Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Joshua 5-8
Joshua 6:2
And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
Whoever heard of such a thing? It’s amazing when you think about it. Truly amazing. Here is Israel, they have been in the wilderness for forty years. They were not a fighting force, they had not been hardened by battle, they were sojourners in the land. But God tells them that He has given them the great city of Jericho. That city was a fortress. The wall around the city was noteworthy. It seemed impenetrable. It has been said that this wall was forty or more feet high and so wide that two or three chariots could race around it side by side.
How would God give this great fortified city to Israel? Here was His plan. For six days all of Israel would walk around the city once each day. The priests were to blow trumpets, but the people were commanded to not say a word. On the seventh day, they would march around the city seven times, and on the seventh time, when the trumpets blew the trumpets, at the command of Joshua the people would shout, and the walls would come tumbling down. This would make it easy for Israel to take the city and all its spoils would go into the treasury of the Lord.
Such a plan! If there were any great military minded individuals in Israel, they must have thought this plan was crazy. “Do what?” Or, “Where did you come up with such a plan Joshua?” This plan was given to him by the Captain of the Host in the previous chapter. This great warrior is most likely a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. On this no one can be dogmatic, but there is some evidence to its veracity. We will have to wait until we are in Heaven to learn more about this, but until then, my, what a thing!
Well, it worked! Yep, the walls came tumbling down and Israel was given a great victory that day.
Oh, then there is that thing with Achan. A cautionary tale about obeying God to the letter of the law if there ever was one. Then, though, there is the battle with Ai. By reading of Israel’s victory over Ai one can see that it was a more conventional battle strategy. These two battles prove that the Lord God moves in mysterious ways. His ways are not always our ways. His ways are higher than our ways. His ways are beyond finding out. In fact Isaiah 55:8-9 states this truth clearly: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
So, it was true then, and so it is true today. Our Lord and Master sometimes gives us directions that seem unbelievable. Sometimes He leads us in a more pragmatic plan or program. But in either case, He is doing something special, something that will answer Joshua’s question in Joshua 7:9 …what wilt thou do unto thy great name? He will do exactly that which He has said He is able to do in Ephesians 3:20. He is able to …do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. That is what He can and will do.
Dr. William T. Howe
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