Joshua 6:6-12 - The Silence of Faith

Before the walls of Jericho can come down Joshua had to meet with the Captain of the LORD’s Host. He fell down at His feet, he worshipped, and he asked, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” Before we can become a conqueror we must first be conquered! If we want to see the Lord do the impossible things in our lives we must recognize and submit to His Lordship in our lives.   I love what Paul wrote in Romans 14:7-9, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” My friend, Jesus is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all! And, by the way, this is a daily choice that we make. Paul said, “I die daily…” (1 Corinthians 15:31).   The Lord gave Joshua specific instructions for the people on how to bring down the walls of Jericho. Now they had to obey and follow them. God has given us specific instructions in His Word and now we need to be obedient and follow them. Proverbs 3:5-6 is a good verse to remember: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”   The reason that some cannot explain or understand God’s Word and His instructions is that they are unwilling to obey it. They want to sit around, and try to figure it out. It's not up to you to figure out why God may tell you to march around your Jericho, or whatever God may tell you to do.  Can you imagine what the people of Jericho was thinking as they start looking over the walls and see the Israelites blowing trumpets and silently marching around the city. It was ridiculous in the eyes of the people of Jericho. They we probably saying, "Would you look at that! Look at them! There they go. That's the stupidest thing we ever heard of. "What are you doing down there?" "What's the matter—the cat got your tongue?" "What are you doing, stupid?" But the people just silently by faith kept on marching.   Did you know that the world can't understand us? The Bible says, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). I believe that the great onslaught against and on the church and God’s people has already begun in these last days! Already in the media, and especially in Hollywood and television, they take great delight at making fun of the people of God. And, what the devil has not been able to do in any other way, he's going to try to stop the Church of the living God by shear ridicule. We can get ready for Bible-believing, fundamental Christians to be the brunt of the wickedest, most vile and lascivious insinuations and jokes that the world has ever known.   Are you going to let the jeers of Jericho keep you from obeying the Word of God. Then you are going to let the devil take you away from a victory. There are some people who can stand almost anything but to be laughed at. The time is coming, when the world is going to try to make us look like fools, and we may indeed look like fools—sometimes in their sight; sometimes in our sight. But, it's up to us to obey the Word. And, if we're fools, we'll be fools for Christ's sake. For God does not have to justify His commands to anybody. God says, "Joshua, you march around the walls. Understand it or not, this is the way it's going to be done. And, don't depend upon your feelings. For feelings come, and feelings go; and, feelings are deceiving. Our warrant is the Word of God, and nothing else is worth believing.   And so what is our job? The compliance of faith is full, prompt, glad, unreserved, and unquestioned obedience. “Trust and obey, For there's no other way, To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey.” Many times, our faith is silent obedience!   God bless!