Israel was face to face with the first city held by Canaanities. It was a strong walled city with solders to defend it and with plenty of food for the people living inside. On the other hand, the men of Israel were not trained for fighting. But God was on their side and that made all the difference. Joshua, their leader, had a special word given to him by the Lord. Look at verse 2. God had previously given Joshua the whole of the land (see 1: 3-4). Now God says, 'I have given you the first city, Jericho'. Joshua was assured of victory before he began to fight. What an encouragement. But then God has given the same kind of promise to us. Read Romans 8:37. 'We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Then came the test of faith. What would Joshua do? He called the people together and said, 'God has told us what to do. Let's get started.' Joshua not only believed the word God had given, he acted on it. God calls this the 'obedience of faith' and nothing pleases him more than that. There are lessons to be learned, however, even while walking by faith. Why did God tell them to walk around the city 13 times? Did it take that long to convince them that they could do nothing unless God really helped them? Then they had to march in silence. That would be hard for these people. All through the wilderness they had murmured and cried out. Now God says, 'Don't say a word. Go in silent faith and the victory will be yours.' It is easy to be silent if we are unhappy or bitter or jealous. Sometimes when we feel like that, we are anything but silent of course. However, this was the silence of faith that waited until the 13th time around. Then they shouted when God told them to do so. Faith can wait for God, for his exact moment. It knows that when God's time comes, he will immediately work. What he does then will be worth waiting for.' A THOUGHT: BY FAITH, the walls of Jericho fell down. Hebrews 11: 30. |
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