3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. 4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” – Joshua 6:3-5
33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. – 1 Kings 18:33-35
Faith
Hebrews chapter eleven verse one tells us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This tells us that God has made us promises that have not yet come to fruition. Therefore, faith is equivalent to believing God; taking Him at His Word. We exercise faith in order to take hold of that which God has promised. This is evidenced as we continue to read the remainder of Hebrews chapter eleven, where the author gives us example after example of great deeds of faith done by otherwise weak and ordinary people. People like Joshua and Elijah.
We have heard the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho so often that I fear we don’t comprehend the magnitude of the miracle. God had called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Pharaoh did not like the prospect of losing his work force, but ten plagues eventually changed his mind. God had a land intended for His children; and Egypt wasn’t it.
A generation of Israelites would be denied access into the Promised land because of their rebellion. Instead, they would wander in the desert for forty years until they died off. Because he did not honor God at the waters of Meribah, Moses would not enter the Promised Land of Canaan either. Ultimately, the privilege/burden of leading the children of Israel into the land of Canaan would belong to Moses’ assistant, a young man named Joshua. Which brings us back to Jericho.
Faith and Walls
Before crossing the Jordan to enter the promised land, the Israelites were promised that they would dispossess nations greater than them and cities fortified up to heaven. Jericho was their first test. There was one path leading to the heart of Canaan, and Jericho was blocking access to it. When they left Egypt, the Israelites took plunder, but it did not consist of bulldozers, excavators or even dynamite. From every human perspective, penetrating the walls of Jericho without any equipment was impossible. Jericho was surrounded by two sets of walls with an earthen embankment in between. The walls may have been as thick as eleven feet at their base and as tall as twenty-six feet. With the interior wall sitting on top of the earthen embankment, it may have been as high as forty-six feet above ground level. Sound intimidating? God had a simple plan. March around the city.
Remember that definition of faith? God made a promise and the Israelites took Him at His Word. For six days they marched around Jericho in complete silence. On the seventh day they marched around the city of Jericho not once, but seven times. On the seventh”lap” they made all kinds of noise and the walls crumbled to the earth. Not exactly what we would call conventional, but one obstacle to the Promised Land was out of the way. And speaking of faith and the unconventional…
Faith and Water
The prophet Elijah was jealous for the glory of God. King Ahab had abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. But it wasn’t only the king who followed the Baals, many of Elijah’s fellow Israelites followed the king’s example. Elijah had seen enough!! It was time for a showdown. The people of Israel and the false prophets met Elijah at Mount Carmel. The challenge was very simple. If the Lord is God, follow Him. If Baal is god, follow him. Let’s call on each of them and see which one responds.
Being the gentleman that he was, Elijah let his opponents go first. They prepared a bull and laid it on a pile of wood and called out to Baal to “provide” the fire. From morning until noon they called but Baal did not answer. While the false prophets limped around the dry pit calling out to their false god, Elijah mocked them. Perhaps Baal was preoccupied in deep thought, was going to the bathroom, was travelling or maybe napping. Perhaps with a little more effort you can wake him! For whatever reason the false prophets decided that if Baal did not respond to their voices, perhaps he would respond to their blood. Accordingly they resorted to cutting themselves and continued to cry out until mid day, but there was still no response from Baal. According to the text he did not even have the courtesy to pay attention. Not so with Elijah’s God.
Finally it became obvious that Baal wasn’t ever going to “show up.” Accordingly, Elijah had his calf prepared and placed on wood. But consuming dry wood would be to easy for the True God, so Elijah asked for twelve jars of water to be poured on his sacrifice, one jar for each of the tribes of Israel. With the bull and wood drenched in water and water flowing in a trench around his sacrifice, it was now time for God to display his power and Elijah to demonstrate his faith. Calling out to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, Elijah asked God to fulfill His Word and turn back the hearts of the people. Instantly, the fire of the Lord fell from heaven and consumed the bull, the wood, the stones, and even the dust, and then “licked up the water that was in the trench”.
Faith and You
We talk a lot about faith, but do we exercise it? I recognize that even faith is a gift from God and not something we can manufacture, but what do we do with the gift of faith He has given us? I am not equating faith with tempting God, but do we take Him at His Word? Neither walking around impenetrable walls as a means of warfare or pouring water over wood you want burned seems logical but such is what God requested in these incidences and look at the consequences of simple trust. May God grant us faith worthy of Hebrews chapter eleven. We never know what God might do through the faith of otherwise weak and ordinary people. “I believe; help me with my unbelief!” – Mark 9:24b
9 “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, – Deuteronomy 9:1
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. – Hebrews 11:30