The battle of Jericho

Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in. The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram's horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead." So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark of the Lord." To the people he said, "Go forward and march around the city; have the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord."

As Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets; the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. To the people Joshua gave this command: "You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout." So the ark of the Lord went around the city, circling it once; and they came into the camp, and spent the night in the camp.

Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord passed on, blowing the trumpets continually. The armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. On the second day they marched around the city once and then returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

On the seventh day they rose early, at dawn, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent. As for you, keep away from the things devoted to destruction, so as not to covet and take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it. But all silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are sacred to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord." So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.

Joshua 6:1-21 (NRSV)

Grace and peace,

Ron

There are no winners behind walls

So the day came that Jericho falls. Has it ever struck you as odd that Joshua places a curse on a city in his own land (Joshua 6:26)? Why would you place a curse on the first piece of land which you took into possession? Either Hiel didn't know the story of the curse, or he didn't take the stories of his people very seriously, because he ignored the curse at a very high cost (I Kings 16.34).

There are several good reasons for Joshua's action. First, he was wise enough to know that there would be some who would think that this was an ideal spot and stop to rebuild and live. Long live the status quo! After all, most cities in the middle east are not built on new ground, but from the rubble of pre-existing cities. After 40 years in the wilderness, this place had to look good. But the people of Israel still had far too much territory to conquer to put down roots yet.

Or it could be that he was concerned that they would be tempted to rebuild the fortress and try to hide out in it when things got tough. But God has never been inclined to have a fortress mentality. Fortresses are what people trust in when they don't trust quite enough in God. His people are, when they behave as courageously as he would have them behave, marching at the gates of their enemies.

This is an important lesson for our kids to learn as leaders of the church. The church was never designed to have a fortress mentality, a defense of the status quo, with arrows for those who dare to march outside, but within bowshot. Instead, the church is intended to attack the very gates of hell, gate by gate.

Grace and Peace,

Ron

Where there's no smoke, is there still fire?

"By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." - Exodus 13:21-22 (NIV)

When the Exodus began, God gave his people a tangible vision of his presence (although he chose not to reveal himself as he really is). This continued all the way through the wilderness wanderings and all the way up to Moses' parting from his people:

"Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent." - Deuteronomy 31:15-16 (NIV)

This was not a small matter to the Israelites, because centuries later, it still remained a symbol of God's compassion for his people:

"Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take." - Nehemiah 9:19-21

What is remarkable to me is that you don't read about the pillar in the story of Joshua. When did the pillar of cloud leave? When God makes his exit, it is frequently a big deal (just look at his exit in Ezekiel 10 or Acts 1). But the scriptures never tell us when the pillar of cloud left. Don't you imagine that God's people had to wonder where God was? Don't you think that their children would be asking about it? I personally think that the pillar may have ceased to appear when the manna and quail stopped. After that, God's providence through the land became the symbol of his continual presence.

I believe that since then God has required incrementally more faith of his people. It was easier for those who had seen the mighty acts of God in the wilderness and the taking of Canaan than it would be for those who came later. The prophets, despite the things that they heard and saw looked forward to the things that would happen in the time of the Messiah: "For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it" Luke 10.24 (NIV). And finally, Jesus made it clear that "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" John 20:29 (NIV).

Yet, at the same time, God has given his written word as evidence and the Spirit as a Comforter to allow us to maintain a faith that glorify him as surely (if not as largely) as Joshua's did. God grant us a childlike faith in his presence: simple, loving, and dependent.

Grace and peace,

Ron

Our place in the story

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, "My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”

“Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1:1-9 NRSV

God deliberately communicates to Joshua an awareness of his place in the story of God's people, in history. Not only does God speak to Joshua through Moses' words (Deut 31:22-23), but he hammers home the message in a personal communication (Josh 1.1-9, above). In short, "Remember the promise, remember how I was with Moses, because now I am going to be with you and use you as a tool to bring about this promise. I am going to use you to change history. Now that you understand this, be strong and courageous."

This is precisely where passion and courage come in. When we understand our place in the story, passion and courage are required. When God's children truly see the possibillities that God places before them to change the world, the godly response of their heart is the passion that drives them to pursue that dream, that opportunity for God to glorify himself through them.

At the same time, when that dream is tested (and God will allow it to be), courage is what is required to persevere. Our passion pushes us to finish the course even though it presents obstacles that our vision (but not God's) did not allow us to see at the beginning. Our godly courage keeps us in the boat precisely when the human part of us wants to bail.

