What they were told to do was basically to walk around the city once for 6 days, and then walk around it again 7 times on the 7th day and blow some horns and make some noise and that's what will make the walls fall down so they can go in and take the city.
Now I don't know about you, but I've never seen any wall fall down just by people walking near it and then yelling at it. Have you? I'm betting you haven't.
And I'm sure the Israelites didn't think it made any sense either, probably even when they were doing it. But they did it anyway. And sure enough, the walls fell and they were able to go in and take the city. Simply because they trusted and obeyed God, rather than their own human logic.
There are many things that can be said about this story to teach us important lessons. But there are two in particular that I really like and want to emphasize.
First of all, when God tells you to do something - the smartest thing you can do is to do it, even when... no, especially when it doesn't seem like it makes sense to you or others. Because that's when God gets to show a little glimpse of how awesome He is, and get the glory of making something happen that couldn't have happened unless God was involved. This is particularly important when there's some sort of figurative "wall" preventing you from taking hold of something God told you He is giving to you.
Now unfortunately, God doesn't always tell us specifically what to do, or when to do it, or how to do it, or even what specifically will happen as a result. And He definitely rarely tells us when something will happen. But He does speak to us through our conscience, other Christians, things you see on TV or a billboard or something else in everyday life, etc.
Just remember:
Isaiah 55:8 (NLT) “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
1 Corinthians 1:27 (NLT) God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
Secondly, in this story the walls nothing happened until the end of the 7th day. So even though they were doing exactly what God told them to do for an entire week, they didn't see any progress. Worse than that, they were probably being ridiculed by the people in the city who thought they were idiots for marching around the city rather than trying to actually get over the walls, or knock them down, or do something to try to get into the city.
But then, at the end of the 7th day, when they had remained faithful and trusted in God to keep doing what He told them to do, even though they didn't see anything change that whole time, all of a sudden the walls came tumbling down. Wow...
That's how God brings down the walls in our lives often times too. He tells us what to do (and hopefully we're listening well enough to hear Him clearly). And then if we're smart, we start to do it. And if we have trust God, we keep doing it. And often times, nothing happens. So we keep doing it. But still nothing happens. So we keep doing it. And then not only is nothing happening to bring the wall down, we start getting ridiculed by others for doing something that doesn't make sense (marching around the wall) or for not doing something else that would seem to make more sense (like attacking the wall).
It's at those times when many people quit. They think that maybe they didn't hear God correctly. Or worse, they lose faith and decide that God changed His mind or something. And so the walls keep standing.
But it's at those times, when we've been doing what we feel like God was told us to do, and no progress seems to be happening, and people are making fun of us, that we should get excited! Because since that's when it seems the least likely that the wall will come down, that's when it would bring God the most glory, so that's when it's most likely that God will actually make it happen! It's like the story Acres of Diamonds. If you haven't read it, go get it, it's a quick read that's well worth it.
Sometimes God does allow us to see the progress being made at tearing down a wall brick by brick as we follow His leading. And seeing those bricks come out one by one is what keeps us going. But sometimes God decides that this is a wall that needs to come down Jericho style. So we don't see any progress even when we keep following His leading... until it does. And when it does come down, it all comes down at the same time. And we get to glorify God for the amazing thing He just did, and walk into the blessing He promised to us as a reward for our faithfulness.
So if there's a wall between you and something God told you He has given to you, then make sure you're doing what He has told you to do in order to be able to bring that wall down and receive the blessing. And if you have been doing that for a while, and are seeing some progress - then good, keep going! But if you're not seeing any progress, don't despair! That just means that God is planning to bring down that wall Jericho style! So keep going, keep marching! Oh and if people are making fun of you for doing what God told you to do, then get excited because the time for that wall to come down is probably very near! And you're going to have a front row seat to watch God do His thing!
