Joshua chapter 6 is one of my favorite pieces of Scripture. It’s absurdity is trumped only by God’s greatness. Let’s take a look.
Joshua 6:2-5 reads:
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 all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”
This starts of great as God states that He has given them into the Israelites’ hands, but then goes into the ridiculous.
But, what is Joshua’s, and ultimately Israel’s, response?
Joshua 6:6-19 describes what they did; they obeyed God. Even in something that sounded completely absurd, they obeyed!!!
Joshua 6:20 describes the results of their obedience:
When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.
There is a lot that we can learn from this entire passage. What could God ask of us? Would we think it is absurd? Would we obey? The end result has much to do with these questions and our actual response.
In the church today, too many people are not willing to listen; of those that do, many can’t believe God would ask them to do “that.” Yet, there are those that will listen and obey, and the results are truly resounding. Perhaps this is one of the reasons (and there are many) why the church in America is so weak?!
So … Just perhaps … When God tells us to do something, even if it sounds ridiculous or crazy, we should listen, pray, seek confirmation, and obey!
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