Many of us are familiar with Joshua and the walls of Jericho. The people of Jericho had heard of the great victories and wonders that the God of Israel had done, and this caused them to greatly fear Israel. The walls of Jericho not only kept the Israelites out in an act of protection, but they also kept in the things of Jericho. Within those walls were iniquity, immorality, and ungodliness.
Jericho needed to be conquered first because it guarded two important entrances into the heart of the hill country. If the Israelites had not conquered it first, there would have been a well-armed army at their back standing between them and their families that were camped on the other side in Gilgal.
Also, if the walls of Jericho didn’t come down and the land wasn’t purged of sinfulness and idolatry, the Israelites would risk becoming entrapped by that same sinfulness and idolatry.
Jericho had to be conquered first.
The Lord confirms to Joshua in Joshua 6 that He has given the city of Jericho, its king, and all of its strong warriors to Joshua. The Lord goes on to give very specific instructions for Joshua to give to his army.
“You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.” Joshua 6:3-5 (NLT)
I can only imagine how bewildered Joshua and his men felt. They were likely prepared for a physical battle, but they were commanded to simply walk.
But, acting in faith that God would do what He said He would do, Joshua and his men obeyed the commandment of the Lord. The next six days, they walked once around Jericho with the seven priests with rams’ horns leading in front of the Ark of the Lord.
Acting in faith that God would do what He said He would do, Joshua and his men obeyed the commandment of the Lord.
Summer Still
I know if it were me in that army, I may have felt silly walking around the wall. I can imagine that the guards of Jericho may have been confused and possibly found it a little laughable. There was no shouting, not a single word from the Israelites as they marched. How scary was walking in circles, really?
“On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the town!” Joshua 6:15-16 (NLT)
When the rams’ horns blew, the people shouted as loud as they could, giving a voice to their actions of faith over the past week. Jericho’s walls collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it.
It wasn’t the shout or the blowing of the trumpet that brought down the walls of Jericho. It was faith. Joshua and his men could have given up or done things their own way after hearing the commands of the Lord. After all, His commands didn’t seem to make any kind of sense, but they obeyed and trusted in the Lord regardless. Their faith allowed them to follow the instructions of the Lord. They blew the trumpet and shouted praises of victory unto God. This obedience and praise fueled by faith allowed God to do the miraculous and break down the walls of Jericho.
This obedience and praise fueled by faith allowed God to do the miraculous and break down the walls of Jericho.
Summer Still
God’s mighty power can not only destroy the actual walls around a city, but it can also tear down the metaphorical walls that we build around our hearts.
When God reached me through campus ministry at the college I attended, I was a beyond broken 19-year-old who had high brick walls built around my wounded heart.
I’ll never forget that first message on forgiveness. The speaker, Kaleb, used an extra t-shirt and a pair of scissors to show how the bitterness and unforgiveness that we hold onto only hurts us. It made me feel something that I had never felt before. Tears started pouring. Something was going on within me, and I couldn’t recognize it.
Three weeks later, I was convinced God was real, but I wasn’t fully convinced that He cared about me or loved me. I also realized the Holy Ghost was very real, and I was okay with being around it, but it just wasn’t for me.
I attended a weekly youth prayer meeting one evening and was dealing with such anger and resentment from all the hurt, pain, and abuse I had been through in life. I was scared to trust. I felt that there was a wall, and I just could not get past it.
In hindsight, I can see that my attendance at the prayer meeting was an act of faith. I knew I wanted something to happen that night, and I needed to get past whatever this was that I was dealing with.
I kept praying, but I just couldn’t move past this blockade in front of me. Some time passed, and Kaleb grabbed the microphone and said, “I feel that God wants to break down some walls tonight.”
How could he have known what I was struggling with? Something broke. I poured out all the ugly, hurtful, painful things that I clung to, all these things that I let define me and my self-worth, and all of the guilt I carried until I felt absolutely empty.
I heard this voice say, “Get up.” I opened my eyes and looked around. There was no one around me. I tried to get up, but as I did, words that were not my own in a language that was not my own came out of my mouth. God had filled me with His Spirit.
What I realized is that though I set out to break down this wall on my own, I couldn’t. God had to break it down for me. I had to trust in Him and allow Him to do the work. And just as it was by faith that God helped Joshua and his men bring down the walls of Jericho, it was through faith that He could break down the walls in me.
Just as it was by faith that God helped Joshua and his men bring down the walls of Jericho, it was through faith that He could break down the walls in me.
Summer Still
I had to have a repentant heart that earnestly wanted to turn away from the life I had lived before. I had to own my own mistakes and not allow the mistakes of others to cause me to live with a victim mentality. I had to trust that there was victory in Jesus and that He could break down the walls that trapped my heart… and He did.
Be the first to comment