Joshua Generation: Part 7

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Taking the City

A Joshua-Type Generation has a heart to impact the city with the love and gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Care
The Commitment
The Commission

Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord.” And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.” And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days. On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord .” So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword. But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. “At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates.” So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.

-Joshua 6:1-27

The Care

We must care about reaching the city because it matters to God, the world and your children’s future.

-Joshua 6:1-7

Keep your eyes on Jericho.

The Importance of Cities

The trajectory of our nations are determined in city centers:

“We will neglect our cities to our peril, for in neglecting them we neglect the nation.”

-John F. Kennedy

The vast majority of provision and societal innovation is produced in city centers:

“Just 10 years ago, cities were seen as vital contributors to the global economy. That’s no longer true. Today, cities are the global economy…the 40 largest cities, or mega-regions, account for two-thirds of the world’s output.”

(Ian Wylie, “Knowledge is Power,” The Guardian, Sept 2008.)

The moral compass of nations are shaped in city centers:

“Even if 80 percent of the population of a country are Christian believers, they will have almost no cultural influence if the Christians do not live in cultural centers and work in culture-forging fields such as academia, publishing, media, entertainment, and the arts. The assumption that society will improve simply by more Christian believers being present is no longer valid.”

Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City

The apostle Paul understood that city centers export their values to the surrounding towns, villages and provinces. The missiological pattern in Acts was that Paul focused primarily on the city centers of trade, commerce, culture and thought in the establishment of gospel preaching churches and left it to them to reach the surrounding areas that were pagan.

“Early Christianity was primarily an urban movement. The original meaning of the word pagan (paganus) was ‘rural person,’ or more colloquially ‘country hick.’ It came to have religious meaning because after Christianity had triumphed in the cities, most of the rural people remained unconverted.”

-Sociologist Rodney Stark

*God sends us first to the hard place, the high walled up city of Jericho that demands a miracle to reach. Once we take this by faith, the other surrounding areas will be become a metaphorical certainty. “If I can make it in Jericho, I can make it anywhere.”

If God cares about the city, why was there a seeming genocide of the Cannanite people?

The collapse of the walls was a sign of God’s singularity and supremacy over all of the false gods of the Canaanite people.

God’s justice had to be enacted for hundreds of years of reprehensible sins against the divine Law of the Creator (Genesis 15:12-16). In this time, God gave people opportunity to turn. It was a foreshadowing of the final judgment to come.

In a barbaric society, things not dealt with in the city would ultimately come for the faith (syncretism) and life of the Israelite children (i.e. - Haman in the book of Esther was a descendent of those who were ancient enemies of Israel and tried to ethnically cleanse the Israelites. See Esther 3:1; Exodus 17:8-16; I Samuel 15:1-33). You can not escape through relocation or co-habitation (ignoring, but not addressing the enemies of God).

The Canaanites would have had the opportunity to turn to God just as those who left Egypt during the plagues (Exodus 12:33-38), just as Rahab and her family had done. They chose not to do so.

If you’d like to learn more on this topic, please reference resources such as Paul Copan’s book Is God A Moral Monster?

The Commitment

We must commit to long-term obedience to God’s instructions with a church community to reach a city.

Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days. On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord .”

-Joshua 6:12-19

God wants to build with those who are stable. God is not flakey like us. We need to stop attaching God’s name to everything we want to do. We need to stop using his voice as a scapegoat every time things get difficult (walking around Jericho seven days continually blowing then trumpets) or we lose interest in something (in our relationships, in our marriages, in our careers, where we choose to live, in our financial plans, in our calling). We need to stop blaming God every time we change our minds. He hasn’t. We need to learn follow-through. Let your yes be yes and your no, no.

THE FIRSTFRUITS MUST CONTINUALLY BELONG TO GOD IN OUR LIVES.

God wanted it in Jericho and for it to remain leveled (Joshua 6:26). GOD SET THIS EXAMPLE BY GIVING US HIS FIRSTBORN AND BEST IN JESUS WHO DIED FOR OUR SINS ON THE CROSS BUT WAS RESURRECTED UNTO EVERLASTING LIFE because of HIS OBEDIENCE. This life, the life that is truly life, is now ours as we turn to God in repentance and faith in Christ’s atoning work.

