The conquest begins More lessons from the Promised Land

Review Moses is to lead them across a desert that should take them 11 days Disobedience causes them to have the trip extended (to 40 years of obedience training) Moses himself is not allowed to enter for his own disobedience Joshua and Caleb are the only two from the original 600,000+ to inherit the promise

Help can come in strange packages In preparation, Joshua sends out two spies to view the land Rahab ran the local brothel, so people often went in and out She had a place of honor in the Pagan culture (because she was a harlot) She hides them on her roof, and asks for their protection She is given a place of honor (Matt 1:2-6)

Reminded of the covenant Just entered a dangerous land, with current inhabitants Others already see them as a threat So they reestablished the covenant of circumcision (Last mentioned in Exodus 12, before the exodus from Egypt) Circumcision made the nation vulnerable, remember Hamor and his boys Gen 34:25

God, and His plans, are Holy Joshua meets an Angel of the Lord (Josh 5:13) – Are you for us, or our adversaries? No. Joshua was thinking in human terms, the Angel was thinking in God terms When we make plans, are they “we” minded or God minded?

Jericho – the first conquest God declares the plan – 6 days around the perimeter, 7 priests, 7 horns, and on the 7 th day, 7 times around then, when you hear the horns, shout They do it just like God said They all played a role in the storming of the walls and they burned the city Rahab and her family were spared – But what about her house on the wall?

Let’s talk some history 1907 a German team found the historical remnants of what they believed to be Jericho In the early 1950’s Kathy Kenyon, on behalf of the British government, found collapsed remnants of brick on 3 sides of the city, the north wall was intact The Palestinian government tried to disprove the Kenyon conclusion in 1997 The Italian Government in 1997 came to the same conclusion Kenyon did in the 50’s. If this story is true (and it is) it proves God’s favor was with Israel instead of the children of Ishmael and Esau

Then man’s greed enters The Israelites were told to plunder the city, but not to take the “accursed things” (their idols) (Jos 6:18) An attack of Ai fails (36 men died), did God forsake them? No…Achan’s sin impacted the whole bunch Achan and his whole family are destroyed, and Ai then falls to Israel

Let’s review what we’ve learned God may send help in strange packages Your physical strength (weakness) will not interfere with God’s plan. Devotion is key. Don’t tell God about your plans, seek His God’s instructions may not always make sense If God said it, it is true One person’s sin can influence more than one person.

Our better covenant The hope and capability of forgiveness and redemption Jesus’ grace is sufficient for His strength is made perfect in our weakness He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it All scripture is given by inspiration of God Through Christ, are sins have been taken away