Let's Talk Jericho!

Let's talk about Jericho. This is one of my favorite Bible stories and I've probably talked about it on here a few times before. The story is found in Joshua 6. In the first few verses the stage is set for this awesome drama of God's power to play out.

Joshua 6:1-5
"Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
The the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with it's king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in."

There's so much in just these first few verses that I'm going to break it down and make some comparisons to our every day lives. So just hang in there with me for a bit.

Verse 1- The gates of Jericho were securely barred- Have you ever had a problem that you've looked at from every possible angle and you're going "Uh... Hey God? Isn't there supposed to be a window? 'Cause it doesn't seem like there is and I really need this problem to go away. How am I supposed to make that happen?"
I'm guessing the Israelites felt the same way. They're staring at this impenetrable city going, "Oh sure Joshua. You're totally going to conquer that place. Right... We'll just wait here and see how that goes."
I know that feeling- "Okay God, I'll just stand back and wait for you to fix this." But in my heart I'm not so sure how He's going to do that.

Verse 2- So then God says to Joshua- "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands", now I don't know about you but if I'm Joshua in this situation I'm going- "Um, you have? When was that? Did I miss something God?"
I've had those times too, I mean God has shown me a tiny little crack (Rahab in this situation) but I'm still wondering how all the details are going to work out.

Verse 3- "March around the city once with all the armed me."
Seriously, have you ever had God ask you to do something extreme? Trust Him with your finances, reach out to that difficult person or walk away from the security of the known because you know He's calling you to something else. Somehow as scary as those are this seems more extreme.

Skipping verse 4 and going straight to 5- "Then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in."
Seriously there are not enough laughing emoji's in the world to tell you my reaction to imaging myself in Joshua's shoes. "Are you serious God? You want me to walk around the city, do these things, the walls are going to fall in and then my army is just going to march straight in? Sure! Why not?!"
I mean to be fair Joshua had already seen God do some amazing things but I'm still guessing that he was a little concerned about having to give the Israelites these orders. I would be!
But doesn't God ask us to do crazy things all the time? Raise your children in a way that they'll be criticized and ridiculed for their beliefs. Watch your actions, language and clothing so that you are always a testament to how God has changed your life. Take time out of your day to study His word and pray and show up and be involved in your church instead of just spending some extra time on Netflix. That goes against our me-centered culture. So it as extreme as Jericho? No, thankfully, it's normally not but we all have walls and we're all waiting to see how God's going to make them fall. I'm guessing Day 5 felt more like Year 100 to them. But it wasn't until Day 7 (that would be Year 140 for those of you following along) that God came through. Because it was His timing and His plan not ours.