What does Jericho represent? It can represent many things. But to each one of us it is the end of the line, as we say. To Christ as He rode into Jerusalem it was the city of palms. To us it may be the final end of all our ambitions in this life. From here on in we will walk in newness of life as raised with Christ. But to some it is an impassible barrier that may keep them from the grapes of Eshcol, keep them still in the plains of Jericho all their lives. To Joshua it was the accursed city, from which he must needs rescue the harlot and all her household. But to us it is the place of our first victory in the land of Canaan. Therefore we are to beware that we keep ourselves at all costs from the accursed thing, and this teaching is set out for us in the seventh chapter of Joshua.
“But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing.” We read in the New Testament of them that said and taught that the resurrection was past already, and they overthrew the faith of some. This is an example of the accursed thing in our midst. After Jericho we go on to Ai, our next conquest, a comparatively simple affair. We will not need all our strength to conquer Ai, and fresh from the overthrow of Jericho we can do it with “about three thousand men”—with the strength of godliness. No, there is nothing now to fear from the Amorites, for our previous desires for peace-and-love in our own lives are almost swallowed up already in our most recent victory over Jericho. It is only a question of taking a firm line and marching on in godliness—thus Ai may be overthrown now at no cost to us, with no expenditure of strength.
But whatever would cast doubts on the truth of resurrection will now be our downfall unless we deal promptly with it. There are still teachers who refuse the truth of Jericho, who for silver and gold and goodly Babylonish garments would sell Israel into the hand of the enemy. These are they who deny us the victory. They may not necessarily deny the resurrection of Christ, but they will deny this truth that we can be raised with Him to walk in newness of life in this world. Now this is the accursed thing, this wicked thing that they take out of Jericho. If we heed them at all, if doubt is allowed to grow and fester in our minds, then once more we may be overthrown at Ai, and what difficulty we will have thereafter conquering again! Our fears will all come flooding back to us, as our hearts melt and turn to water in face of the slightest opposition. God will not go with us, He will not be for us, He will not help us at all, if we allow false teaching to come into our lives at this point. God calls all false teaching about the resurrection “the accursed thing,” and our Lord Himself would warn us not to put our hand to it. The difficulty here is that the man with the accursed thing is one of us, an Israelite of the house of Judah, a godly man who for years has been looked up to as a leader among us. We were not to know that he had the accursed thing hidden in his heart. We have always followed him, agreed with his teaching, assented to his known authority, fought with him in every battle. Now he casts doubts on the truth of Jericho, for his heart is not perfect before God—the accursed thing is hidden “in the midst of his tent.” And if we heed him for a moment we will find we can no longer stand before the Amorites.
“Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them,” God says, “for they have even taken of the accursed thing”—brethren, this is a serious matter—“and have also stolen”—the truth of God may be missing from before His eyes—“and dissembled also”—appearing zealous for God whilst denying His truth—“and they have put it even among their own stuff”—the accursed thing is hidden among the truths which they have accumulated and to which they still hold. Be warned, O Israel! The man with the accursed thing has been snared by a sudden impulse, a hidden lust for silver and gold and good clothes, and his heart is not perfect before the Lord his God, however exemplary has been his conduct and leadership up to this point. If we continue to value his leadership, if we follow him still, if we go along with his wrong thinking, God says we have sinned. And the evidence for it will appear in our own lives, for our old desires for peace and love will overcome our godliness, and as we go down we will be smitten by the Amorites. Here too we see a picture of Joshua interceding for the people after the manner of Moses in the wilderness, but with the words, “Get thee up, wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?” we see God rejecting such intercession. Israel hath sinned, therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed. “Neither will I be with you any more,” God clearly tells Israel, “except ye destroy the accursed from among you.” Jericho is the end of the line for every one of us, the end of all our ambitions in this life, but if any one among us refuses it, for love of silver and gold and raiment, he may accomplish the downfall of Israel unless we are prepared to deal with him.
How do we deal with the accursed thing, and with him who possesses it? We are shown the way, a slow process of sifting to find who has the accursed thing hidden with him, a process of elimination directed by God, undertaken for us by Jesus, that the accursed thing might be brought to light among us. Our part is to search our hearts and if we are guilty to confess our sin before the Lord. Then the accursed thing may be destroyed from among us in the fire of righteous indignation, and we are to cast ourselves solidly as living stones against him who put his hand to the accursed thing, and raise up over him such a heap of stones, so many living stones, as to bury him and his accursed doctrine under a veritable avalanche of truth. There is no use one stone being thrown against him, but the weight of many stones can destroy him. “And they raised over him a great heap of stones”—let us all fling our weight against him—“unto this day.” The process is the same in our day as in Paul’s day, that the accursed teaching may not continue, but that all may see from the great heap of stones how many were against it. Unto this day we are to follow Jesus, unto this day we are to be strongly set against damnable heresies in the church, unto this day the great heap of stones has been accumulating in the valley of Achor, mute but eloquent testimony to the lives of all those living stones who flung themselves against the possessor of the accursed thing. Christ is risen! It is part of our gospel; the resurrection of the dead is still before us; and God’s people on earth who are found crucified with Christ and buried with Christ are still to be found raised with Christ to walk in newness of life—“unto this day.”
