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Obedience Destroyed Jericho

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When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. (Joshua 6:20~21)

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When the Israelites tried to cross the Jordan River, God separated the Jordan River into two parts in order for the Israelites to cross over on dry land.

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This story reached the kings of Canaan, whom the Israelites were going to fight against. The kings were so scared when they heard the news.

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God gave a very special order to Joshua and the Israelites who were facing a war. Joshua, at this instant made a knife with flint and performed circumcision on every Israelite man. Circumcision is an traditional ceremony that the Israelites had to perform to a man on the 8th day after their birth.

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God commanded this because the Israelites did not have this ceremony for 40 years while traveling in the desert. Furthermore, God wanted them to be cleansed before HIM by circumcision. But having circumcision before a war is really dangerous. Because people who go through circumcision can`t move for a few days.

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Even knowing this, Joshua followed God`s order. He believed that God would protect them in any kind of trouble, so he circumcised every man among the Israelites.

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The first castle the Israelites needed to conquer was Jericho, a castle well known for its toughness. The gate was locked firmly and no one was able to pass. They were guarding the castle to not let anyone pass through. The castle seemed so firm that it looked like it would never fall.

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God appeared to Joshua and said. " I will give Jericho to you. Bring your men and march around the castle once a day for 6 days. Tell the 7 priests to carry sheep's horns and march in front of the arch of the covenant."

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God continued telling his plans to Joshua. " On the seventh day, march seven times around the castle. Then, tell the Israelites to shout when the priests blow their horns. Then the Jericho castle will fall. Attack at that moment.

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Joshua told the Israelites to do as God told them. The soldiers, holding their weapons, marched in front of the priests. And the seven priests blew their horns and marched after the soldiers. They followed behind the priests who were carrying the arch. At the very end, the soldiers of Israel followed.

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Following the sound of the horns of the seven priests, the Israelites marched as Joshua told them. The first day, they marched around Jericho once and went back to their camp. They did the same thing on the second day also. Joshua and the Israelites marched around the Jericho castle for six days.

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On the seventh day, they woke up early at dawn. That day, the Israelites marched seven times around Jericho as God had told them to do so. As they finished marching for the seventh time, the priests blew their horns as God had ordered them.

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Joshua shouted out loud to the Israelites. "Now, shout out loud. LORD gave this Jericho to us." When the Israelites heard this, they started shouting loudly.

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As the Israelites were shouting loudly, the big wall of Jericho came falling down. They had obeyed God`s command and a miracle had happened. The soldiers of Israel barged in and they won the war.

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Joshua and the Israelites followed God`s order. God saw the Israelites following HIS words, so God helped the Israelites and destroyed Jericho.

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Our greatest power is to follow God`s words. If we follow God`s order even when it is different than our thoughts, we will surely experience wonderful miracles and blessings of God. So let's all become faithful friends by always following God`s words.

(You can change the conclusion of this sermon best suiting to your listeners of this sermon. We want to make it clear that the provided conclusion is only a sample conclusion provided by CTM.)