“Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.” (Joshua 6:1-2)
Joshua chapter 6 begins with the Children of Israel having just finished crossing the river Jordan. The Lord had delivered them, as promised. Now, a vast, unconquered land lay before them. It was theirs, to be sure. The Lord had promised it to them. But the task of conquering the land still remained.
I’ve heard the river Jordan compared to a lot of situations in our lives. For now, let’s use it as a metaphor for deliverance. That is, the crossing of the river Jordan for the Children of Israel is symbolic of your salvation experience. Here’s the point that I want to make:
We should be, and most are, grateful for the salvation and the deliverance that God has given us. I’m as awed by the miracle of salvation as I am about the supernatural parting of the river Jordan’s waters. However, there’s still a job to do. We can’t afford to linger at the river.
There are some among us who will camp out on the shores of the Jordan forever and never move forward to possess the land. We’ll go to church every Sunday and thank the Lord for parting the proverbial waters, but we’ll never take up the sword and advance.
There is much, much more to the Kingdom of God that any of us has seen made manifest up to this point. The Kingdom of God is advancing, and it’s up to us to advance with it. In fact, the battles have already been won, and the “promised land” has already been given to us unconditionally. It really has nothing to do with us, but has everything to do with the dominion given to Jesus by the Father. Consider the following verse from Joshua chapter 6:
“So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.” (v. 20)
We have been given a supernatural commission to possess the land, and with it comes supernatural provision to flatten walls and conquer strongholds and mighty men and kings.
When we begin to draw our battle plans based upon our relationship to the all might King and His supernatural ability rather than our own perceived battle worthiness, we’ll begin to route the enemy with increasing vigor. It’s not through our own skill and strength that we’ll ultimately be victorious, but rather through obedience and faith.
What are the Jericho’s in your life? Are they looming in front of you, taunting you with their size and their mighty men? If so, seek out the voice of the Lord, and allow Him to flatten the walls.
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