Walls not only keep things out, but also trap us in. Joshua 6 1Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in. 2The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. 3You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, 4with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. 5When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, … all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.” I assume every child knows the story of Joshua at the battle of Jericho; but I could be wrong. Jericho was filled with evil people (a bit like Sodom and Gamorrah); and like Sodom/Gamorrah there was only one family in Jericho that believed in the one true God. Yes Rehab was from a pagan environment, and her concept of morality and lifestyle needed a schooch-bit of refining, but she was willing to act on her faith, and change herself for the Lord. The rest of Jericho defended their wrongness. The problem with defensive walls is that any good tactician knows they can easily become an offensive prison. The wall that was originally built to keep God out, now kept people trapped inside. Rehab told us that the inhabitants were already demoralized, so after a week of being shut-in, with Joshua marching around the city, I’m guessing things from within Jericho were falling apart. God’s people marched on, with God front-and-center in their lives (everything was done before/in front of the Ark of the Lord). The result: Faith in God, coupled to perseverance/follow-thru, can tear down walls and conquer evil. Sometimes, we build walls to protect ourselves. But as times change, those walls we put up for protection, defensive behaviors or attitudes, …, they can become prisons that isolate us from God and the joys He wants for us. But with faith in the Lord, persistence, and follow-thru perhaps like Rehab, we too can change and escape our self-made prisons. Just a thought. All views on today’s reading are welcome.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 13:40:02 +0000
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