Let's try to find our place in the story, and for our children's sake, let's help them to passionately seek and courageously discover their place (it won't be the same as ours) as well.

Grace and peace,

Ron

Lines and circles

I wonder if we appreciate the difficulty of Joshua's task of leadership the day that Moses didn't come down from the mountain (Josh 1). The transition of leadership from one person to another is always fraught with difficulty. That change of person and power is vastly complicated when the new leader follows a leader that is good at the job, and nearly impossible when the previous leader has been the object of reverence and respect.

The initial reflex of leaders in such cases is to circle the wagons until the lines of authority become clear. Surely someone in Joshua's inner circle counseled him, "Allow people to get used to your voice and your style." But his choice made his leadership task that much more difficult; he followed God's instructions and made a bee line for the promised land. Perhaps this passionately brave act in the face of coolly cautious logic is why God encouraged Joshua to "be strong and courageous."

Oh, it's not like Joshua didn't check to see if anyone was following. He immediately queried the 2 1/2 tribes that were getting land on the east side of the river, and they reassured him: "Don't worry, Joshua, we'll toe the line. Be strong and courageous!" What made such remarkable loyalty possible? What assured the people that they could faithfully follow Joshua?

Their leader may have changed, but their God had not. As they lined up to march to the Jordan (Josh 3), the ark of the covenant, the very symbol of God's presence, moved one half of a mile in front of the nearest tribe. A full seven minutes ahead of the first soldier (I rather suspect that God is actually much farther ahead of his people than that). And then, in the middle of the river and on the other side, they left memorials of 12 stones. Some scholars believe that the Israelites did not stack these stones, but placed them in a circle (Gilgal can mean circular). Each tribe equal; each tribe a part, all of the tribes united. Whenever God leads, whether through transition, trouble, or temptation, the godly leader is assured of success (at least in God's terms). In this case, God led his people through a river swollen to its annual flood stage. Through battles with a stronger and more numerous foe. Even through their own failings and sin.

Both a godly leader and his people can be strong and courageous when they know that their true loyalties are to a God who is loyalty personified. If my leader is loyal to God, I can loyally follow. If my people are united, and loyal to God, I can lead as God would have me and be assured that they will follow. What makes a transition of leadership like the one from Moses to Joshua survivable? Loyalty and unity.

Grace and peace,

Ron

Moses and Joshua

Moses and Joshua are both known as great leaders, but sometimes I don't think that we realize the commonalities and connections between these two godly men. Here are a few of the parallels and connections in the life of Moses and Joshua as God works through them to lead his people from the land of Egypt to the land of Promise:

Moses comes to a place where he is “on holy ground” (Ex 3)
--Moses celebrates Passover with Israel (Ex 12)
----Moses leads Israel across the Sea (Ex 14)
------Moses ascends the mountain with Joshua below (Ex 32)
--------Moses delivers the covenant before Joshua and the people (Ex 34)
----------Moses and Joshua in the wilderness with the people (Numbers)
--------Moses reviews the covenant before Joshua and the people (Deut)
------Moses ascends the mountain with Joshua below (Deut 34.1-4)
----Joshua leads Israel across the Jordan River (Josh 3)
--Joshua celebrates Passover with Israel (Josh 5.10-12)
Joshua comes to a place where he is “on holy ground” (Josh 5.13-15)

Isn't it interesting how their lives focus on God's time with his people in the wilderness? (The above structure is called a chiasm by biblical scholars.) The Passover with Joshua may not seem like a large matter at first, but when you consider that it had not been celebrated for years (none of the males had been circumcised, Josh 5; see the rules in Ex 12) this makes the parallel more striking.

In addition, here are some interestingly similar events:

Both led the Israelites across a boundary (geographical and spiritual) of water
Both won a great battle with their hands extended up before God (Moses with a staff, Joshua with a javelin)
Moses led the first celebration of Passover in Egypt; Joshua led the first celebration of Passover in Canaan

It’s not that history repeats itself; we know better than that. We are not in some huge Hindu cycle of history. It’s just that the fight for truth, justice, and the kingdom way frequently connects us with places, or practices, or people, or opponents like ones encountered by those who have gone before us. May God give us the wisdom to learn from the experiences of those who have gone before us without thinking that their answers are sufficient for our moment.

Grace and peace,

Ron