Verse of the Day weekend -3/22

Through the Bible - Joshua 7-10, Luke 3

 

Good morning,

Over the years I've enjoyed listening to messages from various Christian ministers while travelling, one of whom is Alistair Begg.  The other day the Old Testament reading was in Joshua 6 about the battle of Jericho.  When reading this I'm always reminded of a sermon that I heard from Pastor Begg.

 

He described the army of Israel as a young one.  Many of the men of Israel, a whole generation had died in the wilderness journey.  The army most likely ranged in age from 15 or 16 to 50 or so.  Teenagers can be restless and impatient, moreso than adults (most of the time).  The command below had to be a hard one for young men to go by.  For six days they marched around the city in silence.  The seventh day they'd circle the same way seven times before the shout.

 

Josh 6:9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. 10 Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, 'Shout!' Then you shall shout."    NKJV

Can you picture kids, perhaps your son or perhaps you , questioning the leader of the army thinking, "this is crazy" or "stupid", grumbling about it as they sat in their tents at night.

 

But I'm sure that when the shout was given on the seventh day and the walls of Jericho came crashing down, they must of had a new opinion of their leader and the God that he had been obedient to.

 

Alistair Begg painted this picture and finished it by saying that he could picture one of the modern day kids sitting down and writing a song, a praise song about the event.  Something like.....

 

Our God is an awesome God,
He reigns from Heaven above,
With wisdom, pow'r and love,
Our God is an awesome God.

 

Sometimes in the battles in our life we can become impatient instead of waiting on God, move forward with our own initiative.  Perhaps, next time we might want to consider waiting expectantly for God's plan to unfold.  May we be able to shout afterward, our God is an awesome God.

 

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
More tools available at: http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

Josh 6:8-20

8 So it was, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. 9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. 10 Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, 'Shout!' Then you shall shout." 11 So he had the ark of the Lord circle the city, going around it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp.

12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. 14 And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days.

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. 16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! 17 Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord."

20 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat.
NKJV