6 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of Bnei-Yisrael—no one going out and no one coming in. 2 Then Adonai said to Joshua, “Look, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty warriors. 3 Now you are to march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. So you are to do for six days. 4 Seven kohanim will carry seven shofarot of rams’ horns before the ark. Then on the seventh day you are to circle the city seven times while the kohanim blow the shofarot. 5 It will be when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the shofar, have all the people shout a loud shout—then the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up, everyone straight ahead.” 6 So Joshua son of Nun summoned the kohanim and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant. Let seven kohanim carry seven shofarot of rams’ horns before the ark of Adonai.” 7 Then he said to the people, “Move forward, march around the city, and let the armed force march ahead of the ark of Adonai.” 8 And it was so. After Joshua had spoken to the people, seven kohanim carrying the seven shofarot of rams’ horns before Adonai went forward and blew the shofarot, and the ark of the covenant of Adonai followed them. 9 Also the armed force went before the kohanim who blew the shofarot, and the rear guard came behind the ark, while the shofarot continued to blow. 10 But Joshua ordered the people saying: “You must not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you ‘shout!’ Then you will shout.” 11 So he had the ark of Adonai go around the city, circling it once. Then they came into the camp and spent the night there.
REFLECTION BASED ON SCRIPTURE:
🏹The waiting period in our journey of faith is ESSENTIAL for understanding the ways of God. After six days of waiting, three million Israeli immigrants were now poised to enter their inheritance: Canaan Land! They had arrived at the outskirts of the Sinai desert, having left Shittim at the other side of river Jordan.
This was certainly Captain Joshua's conviction! You see Joshua had had a first-hand directional experience with Adonai, the Lord God almighty. In the account of this experience in Joshua Ch 1 Adonai, had instructed him to lead the Israelites into the promised Land. Let's empathize with the situation for a moment through the inquiry of human sensory logic. Just as we may often do in our own experience of challenging personal circumstances. Then after doing so, let's align what we discover with the Principles of Scripture:
First critical Question: If Adonai, the God of I Israel was indeed the ALMIGHTY ALLPOWERFUL God of the whole earth, what was keeping Him from leading His chosen people straight to victory, by instantly leading them to possess the promised land!!Why the wait?
Second Critical Question: Why was Adonai's strategy disguised within a six-day waiting period? Why not accomplish everything in an hour, within a day?
Third Critical Question: Furthermore what was the point in a strategy of repetitive waiting when all it seemed to have accomplished for their fathers in a previous generation was total loss and devastation?
Fourth Critical Question: Most of all to 'Joshua'! What was the point Captain Joshua, of wearing out your troops and further demoralizing them at the end of each day over a six-day period? Why continue to do so by asking them to encircle a besieged City of Jericho?
It is always crucial to undergird any critical examination of scriptural experiences with a genuine attempt to obtain God's perspective. This is especially important if the tool we apply to such an exercise is simple logic. The danger of relying solely on our limited rational perception is, we end up on the slippery slope of pessimism. Let's highlight some of the perils of a pessimist's approach to the current situation:
🙍 This is a view that doubts the effectiveness of God's strategy of marching around the City of Jericho!: 'Captain Joshua, is our march to possess our inheritance grounding to a halt?'
🙍 The view that distrusts God's intentions: 'Adonai, the Lord almighty must be seeking a way out of this entire debacle! He wants to wear out a new generation until they also rebel in frustration as their deceased fathers had done?'
🙍 This view underestimates God's good intentions: 'What is Adonai going to do then, after wearing the people out? Would He visit judgment upon them too as He had done their fathers before them? Would he condemn them to death as He had done to their fathers before them?'
God had instructed Joshua their leader that Israelites were to be silent during that period as in v10 below:
10 But Joshua ordered the people saying: “You must not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you ‘shout!’ Then you will shout.”
As I highlighted in part 1 last week there may have been a murmuring of grievances and perhaps even outright rebellion had the Israelites not been censored from free speech!
The previous generation rebelled against Adonai because they relied solely on their critical thoughts and failed to consider that God may have their welfare at heart. They were critical in their reasoning to a degree where they slid into the pessimism of an irretrievable kind!
They saw the season of waiting as a futile exercise in which God was intentionally leading them into breaking point in order to destroy them. Sadly they failed to inherit the land of promise and instead ended up making the Sinai desert their graveyard.
NOW LET'S ALIGN OUR THINKING WITH SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLES! If we do, we come to one important conclusion! That the plan and strategy of Lord Adonai, God almighty doesn't always make sense!
I brought up the above critical questions because it is important to address similar dilemmas within our faith journey. Just like the Joshua generation, our season of waiting may have been shaped by our obedience to godly principles!
Perhaps we have mostly held back from doing our own pleasing due to a 'forensic' pursuit of the plan of God for our lives! Now because we have diligently awaited the fulfillment of that plan we have even denied ourselves the opportunity of fulfilling alternative plans!
Here are some probable scenarios: A Single Christian lady who has turned down offers of marriage from others not sharing in her faith and commitment!! Meanwhile, God does not appear to have come through for her as yet! Perhaps you know of a Christian turning down a lucrative job opportunity that requires working on all weekend days of worship in the month. The list goes on!!
Many have made sacrifices and continue to do so in order to avoid compromising on their conviction and their faith! They have held on in steadfast dedication to serving Adonai, Lord God almighty during an extended season of waiting. Perhaps this applies to your personal situation, dear family and friend.
