Jericho

During a recent time in the Word I came across the familiar story of the fall of Jericho. In brief, the unlikely desert-weary people of Israel bring down the walls of Jericho, a city of power that would have threatened God’s people as they settled in the Promised Land. But the conquest happens in a most unusual way, and would have been utterly impossible without the LORD on Israel’s side. In life we can become overwhelmed by our circumstances; sometimes worry over our finances consumes us, or we feel defeated by poor health, or perhaps we are weary of relational issues that never seem to heal. If we try to conquer any trouble without the power of the LORD we will inevitably fail. At best, we will only merely survive. But when the LORD goes before us, as we see in the defeat of Jericho, the victory in Him leads to breakthrough in us.
Before the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, God promised that he would give them the land (Joshua 1:2), and that he would be with them as they went (v 9). But the land was full of pagan peoples who would put up a fight. The first city to be conquered was Jericho, a city with high walls that had been shut up because the people in it feared the God of Israel. Why did these pagan people fear a God they did not worship? They feared him because they had heard of his mighty works (2:10-11). Before Israel even entered the Promised Land, God’s reputation had gone before them.
Before entering Jericho, God instructed Joshua, Israel’s leader, to march around the city once a day for six days. Each march consisted of a fanfare of trumpets that blew in proclamation of the ark of the covenant of the LORD. Priests surrounded the ark, and went forward blowing trumpets, while before and behind them marched the fighting men of Israel. On those six days of marching, no other sounds were heard from Israel except the sounds of the trumpets.
In our American culture, where doing is valued higher than being, we can tend to get ahead of the Lord. We can learn a valuable lesson from the conquest of Jericho. For six days God had Israel doing something that seemed unproductive. But when we step back, we can see the spiritual significance: God was going before the people. In my imagination, I see a vast army of angels chipping away at the walls of Jericho, weakening the defenses of the city. When the power of God goes before us, the “walls” of our lives (health, relationships, finances, spiritual warfare, you fill in the blank…) are weakened in his power, not ours.
On the seventh day God delivered Jericho into the hands of Israel. The people marched around the city the same as the six days before. But this time they marched seven times, and on the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, the people were ordered, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city” (6:16). At the blast of the trumpets and the shout of the people, the walls fell flat.
In my own life, I have tried and failed repeatedly to solve my own problems and defeat my own enemies. But the lesson of Jericho’s fall teaches me to step back and let God fight my battles. This is counterintuitive, especially in our culture, when we think we know what will “solve” the issue(s) at hand. But prayer is truly the only way to see God’s glory go before us and bring the victory.
Just recently, as Edwin and I have been fundraising to go to the mission field, we were challenged to ask for a specific pledge (I seriously do not write this for pledges but to glorify God in the way he went before for us and provided). We asked boldly for a donor to give $1000 a month! We laughed even as we prayed it (perhaps like Sarah when she found out she would have a child in her old age). We knew no one in our lives could afford such a commitment. Nevertheless, we prayed it. The following Sunday a stranger (to us then) came to our church, heard of our mission, and pledged $1000 a month! We were blown away! Immediately we began praising God for the way he went before us! I am not saying that when we “claim” something we perceive as good (like material things or even health), that we will automatically get that. What I am saying is that when we trust God to go ahead of us, even when that means we don’t do things that may seem productive (like it would have seemed productive for the Israelites to begin attacking Jericho as soon as they approached the city; or it may have seemed productive for Edwin and I to start calling potential $1000 donors after our prayer), then our waiting becomes an opportunity to watch God be who he is, our Savior, Provider, Healer, Friend. Is there somewhere in your life where you need God to go before you? He gives you a command and a promise: “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (1:9).