“Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho…”

“Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua: 'See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor'” (Joshua 6:1,2). 

Archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, excavating in and around Jericho in the mid-twentieth century, found massive walls surrounding the city, fronted by a smooth, plastered slope. The city was impregnable—“securely shut up” according to the biblical record. 

“Not to worry,” God said, “I’ve got this one.”

Jericho stood across the entrance to the Promised Land, frustrating every effort to break through. Israel’s army was no match for Jericho’s defense system and “ mighty men of valor." It had no mighty men, machines, or other means to carry out a siege. As such Jericho represents those people and circumstances that inhibit and frustrate us and stand in the way of our dreams. 

God, who wrote the book on the art of war, laid out his strategy for Joshua and his army:  “March around Jericho once a day for six days and six times on the seventh day.” And the walls came a-tumbling down. 

And so it is that we, “through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). When frustrated and out of sorts we must fill our hearts with prayer—the highest expression of our faith—and wait for God to come through. 

Israel waited a week. We may have to wait a bit longer, subordinating our feverish activity to the slow, steady cadence of faith, for it is, “by faith that the walls of Jericho fell down” (Hebrews 11:39)

David Roper

7.3.20