Uproot The Squatters!

Joshua 6:20 says, “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆𝒅; 𝒔𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚.”

Can you imagine the Israelite army being given this absurd order to march around the mighty city of Jericho without saying a word? I wonder what was going through their heads… For some, it was probably, “This is silly,” or “I feel stupid.” But for others, it was certainly, “We are going to do this! We are going to take this city!” The more they walked, the more their confidence grew. Perhaps some of them, looking forward to that final day, were thinking, “𝗜’𝗺 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱, 𝘀𝗼 𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗗!” Faith was stirring within their hearts, and the expectation that God was going to do something great was getting bigger and bigger.

Imagine for a moment the sound of the trumpets and that huge, loud roar going up from the army on that final day. The volume of noise coming from thousands and thousands of men must have been so loud and intense that it shook the very ground they were walking on. The New King James Bible tells us, 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁! Walls that had seemed high and insurmountable flattened at one loud shout! The Israeli army totally destroyed Jericho; nothing was left.

The Canaanites that lived in Jericho would have been a serious threat to Israel’s spiritual welfare. They were steeped in idolatry and immorality. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱! 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴. I know that in my own life there are Jericho’s that are holding me back. Huge walls that may seem insurmountable, chains that seem too big to be broken. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗝𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗼’𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹! What is it that is holding us back? 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭!