HEARTLIGHT(R) Magazine: Special Feature: Jericho

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Jericho
by Karen Alexander

As Joshua and the Israelites rose to face their fourth day outside the walls of Jericho, it must have seemed like many others, maybe exactly like a few. Having entered the promised land on the dry sand of the Jordan’s riverbed, having set up the memorial of twelve stones, and having recovered from their circumcisions, the Israelites must have approached the city of Jericho full of expectation. After forty years of wandering, they approached the horizon of tomorrow. God was about to begin giving them the land.
“See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands,” the Lord told Joshua. Although the “siege” had not begun, the act was a done deal. Jericho belonged to Israel. God said so. He gave Joshua the game plan, and the Israelite leader passed it on to the people. As the men rose on that fourth day, what could they have been feeling? On the first day, they had put on quite a parade. Seven priests carrying trumpets of ram's horns had gone first. The ark of the covenant had followed. The people fell in line, and the procession moved around the city. That was all. After that, they were done for the first day.
On the second day, even more anxious for success, they had been told to do the same. The priests set out, those carrying the ark followed, and the people moved on afterward. Then, when they had come full circle, they stopped again, waiting for the third day on which they would do…the same. By the fourth day, they had seen every rock in the circle of that city. They had likely marked every fallen tree. Surely, they had spotted a few nesting birds and noted the places where the trail would rise or fall. Would it be an understatement to say they were becoming familiar with the terrain? I believe so.
Yet, if they knew the plan, as God and Joshua did, they knew they would perform this same ritual again on the fifth day and once more on the sixth. Were they becoming bored? Or, did each trip around the same ground, treading the same grass on the same path exhilarate them? Was their anticipation building as V-Day approached?
God had told Joshua that the victory would occur on the seventh day, and on that day, the game plan finally changed. Having circled the city daily for six days, on the seventh day they received new orders. On the seventh day, they would march seven times.

Both those in Jericho who watched this odd spectacle and the Israelites themselves would have been ripe to misinterpret, to discount the plan, to underestimate the power of faith.

Rising at daybreak, they set out “in the same manner,” the text says, and they marched on. After the last lap was complete, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.” They did, and He did. When the people obeyed, the walls fell. No stone was thrown, no spear flung.
Now, the walls of Jericho, like those of the city-states in its day, made the city into a fortress. The walls were thought impregnable. “Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in,” reads Joshua 6.1. The people inside the walls surely expected a strong attack. After all, they had heard about the crossing at the Red Sea and the Egyptians' demise (2:7). What did they think as they watched this people who carried ram's horns and a box as they circled the city? Did they shout out chidingly after the third or fourth day? The text does not say. But surely the temptation was there to miss the importance of the act of faith that was being carried out. Both those in Jericho who watched this odd spectacle and the Israelites themselves would have been ripe to misinterpret, to discount the plan, to underestimate the power of faith.
Yet, when the city walls fell, the people of God—all of His people, those then and today—were to learn a great lesson about the clout of believers. Obedience will not often be exciting. Hope may become well used. Days upon days, weeks, and yes, even years may come and go as we wrestle to maintain faith amidst the trivialities of this world. We may struggle long and hard to believe that God is at work as we face the attacks of Satan, meeting the same temptation or the same ordeal over and over again. Even if we keep some semblance of faith in God, we may lose faith in ourselves.
But we must remember: The walls of Jericho fell. They did not fall because of any natural phenomenon. There was no superior military strength or strategy at work. Rather, the walls of Jericho fell because a group of people chose to obey God, believing that He could be trusted.
Are you growing weary? Have you struggled for years to conquer a sin that persists today? Do you find yourself battling over the same ground in parenting? Has a prayer gone too long unanswered? Are you so depressed that it seems you have no hope for tomorrow?
Maybe you have asked God for the strength to conquer these Goliaths once and for all. If so, remember, spiritual victories are not won through our efforts. God does not give his people the means to conquer these demons through their own strength. Perhaps your victory will be like the one at Jericho. Perhaps you will faithfully cover the same ground many times before the walls come tumbling down.
Truly, that day may not occur before you become weary, and certainly not before others have criticized your efforts. But have faith. For, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people had marched around them seven days,” (Heb. 11.30). Take heart, and march on.