Seeing What God Sees
Joshua 5:13-6:5
Joshua 5:13-15 (ESV)
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 6:1-5 (ESV)
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."
Numbers 13:28 (ESV)
the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large.
Proverbs 29:18 (MSG)
If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.
1st Spiritual vision comes when we submit to God’s purpose
Joshua 5:13a (ESV)
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.
Joshua 5:13c-14a (ESV)
And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" And he said, “No;”
Joshua 5:14a (ESV)
And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.”
Joshua 5:14b (ESV)
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”
2nd Spiritual vision comes from being in God’s presence
Joshua 5:15 (ESV)
And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)
We live by faith, not by sight.
Hebrews 11:3 (NIV)
Through faith we understand...
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
3rd Spiritual vision comes when we believe God’s promise
Joshua 6:1-2 (ESV)
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.
Joshua 6:1-5 (ESV)
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."