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The Strategy for Jericho's Conquering

(How the seemingly impossible is overcome)

 

 

Where the patterns of God are adhered to or followed, there The Glory shall fall!

This is a golden thread in the ministry of (Messianic) Rabbi Dick Reuben and a statement of Truth!

 

One of the most significant patterns of God, is found in the story of Joshua and Israel’s Victory at Jericho

It befits us to get intimately acquainted with this pattern, as it runs through the entire Bible as a key to unlocking God’s provision and direct working in our lives as His cherished children

 

When we think of and discuss the Strategy which led to Joshua & Israel’s Victory at Jericho, the scripture reference which is immediately/automatically made, is Joshua 6:2-5 . . .

2 And the LORD said to Joshua: "See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valour.

3 You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days.

4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him."

 

With a careful & rereading of these verses, we find that these verses actually contain the briefing of, the handing-down, the giving and making-known of the Victorious Strategy to be followed!

 

SO where did the formulation, the design of the Strategy emanate from? Did this just happen or appear out of thin air?

Was its making-known perhaps akin to our modern-day lives of instant gratification/satisfaction?

 

Or was there perhaps a prelude, a process leading up to this?

Was there perhaps a waiting which preceded this handing-down?
Was there perhaps an intercession before this?

Did someone perhaps contend for this to be made known?

 

Amazing how the Prophet Isaiah hinted and penned a clear clue, a hidden revelation of the answer to the above questions, when he wrote the following in chapter 64:4 . . .

“For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him”

 

In God’s infinite Wisdom and His amazingly generous heart towards His Children of all times to come after this event, He carefully, but OPENLY, reveals how this Victorious Strategy was brought about!!

And the most exciting of this manner of receiving the strategy, is that it still applies in and for TODAY!

It provides a pattern with which God’s Infallible and Shrewd (Psalm 18:26) Strategies for enforcing the Victories of Jesus on The Cross, onto the enemy even today!

 

So, how then was this Godly strategy designed or formulated?

Oh how precious is the Kindness of Our ABBA Father! Neatly tucked away between the preceding verses to chapter 6, we find the key to the design, formulation or contending of the Victorious Strategy . . .

 

Joshua 5:

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?"

14 So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"

15 Then the Commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.

 

WOW, these verses are pregnant with Holy Spirit inspiration and revelation!!

Open your hearts to receive Wisdom, better than all the riches of this world

 

Psa 119:

14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.

162 I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure. (“great treasure” here refers to great spoil after a victorious overcoming of the enemy in a battle)

 

Back to Joshua in chapter 5 and some key context about Joshua himself:

 

Joshua, at the ripe age of about 85 years old, has brought Israel safely into the Promised Land

This is very important to note as it gives the reasons for his conduct and behaviour we find in Joshua 5:13 - 15

 

He grew up in extremely harsh slavery conditions of Egypt - up to about the age of forty – he intimately knew what suffering meant! But he also got to know the Mighty and Powerful Saving Hand of the Lord through all the miracles/plagues and Victorious Exodus; he got to know His infallible Faithfulness to His Covenant and Word

 

Then Joshua had to endure another piece of excruciating training!!

FORTY YEARS IN THE DESERT  . . . . but also being IN THE SHADOW OF MOSES all the time!! . . . even greater hardship . .

 

He became a very well trained soldier and warrior during these years!

The desert experience groomed him further as a mighty Man of Valour!

 

But in all of this he learnt a greater reliance on God . . .why?

 

Very few of us realize how much time Joshua actually got to spend in God’s presence during the desert years . . . especially on Mount Sinai

Moses always took him with, but many a time when Moses came down from the mountain, he left Joshua behind in God’s presence!!

So Joshua obtained a first hand and significantly intimate knowledge of God!

And therefore he became endued with immense Godly Wisdom – he became a clever strategist himself!
Blessed be The Lord God of our Fathers! Hallelujah! Blessed be His Holy Name!

 

What amazing GAINS Joshua had through his hardship experiences!!
Let us not miss what God has in store for us when we go through hardships and following that . . . . difficult to see that whilst we are going through these processes!

 

So NOW in Joshua 5:13, we find him doing what he knew best: inspecting Jericho as a strategist and warrior for ways and means of overcoming it

How can I best approach Jericho to be unnoticed?

How best can I surprise the inhabitants?

How best can I gain entry and overcome the people . . . . & take it as promised by The Lord

 

Surely the Jericho people must have seen him doing his inspection . . . . with even greater fear and trepidation, because of the grape-vine news of Israel’s victories to-date by the Hand of The Lord

They surely must have known that their demise was staring them in the eye!!

I wonder whether they saw the next sequence of events unfolding?

 

As Joshua was seriously focussing, planning, strategizing, he gets interrupted!

Can you believe it?

Joshua, the man of God being interrupted in living out his destiny . . . he’s fulfilling his God-given destiny nogal!!

What?!?!?

 

When he saw The Man with a drawn sword, his warrior training and drills immediately kicked in!

