Jericho

Terrain Day 5 Jericho’s Walls

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Joshua 1:1-8
Joshua 5:13-15
Joshua 6:1-21
Psalm 24:7-10
Isaiah 55:8-11

Terrain, Day 5

Located northeast of the Dead Sea, Jericho was built around 8000 BC. It was surrounded by massive stone walls measuring about 3.6 meters (11.8 feet) high and 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) wide. According to historical findings, such walls represent the earliest technology and were constructed purely for military purposes. They were meant to protect the settlement and its water supply from intruders.

It was to Jericho, remote and impenetrable behind these massive walls, that God led the Israelites after they miraculously crossed the Jordan River. The people of the city became terrified upon learning about Israel’s wondrous passage:

“When the Amorites kings across the Jordan to the west and all the Canaanite kings near the sea heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites until they crossed over, they lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites.”
(Joshua 5:1)

So the citizens of Jericho did what they knew best, they hunkered down. The city was “strongly fortified because of the Israelites–no one leaving or entering.” (Joshua 6:1). Based on their understanding, as long as they remained within their walls, they were well protected. Inside the walls, they had everything necessary for survival; the presence of a reliable water supply meant sustenance wouldn’t be a problem.

But “[t]he Lord said to Joshua, ‘Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its best soldiers over to you.’” (Joshua 6:2) According to the Lord God’s instructions, the Israelites were to march around the city once daily for six days, and seven times on the seventh day. Seven priests, carrying seven ram’s horn trumpets, were to precede the ark of the covenant with each circuit. On the seventh day, they were to blow the trumpets while the soldiers shouted aloud. And the walls would just . . . collapse on themselves.

That sounds illogical, right? What could marching around the city, or the blowing of trumpets combined with shouting, possibly do to massive stone walls 1.8 meters thick?

Yet, as foolish as the instructions appeared to man, Joshua obeyed them to the letter. Instead of doubting God, he submitted whole-heartedly to His will. Perhaps the miracle of crossing the Jordan River developed unwavering confidence in God within him. Led by faith, Joshua set aside his own wisdom and military intelligence, and relied absolutely on God.

From a human perspective, there was nothing Joshua and his men could do to breach the city of Jericho. No matter the capacity of his soldiers, as long as those walls remained standing, Jericho would always be the victor.

After marching once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day, the priests blew trumpets, the soldiers shouted, and the walls of Jericho collapsed. “The troops advanced into the city, each man straight ahead, and they captured the city.” (Joshua 6:20)

Hallelujah! The ways of God are higher than man’s ways, and His every word WILL be accomplished! (Isaiah 55:9-11) He is the “God of gods and the LORD of lords,” mighty and awesome! (Deuteronomy 10:17)

“Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.” (Psalm 24:8)
Nothing is too hard for Him! (Jeremiah 32:27)

At the beginning of Joshua’s book, God tells him never to allow the book of God’s law to depart from his mouth, but to meditate upon it day and night. (Joshua 1:8) God declared Joshua would be successful and prosperous through careful study and obedient adherence to His Law. Joshua’s constant meditation on the Law revealed God’s power and faithfulness.

“God is not a man, that He might lie, or the son of man, that He might change His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19)

God promises and fulfills; His words will not return to Him empty.

He is a promise-keeping God.

He is able to make the impossible possible; Joshua’s conquest over Jericho testified as much and Scripture confirms, “They completely destroyed everything in the city.” (Joshua 6:21)

What if we trusted God as completely as Joshua without attaching human limits or reasoning to His words? Would we witness more of His miracles?
We live in the era of the worship of science, logic, and human understanding.
Yet our God is not limited by our scientific exploration; His ways are far beyond human understanding; all He requires is a willing, obedient heart.

