. Save money. Pay off that smallest debt. When it's paid off, you'll start feeling, you'll start realizing, hey, maybe I can keep this going. Start then on the next debt that's the smallest, until ultimately, you can scream into his radio program, I'm debt-free! Well, he uses what he calls the principle of taking baby steps. Baby steps. I believe that's a good analogy for overcoming sin as well. Overcoming sin happens by taking one little step after another. Israel had to, on that morning, when the word was sent, they had to pick up one foot and put it in front of the other and then follow along as they marched around the city of Jericho. On the seventh day, they had to step one step after another seven times around the city. One step at a time. Unleavened bread is a seven-day period. Seven has got its number of completion. Let us continue taking steps. It does not matter how small, how tiny, how seemingly insignificant the step is, but if it's in the right direction, it is a step. Stepping out of the past and toward the kingdom. Overcoming takes place one step at a time. And then number six, which is our final one, always follow Jesus Christ. Always follow Christ. Israel was told, watch the ark. He represented Christ. Keep your eyes on the ark and where it goes, you follow. Let Christ lead the way out of life's many, many difficult situations that arise. Ask Him to show you where you are to step. Psalmist who wrote Psalm 119 verse 105 said, Your word is a lamp to my feet.

Rely on the Word of God to show you where to step in life. So on the plains around Jericho, around Gilgal, one day, type. The type Joshua met the anti-type Jesus Christ. The God of the Old Testament was there to lead the angelic hosts into battle on behalf of the children of Israel. They followed Christ. They followed Him. We follow the story through the book of Joshua, and we find that as long as Joshua was around and Caleb, certain elders of Israel, they continued taking steps in occupying the land God had given them. God told them from the beginning, I will drive thee in heaven and the south. But we finally began stepping on some of the ruts of the road, stumbling and tripping, until we get to the book of Judges, where we find this ongoing, never-ending cycle of drifting into sin, until the pain level reached the point where they cried out to God. They asked for deliverance. God would raise up a Deborah or a Gideon or a Samson and give them deliverance. It would say they would have peace 20 years or 40 years, and then they'd go down the same old cycle once again. Let's close in 2 Corinthians. Make that Chronicles. 2 Chronicles 32 verses 7 and 8. This is a story from the time of Hezekiah, king of Judah. The king of Assyria is threatening. 2 Chronicles 32 verse 7. Be strong and courageous. Kind of sort of sounds like what God and Joshua 1 reminded Joshua.

Do not be afraid, nor dismay, before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him. For there are more with us than with him. Kind of like that day on the plains around Gilgal and Jericho. With him, the Assyrian king and commander, with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the eternal our God, who help us in the fight our battles, and the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. God is always present to fight our battles for him if we will ask his help and let him go to battle leading the way.

Let us remember no wall is too high, no sin is too great. Faith must be lived. Sin destroys. Overcoming is one step at a time. And finally, follow the one who leads the way down the path to eternal life in the family of God.