By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. (Hebrews 11:30, NKJV).
In one sentence the writer of Hebrews captures the essence of a bizarre, but instructive, episode of ancient Middle Eastern history.
Jericho was a material and spiritual stronghold of evil. Its massive walls harbored a city rife with occult practices, satanic worship, and horrific child sacrifice. As a fortress, it was considered impregnable. It also stood as the single, most daunting obstacle in the way of Joshua leading the Children of Israel into the Promised Land.
Joshua sent spies into the city. Rahab, the harlot ancestress of Christ, Himself, gave them shelter and was thus rewarded with a promise for her life to be spared.
The plan of attack given to Joshua by God was conspicuous in its lack of military strategy. There were no siege engines and no emphasis on weaponry. By its very nature, it was a test of faith.
Led by the Levitical Priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, the army of Israel was to march silently around the formidable city walls seven times each day for six days. On the 7th day, they were to encircle the city once more, and then give a great shout on Joshua's command.
When the walls crumbled, the city was to be taken and all its inhabitants slain by the sword, with the exception of Rahab and all whom she brought into her house on the wall.
This was bizarre in so many ways.
In subsequent, more conventional battles, neither the Priests, nor the Ark were to be anywhere near the front lines. In subsequent battles, fierce hand-to-hand combat was the rule. In subsequent battles, Israel won or loss depending on how well she fought.
In the Battle of Jericho, God upended all those parameters, replacing them with apparently nonsensical actions from the human perspective.
Nonetheless, Joshua and the Children of Israel obeyed. Each day treading silently in the ominous shadow of the massive barricades.
Logically, militarily, and materially it made no sense, yet on the 7th day, normally the Sabbath observance, the walls of Jericho collapsed, accompanied by the thunderous cries of Israel's army and priests.
Well-meaning, but misdirected scholarly efforts have been undertaken to explain the city's demise in naturalistic terms in an attempt to make this event more palatable to the worldly-minded. Theories ranging from sonic vibrations to coincidental earthquakes have been offered to retain the historical accuracy of the account, while discarding the underlying supernatural theme.
But the very attempt to do so is an act of unbelief and obscures the foundational truth being conveyed.
What is that truth? It is this: By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. Faith demonstrated by obedience.
A supernatural, omnipotent God, could have destroyed this despicable city in any number of ways that did not entail obedience on the part of His Chosen People. It was the very nature of His counterintuitive battle plan that makes it so compelling and instructive. For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4, NKJV).
And Israel could have done in this instance what she did in so many other instances before and after. She could have disobeyed, following the dictates of human understanding and rebelling against her God.
The lesson for us today is this: sometimes faithful obedience makes us look ridiculous in the eyes of the world. Sometimes following our God rather than the world makes us conspicuous targets for conflict and ridicule. Sometimes following our God may bring us so far out of our comfort zone that we balk at the very idea.
But if we succumb to the temptation to go the way of the world, rather than the way of God, we miss an opportunity that he provides for us to participate in carrying out His will on this fallen world.
And perhaps, just perhaps, we forfeit a victory that otherwise would have been ours for the taking, had we, by faith, simply obeyed.
