This Morning, I woke up with the story of Jericho’s walls in my head. I asked the Lord what He wanted to show me, and in no time, I dived into the story on the pages of the Bible.
To get to Jericho, Joshua and the people of Israel needed to cross over the Jordan River. It’s a separate story of how they got to the river, but following God’s instruction, priests who carried the ark of the covenant entered the river first. The river was at flood stage, but as soon as the priests touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. The priests with the ark stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground while all of Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.Joshua called twelve men to come to the middle of the river, where the priests were standing with the ark, and asked them to pull twelve rocks to build a memorial on the other side to remember what God did for Israel that day.
Jericho was their destination, but they still had a long way to go before reaching it.
The city had huge walls around it and was well-guarded. Naturally, there was no way the Israelites could defeat it, but that’s a perfect example of how God went before His people and how Jericho was taken. God sent a messenger to Joshua with instructions on what to do to conquer Jericho. The Israelites were to walk once a day around the city for six days and seven times on the seventh day. During the very last walk, they were to blow the trumpets, shout, and give a war cry. All was done according to God’s instruction, and when the trumpets started to blow and the people gave their shouts, Jericho’s walls fell.
God highlighted several details in this story and gave me a prophetic picture of our salvation and freedom.
- Crossing the Jordan River is like crossing the line from death to life. The priests were entering the river with the ark of the covenant, the water stopped flowing, and people could cross over to the other side on dry land.
Jesus Christ entered this world as the ultimate sacrifice, shedding His blood of the covenant for our salvation, so whoever desires could cross over from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light.
- The 12 stones used to build the memorial represent events, situations, and sins that God delivered us from.
It is important to remember where we were before and how God intervened to bring us to where we are right now. It is to recognize the work of the cross. It is your journey with Jesus and testimony to share with others. “‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until we had crossed over.” Joshua 4:21-23.
God provided a way!
- When all the kings and people around heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan, their hearts melted in fear, and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.
Listen, when we are crossing from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light, the enemy is terrified and engages in a fight for us. But when we know our God and remember what He did in our lives, the enemy we have can no longer intimidate us because we know who our God is and who we are in Him. “He did this so that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” Joshua 4:24
- Even though Israel crossed the river, Jericho was still ahead of them.
Even though we crossed the line from death to life, in our Christian walk, we still can face strongholds in our lives. God crossed us over, but we still have some challenges before us. Some things still might need to be broken and some work to be done.
- God gave another instruction to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth… those people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not been circumcised.” Joshua 5:2,5
What is circumcision, and how can it be applied to us? It was a way of dedication and separation unto God. For us, it is a circumcision of our hearts. After crossing over, God is calling us to separate ourselves from the ways we were walking before. Some things should be cut off, and it is not always an easy process – it can be painful – but we are not doing it alone. God is helping us through. The Israelites remained where they were until they were healed. But healing came! And God said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Joshua 5:9. Egypt represents our past, our life without God, and through the process of separation, God delivers us from it.
Before deep down spiritual work in us, God cleans our thinking, He restores our mind. And we come to a new understanding of renewing our minds.
- Israel had a Passover meal, our Communion. And “there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.” Joshua 5:12
Do you know that God gave us the Bible, His word? He wants us to learn to feed ourselves. As Christians, we do not want to rely only on Sunday preaching, but God wants us to go deeper with Him every day, reading, memorizing, and meditating on His word.
- Down the road, another event happened with Joshua. He met an angel with a sword. Joshua asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied, “ but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Joshua 5:13-14
In my life, I saw different camps in Christianity, and they were almost at war with each other. And I am sure both parties would say that God is for them. But listen… God is looking for surrendered servants. “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did it. Joshua 5:14-15 My question today would be: “Are we on God’s side?” People can argue if God is on their side or not, but God is calling us to be on His side. This involves complete surrender.
- The Jericho wall was still there, and Joshua with Israel was still encamped in Gilgal, but God said, ”See, I HAVE DELIVERED Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” Joshua 6:2
The victory was already in motion, God already had it… and then He gave further instruction.
You know the end of the story. I want everyone to remember that God is your deliverance! Thousands of years ago, on the cross, He already did it. Your freedom belongs to you. Yes, there were specific instructions: for six days in a silent walk once a day around the walls, on the 7th day walk for six times in silence, and on the 7th round blow the trumpets and shout. Every single one of us has a personal story and walk-through deliverance, and it might not look the same from person to person, but Freedom in Christ is our inheritance. And with God, all things are possible. He can break every chain.
- The last instruction that God had for Israelites regarding Jericho was to keep away from the devoted things so they would not bring about their own destruction by taking any of them. Joshua 6:18
When you walk in freedom, fill yourself with God, and do not look back into the things that kept you in bondage. Stay on track, exercise your freedom, and do not let things like the glory of this world, pride, or whatever hinders you, put you back in bondage. You can be very successful, but remember that it is because of God, for He is the one who gives you real freedom.
