WEDNESDAY
Today, let’s read a story from the book of Joshua and the conquest of Canaan that illustrates the faith and courage Joshua and the Israelites had to have. Remember, at this point Joshua is the new leader of Israel following on the heels of Moses…like, the Moses—the greatest prophet of God in the Old Testament. That comes with a lot of pressure. But Joshua trusted in the Lord and demonstrated great courage as he obeyed what God told him to do.
Joshua 5:13–6:5 (NIV)
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
6 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
For those of us who have heard this story since childhood, we continue reading like this is a totally normal idea. This was a ridiculous battle strategy—march around the city a bunch of times then yell at the walls and they’ll fall down! Huh! This isn’t a plan that’s “so crazy it might just work.” This is just crazy. And for Joshua, the new leader likely trying to prove himself, this act of obedience required a great deal of faith and courage. I would argue that the courage to obey God, here, was far greater than the courage required of him to deploy a traditional battle strategy against the city. If he fails, his own people will likely turn on him and his tenure as leader will be over as quickly as it started. They may even put him to death if they fail. This obedience required great courage. In the text we see no hint of Joshua’s courage faltering.
Joshua 6:6-21
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” 7 And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” 11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.
12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.
Joshua obeys and everything happens just as the Lord says.
Additional Content
Here’s the full Veggie Tales episode of this story 😊
Reflection
Reflect on the courage required of Joshua to obey and follow the instructions of the Lord. It seems to me it required more courage for Joshua to obey than it would have to attack with his own strategy. If God didn’t take the walls down, they would look like fools. Joshua would have been a failure and likely dismissed from his position. There was a lot of risk in this moment and Joshua trusted God and demonstrated great courage.