Monday, September 19, 2022

Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.”

Joshua 6:26

I was ready to leave the land of “re.” Over the past 5 weeks, we have talked about restoration, revival, renewal, refreshing, and replenishing. I had already thought about what we would discuss this week as we pivoted to another topic. Then, as I got down on my knees early Saturday morning, I heard the Lord say, “rebuild.” With that one word, the Holy Spirit flooded revelation in my heart, so we will talk about rebuilding, at least for this week.

The fact of the matter is that the circumstances we have endured the last couple of years have caused major changes in our lives. I don’t think anyone has been exempt. Even if you, individually, decided that life would be the same for you, it wouldn’t matter. The whole world has changed. Many of us have watched parts and pieces of our lives fall apart. As we chase some new kind of normalcy, we must ask ourselves, what should we rebuild?

The text finds us at the end of the war at Jericho. Most of us know this story. Joshua is charged to lead Israel into the Promised Land, but it comes at a price. He must engage in war with its inhabitants. God is clear about this, in that He gave Moses, Joshua’s predecessor, clear instructions about what they must do. He tells them to utterly destroy the inhabitants; make no treaties with them; and show them no mercy. He tells them to not intermarry with them and break down their altars. (See Deuteronomy 7).

In this passage, they have just completed a very decisive victory at Jericho. The Word of the Lord says that the city was doomed by the Lord to destruction. The wall fell flat, and the Israelites utterly destroyed all that was in the city. They eventually burned the city down. Joshua then declared that no one was to build it up again… (to be continued 9/20/2022)

PRAYER: Lord, prepare my heart for what is to come this week. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.