So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. – Joshua 6v20
So what kind of Commander did Joshua meet? At first He does not appear to be any kind of military genius.
‘Here are the plans for the Battle of Jericho. Take all the people to the city walk around it one time with no noise, then come back home. Do the same thing for six more days. On the seventh day walk around the city seven times. On the seventh lap have the priests will blow their horns, everyone shout, and the walls will fall down and you can go in and take the city.’
Surely the people must have felt just a little foolish walking around the city 12 times. I can only imagine what the Jerichoites thought.
But it happened. The people did as God instructed. For six days they got up, got everyone ready, went to Jericho, walked silently around it, and came home. The seventh day came. Off to Jericho again. One lap, two laps, three, four, five, six laps. Finally the 13th lap of the week came. They knew their instructions, ‘when you hear the horns shout with all your might.’ How their hearts must have been beating in their chests as they waited for the horns. Then, the horns sounded, the people shouted, and, as the old song goes, ‘the walls came a’tumblin’ down.’
Sometimes God’s plans for us seem just as ‘crazy’ to our flawed and frail human minds. We can’t always see God’s way for the walls that we run into in our walk with Him. We look at ways to attack the walls, undermine them, or scale them. Often however God’s plan is just for us to patiently wait for Him to tear down those walls.
Can we trust and obey like Israel did?
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