“But the LORD said to Joshua, ‘I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors.’” Joshua 6:2 NLT
Chapter 6 of the book of Joshua in the Old Testament contains a familiar story many adults remember from their Sunday school days as a child. Children being taught the story of the battle of Jericho today will have the same memories along with memories from many other children stories through the many children books available to them. The major difference with the story of the battle of Jericho is that it is a true, real life story from the pages of the Bible. Most children books present many life lessons through reaching youngsters at their age level, stories in Scripture do much the same thing with stories such as of the battle of Jericho.
Children’s Bible stories often have a way of helping us later in our adult life in situations we find difficult to handle. Navigating through our series of conquering new territory we now find ourselves at the cusp of going into battle removing the obstacles and distractions in entering the territory God has for us. The Promised Land of Canaan is where the Lord wanted His people to be and they are about to enter and settle in it. This will now be their toughest part of the journey. It will involve many major physical battles to take over the land. The first battle will be in conquering the city of Jericho, but take note what the Lord had said, “But the LORD said to Joshua, ‘I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors.’” (Jos. 6:2 NLT) Joshua did not need to draw up a battle plan in taking Jericho. The Lord’s plan would suffice, He has already given them Jericho. They only needed to follow the Lord’s command. It was God’s battle and not theirs.
We have noted to successfully conquer new territory we need to have faith, courage, obedience, and devotion to Word of God. The nation of Israel needed to apply all of the above, but needed particularly to have strong faith for they were about to witness some unconventional battle plans-the Lord God’s battle plans. Joshua was instructed to march around the city of Jericho once each day for six days with his army, the priests, and the Ark of the Lord. On the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times with the priests blowing their horns. Joshua then gave the command for all the people to shout and the walls of the city of Jericho fell down flat. Having the city completely surrounded before the walls fell, they were now in positions to overrun the city from every direction.
If the Lord has unconventional plans as part of your transition, accept them and have the faith that God knows what He is doing. Israel was obedient to God having faith in Him from the experience of crossing the Jordan River. Rely on previous blessings and the things the Lord has done for you so far in your journey into your new territory. He has brought you this far and he is not going to abandon you or allow to fend for yourself. The Ark of the Lord symbolized to Israel that the Lord God was with them, leading them, and He was the one who would conquer the city. They only needed to have faith, courage, and obey. The Lord God is also with you and is still leading you, so trust Him in His unconventional plans.
The Lord will reward your faithfulness as He did for Rahab when she hid and protected the men who came to spy out the city. We read in Joshua 6:22, “Joshua said to the two spies, ‘Keep your promise. Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, along with all her family.’” (NLT) Take notice of the miracle within the miracle. When the walls around Jericho collapsed, the portion of the wall which housed Rahab did not fall, it was still standing. Walls around you may be collapsing, but it could very well be the Lord rewarding your faith in trusting Him. The dust will settle. You’ll soon be in your Promised Land. Remember the battle is not yours, the battle belongs to the Lord.
Read Joshua 6, The Fall of Jericho: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%206&version=NLT
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