Joshua 6 - Jericho - Faith without Understanding

I wish I had a dollar for every time my parents told me to do something when I was young and I automatically replied with the response…why? My young mind was a crazy mix of rebellion and questioning, so any requests of me naturally demanded an explanation. Unfortunately, it seems little changed as I matured. Part of this psychology, whether we’re old or young, is so that we can apply our own reasoning and logic to the request made of us. Maybe it’s simply part of the human DNA or maybe it’s part of the sin nature we inherited from Adam and Eve, but admit it, we just love to question authority. Unfortunately, this process can, if not held in check, become a great problem for us as we become adults. You see, sometimes the requests made of us simply will not make sense to us, especially when it comes to closely following the Lord. The requests of man can usually be interpreted but when it comes to the requests of God, many times we are left scratching our heads and simply still asking why? So, what do you do when the requests God makes of you just do not seem to make any sense? Let’s look at one of the best examples in scripture of just this. An entire Army that marches in circles blindly 13 times…why? Simply because God said so.

If the book of Joshua were a movie, you would say that we’ve gotten through the intro and we’re about to get to the good part. So far, the entire Israelite nation (about 2 million people total) has crossed the Jordan in a miracle from God, erected two memorials to commemorate the event and now they are camped out near the town of Jericho. Recall that God has promised every piece of land their feet touch in the Promised Land to the Israelites. (Josh 1:3) In fact, God promised them 300,000 acres of land and at the most the Israelites only ever claimed about 30,000 acres. So here sits God’s people looking over at the huge walled city of Jericho and wondering just exactly how God is going to allow them to conquer such a great fortress. Here’s where Joshua chapter 6 picks up.

By now the people of Jericho know that the Israelites have miraculously crossed the Jordan and they are shaking in their boots. As a result, they have locked up the city, closed the gates and moved to DEF-CON 1. All guards are on high alert and all weapons are at the ready, they know an attack is imminent. Their will be no advantage of surprise here. At this moment, the Lord comes to Joshua with a very confusing, nonsensical tactic for the attack. In fact, I wish I could have seen Joshua’s face as he first heard the attack plan on Jericho. You want us to do what? How many times? Are you serious? Isn't there an easier way?

God instructs them to march in a very specific order, around the entire circumference of the walls of Jericho. Now take careful notice of this order, everything God instructs is critical and the instructions He gives must have been followed perfectly. The marching will be once a day for 6 days and then on the seventh day, seven more times around. At the end, God promises the mighty walls of Jericho will fall down flat and then they can simply walk into the city, attack and kill all the people and then sack the city for gold, silver and bronze. Nothing else can be taken, no one can take anything for themselves and no one can be left alive. Sounds pretty straight forward right? But why? Come on, if you’re one of the priests, soldiers or trumpet blowers in the ranks wouldn’t you hear this plan and immediately ask why? Maybe on day one you buy into the plan, but what about day 5? By then wouldn’t you be getting tired of suiting up to walk around the city once only to go back to camp and be done for the day? If you're a soldier wouldn't you be itching to fight and not just stroll around the city everyday? You see, here’s the crux of our lesson, when God makes requests of you that make absolutely no sense to you in the moment, what do you do?

We find our answer in Hebrews 11:30.

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.” Heb 11:30

You see, the walls of Jericho didn’t fall simply because the people did something, God could have dropped the walls on day 1. The walls didn’t fall flat because the people marched around them 7 times or seventy times. The walls of Jericho fell completely flat because God gave His people specific instructions and they followed His instructions perfectly to the last directive. The walls of Jericho fell because the people heard from God, believed in exactly what He said and then did exactly what He said. What you see here is the recipe for faith in following God. Hear, obey, act.

There’s been countless times in my life that God has spoke directions into my life and it has simply flew right over my head. And it usually did so for a few different reasons. When I was new in my walk with Christ it was usually because of rebellion or refusal. This is when God tells you to do something and like a rebellious child that doesn’t want to do it, you simply say no. This is usually involving an ongoing sin issue in your life that is displeasing to God. This is not necessarily a complicated request from God, but it can still be met with great resistance from someone that is embroiled in sin. Pride, sexual immorality, alcohol, greed, selfishness, materialism, pornography, love of money, anger, lying or stealing can all be issues that God will deal with directly to eradicate from the life of His children. These demands from God can without great faith that He can deliver the victory over them, be met with great resistance from us.

Other times in my life as I matured in my walk with Jesus, He has made larger requests of my life that demanded my time, my service or even the dedication of my life. These are much harder to discern. You see, God will start out with small requests of you and as you comply in faith, He will continue to up the ante and make greater requests of you. He will first start out with eradicating all the sin issues so that He can use you in a greater capacity. I liken it to a drawer full of screwdrivers. Some are straight and clean and can serve their user well to complete the job at hand. Some are dirty, greasy and even bent a little and cannot perform the job as well. As God shops that drawer of screwdrivers, which will He pick first to complete His work? My prayer each day is that I can be the best, cleanest and straightest tool for the job that God has for me. And after God starts using you, He will dial up the requests.

Later in life, God starting making bigger and bigger requests of us. Quit your jobs, sell your house, move away, commit to long term missions and then move farther away for even longer. Each request was just as difficult to understand, but the beauty of faith in the Lord is that it grows. Faith is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. When you read the story of Jericho, put yourself in the shoes (or sandals) of those that were marching. Think about the 7th day as they were on circle number 6. The priests and soldiers were tired, hot, frustrated and probably had a million questions rolling around in their heads asking why? But regardless of whatever their minds told them, their hearts told them the truth. What God says is true and what God says is absolute. They believed in their hearts that what God told them was pure truth. He has never left us or forsaken us. He parted the Red sea, He gave us manna in the desert and He halted the Jordan. We have seen the truth of the Lord and in our hearts, we will follow Him. They had great faith in God.

Today if you are walking circles in your life and wondering why, focus on your heart and not your mind. The requests of God will not always make sense to us mentally. But regardless, you can in faith know that God has good planned for you. I can only imagine the joy and elation that overcame the people as those huge walls finally fell flat. Today in your life, continue to circle because in God’s perfect timing, He will bring the walls down. Your job is to simply hear, believe and obey…in great faith.

God bless you as you, in faith, follow the God that brought down the walls of Jericho.