Sometimes 7 is Required

Joshua 6:1-5 “Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. But the Lord said to Joshua, ‘I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.’”

Today we will look at the Battle of Jericho. A little back story; Joshua 2 tells us that Joshua secretly sent out two spies and told them to check out Jericho closely.  This was the first city that the Israelites had to defeat in their quest for the Promise Land.  The two spies went into Jericho and when the king began looking for them Rahab the harlot hid them under flax bales on her roof.  She lowered them out her window (which was in the wall of the city) after they promised her that she and anyone from her family who was inside her house at the time of Jericho’s defeat would be saved from death.  

Joshua 2:23-24 says, “Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them. ‘The Lord has given us the whole land,’ they said, ‘for all the people in the land are terrified of us.’”

We pick up the story of Jericho again at the end of Joshua 5.  An angel, the commander of the Lord’s Army, came to Joshua as he was nearing Jericho.  He told Joshua the Lord’s strategy for defeating Jericho (Joshua 6:1-5).

The plan was simple, for 6 days Joshua and the fighting men were to march around the town one time.  Seven priests were to walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn.  No one was to make a sound at all.  On the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times, with the priest blowing the ram’s horns.  On that day, when they heard to long blast on the ram’s horn the people were to shout as loud as they could. 

Imagine being one of the Israelite soldiers.  Bear with me as I think “out loud” for a minute.  “Seriously, this is your amazing plan.  Walk around the city!  What good will that do?  Cause the people of Jericho to laugh at us?  What about the siege ramps? The scaling ladders or towers?  Walk around? Perfectly quiet?  Joshua, have you lost your mind?  Who came up with this lame idea anyway?  Who ever heard of an army intimidating their enemy by walking around their heavily fortified city before?”  You must admit, if we were there we might have felt like my fictitious Israelite soldier. 

We all face battles in our lives.  We all have Jericho’s that hold us back from fully possessing the promises God has for us.  Our strongholds might be hidden sin, unforgiveness, physical illness, financial issues, scars from past hurts, or struggles at work or in our family.  The list is limitless. 

When we are forced to face our Jericho, God gives us instructions on how to defeat it.  These instructions are typically found in the Word, however, God does use his messengers (pastor, friend, member of the church prayer team, etc.) to deliver the instructions at times.  When we follow the instructions, freedom/victory is assured.  Isaiah 55:11 (NIV) “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Why is it then that most Christians are not walking in complete freedom and possessing God’s promises?  The problems lies in the harsh reality that too often we give up early.  We fail to see the battle through.  Another issue is that we don’t like the cost of freedom and chose not to obey the instructions God gives us. 

Let’s look at financial issues as an example.  Malachi 3:10 “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”

The Word tells us to bring our tithes to the storehouse (the place we are being spiritually fed – typically our church).  It promises that if we do, God will pour out a blessing on our lives.  The problem is that when we don’t have enough money at the end of the month to pay the bills, we often fail to pay our tithes.  Rather than making it easier to pay the bills, this really causes our problem to be worse because we rob ourselves of the blessing promised for obedience in tithing.  Some may say, “I tried tithing and things did not get better so I quit.”  My point exactly.  The Lord says try me; he never says stop trying if things don’t go as we want.   

Let’s go back to the Israelites for a minute.  They walked around the wall in silence once a day for six days.  Historians estimate that it took between 30 minutes to an hour to complete this walk.  Think about how it must have felt to walk for an hour then return to camp and wait until the next day.  Imagine if they had rebelled on day 6 and told Joshua to walk himself that they weren't going.  They would not have gained the victory and might have forfeited the Promise Land entirely.  They would have stopped one day short of the miracle. 

The same holds true for us.  How many times have we given up one day, week, month, short of the miracle we were seeking?  How many promises have we robbed ourselves of because we grew weary of waiting, praying, etc.?  Galatians 6:9 says, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

Sometimes 7 IS required.  God may ask us to hold on a little longer for the victory.  He may do this to test our endurance or faith, it may be due to timing, it may even be due to spiritual battles that we are not even aware are taking place all around us.  It doesn't really matter why, what’s important is that we don’t give up short of the miracle.  The battle is the Lord’s, thus it will never be more than we can bear because he is carrying the majority of the load.  Matthew 11:28-30 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Don’t give up!  Sometimes 7 is Required.  

All Scripture is NLT unless otherwise stated.