If only we can acquaint ourselves with His words, like Joshua, studying and meditating day and night, we will know more of this God we serve, of His unfailing love, and astounding faithfulness. We will learn to trust Him in the most difficult and impossible situations, knowing He will never fail us. For, as our Lord Jesus said, “Everything is possible for the one who believes.” (Mark 9:23)

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Here’s a link to all past studies in Terrain!

Worship VI Day 10 Do It Again

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Joshua 6:1-20
Lamentations 3:21-26
Daniel 3:16-18
Mark 11:22-24
Romans 4:18-25

Worship VI, Day 10

When I read the story of Joshua, it all seems so easy…

Admittedly, God’s instructions to Joshua and his army are strange…
march around the walls of Jericho once a day for six days
and seven times on the seventh day

But they’re clear and easy enough to follow.
What’s more, the outcome is entirely predictable.  As long as they demonstrate their faith by obeying God’s command, on the seventh day, “the city wall will collapse, and the troops will advance.”  (Joshua 6:5)

When I think about life today, it all seems much more complicated.
We all have situations where we would love to see God move in power like He did at Jericho. We have each had situations where we long for breakthrough, as we constantly circle them in prayer. Maybe we’re praying for healing or salvation for a loved one, seeking God’s wisdom about a major life decision, or coming to God with a long-held dream we can’t quite give up on despite the lack of opportunity for its reality.

Unlike Joshua, we often have no idea what the outcome will be,
or how long we will wait.

“Walking around these walls,
I thought by now they’d fall…
Waiting for change to come…”

It’s easy for the waiting to lead to discouragement.

Around five years ago, this all became very real to me as I prayed for a friend struggling with mental health issues.  After a couple years of battling with this, during which I’d been praying regularly, her condition seemed to be spiralling downward. As she began texting me late at night with graphic descriptions of her depressed feelings, I felt helpless. I knew she was receiving professional help, so all I could do was pray, and I believed God could help and heal her. Unlike Joshua, I had no guarantee of how God would answer my prayer, or what that answer would look like.

I came to realise my faith must be based on something deeper
than the miracle I hoped for.

Fortunately, while we have examples in Scripture of God’s miraculous power, we also have examples of people waiting and praying in desperate situations. We meet people longing for answers that are slow to come.

Jeremiah lamented over Jerusalem’s destruction and his people’s exile to Babylon. Abraham waited decades for the child God had promised; his waiting eventually reached the point where it seemed physically impossible to bear a child.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fire for no crime other than obedience to God.

Yet all these people managed to hold on to their faith in God by looking beyond their circumstances and focusing on His faithfulness.

Amidst the ruins, Jeremiah declared:
“Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for his mercies never end.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!”  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Abraham held onto hope even when his situation was hopeless, humanly speaking, because, “he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do.”  (Romans 4:21)

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were bold in proclaiming their trust in God’s power and goodness, despite the uncertain outcome of their situation.

“If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”  (Daniel 3:17-18) 

Each of these knew God’s faithfulness by experience and chose to put their trust in Him, just as this song declares:

“Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You’ve never failed me yet.” 

In each case, the outcome was different, but the faithfulness of God
was exactly the same.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego experienced a speedy and miraculous rescue.  Abraham finally saw the fulfilment of God’s promise after years of waiting.  Jeremiah never saw the restoration of Jerusalem, though it did happen after 70 years just as Jeremiah had prophesied, because God is faithful.

How can we respond in our own situations where we long to see God move in power?

Tension exists between holding onto the solid hope that God is the same today as He was to Joshua, and that He is perfectly able to “do it again,” while also accepting God’s ways are not always predictable or understandable to us.

We’re called to have faith that God is able to move mountains, while we’re also called to trust in God’s faithfulness when the mountains fail to move exactly as we wish,
because He is always faithful to His promises.

We may not have the promise God gave Joshua that our walls will fall quickly and easily, but we do have several other promises, all rooted in His unchanging character.

He promises that….

Whatever our situation today, let’s choose to hold onto real, solid hope
and thank Him for His faithfulness!

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Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Worship VI Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Worship VI!