THE NEXT CHAPTER

Joshua 5:13 captures a pivotal moment: Israel has been prepared, healed, and positioned, and Joshua steps near Jericho to strategize. While measuring walls and counting soldiers, he looks up and sees a man with a drawn sword. The encounter reframes the entire approach. The question becomes not, “How do we break through?” but, “What is God showing?” The call is to see beyond the natural and discern the spiritual significance wrapped in ordinary moments. God often hides spiritual direction in plain sight, asking His people to recognize His presence and purpose in what looks normal.

The pattern continues through Scripture. Elisha did not panic before surrounding armies because he knew what the servant did not: heaven’s host encamps around God’s people. Maturity learns to rest in what God has shown even before eyes confirm it. And what God shows is never on human level—it stretches comfort, visibility, and courage. This is a year to step from the background to the foreground—“get in front of the camera”—because some walls only fall for those willing to be seen in obedience. Human strategy aims to get through the wall; God’s strategy is to bring the wall down.

But seeing must be joined to saying. Words steer destiny. Scripture insists life and death sit in the tongue, and the heart overflows into speech. Ezekiel’s valley teaches believers to speak God’s Word precisely where there is no pulse: “Hear the word of the Lord.” Faith addresses inanimate, unresponsive realities with divine instruction, not deference to visible resistance. Many stall because self-talk collaborates with fear; the invitation is to confess what God says until speech matches promise.

Finally, vision and confession must culminate in submission. The Commander of the Lord’s army answers Joshua’s ally-or-enemy question with “Neither,” signaling that God is not recruited to human sides—humans must align with Him. Submission looks like sowing before reaping, serving before being served, and staying when excuses are loud. Gideon’s transformation shows that courage grows where excuses die. Then comes the startling declaration: right outside Jericho, God calls the ground holy. Contested places become holy when God claims them. The city may look foreign, but assignment defines ownership. The path into the next chapter is clear: see what God is showing, say what God is saying, and submit to what God is doing. Enter the year convinced—before the walls fall—that what God has given is already yours.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. See beyond the natural first glance What looks ordinary often carries spiritual direction. God interrupts human strategy with revelation, inviting discernment that recognizes His hand in unspectacular places. Ask for opened eyes so fear and over-analysis don’t set your limits. The next step begins when vision shifts. [05:06]
• 2. Speak what God says, not fear Words either escort you into obedience or talk you out of it. Scripture insists the mouth reveals the heart, so form the heart by storing God’s Word until it shapes speech. Confess promise in the face of pressure, not probabilities in the face of giants. Destiny follows vocabulary. [20:25]
• 3. Prophesy to what isn’t breathing God tells Ezekiel to address unresponsive bones with His Word, not human optimism. Faith speaks to the impossible, not just the difficult, because God’s breath animates what logic has written off. Name the lifeless places and command them to hear the Word of the Lord. [23:58]
• 4. Submit when God says “Neither” God is not on human sides; He is sovereign. Victory begins when alignment replaces recruitment—when obedience outruns preference. Submission looks like serving, sowing, and staying under assignment even when outcomes are unseen. Bow before command, then move under orders. [33:11]
• 5. Stand on holy ground now Holy ground can be declared in contested territory. God names places “yours” before they look like it, inviting confidence that precedes conquest. Treat the current ground as sacred by acting like an owner under God’s authority, not a tenant of your fears. [41:02]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [01:17] - Joshua near Jericho: pause before battle
• [02:59] - Old patterns in new seasons
• [05:06] - Seeing what God is showing
• [10:18] - Elisha opens the servant’s eyes
• [13:49] - God’s vision is above your level
• [15:25] - Get in front of the camera
• [17:42] - God knocks down the wall
• [19:54] - Saying: your words set direction
• [22:10] - Can these bones live again?
• [23:58] - Prophesy: “Hear the word of the Lord”
• [33:11] - Submitting to the Commander’s “Neither”
• [41:02] - Holy ground outside Jericho
• [43:42] - See, Say, Submit: next chapter

Bible reading

- Joshua 5:13-15

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?” “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?” 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.

Observation questions

1. In Joshua 5:13, what was Joshua doing near Jericho, and what did he see when he “looked up”? How is the figure described?
2. How does the figure answer Joshua’s ally-or-enemy question, and what title does He give Himself (5:14)? What is Joshua’s immediate physical response?
3. Where is Joshua standing when he’s told to take off his sandals, and why is that location called holy (5:15)?
4. What everyday, normal activity is Joshua doing that God interrupts, and how does that mirror the pattern of carrying “old steps” into a new season? [02:59]

Interpretation questions

1. “Neither” (5:14) shifts the whole frame: God doesn’t join human sides; humans align with Him. What does that reveal about control, agendas, and how battle decisions are made? [33:11]
2. Why might God call contested ground “holy” before a single wall falls? What does that say about assignment defining ownership, not appearance or odds? [41:02]
3. “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” How does Scripture connect inner storage (heart) to outer speech (mouth), and why does that connection move a person toward or away from their assignment? [20:51]
4. God tells Ezekiel to speak to unresponsive bones with, “Hear the word of the Lord.” What does this teach about addressing the impossible with God’s Word rather than negotiating with visible resistance? [23:58]

Application questions

1. Seeing: Name two things God showed you this past year that you’re still struggling to see clearly. What would change this week if you treated those as spiritually significant, not just “normal”? Share one concrete way you’ll “look up” (prayer, fasting, wise counsel, journaling). [18:35]
2. Stepping out: Where have you been hiding “behind the camera” (playing safe, staying unseen)? What is one public, obedient step you can take in the next seven days to move into the foreground? Be specific (post, phone call, application, conversation, pitch). [15:25]
3. Saying: List three phrases you said to yourself this year that you wish you hadn’t (“I can’t…,” “It never works…,” “I’m too late…”). What exact kingdom confession will replace each one, and when will you speak it daily? [29:15]
4. Prophesying: Identify one lifeless area (marriage, finances, mental health, calling, team). What would it look like to speak, “Hear the word of the Lord,” over it this week? Write the sentence you’ll actually say out loud and share it with the group. [23:58]
5. Submitting: Where have you tried to recruit God to your side instead of aligning with His command? Choose one act of submission you will do this month—sowing, serving, or staying under assignment—even if outcomes are unseen. [34:43]
6. Holy ground: What contested place in your life needs to be treated as holy right now (workplace, home, classroom, neighborhood)? Name one “owner under God’s authority” action you will take on that ground this week. [41:02]
7. Walls: What “wall” have you been trying to get through by strategy that you need God to bring down? What obedient move (often visible) puts you in position for God to drop it? Decide that move and set a date. [17:42]