WALLS THAT MEN TRUST IN

Joshua 6:5,20

Morning Mediation 5/9/2013

Joshua 6:5, 20 says "And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city." Jericho was the first foe that Israel faced when they came into the land. It was a great and strong city in that day. However, the people of the city were afraid of Israel because they had heard of Israel's God and the victories that they had had over their enemies. So rather than go out to fight Israel, they stayed behind the walls. They felt secure behind the walls.

However, there was to be no security behind the walls because God was with Israel. He fought for Israel. The falling of the walls was a miracle of God. God removed the security that Jericho had their faith in. I have read some of the reasoning of men over how this took place. There are those who have tried to explain this miracle by saying that the vibrations from the shouting and the blowing of the horns caused the walls to fall. This is just one of man's explanations. You know, when you don't believe the Bible, you come up with some really farfetched explanations. And all this in the name of scholarship. The blind believe the blind, i.e., there are those who believe them! Isn't it a lot simpler to believe the Bible just as it is written? Oops, I forgot. If you do that, you have to believe that God is alive and one day you will have to give an account to Him. I think at this point it would be good to look at some of the walls that people hide behind.

THERE IS THE WALL OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS

This is truly a wall.. Paul is a good illustration of this. He gives his personal testimony in Philippians 3:4-6 "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." Before Paul was saved he had to come to realize that what he had was not sufficient to protect him from God in the final judgment. He goes on in this chapter to tell us that this wall came down and he totally abandoned it as a means of protection.

One of the greatest sins that drew the greatest opposition from Jesus is recorded in Matthew 23. Verses 25-28 say, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Note the words, "Even so ye also outwardly APPEAR RIGHTEOUS." (Caps mine for emphasis). Self-righteousness is a wall that protects against the enemy of conscience and other things that would threaten. But when the time of God's judgment comes, this wall will fall as flat as the walls of Jericho and those who depend on the wall of self-righteousness will discover that it will not protect them at all.

THERE IS THE WALL OF DENOMINATIONALISM

There are those who believe that their church is a wall of protection against the judgment of God. They are deceived. But they are as comfortable as the people of Jericho behind what they believed would protect them from the Jews. What they did not know is that those people who were walking around the walls represented the true God. They were only instruments who were used in a minor roll. This is the way the church is. We are only human instruments. Our roll is minor compared to the mighty work God does. We have the job of world evangelism. There are barriers out there that we constantly face that are formidable barriers (walls) that seemingly keep us from doing our job. Are you ready for this? Our job is to walk around the wall at times when it seems that we are totally silent. Our voice is not being heard. We struggle over visas, materials to help, and a totally uncaring population to which we are trying to minister. Can you hear the voices of those saved Jews as they whisper to us from the other world? They are saying, "Don't be discouraged. Just walk around the walls and keep your mouth shut. God will tell you when to shout. The time for shouting is not yet. Now is the time when it seems that your time is being wasted walking around a wall while those on the other side laugh. Don't worry. Obedience and faith are the rule now." Amen. Someone has told you if you don't knock the walls down, you are not doing your job. I remind you that it was not the Jews' job to knock the walls down. They were only a mop up crew after God had given the victory.

There are those who will spend hours telling you of their love for their denomination. They brag about it because that is where they have their confidence. When you attack their denomination, it will bring their wrath immediately because it is what they are depending on to get them to heaven. It gives them a major problem if those walls begin to shake.

THE WALL OF SELF-OPINION

There are those who have their own ideas of how things ought to be. They can always answer you if you question them about their relationship to the Lord. So far that wall has held off the enemy real good. However, if that wall begins to shake a little, it causes major problems, and they will immediately fire at those attacking the wall. If they can fight you off, the wall stood the test. Now they can settle back down and rest behind the wall.

The wise man said in Proverbs 16:25, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." The words "seemeth right" are what I am talking about. I have met many who say that their spiritual condition is none of my business. I don't know if you noticed, but I just hit a wall. It is a man-made wall but it is a strong one. Jesus gave the great commission to the Church. It is our God given responsibility to tell others of Christ. God has made it our business. We must compass the man-made wall of those who are doing what seems right to them. What if we make no headway with them? We must walk around the walls, even if our voice is not being heard (so far as we are able to tell).

THE CONCLUSION

What about those behind the walls who realize the walls are no protection against God when He moves in judgment. Rahab is a good example. She realized that Israel's God could not be resisted. She believed that. Hebrews 11:31 says, "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace."

The conclusion to this meditation on the walls is do not depend on them. They are man-made. Only God can protect in the day of judgment. Only He can save. Rahab discovered this truth. She found that salvation is a simple matter. It is simply changing from trusting in man-made walls to trust in the living God and His Son Jesus Christ.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ,

Bro. Earl White