The Commission

We must embrace our commission to reach specific individuals and families to see the Kingodom of God advance in the city.

But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

-Joshua 6:22-25

Walls come down so that people can participate in the resurrection life of Christ.

The two spies had an assignment from God to go reach Rahab and her family to ensure that they were saved.

Who (not just what) is your assignment from the Lord?

The mission of the church:

“Winning the lost, making disciples and trianning leaders to establish Christ honoring churches that multiply in the city of Chicago and the nations.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

We advance into the city armed with love and the truth of God’s Word.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

-John 3:16-21

Second City Church - Joshua Generation - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2019

Joshua Generation: Circumcision

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Making Preparation to Take the City

The Cut
The Covenant
The Commander of the Army of the Lord

The Cut

Before you can help a city, you have to be positively different from those who find themselves trapped within.

As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

-Joshua 5:1-9

What does the reproach of Egypt look like?
My identity is not my achievements
I will not sacrifice my mental health for some perceived level of success

Midland and Odessa, Texas, El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio shootings - our hearts break for and we pray for those affected.

An apologist gave a social commentary:

“In the 1950s kids lost their innocence.

They were liberated from their parents by well-paying jobs, cars, and lyrics in music that gave rise to a new term ---the generation gap.

In the 1960s, kids lost their authority.

It was a decade of protest---church, state, and parents were all called into question and found wanting. Their authority was rejected, yet nothing ever replaced it.
In the 1970s, kids lost their love.

It was the decade of me-ism dominated by hyphenated words beginning with self. Self-image, Self-esteem, Self-assertion....It made for a lonely world. Kids learned everything there was to know about sex and forgot everything there was to know about love, and no one had the nerve to tell them there was a difference.

In the 1980s, kids lost their hope.

Stripped of innocence, authority and love and plagued by the horror of a nuclear nightmare, large and growing numbers of this generation stopped believing in the future.

In the 1990s kids lost their power to reason.

Less and less were they taught the very basics of language, truth, and logic and they grew up with the irrationality of a postmodern world.

In the new millennium, kids woke up and found out that somewhere in the midst of all this change, they had lost their imagination.

Violence and perversion entertained them till none could talk of killing innocents since none was innocent anymore.”

-Ravi Zacharias, Recapture the Wonder

Grown men getting circumcised vs. getting circumcised on the eighth day:

We resist circumcision because we think too much of ourselves. We are not open to others’ input. Not everyone should have input, but we should be open to everyone if the Lord is speaking (Psalm 141:5; the donkey with Balaam Numbers 22:21-33).

Stop thinking more highly of yourself than you ought. Plant yourself in a place so that issues can be dealt with in your heart, and commit to building with a people for the long term to take the land.

This circumcision is why people must get baptized. It is the outward sign of the inward covenant with God.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

-Colossians 2:8-15

After circumcision, there’s a time of healing before the conquest. Why is circumcision so important? Because Jericho is on the other side.

The Covenant

Before you can help a city, you have to remember your covenant with God that will anchor your primary identity.

While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

-Joshua 5:10-12

This is why we regularly renew our covenant with the sacrament of communion, celebrating Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb, sacrificed at the cross to make way for the forgiveness of our sins.

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

Before you can help a city, you need to know where your help comes from.

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

-Joshua 5:13-15

This was on the cusp of the Israelites going in to take the hard, walled up city of Jericho.

Second City Church - Joshua Generation - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2019

Joshua Generation: Part 7

Taking the City

The Care

The Commitment

The Commission

-Joshua 6:1-27

The Care

We must care about reaching the city because it matters to God, the world and your children’s future.

-Joshua 6:1-7

Keep your eyes on Jericho.

The Importance of Cities

The trajectory of our nations are determined in city centers:

-John F. Kennedy

The vast majority of provision and societal innovation is produced in city centers:

(Ian Wylie, “Knowledge is Power,” The Guardian, Sept 2008.)