This is my territory - it has already been given to me by Divine declaration

So Joshua draws his sword, and with similar behaviour like a King David to-be with Goliath, he approaches & confronts The Man

 

I can just see how Joshua intently looks at / stares at The Man, posing a very threatening, but watershed question:

"Are You for us or for our adversaries?" – and Joshua ready and “trigger-happy” with his sword . . . . totally ready for the “unwanted/wrong answer” !!

 

I try to imagine the Voice of Authority booming from The Man but with a Divine Calmness:

"No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."

 

What?!?! What kind of answer is that?!?!

“No” . . what?!?!

 

Here is another rendition of the answer:

"NEITHER, (I AM NOT FOR YOU; I AM NOT AGAINST YOU), but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."

 

And immediately the Revelation is ALIGHT in Joshua’s spirit – THE LORD IS ON THE SCENE!

MY GOD HAS COME!!

I am sure he had immediate flashbacks of the times in God’s Presence on Mount Sinai

IMMEDIATE REVERENCE: “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth . . . “

IMMEDIATE RESPONSE OF WORSHIP: “ . . . and worshiped . .

IMMEDIATE SUBMISSION AND READINESS TO SERVE: “. .  and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"

He knows that Superior, Glorious & Reliable Wisdom, Power & Experience is on the scene . . . he need not worry or be anxious anymore - this can only BE GOOD!!

 

Before we proceed into the Pattern of God, let us linger momentarily, like Moses at the burning bush, to consider the significant profoundness of the first word of the answer from The Man:

“NO (NEITHER) . . “

 

“No, Joshua, I AM not for you . . . “

“No Joshua, I AM not for your enemies or against you . . “

 

In the context of our day and age, the interpretation could be made as follows:

Question being asked:

“Lord, is it door A or door B that I must choose?”

“Lord, is it plan A or Plan B?”

“Lord must I buy this house or that house?”
“Lord must I stay here or move abroad?”, etc, etc

The permutation of questions are many!

I think you get my drift

 

And as we wait, The Lord answers:

“NO / NEITHER, but as the Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come!”

What? What kind of an answer is this?

A non-committing God to His child?

 

What is our response to this answer – look again at what Joshua IMMEDIATELY DID!!!

What do we do . . Tantrums? Pity parties? Moaning to our friends about this answer?!?! Sulking?

 

Look at what Job wrote in chapter 41:10 . . . this should be a most sobering thought:

No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up [the crocodile];

who then is he who can stand before Me [the beast's Creator, or dares to contend with Me]?

 

Who are we to throw tantrums? HE IS GOD, we are servants, children, . . . .!!

 

Look again at what Joshua did: he IMMEDIATELY fell to his face, worshipped and asked a most profound question:

"What does my Lord say to His servant?"

 

Carefully ponder the answer he receives:

"Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy."

And Joshua did so – not only worshipped, but immediate obedience upon the Divine answer given!!

 

If we again consider the human questions of choices above . . . and we NOW consider the answer, it might be given as such:

“NO, NEITHER, but as the Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come!

Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." . . . . WORSHIP ME!

 

Do not worry about the 2 options, WORSHIP ME!!

Do not worry about the desired outcomes, WORSHIP ME!!

 

SO beloved, here is the pattern I spoke about earlier

This is the situation, condition which existed / prevailed, within which the Strategy for the Victory over Jericho came

Joshua interceded, he contended with the Lord in WORSHIP AND THAT BROUGHT A MOST AMAZING STRATEGY ABOUT FOR THE GUARANTEED VICTORY OVER JERICHO!!

 

I give you 2 more such well-known examples:

 

2 Chronicles 20:20 (and preceding verses): Jehoshaphat and his people about to be taken out by 3 enemy kings

What are they told to do by The Spirit of The Lord: WORSHIP ME . . . . and the unfailing victory followed

 

Acts 16 . . . Paul and Silas in the inner court of the jail; beaten, bleeding, in severe pain, humiliated . .

v25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them

v26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed!

 

And the key to why the above is the successful pattern is found in Ps 22:3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

God is drawn to Worship . . . He sees Worship as a Throne for Him to sit in . . .

 

So when we sincerely worship Him in spirit and in truth . . . He is compelled to make Himself revealed by His Presence in that Worship

In a sense, God finds worship irresistible!

 

And the logical deduction follows: when God is enthroned in something, nothing else can cohabitate with His Presence!!

Where He allows His Presence to saturate a situation, all that is in and of Heaven, exists there in its fullness!

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:17

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

 

So dearly beloved, whenever you are confronted with a decision of sorts, and you seek the Ultimate Godly strategy & solution . . . . PERSISTENTLY WORSHIP HIM!

He will come and make Himself known in that Worship

And IN HIM is absolutely everything we need in and for this live!

He will release all the answers which you require right there and then . . . . according to His releasing prerogative into our natural situation

When we worship, we decrease and He increases!

Hallelujah!!

 

This pattern is also true in our natural lives and endeavours of reaching our Destinies!!

Zacharias and Elizabeth (Luke 1) yearned and desired a son

For about +40 years as a couple, they waited and slowly their dream of having a son dwindled & probably died!

The most amazing thing about these 2 heroes of Faith, is that they continuously served and worshipped The Lord for all the years from Desire to Destiny coming to pass!

 

May you find your solace and comfort in looking for answers from God, in abandoned Praise & Worship!

 

Shalom IN Christ