Welcome to this week's Group Study! This fall we're doing a 7 week block starting October 11 running through the week of November 22.
Start your time with a Check-in (about 15 minutes)
inductive bible study (30-40 minutes)
Open your Bibles and begin with a prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to help you read God's word. Read the passage out loud once together and then silently once more on your own, noting your questions and observations. Share your observations and questions together.
Key Scripture:
Joshua 5:13-6:5, 6:11-21
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” 14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” 15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
6:1 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 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.
Take a moment after your Bible study to watch this video:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What does God's plan of attack say about his salvation and how we experience it?
In Hebrews 11:30 it says: By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days...
- The author of Hebrews sees faith playing a crucial role in this story and Sunday's sermon mentioned 3 "habits of faith". Do you see any other habits of faith in Joshua and the Israelites?
- Are there any habits of faith you feel are lacking in your life that you want to cultivate?
- How do you think Jesus is asking you to deepen your faith in him right now?
PRAYER:
Hebrews 12 says: "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Spend time sharing as a group an area of your life where God is asking you to fix your eyes of Jesus in areas where you're waiting for him to come through. Pray for one another in light of what you've shared - for the strengthening of faith in Jesus as we follow him and wait for the fullness of his promises to be realized in our lives, both now and in the Kingdom to come.