The moral compass of nations are shaped in city centers:

Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City

-Sociologist Rodney Stark

If God cares about the city, why was there a seeming genocide of the Cannanite people?

The collapse of the walls was a sign of God’s singularity and supremacy over all of the false gods of the Canaanite people.

God’s justice had to be enacted for hundreds of years of reprehensible sins against the divine Law of the Creator (Genesis 15:12-16). In this time, God gave people opportunity to turn. It was a foreshadowing of the final judgment to come.

The Canaanites would have had the opportunity to turn to God just as those who left Egypt during the plagues (Exodus 12:33-38), just as Rahab and her family had done. They chose not to do so.

If you’d like to learn more on this topic, please reference resources such as Paul Copan’s book Is God A Moral Monster?

The Commitment

We must commit to long-term obedience to God’s instructions with a church community to reach a city.

-Joshua 6:12-19

THE FIRSTFRUITS MUST CONTINUALLY BELONG TO GOD IN OUR LIVES.

The Commission

We must embrace our commission to reach specific individuals and families to see the Kingodom of God advance in the city.

-Joshua 6:22-25

Walls come down so that people can participate in the resurrection life of Christ.

The two spies had an assignment from God to go reach Rahab and her family to ensure that they were saved.

Who (not just what) is your assignment from the Lord?

The mission of the church:

“Winning the lost, making disciples and trianning leaders to establish Christ honoring churches that multiply in the city of Chicago and the nations.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

We advance into the city armed with love and the truth of God’s Word.

-John 3:16-21

Joshua Generation: Circumcision

Making Preparation to Take the City

The Cut

The Covenant

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

The Cut

Before you can help a city, you have to be positively different from those who find themselves trapped within.

-Joshua 5:1-9

What does the reproach of Egypt look like?

My identity is not my achievements

I will not sacrifice my mental health for some perceived level of success

Midland and Odessa, Texas, El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio shootings - our hearts break for and we pray for those affected.

An apologist gave a social commentary:

“In the 1950s kids lost their innocence.

They were liberated from their parents by well-paying jobs, cars, and lyrics in music that gave rise to a new term ---the generation gap.

In the 1960s, kids lost their authority.

It was a decade of protest---church, state, and parents were all called into question and found wanting. Their authority was rejected, yet nothing ever replaced it.In the 1970s, kids lost their love.

In the 1980s, kids lost their hope.

Stripped of innocence, authority and love and plagued by the horror of a nuclear nightmare, large and growing numbers of this generation stopped believing in the future.

In the 1990s kids lost their power to reason.

Less and less were they taught the very basics of language, truth, and logic and they grew up with the irrationality of a postmodern world.

In the new millennium, kids woke up and found out that somewhere in the midst of all this change, they had lost their imagination.

Violence and perversion entertained them till none could talk of killing innocents since none was innocent anymore.”

-Ravi Zacharias, Recapture the Wonder

Grown men getting circumcised vs. getting circumcised on the eighth day:

We resist circumcision because we think too much of ourselves. We are not open to others’ input. Not everyone should have input, but we should be open to everyone if the Lord is speaking (Psalm 141:5; the donkey with Balaam Numbers 22:21-33).

Stop thinking more highly of yourself than you ought. Plant yourself in a place so that issues can be dealt with in your heart, and commit to building with a people for the long term to take the land.

This circumcision is why people must get baptized. It is the outward sign of the inward covenant with God.

-Colossians 2:8-15

After circumcision, there’s a time of healing before the conquest. Why is circumcision so important? Because Jericho is on the other side.

The Covenant

Before you can help a city, you have to remember your covenant with God that will anchor your primary identity.

-Joshua 5:10-12

This is why we regularly renew our covenant with the sacrament of communion, celebrating Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb, sacrificed at the cross to make way for the forgiveness of our sins.

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

Before you can help a city, you need to know where your help comes from.

-Joshua 5:13-15

This was on the cusp of the Israelites going in to take the hard, walled up city of Jericho.

It was a decade of protest---church, state, and parents were all called into question and found wanting. Their authority was rejected, yet nothing ever replaced it.
In the 1970s, kids lost their love.