God has always required our faith to be in Him if we are to be His child. He wants complete obedience when He gives a command. He wants our faith and our love to be the guide for our obedience. God is always working on our behalf, wanting to grow our faith, but I believe we hinder the work of God by wanting to walk by sight, not faith. We follow through on the commands in the flesh, not in the Spirit. Church attendance, tithing, studying the Word, and even praying have become routine things we do out of habit. We think we are exercising our faith by doing these things, when, sometimes, we’re just going through the motions. I often wonder what God would do if our faith guided every step we take. When the Israelites were leaving Egypt and journeying to the promised land, they had many days of faithless wandering, but today I want to look at how their faith was exercised as a group and God rewarded their faith with a victory.
In the book of Joshua, Moses is deceased, and they are to follow Joshua as their commander. In chapter 6, they are getting ready to take that great city, Jericho. The city that 10 out of 12 spies determined they could not capture. Because of their unbelief, the Israelites wandered for 40 years, until all those who were adults at that time died, except the two that put their faith in God. Those two were Joshua and Caleb. Here is where I see them exercising their faith. God gave Joshua the order of how things were to be done. They were to march quietly around the city one time each day for six days. He instructed the warriors, the seven priests blowing the cornets, the ark, and the rear guard to march in that order. God was very specific on what and how to win this battle.
The Ark represented the presence of God. Then the warriors and everyone involved were to march in total silence until the seventh day. On the seventh day, they were to march seven times around, shout on the seventh time, Priest blow the horns, and the walls would come tumbling down. This city was fortified, and nothing could get in or out with the gates closed. Only God could accomplish victory in this way. What amazes me is the faith of the people to do exactly what Joshua had commanded. They had banded together to obey this strange command. The Israelites were to kill every living thing, except Rahab and her family. Rahab and her family were spared because of Rahab’s faith. When they did God’s command, God’s way, God answered.
Joshua 6:11-16 “So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And the second day they compassed the city once and returned into the camp: so they did six days. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.”
Where is the lesson in this for us? We are to place our faith in what God says and obey. Our answers to our problems are in the Bible, but we must be willing to obey, even if some other answer seems best to us. Many think they can alter God’s commands to fit their desires and He will still bless them. God wants us to trust Him, no matter how strange the request may be. It may not make sense to us as to why God would allow men and women to be martyred for their faith, but as a result of the death of Jim Elliot and 4 of his missionary friends, an entire group of people in the jungles of Ecuador were saved. Now, some 66 years later, a thriving group of Christians is carrying on the faith of those their ancestors martyred. