by Justin Paschall
It must have
been almost comical to the guards keeping watch. After all the city had been
secured, the gates were closed, and their walls were high and thick. They had
no reason to fear this invading army, and furthermore the invaders were doing
the most peculiar thing: They weren’t attacking.
It must have
been almost comical as the news spread throughout the city of the daily march
that the invading army would take around the city walls. It had been the topic of
conversation for the past six days, the end to many jokes, and the subject of
much confusion.
It must have
been almost comical to the guards as they noticed the army beginning a second
loop around the wall on that seventh day, and then a third, and a fourth. What
did they think that they were accomplishing?
It must have
been almost comical, but it wasn’t.
As the
invading army finished their seventh trip around the wall, the priests blew
with their horns, the people shouted, and the walls fell flat. God’s
instructions to Joshua were not a laughing matter, and He had given Joshua and
the Israelites the city of Jericho just as He had promised.
The account
of the fall of Jericho, recorded in Joshua chapter 6, could be recited by
children of all ages throughout most cities, but there are some very “grown-up”
lessons that we can learn as well.
This week I
want to ask you to consider one question, “Would my religion knock down a
wall?” There are two things that occurred in succession to enable the Israelite
nation to take the city of Jericho and these same two things will enable us to
knock down religious walls today.
First, they
had to listen and believe. God gives Joshua his
“marching” orders, but Joshua and the people had to listen to those orders and
believe in those directions. Joshua could have ignored God and tried to do it
on his own. Joshua could have made up his own plan of attack. After all, God’s
proposed method of attack was not the most orthodox of the day. Normally to
take a wall, you attack it, not march around it.
And of
course, there would have been some dissenters. “God doesn’t really expect us to
do this, does He?” “This doesn’t make any sense.” If we do this the people of
Jericho are going to ridicule us and laugh at us.” But God had spoken, period.
And so Joshua listened and believed.
The same is
true today. God expects us to listen to His Word, and we do that through studying
His instructions (2 Timothy 2:15). How can we believe in our marching orders if
we do not take the time to read them for ourselves? Never take my word or
anyone else’s. Study it for yourself. Instead of “my preacher said,” we should
respond with “my Bible says.” Read it and believe it.
It was
important that the people listened to God’s instructions and believed them, but
that belief would have been useless without action. Imagine the Israelites sitting at camp saying, “Alright
God, we believe you. So we are going to sit right here until the walls come
down.” We would say that such is nonsense.
If one truly
believes then he will act.
Throughout
the Bible faith or belief in God is always coupled with action. The Hebrews
writer linked the two when he penned chapter 11. He connects the phrase “by
faith” with an action verb verse after verse. Jesus linked the two when he
said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16).
What brought
down the walls of Jericho? Faith and Action. What will bring down religious
walls today? Faith and Action. I encourage all of us to read and study our
Bibles, believe what it says, and act upon what we learn.
Would your
religion knock down a wall?
Justin’s
Bio:
Justin graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2004 with a
Bachelor of Science in communications with emphasis in Public Relations. He is a 2007 graduate of the Memphis School of
Preaching. He and his wife, Micah, have two
children, Reagan (4 yrs. old) and Harrison (1 yr. old). He preached his first sermon at 14. He and Micah are currently working with the Ripley
church of Christ in Ripley, TN and have been there for three and a half years.
