And the Walls Fell

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days (Hebrews 11:30). Our writer teleports us from the exodus out of Egypt right to the conquest of the promised land, from the roaring waters of the Red Sea destroying the Egyptian army to the shadows of Jericho's walls. But much has happened in between. Over 40 years of much. And much has changed. Israel's faith has grown. Pharoah and his army had no fear of God, but according to the two spies who stayed at Rahab's house, "The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us" (Joshua 2:24). Fear of God indeed. Now, Israel fears God too, but in a very different form. She eagerly follows Joshua's instruction to march around Jericho, confident that its walls will fall. Not fear, as in afraid, but fear, as in confident faith, our God can do it. They could not see how it would fall; on the face of it, nothing could seem more foolish than to march round a strong fortress for seven days on end, led by seven priests blowing rams' horns.  They could not see faith at work on those solid walls. Those huge ramparts and battlements seemed to stand fast and firm. Yet, when they marched round the city seven times on the seventh day and heard the last blast of the rams' horns, they shouted with a great shout and the walls crumbled (Joshua 6:20). No battering rams beat upon them, but faith can do better work than battering rams or dynamite In this extraordinary approach, God was pleased to magnify himself, to terrify the Canaanites, to strengthen the faith of the Israelites, and to prevent all boasting. Israel could never claim victory over Jericho. God was victorious. This is the faith to which we are called. God can and will in his own time and in his own way cause all powerful opposition against his interest and glory to fall down. Later in Israel's history, the Assyrians fell, the Babylonians fell, the Medes and Persians fell, the Greeks fell, the Romans fell. And in our day too, kingdoms arrayed against the Lord have fallen. Those who seek glory for themselves will fall in confusion just like those who built the tower of Babel (Genesis 11). For six days the Israelites marched. Each day, the folks of Jericho likely got braver. Did they mock Israel? Probably. Faith learns to wait. Faith does not grab hold of but has patience until God gives. We are called to a life of faith that expects and receives. Israel marched and waited and received. God often uses weak and unexpected means to accomplish his purposes. Paul put is succinctly, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). Our task is not to understand, but to believe. Later he also wrote, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Our primary weapon is faith. Faith in God. Faith that his purposes will not fail. Faith that we will receive our reward, a place in God's heavenly city. As you journey on, go with the blessing of God: May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.