Now 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. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.” —Joshua 6:1–5
I love this story for multiple reasons. First of all, it’s just a cool story. Second, it features the great field general for Moses, the second in command to the hero of Israel, now in charge of the nation and leading it into the Promised Land. What a moment!
The first encounter in the land the Lord had given to Israel was to take place in the city of Jericho. Spies had already been sent in, and they had established connection on the inside with Rahab. In chapter 5, Joshua had a private briefing with the Lord Jesus Himself, and everything was set in place for the battle. The armed men and rear guard standing ready, Joshua now gathered the priests and all the people. I’m sure a hush fell over the crowd as Joshua lifted his hand and said, “Here’s the plan. We’re going to march around the city once a day for six days, seven times on the seventh day, and then at the end of the seventh lap on the seventh day, we’re going to blow the trumpets and yell! What do you guys think?” (A little liberty taken here for effect!) But do you know what Joshua and the children of Israel did? Exactly what the Lord had commanded! And when they did, the walls of Jericho tumbled down, and the first city in the Promised Land was theirs.
Far too often we want the will of God to make sense to us before we move ahead in obedience. How can this plan work? we think, or Why do You want to do it like that, Lord, when my plans are to do it like this? Too often we want God to show us the outcome before we take the first step; we want Him to prove His plan will work before we act on it. But God’s ways are not ours; they are higher and past finding out (Job 9:10).
So if the plan doesn’t make sense to you or seems a bit unorthodox, remember that the Lord your Maker thinks and does things beyond belief as a normal course of action every single day. If God has told you to do something a little unusual or if the outcome of it seems iffy, just do what the Lord says and
leave the rest up to Him. His ways are not ours, but they are always better!
Excerpt from “Body Builders” now available on Amazon.
