Moses had died. Joshua was in charge of leading God’s people across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. Joshua had been a good student of Moses, understanding that God has His own plan, and His own timing for executing that plan. And from experience, Joshua knew God’s plan would be unexpected and surprising—after all, he’d been eating manna in the desert and seen God’s provision for his people.
First, he sent two spies to scout out the city of Jericho, across the river from where he was camped, with more than a million Jews. Rahab told the spies the words they needed to hear: “I know that the Lord has given this land to you, and that a great fear of you has fallen on us…” Joshua 2:9. She hid them from the authorities in return for their promise to spare her and her family on the day they attacked Jericho. After the spies returned with their report, God directed Joshua to have the people follow the ark of the covenant. The priests carrying the ark were to stand in the Jordan River until everyone had crossed. As soon as the priests set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream ceased to flow; it piled up in a great heap in an upstream town called Adam. So, the people crossed over on dry ground opposite Jericho.
As the Amorite and Canaanite kings watched this, their hearts melted, and they had no courage to face the Israelites. This would have seemed to be the opportune time for Joshua to attack. But God had other plans and Joshua listened and obeyed. God incapacitated the entire Jewish nation with ordering the men to be circumcised! While they were healing, they celebrated the Passover in front of the paralyzed enemy. They ate food from the promised land and the day after Passover, manna stopped.
Joshua waited for further instructions from the Lord. As he was walking near Jericho, he saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword. That must have spiked Joshua’s adrenaline! He asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” The warrior replied that he was the commander of the army of the Lord. So, Joshua knew God was quite literally with him!
Most of you know the story of Jericho’s collapse found in the Book of Joshua, chapter 6. Following God’s instructions, Joshua had the Jews march once around the city, led by an armed guard, then the priests blowing trumpets, then the ark of the covenant with an armed guard following it, and finally all the silent people. They did this for six days. On the seventh day, they marched seven times around the city and on the seventh time around, when the trumpets sounded the people shouted and the walls of the city collapsed. Everyone in the city was killed; only Rahab and her family were spared.
What a God story! Every part of it is all God; nothing in the strategic war planning is remotely like what a human commander would do! Men would have forged the river at peril of losing life, livestock, and goods. Men would never choose to incapacitate themselves right at the battlefront, nor to celebrate a holiday! Men would lay siege to a city, battering its wall with artillery. I love this story of God confounding the enemy while greatly encouraging his people. And the fact that Rahab married into the Jewish line of Jesus’s ancestry is icing on the cake! What a marvelous God we serve!
While Dwayne and I were in Israel a few weeks ago, we drove down the Jericho Road and saw the city from a distance, shimmering in the heat; the Jordan River a glinting ribbon behind it. Today the border between Israel and Jordan runs down the middle of the river. Today, the tensions between Jews and Palestinians, and between Israel and other nations, make headline news. But God still has His plan for today and for the future, described for us in the Bible. And we can be sure it’s not a human plan; it will clearly be His great movement in our world, culminating in His time with His promised return to earth.