The Plan

\"Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The Lord said to Joshua, 'See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.'" -Joshua 6.1-5

Joshua is flat on his face in the presence of God, and in this position of surrender God gives His battle plan for taking Jericho. Israel will not attack the walls with siege ramps or battering rams. Instead priests will carry ram's horn trumpets and the people will silently march around the city for a week. At the end of the seventh day's marching they will shout and the walls will collapse. They will take the city without firing an arrow or losing a man.

The plan is odd, maybe even a bit crazy, thus why Joshua needs to be in the position that he is. But this is how God works, and this is how God is going to show His people that He is with them. They will take the city by marching and shouting.

The rest of chapter 6 tells of the battle, and how all of the treasure of the city was to be given to God. Every living thing that survived the wall collapse was to be killed, only Rahab, and those with her in her house were to be spared.

Men, sometimes God's plan doesn't make a lot of sense. Sometimes it goes against everything we know and are convinced of. This is why we need be be in a position of surrender so that we are able to hear what God is saying to us.

How many men would Joshua have lost had he done it his way? How long would it have taken? What would it have done to the rest of the inhabitants in the land. By doing it God's way Joshua doesn't lose a warrior. It only takes a few hours a day for a week. The rest of the inhabitants hear the news and Joshua's fame spreads through the land. This is because they did it God's way.

Let us be men who follow God's plan, no matter how odd it may be. Let us trust Him and do things His way.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor