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Hebrews 11:30-“By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.”

The Battle of Jericho is probably the best-known battle story in the Bible. It’s prominent because it was the first in a series of battles that the Israelites won that enabled them to take the Promised Land. It is also a standout because in the natural, as the Israelites looked at the walled city of Jericho, it was a totally impossible situation. They didn’t have the manpower or know-how to take the walls down.  If the walls didn’t come down, they couldn’t get in to take the city, and if they didn’t take the city, the rest of the Promised Land would never have been theirs.

As they faced an impossible situation, they were going to learn what Luke 1:37 declares, “Nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37  The walls you face stand between you and what God has promised to you. If you will activate your faith in what God has said, He will cause the walls to collapse!

Sometimes God moves because of the faith of one person, but a lot of times, if not most of the times, He moves in response to a group of people who refuse to give up, who refuse to retreat, who won’t give up on moving toward where God is leading. Let’s call it “GROUP FAITH!”  Major victories come when our faith has been rightly placed in what God tells us to do and when we band together to do it.  

If God’s people were going to possess the land that was known as Jericho, they were going to have to deal with the evil and immorality that was there. They couldn’t live as the holy people of God in a land filled with wickedness and corruption. They couldn’t offer pure worship to God in the midst of the pagan Canaanite land. This was more than a military effort, a physical war. It was a spiritual one.  That city had to be completely overtaken, the people had to be defeated and dealt with or the Jews would never have been able to flourish and worship God in purity.

The LORD told Joshua that He was delivering Jericho into their hands, but it wasn’t Joshua’s faith that produced the victory. He said that Joshua and the armed men were supposed to march around the city once. This was a group effort. The whole army was supposed to march every day for six days. In addition to that, seven priests were to carry trumpets in front of the Ark of the Covenant, the special box that symbolized the presence of God.

After this went on for six days, on the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times and while they marched, the priests were to blow the trumpets. Are you tracking with me? On the 7th day, they were to march around the city 7 times.  They were to get to a point where the priests would hold a long blast on their trumpets. When that long trumpet blast was sounded, the whole army was supposed to shout! Their shout was going to cause the city to collapse, and the Israelite army would be able to go right in and take over.

Until day seven, it was to be a silent march, but on day 7, they were supposed to break their silence and to shout as loudly as they could. I would say about the Israelite army that they had an unquestioning faith. They could have asked God lots of questions. They didn’t. The army did exactly as God commanded and here is what happened.

When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord… Joshua 6:20 and 21a

Marching, blowing horns and shouting sounds like the activity at a football game! They don’t sound like the sounds of war! The reason those walls came down was the result of group obedience and group faith in the Word of God. 

In Joshua 6:2 God said to them, Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

When God made this declaration, please notice that they hadn’t even begun their Jericho march, but God spoke in the past tense. He spoke as if their victory had already taken place, as if the walls had already come down. “I have delivered Jericho into your hands!” Here’s what we can learn:  People with an activated faith count what God promises as done, finished, as if it has already happened!

Whatever God speaks is done. This is the God we serve. Whatever He sets into motion by His Word, cannot be undone or stopped.

In addition to the Jericho March being an exercise in group faith, and in addition to faith being applied to the words that God spoke ahead of the battle, I want to show you one final thing. Remember that Ark of the Covenant? The sacred box that symbolized God’s presence with His people? Where was it during the Jericho March?  God literally put himself in the middle of the battle plan by instructing the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant wasn’t just a piece of furniture. It wasn’t just a decorative, ornamental or sentimental something. It was the very presence of God in their midst. People of faith make sure they know where God is! They make sure He is in the middle of the battle. They make sure they are marching behind Him! He knows the way to win every battle!

The real battle of Jericho wasn’t with the Canaanites. The real battle was in the hearts of God’s people. Would they believe God? Would they risk public humiliation if those walls didn’t come down? Would they be willing to do what seemed absurd in the natural realm, and would they persevere, together, until the victory was realized? The Israelites may have gained victory over a city, but because the army followed God in faith, God gained the victory in the hearts of His people.

Church, let’s stick together and grow our faith. Let’s be an army of faith! Let’s keep marching around the walls, keep persevering in faith until God says it is time to, “Shout!”  Let’s hold on to the Word as Supreme and as the authority for our lives, and let’s stay behind Jesus and let Him lead us into every victory! The seventh day is coming! Keep marching. Keep believing. Don’t go AWOL! Don’t desert the rest of God’s army! Don’t be an occasional person of faith. Be committed here to our weekly worship. Be committed in your personal walk daily with Jesus. Stay close to each other and stay close to Jesus. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, and by faith your walls will also fall! Ours is the God of the impossible, and you will see it for yourself when you walk with Him in complete faith!

 

II Timothy 3:14-17- 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you
Today, on this Sanctity of Life Sunday, where we celebrate that we have physical life and spiritual life because God
Colossians 3:16-17 ESV 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms