3.16.2025 | Conquering Jericho
Joshua 2-4; 6
Have you ever participated in a trust fall? This is when a person stands in a chair and falls backward into the arms of a few people waiting to catch them. It can be very scary to trust others to catch you. One way to make a trust fall easier is to select people you know can be trusted to catch you—like your parents or guardians. Falling backward to them is easier because you know they love you and want to protect you.
To enter the land God promised them, the Israelites had to first defeat the city of Jericho. This would not be an ordinary battle. This battle was all about trust. God gave Joshua specific (and very strange) instructions for how to conquer the city.
Joshua sent spies into Jericho to see what it was like. They were housed and protected by a woman named Rahab. In exchange for her kindness, Rahab asked the Israelites to keep her safe when they conquered the city, so the spies promised to keep her and her family safe.
Joshua and the Israelites followed God’s instructions by marching around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, the Israelite army marched around the city seven times, and the priests blew their trumpets loudly. As the people shouted, the walls of Jericho fell to the ground. The whole city was destroyed, but Rahab and her family were saved.
It can be hard for us to trust God, especially when we don’t understand what He is doing. Even in those moments, we can know that God is good and that He is in control. The Israelites and Rahab trusted God would win the battle, and He delivered!
God’s people could not bring down Jericho’s walls in their own power. They trusted God and were victorious. We cannot defeat sin and death in our own power. When we trust in Jesus, we are saved from sin and death.