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Joshua Chapter 7
December 16, 2010 — RonWhat does Jericho represent? It can represent many things. But to each one of us it is the end of the line, as we say. To Christ as He rode into Jerusalem it was the city of palms. To us it may be the final end of all our ambitions in this life. From here on in we will walk in newness of life as raised with Christ. But to some it is an impassible barrier that may keep them from the grapes of Eshcol, keep them still in the plains of Jericho all their lives. To Joshua it was the accursed city, from which he must needs rescue the harlot and all her household. But to us it is the place of our first victory in the land of Canaan. Therefore we are to beware that we keep ourselves at all costs from the accursed thing, and this teaching is set out for us in the seventh chapter of Joshua.
“But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing.” We read in the New Testament of them that said and taught that the resurrection was past already, and they overthrew the faith of some. This is an example of the accursed thing in our midst. After Jericho we go on to Ai, our next conquest, a comparatively simple affair. We will not need all our strength to conquer Ai, and fresh from the overthrow of Jericho we can do it with “about three thousand men”—with the strength of godliness. No, there is nothing now to fear from the Amorites, for our previous desires for peace-and-love in our own lives are almost swallowed up already in our most recent victory over Jericho. It is only a question of taking a firm line and marching on in godliness—thus Ai may be overthrown now at no cost to us, with no expenditure of strength.
But whatever would cast doubts on the truth of resurrection will now be our downfall unless we deal promptly with it. There are still teachers who refuse the truth of Jericho, who for silver and gold and goodly Babylonish garments would sell Israel into the hand of the enemy. These are they who deny us the victory. They may not necessarily deny the resurrection of Christ, but they will deny this truth that we can be raised with Him to walk in newness of life in this world. Now this is the accursed thing, this wicked thing that they take out of Jericho. If we heed them at all, if doubt is allowed to grow and fester in our minds, then once more we may be overthrown at Ai, and what difficulty we will have thereafter conquering again! Our fears will all come flooding back to us, as our hearts melt and turn to water in face of the slightest opposition. God will not go with us, He will not be for us, He will not help us at all, if we allow false teaching to come into our lives at this point. God calls all false teaching about the resurrection “the accursed thing,” and our Lord Himself would warn us not to put our hand to it. The difficulty here is that the man with the accursed thing is one of us, an Israelite of the house of Judah, a godly man who for years has been looked up to as a leader among us. We were not to know that he had the accursed thing hidden in his heart. We have always followed him, agreed with his teaching, assented to his known authority, fought with him in every battle. Now he casts doubts on the truth of Jericho, for his heart is not perfect before God—the accursed thing is hidden “in the midst of his tent.” And if we heed him for a moment we will find we can no longer stand before the Amorites.
“Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them,” God says, “for they have even taken of the accursed thing”—brethren, this is a serious matter—“and have also stolen”—the truth of God may be missing from before His eyes—“and dissembled also”—appearing zealous for God whilst denying His truth—“and they have put it even among their own stuff”—the accursed thing is hidden among the truths which they have accumulated and to which they still hold. Be warned, O Israel! The man with the accursed thing has been snared by a sudden impulse, a hidden lust for silver and gold and good clothes, and his heart is not perfect before the Lord his God, however exemplary has been his conduct and leadership up to this point. If we continue to value his leadership, if we follow him still, if we go along with his wrong thinking, God says we have sinned. And the evidence for it will appear in our own lives, for our old desires for peace and love will overcome our godliness, and as we go down we will be smitten by the Amorites. Here too we see a picture of Joshua interceding for the people after the manner of Moses in the wilderness, but with the words, “Get thee up, wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?” we see God rejecting such intercession. Israel hath sinned, therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed. “Neither will I be with you any more,” God clearly tells Israel, “except ye destroy the accursed from among you.” Jericho is the end of the line for every one of us, the end of all our ambitions in this life, but if any one among us refuses it, for love of silver and gold and raiment, he may accomplish the downfall of Israel unless we are prepared to deal with him.
How do we deal with the accursed thing, and with him who possesses it? We are shown the way, a slow process of sifting to find who has the accursed thing hidden with him, a process of elimination directed by God, undertaken for us by Jesus, that the accursed thing might be brought to light among us. Our part is to search our hearts and if we are guilty to confess our sin before the Lord. Then the accursed thing may be destroyed from among us in the fire of righteous indignation, and we are to cast ourselves solidly as living stones against him who put his hand to the accursed thing, and raise up over him such a heap of stones, so many living stones, as to bury him and his accursed doctrine under a veritable avalanche of truth. There is no use one stone being thrown against him, but the weight of many stones can destroy him. “And they raised over him a great heap of stones”—let us all fling our weight against him—“unto this day.” The process is the same in our day as in Paul’s day, that the accursed teaching may not continue, but that all may see from the great heap of stones how many were against it. Unto this day we are to follow Jesus, unto this day we are to be strongly set against damnable heresies in the church, unto this day the great heap of stones has been accumulating in the valley of Achor, mute but eloquent testimony to the lives of all those living stones who flung themselves against the possessor of the accursed thing. Christ is risen! It is part of our gospel; the resurrection of the dead is still before us; and God’s people on earth who are found crucified with Christ and buried with Christ are still to be found raised with Christ to walk in newness of life—“unto this day.”
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