This week I want to start off with some verses from God’s word, “Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.” And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days. On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.” Joshua 6:1-20
Sometimes, God asks us to do things differently to show the world that we are different, because of who He is to us and what He has called us for. Let me tell you sometimes God’s way may not make sense to us. How is Jericho, the stronghold standing in their way supposed to fall by being marched around 13 times and then shouting? Sometimes, we do not understand how God works. But, I can tell you that Jericho’s fall cannot be attributed to anyone but God, so many times in the Bible and in our lives God is teaching us not to take the credit. He is the only one who can inspire a shepherd boy to take on a giant 4 times his height, cause a city to fall for no logical reason, and have the answer of salvation for all mankind to come from a Man who was God’s Son in the flesh. See, when God does something He does it in a way that could only be done by Him, that defies all human logic and for His glory.
What do you think would be going through your mind, if your new leader asked you to walk around a city 13 times and that city was heavily fortified and the first one you were asked to conquer. Notice that when Joshua told them to walk around the city he does not give them a reason, he does not tell them what God has said and he does not tell him how long they will have to do it. I think that the people of Israel were probably used to that, it seemed to be the answer for every problem they had; they walked across the red sea, walked across the Jordan, walked to the promised land from Egypt, and now walked around Jericho. They probably expected a battle that looked more like combat, but what they got was a battle that looked more like what they had been doing their whole lives walking in the heat of the middle east. See God does not ask you to do something that He has not already equipped you to do. When He asks you to fight a battle or do what He is calling you to do, He has been equipping you for it for years or maybe your whole life.
You can see God moving all throughout this story, causing the wall to fall, giving Joshua strength to lead, and giving the people the obedience to follow. When you look back over your life do you see God moving? We often don’t see all that God is doing, until we look back and see how He was moving in our lives. I pray that just like the Israelites we will see mighty works of God in our lives that there is no logical explanation for, things that can only be God. Sometimes, here in the modern world we think that it is harder for God to move, but by thinking that way we put limits on seeing God’s power. Limiting how we see God is never a good idea. I believe that God still moves like He did in the days of the apostles and Israelites, God never changes, His love and power are constant. He is not dependent on how the world looks or what year it is. He still moves; we are just too caught up in the things of this world to see it. I believe that I have missed miracles that have happened right in front of me, because I was more focused on things of this world and not on things of God.
What if Joshua would have been focused on the things of the world and not on the things of God and attacked the city of Jericho without God’s help? It would have been a landslide defeat for the people of Israel. So this week I want to encourage you, that yes we are called to this world, but we are also called to be a people of God. So we need to pray that God would allow us to be attuned to things of Him. There are so many Great ways to focus on things of Him and not on things of this world. One Great way would be to be in God’s word today.