2017/09/17 Courage and Obedience

 

September 17, 2017

Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 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. 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.”

Joshua 6:1-5

The time had finally come for the Israelites to enter and conquer the Promised Land.

Moses had given them a major speech after presenting the Ten Commandments, preparing them for what lay ahead:

“It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land, but on account of the wickedness of these nations. The Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

A promise made 600 years earlier.

The way the Israelites were told to take the land can be difficult for us to understand. This was all‑out war. They were not to enter and negotiate treaties with the Canaanites. They were commanded to wipe out the Canaanites and the other tribes living there.

Today we might say, “Those people have rights. We can’t just take their land.” But Scripture shows that God’s command was rooted in His righteousness. The land He had promised to Abraham had become polluted by the wickedness of its inhabitants. They worshiped false gods, practiced temple prostitution, and even sacrificed their own children. Their depravity had reached a point where God, who desires to dwell with His people, could not allow it to continue.

So the Israelites were ordered to be strong, courageous, and obedient, and to take possession of the land, clearing it of its corrupt and evil practices.

The job before them was enormous. The cities were large and heavily fortified. They had kings and armies ready to defend them. The Israelites had none of that, no superior numbers, no superior weapons.

But they did have one thing:
Someone far greater was backing them.

And that made all the difference.

Before I met Ron, I had a toy poodle, coincidentally named Joshua. He was under nine inches tall and weighed a whopping five pounds. Smart, friendly, happy… and completely unaware of how tiny he was. He walked with a swagger and had absolute confidence.

One day, we were outside my apartment when a large wandering Rottweiler came down the street. Joshua’s tail shot up, and he began barking fiercely at the 90‑pound dog. The Rottweiler started toward us, and Joshua barked even louder.

Then something surprising happened.
The Rottweiler stopped, lowered his ears, backed away, and then turned and ran.

Joshua barked triumphantly, convinced he had scared off the big dog.

What he didn’t notice was that my other dog, Boy, a very large German Shepherd, had stepped up right behind him. It was Boy’s exposed teeth the Rottweiler saw.

Joshua had courage because he had backup.
And Israel’s Joshua had God Himself behind him.

Even with God at their back, the Israelites knew the job would be hard and dangerous. They needed courage.

What Is Courage?

Different dictionaries define courage in different ways:

• Merriam‑Webster: The mental or moral strength to withstand danger, fear, or adversity.

• Another definition: The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, or pain without fear; bravery.

• Another: The ability to do something that frightens you.

Any way you look at it, courage is connected to danger, fear, adversity, and trouble.

My own definition is simple:
Courage is doing what you need to do despite your fear.

And courage is exactly what the Israelites needed as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.

We need to remember that the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for around 400 years. They were laborers and shepherds, not soldiers. They had not been raised learning warfare, though they surely learned some during their forty years of wandering.

They knew they would eventually enter the land of the Canaanites. I’m sure Joshua thought about how this would be accomplished. He probably consulted others about battle plans. But I do not believe he was worried.

He understood the task would be difficult, but he trusted God.
He didn’t know exactly what God would do, but he had confidence that God would keep His word, and that the Promised Land would be theirs.

Archaeologist Bryant Wood describes the ancient city this way:

The mound, or “tell,” of Jericho was surrounded by a great earthen rampart with a stone retaining wall at its base. The retaining wall was 12–15 feet high. On top of that stood a mudbrick wall 6 feet thick and 20–26 feet high. At the crest of the embankment was another mudbrick wall whose base was roughly 46 feet above the ground outside the retaining wall. Humanly speaking, it was impossible for the Israelites to penetrate the impregnable bastion of Jericho.

Inside the upper wall was about six acres of living space, and the entire fortified area covered roughly nine acres. Using the archaeologist’s rule of thumb, 200 people per acre, the upper city alone held around 1,200 people. But excavations show that people also lived on the embankment between the walls, and villagers from the surrounding area would have fled into Jericho for safety.

Several thousand people were likely inside when Israel arrived.

Those inside Jericho should have felt safe. Their walls were massive and seemingly unbreachable. But they had heard the stories, how God led the Hebrews out of Egypt, parted the sea, destroyed Pharaoh’s army, and provided for them in the wilderness. They were uneasy, but still confident in their defenses.

Imagine their confusion when, after all their fear and preparation, the Israelites simply walked around the city blowing trumpets.

Now imagine Joshua and his army. God told them that all they were to do was walk around the city behind the priests who blew the horns. No siege engines. No battering rams. No ladders. Just walking.

Can you picture them looking up at those towering walls, wondering how this was going to accomplish anything?

But they had been told again and again:

Be strong and courageous. Trust God. Obey Him.

They believed God would give them victory. As long as they trusted and obeyed, God had their backs.

God’s plan was to show both Israel and the watching world that He was in control, not human strength, not military strategy, not numbers.

• Israel needed to see that their God could do anything.

• The Canaanites needed to see that none of their strength could stand against Him.

On the seventh day, after six days of silent marching, the people waited for the signal. Then they shouted.

That was it. Just a shout.

And the walls collapsed.

The Israelites entered the city and destroyed it, Jericho had trusted in its own strength, but God showed that His power was greater.

As Israel continued through the land, the residents fought fiercely, not only out of fear, but because they were fighting for their lives. I am sure the Hebrews were afraid at times too, but God had told them repeatedly:

• Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and courageous.

• Deuteronomy 31:7

• Deuteronomy 31:23

• Joshua 1:6–7

• Joshua 1:9

• Joshua 1:18

Their victories did not come from superior weapons, strength, or strategy. Their victories came from obedience.

God was saying:

“Don’t be afraid. Trust Me. Follow My commands. Obey Me.”

They could be courageous because God was with them.

We need that same courage in our world today. We live in a culture that is rapidly becoming as corrupt as the Canaanites of old. We are surrounded by greed, selfishness, and materialism. Our faith is mocked. Governments and even schools push questionable ideas and morals.

So how do we find courage in times like these?

In our readings, we see that God was building a unique people, people who stood out from the nations around them. A people with a God who was real, powerful, and deeply involved in His creation.

Those people changed the world.

Today, as followers of Christ, we are called to be that kind of people. We are chosen to draw others, lost souls, to the true God who cares, provides, and loves. We are to be different.

• Where there is need, we provide help.

• Where there is hate, we show love.

• Where there is injustice, we stand against it.

In the Promised Land, the giants were bigger than the Israelites, but God was bigger than the giants.

He still is.

We must be unashamed to identify ourselves as followers of Jesus. We need to know Scripture so we understand God’s heart and how He desires us to live. We must pray about everything:

• Should we do this or that?

• Should we go or stay?

• Should we begin a ministry or wait?

• Should we spend or save?

Pray, and listen.

We should be unique from the world, yet present in it, shining light into darkness.

Develop your courage and strength, because we can face anything the world throws at us. No matter how hard it is, we, just like the ancient Israelites, have a God who has our backs and is bigger than anything we face.