You have been told to conquer this city, to destroy it and all the other cities in the land of Canaan. It would be an act of devotion to your God. But how? How does one totally destroy a city with thick walls 30 feet high and a great number of people very much wanting to not be destroyed? You look at the city again. The gates had been closed for awhile now—and not just because it was night. The people were terrified, and you hadn't even begun to attack yet. You chuckle to yourself. At least your seemingly impossible plans wouldn't require a defensive side!
Speaking of "impossible"...Your mind flickers back to the events of a few days prior. No one would ever have guessed that anybody would have made it across the Jordan River during the flood season, let alone two million people on dry ground. You wipe your brow with the back of your hand. That mission had seemed impossible, and yet YHWH had it covered the whole time. Surely, then, He could handle this next one too.
Your thoughts are interrupted by a rustle to your left. You look up quickly and are quite surprised to find a man standing before you with a drawn sword. You step closer to him slowly, squinting in the moonlight in a fruitless attempt to recognize the face. "Are you for us or for our enemies?" you ask.
"Neither," the stranger replies, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Aware at last of the holy identity of your nocturnal visitor, you lose no time in introducing your face to the ground which had been, seconds before, beneath your feet. "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" you ask, your head still low.
"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy," the messenger advised. You follow his instructions then listen eagerly for the rest. "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands," your LORD continued, "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."
Oh. So that's how the impossible would happen.
One week of walking in circles and trumpeting, a final shout, and Jericho was down. Whaddaya know? It worked. All your worries about organizing a siege or discovering the best angle at which to attack the great city proved pointless. YHWH had it this time too. And now the rest of the land was shaking in its boots, The Canaanites had been afraid enough of the millions who had poked their heads up from the desert sands, but now they knew that their destruction was imminent and that it could happen unexpectedly one day through only a bit of walking and shouting. The fear of the unknown would be paralyzing.
You smile as you realize just how perfectly the whole thing had been planned out—and not just this event but all the ones you could remember watching YHWH write: the great escape from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea...Even the wilderness wanderings had had a purpose. Now you stood in the Promised Land at last, with one great city checked off the list. You take a deep breath, rejoicing in the perfect air of the land you and your people were beginning to call your own, and joyfully remember the words of your faithful Leader. "Have I not commanded you?" he had said. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
Your next few years would not be easy, but Jericho would be a constant reminder that YHWH would win. Worry and fear could crumble just like its sturdy walls, for YHWH's plans never fail.
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All quotations are taken from the book of Joshua; chapters 1, 5, and 6; New International Version (1984).
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