Fallen walls and broken gates, part one
OPINION —
There are lots of lessons to learn from the battle of Jericho in Joshua 6. Here are some of them:
- The walls fell to servants, not lords. From beginning to end, God specified how He wanted everything to happen. Israel’s role was to carry out God’s commands. They weren’t in charge, He was. That is always the formula for victory.
- The walls fell by faith, not by force. Israel didn’t have the equipment necessary to break through the thick walls of a fortified city like Jericho. However, they had a large enough army to conduct a siege and starve their way into the city. But that would have taken a long time and God wanted them to understand He was giving them the victory (6:2). No, they weren’t going to take it by force, they would take it by faith — by trusting God and following His commands.
Walls today — walls of sin, weakness, fear, and everything else — still fall through faith. And they fall just like they did at Jericho, one day at a time, one step at a time. That’s all we need to do as followers of Jesus. Each day we keep putting one foot in front of the other for God. He’ll take care of the rest. - Walls fall to those who honor God. Israel honored God by obeying Him. We honor Him the same way. We’re not going to be perfect, but we can be persistent. We’re going to stumble and fall at times, but by His grace, we can get right back on our feet and keep moving forward. That honors Him.
That’s the story of the walls falling in Joshua 6. It’s one of the most well-known, best-loved stories in the Bible. Little children have marching around the city of Jericho in Bible classes and at VBS for as long as… well, as long as they could walk.
But what if this is only part of the story? What if there’s something underneath the story that we don’t see because like everyone else we get caught up in the trumpets blowing, the people shouting and the walls falling?
Next week we’ll look at the story within the story.
Find more of Bruce’s writings at his website: a-taste-of-grace-with-bruce-green.com.
