WALKING on the Seventh Day

Walking on the Seventh Day
Joshua 6:14  And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

Desert Wandering

• A journey through a dessert will take a lot out of you…especially when the journey lasts for 40 years
  • It didn’t have to be that way…God had miraculously delivered his people Israel out of Egyptian bondage…called them out to be his own special people
  • He brought them through the Red Sea on dry land…gave them a law…forgave their failures…and led them to a land of promise…scholars estimate that all of this took place in the space of about two years
  • They stood on the threshold of immense opportunity and bountiful blessing…and then for the first time in the history of Israel…a committee was selected
  • Twelve men were chosen to go in and search out the land to see what it was like…to study the terrain…the people who lived there…where they could find water…and other important information for a nation on the move
  • The committee returned to report that things were not good…the land flowed with milk and honey which created a sticky situation…the grapes were so large that it took two men to carry a cluster…which would lead to labor shortages and inefficiencies…and the inhabitants were quite large causing the Israelites to identify as grasshoppers
  • Ten out of twelve opposed any effort for forward motion while two men famously objected…Joshua and Caleb by name…but they were overruled by the outspoken majority and their great faith was rendered temporarily ineffective leading to national decline
  • So they were sent back then…destined to wander in the dessert dust until an entire generation passed away
  • Every day for forty years new graves were dug…every day for forty years the obituary section took up most of the daily times…for forty years they wandered walking and wishing they were somewhere else
  • They ate the same food every day for forty years…they wore the same clothes…lived in the same tents…saw the same scenery…felt the same sun
  • Their children were born in the windblown dessert dust as parents dreamed and wished and maybe even prayed for something…anything…to change
  • Finally after forty years of faithless living they stood again facing the great place of perpetual promise…only now…their faithful leader Moses left them to be with the Lord
  • The only non-Egyptian leader that they had ever known…that loomed large in the national identity…Moses was gone
  • A new man…called by God whom Moses had laid his hands on and prayed for…Joshua rose to the challenging call of leading a people facing the great challenge of opportunity
  • He was not altogether new…he had been with Moses on the mountain…he had remained in the tent even after Moses prayers had ended…he had been part of the original survey committee and was marked as a fanatic of faith…but now he was to lead
  • Joshua would begin his leadership role at a time when there were significant unprecedented changes taking place

Crossing the Jordan

• As they approached the Jordan river…a formidable flooding obstacle…Joshua introduced them to a new approach to God
  • They had always been a Spirit filled community since the day they came out of Egypt…but now they were to become a Spirit led people in a profoundly new way
  • In the wilderness they were aware of the Spirit by fire or cloud and when they saw it move they would follow and they lived under the cloud
  • Now it seems the cloud had lifted and every step forward would be taken in faith
  • The command went out…sanctify yourselves…for tomorrow you will see God do wonders among you
  • When you see the ark of the covenant…set out from your place and go after it
  • Leave a space…two thousand cubits…somewhere over half a mile
    • Give God a little space in your life
    • Don’t get ahead of God
  • When the priests feet touched the water the river was cut off
    • God had parted the Red Sea…but that was different
      • Moses held out his rod…stood there waiting all night 
    • This was a rushing movement they were up against
      • Somebody hollered…Hey Joshua…are you sure…Moses didn’t do it this way
      • What God did at the Red Sea required the faith of one man through the dark of night…what God was doing at the Jordan would require the combined and united faith of God’s people standing in the broad daylight determined to carry God beyond impossible boundaries

Renewing the Passover

• They kept the Passover 
  • They remembered the Lamb that brought them out in the place where covenant had been graciously restored
    • I don’t know how often or how faithfully they celebrated Passover in the wilderness…but the work of the Lamb takes on whole new tone when you’re standing in your promise and remember where you once were
  • The day after the Passover…they ate of the produce of the land
    • From now on they would not require a daily miracle…instead the Promise itself would sustain them
• This was a new experience for this generation…but Joshua had simply led them back to their foundation

At Jericho

• Now they arrive at the walls of the city of Jericho
  • This was an insurmountable obstacle that could not be bypassed
    • There is a place in life for the path of least resistance…but often God does not lead us that way
    • There are some things that you can’t afford to leave behind you…they must be conquered
  • They faced a new problem…they had experienced so many new things…they expected a new approach to victory
  • Imagine the reception when Joshua declared…today we are going to walk in a circle
    • That’s what we’ve been doing for the last forty years…that what the old timers did and they’re all gone…what happened to all of the innovation and fresh approach?
      • “That’s the trouble with these new preachers…they don’t know how to attack a problem…why if Moses was here…if you ask my opinion…”
  • There were strongholds bigger than this in your wilderness walk…just God is letting you see this one
    • We’re going to do the same thing we’ve always done…but on this side of the water we’re going to do it in faith
    • He sent a company of strong armed men in front of seven priests blowing on seven trumpets
    • This praising procession would then be followed by Levites carrying the ark of the covenant…followed by a rear guard of strong and ready men
    • And no one is going to say a word
      • It sounds very un-Pentecostal…but sometimes our faith is revealed in our silence
    • Put on the armor of God…be a carrier of his Holy Spirit…don’t let your guard down in any direction…and then walk
  • God told Joshua what would happen on the seventh day…but it doesn’t appear that Joshua told anyone else up front…he just told them to walk
  • Every day for six days they completed a circuit
    • Nothing is happening
    • Nothing is changing
    • I don’t know if faith was building but I’m pretty sure that the tension was
    • We’ve gone along with this idea for a few days…but it’s time to see something happen
      • The third day came…maybe this is it
      • The fourth day…maybe today
        • Can’t those guys at least play a different tune on the trumpets

Walking on the Seventh Day

• The greatest challenge of all came on the seventh day
  • It would require seven times more effort to walk with God on the seventh day
  • The seventh day…though they likely did not realize it…would be the day of the miraculous…of the ancient stronghold being not just broken but utterly destroyed
  • I’ll just bet it was a hot day
    • Guys up on the wall laughing at them
    • After a couple circuits some folks maybe started to drop out of line…the intense monotony of a walk of faith caused some to question their direction
    • Their was no immediate response or reaction from God…He was pleased with them…He had a plan for them…He required them to walk to the finish
  • I believe we are walking on the seventh day of the march…it is the longest stretch in the race
    • More than a few have fallen out…stepped away
    • We have the advantage of knowing what to expect
    • One day without fail a trumpet shall sound and the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout…every stronghold broken…death, hell and the grave swallowed up in victory

Rev. Ryan Frankford
Preached July 24, 2023
AFC Chambersburg Youtube