This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to preach on the book of Joshua. Specifically, the Battle of Jericho.
I'm not going to include the whole sermon, but I figured I'd summarize it here...
God gives Joshua instructions on how to proceed in Joshua 6:3.
March around the city once each day, for six days.
Have the men remain silent.
Have 7 priests blow 7 horns, as you march.
On the seventh day, do this same thing 7 more times.
When you have gone around the city the seventh time, blow the horn, and have the men let out a great shout... and the walls will fall.
This is a weird plan.
But God is an expert at using weird plans to accomplish His will. And the tricky thing about faith is that very often He neither asks us to understand the plan nor does God feel the need to explain Himself to us.
Instead, He calls us to walk by faith. Keep marching. Keep blowing that horn.
Jericho is a funny story. But the funniest thing about The Battle of Jericho is that the battle takes place before Jericho. In my opinion, the Battle of Jericho takes place at the end of Joshua 5, not Joshua 6.
At the end of Joshua 5, verse 13, Joshua is "by Jericho" presumably, trying to figure out how in the world a bunch of nomads are going to besiege a fortified city. And it says a figure "with his drawn sword" appears before Joshua, then you have this funny interaction between the two of them.
Joshua asks him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" After all, he's got a city to take, plans to make, and he needs to know what he's up against.
And the figure in the road responds by saying, "No". He then reveals Himself to Joshua, "...I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come."
His point is this: I don't work for you, Joshua. You don't fit me into your plans. You get to be a part of my plan.
[Maybe you've tried to make God fit into your plans before. God doesn't work that way.]
Joshua -- to his credit -- realizes who he's talking to and falls to the ground in worship. He submits. He opens his ears to hear what God has to say.
My contention is that The Battle of Jericho is fought right here. Not between Joshua and Jericho's king. Not between the army of Jericho and the army of Israel.
It is a battle of will. A battle of faith.
Is Joshua, this new leader of Israel, going to do as the LORD commands? Will he be obedient, like Abraham, like Isaac, like Jacob, like Joseph, and like Moses? Because that's the true mark of a good leader of God's people. That is the mark of the faithful.
Note what happens next. Joshua falls down to the ground, worships, takes of his sandals, submits to God and then the interaction continues in Joshua 6:1. (Please, please, please, don't read the end of chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6 as different events. It is a continuation of the same conversation.)
Joshua obeys. He listens. And God declares to him that the battle is already won in 6:2, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor." Note the tenses used. The victory comes before Joshua is told to march around the city. God has guaranteed it.
My prayer is that we would have that same willingness to listen and obey. That we would lay down our own plans. That we would hear what God has to say... to know and live by His plan for our lives. Because that plan is victory. That plan is triumph.
And it all starts by worshipping. By falling to your knees and submitting to a God who's plans are far above and beyond our understanding. Once that happens, all that's left to do is walk by faith because the battle is already won.
Amen.