The Walking War

I watched this impossibly corny attempt at a music video for "Joshua Fought the Battle"on youtube after reading chapter 5 and 6 of Joshua. It was the classic Sunday School teacher's "cool idea" gone totally wrong. All the kids wore the same blue T-shirt, they emotionally lip sang to a CD track, and blew their kazoo's in the end to watch the colorful cardboard block walls came a "Tumblin' down." The video left me feeling like the whole point of the story was being missed. Now, don't get me wrong, if I were five years old again I would've been so pumped for the video and probably would have begged my mom to let me be part of it! It wasn't the quality of the video but the content that bothered me. Here are a few of the lyrics to that Sunday School Classic: 

"Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,

Jericho, Jericho,

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,

And the walls came tumbling down!

You may talk about your men of Gideon,

You may talk about your men of Saul,

But there's none like good old Joshua

And the battle of Jericho!

... then later in the song it says: 

"Go blow them ram horns," Joshua cried,

"Cause the battle is in my hand."

Hmm.... you see what I'm seeing? Who really fought the battle of Jericho? 

Joshua 5:13 {When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?"}

Imagine it... Heres Joshua, walkin along one of the Jericho walls - Head down, Hands folded behind his back, and kicking pebbles along the pathway for a fun little game of solitary soccer. He takes a deep breath in and lets it go in a sigh as his eyes climb up the huge wall next to Him, thinking, "How in the world are we going to pull this off?" All a sudden, He sees this man - sword drawn and ready to fight. Joshua, thinking He's been caught in a moment of weakness, straightens up, puffs out his chest, and puts on his serious eyebrows and asks, " Are you for us, or one of our adversaries?" Obviously not knowing who He is talking too. 

What's the man's response to that question?  {no.} Haha! 

(Sorry, I just think that's funny....) 

He goes on to explain, "I am the commander of the army of the Lord." 

**light bulb** Joshua hits the floor in reverence asking what the Lord has to say. The angel proceeds to tells Joshua to rally up the people, get them in formation, and walk around the city of Jericho. The first 6 days they were commanded by God to walk once around the city with the ark of the covenant and then on the 7th day walk around it 7 times. At the end of the 7th lap on the 7th day the priests would ring out a long blow of the trumpet and everyone would scream at the top of their lungs and the walls would fall and they would claim victory!  

First response = "...Wait... what?" 

Yep, that's it. Walk.  

At the beginning of this walking war Joshua told the people of Israel,

{"You shall not shout to make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, 

until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout." Joshua 6:10 }

So, that means the command was to -----> SILENTLY WALK. 

Thats why I couldn't swallow those song lyrics down the right tube.

Joshua did not fight the battle of Jericho. He wouldn't have ever claimed that the battle was "in his hands," either. 
Instead, He told the people in Joshua 6:16 to: 

"SHOUT, for the LORD has given you this city!" 

This is something that I am learning in MY "walk" with God right now. 

God has promised me victory and my part of the process is to simply walk and silently trust. 

As I do, I find myself thinking I should be doing more to make progress on the plans God has laid before me. But, doing anything more than walking in faith would be disobedience and distrust in the capability of the Lord to work out His will for My life in HIS perfect timing.


When I reach that place of victory, it is THEN that my mouth will open and my voice will be heard. Not using my voice as a means of expressing my opinion or making my next request but singing praises to the One who fought my war.  

Trust in the Lord. 

Lean not on your understanding of the situation. 

Acknowledge Him with every step. 

He will direct you. 

(Proverbs 3:5-6)