A Closer Look at the Defeat of Jericho

Joshua and the wall of Jericho is a well-known story found in Joshua 6:1-20. It’s often told or referenced because of the many practical applications, and because it is a wonderful demonstration of God’s power.  But let’s dive into this remarkable story today and take a closer look at the wisdom we can take away from it.

1.    Don’t Give Up!

  God told the Israelites and their leader, Joshua, to walk around the city of Jericho once a day for six days. On the seventh day, God instructed them to walk around Jericho seven times, and afterwards blow the trumpets and shout. The walls of this fortified city would then fall down, and they could then defeat the people of Jericho.

Commentaries say that Jericho couldn’t have been such a massive city if the Israelites could circle it seven times in one day. However, can you imagine walking around the walls of the city seven days in a row with no signs of anything happening? I’d imagine the Israelites were very tired of it, maybe even to the point of questioning what God really said.

But they didn’t give up.

What would’ve happened if they’d given up on the third or fourth day? Or even on the fifth or sixth lap around Jericho on the seventh day?

Like the Israelites, your breakthrough or answer to prayer may be just ahead. Don’t give up!

2.    Trust God’s Promise

Those walls didn’t fall right away. But the Israelites trusted that they would in God’s perfect timing. They trusted that they would fall because God promised they would.

In the meantime, they didn’t ask God after every day or every lap why the walls hadn’t yet fallen. The Bible doesn’t show them getting impatient or doubting what God said. What did they do instead?

They obeyed.

This is something I often struggle with myself. Regardless of when God gives us what we ask for or brings us to a new season, He has called us to obey. Even in the waiting.  And that’s just what the Israelites did.

3.    Shout Before Your Victory

Let’s take a look at Joshua 6:20: “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” (NKJV).

Notice when the people shouted. It wasn’t after the walls “fell down flat.” It wasn’t even as they were falling. It was before.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The Israelites didn’t shout because the walls had fallen or were falling; they shouted because they had faith in God’s promise that the walls would fall.

Whatever you’re going through today, dear friend, have faith in what God has said and claim that victory even before it happens.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Conclusion

If we follow the Lord whole-heartedly, He will give us the victory He purchased with His life on the cross. It may not always be in the exact way we think or hope for, but we will have the victory through Christ nonetheless.

As we go throughout our week, let’s remember to not give up, trust that God’s promises are true, and claim the victory God has promised us, even if we don’t see it yet.

Let’s do it together.

-Olivia