Tearing Down the Walls Primary Text: Joshua 5:13-15 Additional scripture: Joshua 6 James 4:10 1 Peter 5:5 Jeremiah 29:11 Ruth 4:7 John 15:4-8 : After forty long years Israel is finally ready to begin the process of claiming the Promised Land. The very first city they face is the walled city of Jericho. In its day, Jericho was a formidable fortress city. Scholars tell us that this city was surrounded by two great stone walls. The outer wall was twenty feet tall and six feet wide. The inner wall was thirty feet tall and twelve feet wide. These two walls were separated by a fifteen foot wide, guarded walkway. The city only covered about nine acres, but it must have looked like an impossible city to conquer to people who fought with only spears, swords and arrows. Jericho was a big hindrance to Israel. It stood as an obstacle between them and the rest of the Promised Land. Before they could go deeper into the land the Lord had given to them, Jericho had to be defeated.
Our text is all about how Jericho was defeated and those impossible walls were brought crashing down. We may wonder what a battle that was fought more than three thousand years ago has to do with us today. The fact is the battle that was fought over the city of Jericho has much that it can teach us about our own walk with the Lord. You see, before Jericho could be defeated, the walls that surrounded it had to come down. Israel could not get into the city. They needed those walls torn down! Israel could go no farther until Jericho was destroyed. They needed those walls torn down! That city stood before them as a barrier between them and God’s best for them. If they were going to get all that God had for them, those wall had to be torn down! You might not even realize it today, but many of us have walls in your own lives. These walls stand between us and our receiving God’s best for our lives. • It might be some besetting sin that stands between you and God’s best. • It might be some old hurt that has grown into a root of bitterness and now it stands as a barrier between you and all that God wants you to have. • It might be a cold and indifferent spirit that has invaded your life and has erected a wall between you and God’s best for you. • It might be a bad attitude; an unforgiving spirit; pride; anger; or something from your past. • But, whatever it is, it stands before you today and it keeps you from going deeper with God. That wall must come down if you are going to walk forward into God’s best! • It might even be some wall that you have constructed that keeps you from coming to Jesus for salvation. That wall must come down if you want to be saved! The good news is, the walls in our life can be brought down and these verses tell us how to make that happen. I want to show you the steps that must be taken if you want to see the walls in your life fall. I want to preach about Tearing Down The Walls! For comments and prayer requests, please use the following email address: Evanfga@gmail.com