WHILST YOU HAVE HELD STEADFASTLY TO YOUR COMMITMENT, THE DECADES HAVE ROLLED ON, YOUR LONGHELD OPTIONS HAVE EVAPORATED AND 2022 HAS COME ANNOUNCING ITSELF ONTO THE SCENE!
AND IT APPEARS ALL YOU HAVE TO COUNT ON IS YOUR GOD ASKING YOU TO CONTINUE TRUSTING HIM!!
If you identify with some or all of the above, then indeed you are within the camp of the Israelites who have been asked yet again to encircle the walls of a besieged City! Please note that they had already wandered in the Sinai desert for 40 years! A journey that should have only lasted for 11 days.
In Part 1 of my reflection(last week), I began reflecting on what might have been going on in the minds of the Israelites prior to the walls crumbling. Today I shall pick up briefly on that theme.
🙍 Imagine for example that after Adonai, their God had already 'delayed' them for nearly four decades perhaps they could be forgiven for being a little tired of this waiting routine. In general, the one reason for encircling a sieged City is because you are unable to gain entry! So why was Adonai, their God asking the Israelites to encircle the City of Jericho? Had He found the defenses of the walled City of Jericho too much of an obstacle and too insurmountable to penetrate! Had the God of the Israelites finally met His match in the walled City of Jericho?
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A SEASON OF WAITING IN OUR LIVES
1️⃣✅In last week's reflection I stated that Waiting reveals WHAT is within us? ‼ That a season of waiting is an opportunity to acknowledge the truth about ourselves.
I'd like to highlight also that confronting the truth about ourselves often results in the painful realization of things about ourselves that may not be comfortable. What we find out about ourselves can be even discouraging and depressing!
It is also important to stress that what God permits us to experience within our season of waiting can be emotionally painful on some occasions:
We may experience rejection, disappointment, and even humiliation. Depending on our attitude towards such an experience we could end up harboring offenses and grievances against God. But If such a thing occurs in our season of waiting then it is important to experience inner healing as well from the traumas of these inner hurts.
Therefore in order to progress further in experiencing the fulfillment of His promises, we may have to allow some inner work of grace to be done. Do we identify with the feeling of feeling let down by the Lord? Do we feel we may have been a victim of some injustice because of how long our waiting season has been/ If some or all of the above apply within our particular situation then we are certainly in good company with this Joshua generation!
Imagine what those Israelites might have been thinking during those six very l-o-n-g uneventful days!! Perhaps deep feelings of abandonment by Adonai and even fear or terror were brought to the surface within their thoughts and emotions!!
Dear friend or family, why not take a moment, in quiet prayer and invite God to heal us of any such inner trauma, in the name of Yeshua, the Anointed Son of God
2️⃣✅Last week I also highlighted that a season of waiting reveals WHO we really trust? The accounts in Joshua 6 are testimony to the Principle that trust in Adonai is what saw the Israelite immigrants through! However, each of us will have to exercise our TRUST in Adonai firsthand in order to obtain similar results as they did. The important lesson to learn is that the fulfillment of God's promise in our lives is conditional on placing our full trust and confidence in Him. We do so by following His instructions to the letter. As illustrated within the journey of the Israelites in the above passage from Joshua 6:
The most challenging part of our journey of faith is very likely to occur when we are closest to experiencing our blessing. As we mature in the Lord, we would come to appreciate that our breakthrough is nearer with each passing day.
The season of waiting we first undergo is designed to ensure that a process of maturity and character development is realized in us in order for us to sustain the blessing of God!😇.
A personal encouragement: Dear family and friend when your waiting season appears meaningless or without purpose take courage from the Joshua generation! Believing leads to receiving and confession to the Possession of God's promises! BUT YOU NEED TO ENDEAVOUR TO STAY THE COURSE! PLEASE PERSEVERE!Don't give up! Your miracle is on the way!🙌🙌
3️⃣✅Last week I also highlighted that our season of waiting reveals to WHOM we are beholden and devoted to. Waiting in our faith journey provides us with an opportunity to get to know our creator more. We mustn't simply wait in silence but engage in a relationship of dialogue with Him. Listen to Him and meditate on His word, bring our puzzles and our grievances to Him. When we are invested in a relationship with Him and engaged with His process beyond achieving the results we desire from Him, then things fall in place. As we understand and gain His perspective on our situation, His divine wisdom flows through us and provides wonderful outcomes in our environment.
Another proven way of responding to whatever grievances we may have is to TRUST Adonai God, even though He doesn't make complete sense to us at the time. We may indeed find a contradiction in why on one occasion He accomplishes the miracle of parting our Jordan within 3 days after the announcement and yet on a subsequent occasion the wait is much longer: Even 7 days; We may not understand why on the Seventh-day the wait involves further encircling the wall 7 times.
But when we are confused about His intentions we still need to TRUST Adonai our Lord God enough to stay engaged with the program until the end! Hallelujah👐👐.
In conclusion, remember the example demonstrated by the Joshua generation who persevered in loyalty by their acceptance of their part within a Covenant relationship with Adonai. They were a generation who have become known as ones who collaborated with Adonai in a mature way, setting an example not only for posterity but for us, who have been adopted from a race of gentiles: outside the commonwealth of Israel. To Adonai forever be all honour and glory, Amen🙌🙌.
