What is your Jericho?

The picture above definitely brings out the former preschool teacher in me.  I am a visual learner, so this helps me remember stories of the Bible.  Without reading farther, can you answer the above question in the picture?

Today’s reading is Joshua chapter 6.  The following verse will help you with the answer:)

Joshua 6:20 “So the priests blew the trumpets.  As soon as the people heard it, they gave a loud shout, and the walls collapsed.  Then all the army went straight up the hill into the city and captured it.

Jericho was a city that lay in the eastern provinces of the Promised Land.  The city had to be demolished because it was fully given over to paganism and was a center for worship of many false gods.  God did not want any trace of idolatrous people living where Israel was to worship only God.

The walls of Jericho were nothing like we might see in castles today.  The walls were six feet thick and up to 26 feet high and sat atop a 46 foot hill making the city almost impossible to get into.

This story in Joshuah 6 demonstrates the miraculous power of God.  The strategy to conquer the city of Jericho was unique in two ways.  First, the strategy was laid out by God Himself.  And second, the strategy seemed quite foolish.  God simply told Joshua to have the people march silently around Jericho for six days, and then, after seven times around, on the seventh day, to shout.  Though it was not a traditional way to conquer a city, Joshua followed God’s instructions.  When the people gave a shout, the massive walls collapsed instantly!  Israel won an easy victory.  God had given the city of Jericho to them before they even began to march around its walls.  It was when the people of God, by faith, follwed the commands of God that the walls of Jericho fell down (Joshua 6:20).

This story was recorded in Scripture in order to teach us several lessons.  Most important is that obedience, even when what God has imprinted on our hearts seems foolish, brings victory.  When we are faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, we must learn that our Jericho victories are won only when our faithful obedience to God is complete.

What is your battle of Jericho?  What walls do you need to collapse in front of you?

Do you remember singing this song as a kid?

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho                              Joshua fought the battle of Jericho                                                      And the walls came a-tumbling down

It is a very catchy song (believe me, everyone has told me to stop singing it for the past few days!), but it is not really accurate.  It was not Joshua who brought down the walls.  It was God.  And it was not Joshua’s fighting that won the victory.  It was his faith in God.

Do you have faith that God will take care of your Jericho in His timing and in His way??

Read:  Proverbs 6