Fri.’s Devo - Taking Jericho

Read: Joshua 5:1-7:15; Luke 15:1-32; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 13:1 All the Amorite kings heard about how God dried up the Jordan so the Israelites could pass over and they were terrified. *** God told Joshua to circumcise the next generation of men who were fighting age. All the previous generation had died in the wilderness. So Joshua lined all the men up and circumcised them. They waited to heal for a few days at Gibeath-haaraloth which means “hill of foreskins”, but God changed the name to Gilgal which means “a wheel”. God said that he had rolled away the shame of their slavery in Egypt. *** They celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth and the next day when they began to eat the unleavened bread with grain from the promised land, no manna appeared for the first time in 40 years. They would now be fed from God’s land. *** Joshua was met with an angel and he fell on his face to the ground. The angel told him to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. *** God told Joshua that he was giving him Jericho and just how to do it. Jericho had shut its gates and all the people were locked down because of the Israelites. God told Joshua to have the priests take the Ark and have seven priests walk in front of it carrying a ram’s horn. They were to lead the people to march around the town blowing trumpets as they marched with the armed men in the front of the Ark. *** Joshua told the people not to say a word the whole time they marched. They did this for six days. On the seventh day, they marched around seven times. The priests blew a long blast on their horns and Joshua commanded the people to shout for the Lord had given them the town. God had told them that everything must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab could be saved and those in her house. *** If they took anything from Jericho and brought it back into the camp it would bring trouble to them. All the precious metals were to be brought to the Lord’s treasury. *** When the people were given the signal to shout, they did and the walls of Jericho collapsed and they attacked. They saved Rahab and her family and burned down the town. They brought the precious metals into the sanctuary of the Lord. *** Joshua put a curse on Jericho. Anyone who tried to rebuild the town of Jericho would lose their firstborn son when they laid its foundation and their youngest son when they set up the gates. *** A man named Achan secretly stole some of the things that were suppose to go to the Lord and hid them. *** Joshua sent men to spy out the town of Achan. The spies reported that the town was so small it would only take a small army to take them. Joshua sent 3,000 men but they were soundly defeated. Now the Israelites were paralyzed with fear and lost their courage. Joshua humbled him self before the Lord and cried out for help. God explained that the reason he didn’t go with the men was that Israel had sinned against him. They would be destroyed if they didn’t do something about their sin and remove the thing that caused it. *** They were to purify themselves and in the morning present each tribe before the Lord and God would point out the guilty clan. That person would be responsible for his sin. *** In Luke, Jesus ate with notorious sinners which upset the Pharisees and the religious leaders. Jesus told them three parables about people who lost something that was dear to them only to find it again. The first one was a sheep, the next was a coin and the third was a son. Surely they could relate to one of them. The notorious sinner stood for the thing that was the thing that was lost in the stories and there was great joy when it was found. But, the last parable was the son. It went on to show the attitude of the son who had been faithful which represented the religious men. He was told that all the father had had always been theirs but they should celebrate that their lost brother had returned. *** Lord, may we remember this story when we are tempted to criticize the lost or a new Christian. May we humbly remember our own weaknesses and show grace and mercy. Thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.