When the children of Israel entered and took possession of the good land, the first city they took was Jericho. Prior to the destruction of this fortified city, Joshua saw a vision of the Captain of Jehovah’s army, the significance of which was discussed in a previous post (link to post). In this post, we will look at how God’s people fought the battle to destroy Jericho and how this relates to our experience of gaining more of Christ as the good land.
The city of Jericho had high walls, and for fear of the children of Israel, the gates of the city were shut so that no one could go out or come in (Joshua 6:1). The inhabitants of Jericho trusted in their defenses to win the battle, but the children of Israel put their trust in God’s word (Joshua 6:2-5). In accordance with God’s instructions, the children of Israel daily marched as an army around the city of Jericho in a particular way for six days. On the seventh day the army circled the city seven times, and on Joshua’s command gave a ringing shout which caused the walls of the city to fall. The Israelites’ victory was won not by military strategy or superior strength, but by relying on God and His word.
How do the details of this battle relate to us in the New Testament age? As believers in Christ, we must first realize that we are not individuals, but part of a corporate entity, the Body of Christ, which as an army can possess the good land (link to post). Furthermore, we fight not by our own strength, wisdom, or effort, but by simply believing the word of instruction from our Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ, and being one with Him by obeying His word. The people had no opinions or dissident speaking as they marched around the city; they only sounded the trumpets and carried the ark as God had instructed them through Joshua. Perhaps most importantly, the way we fight the spiritual warfare today is by exalting Christ and proclaiming His victory, just as the children of Israel fought by bearing the ark and blowing the trumpets. An example of this is in Acts 2:14-41, when Peter and the other eleven disciples testified concerning Christ to their countrymen. Like Peter and the disciples, we can also defeat the enemy and possess the good land by proclaiming Christ’s victory in a daily way. The hymns below are helpful in our experience of this wonderful fact.
| Hymns, #890, chorus:
Hallelujah! Christ is Victor, Tell where’er you go, That the Lord is still the conqu’ror, Over every foe.
|
Hymns, #124, stanza 4:
Hallelujah, Christ the Victor Triumphed on Mt. Calvary! Hallelujah, resurrected, He displays His victory! Hallelujah, now ascended, He shall reign eternally! |
Further Reading:
Witness Lee, The All-Inclusive Christ, Chapter 14 (Nook, Print).
Witness Lee, Life-Study of Joshua, Messages 6-7 (Nook, Kindle, iBook, Print).
LSM, Hymns, #890 and #124 (Print, and online at hymnal.net).
Holy Bible Recovery Version, all verses mentioned in this post and their corresponding footnotes (Nook, Kindle, iBooks, Print).
(Most references in the Further Reading can also be viewed on www.ministrybooks.org.)
“If we see this, we will realize that there is a need for us to do something that will make Christ real to us and even to the unbelievers so that He will be what He should be. How can Christ be what He should be? Christ can be what He should be only by our gaining Him. If we gain Christ and experience Christ, Christ will become real to us. This is not only for us—it is also for Christ. This is to gain Christ for Christ.”
“If we want to be overcomers, we need to labor on Christ as our good land. To labor on Christ means to gain Christ as our enjoyment.“
“This enjoyment of Christ will transform us metabolically and cause us to become Christ’s treasure, His possession. Paul speaks of this in Ephesians one. In this chapter we first have God’s choosing and predestinating, and then we have Christ’s redeeming. Through the redemption of Christ, we enter into Christ as a particular kind of element, and this element becomes our enjoyment that constitutes us into God’s inheritance.”
“When we enjoy Christ, He constitutes us to be God’s inheritance. On the one hand, we have Christ as our good land, as our possession. On the other hand, the enjoyment of this possession constitutes us with Christ, and we thereby become God’s inheritance.”
“…tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow…In faith there is no tomorrow; it is always today. Today is ours! Brothers and sisters, we must take it today!” Oh Lord Jesus!
Yes,in our enjoy of Christ made us reality of Christ working in us how we need to constituted daily for our grow in divine life. We fight not our own self but by depending on His word on this age. We must realized that we need the cororate body. Amen
Nobody has the ability to defeat Satan. However, if we’re willing to submit ourselves to God through complete surrender to His Word, He’ll empower us to defeat the enemy. The point is that the battle is not ours, we should let God to fight on behalf of us through our full reliance on His power.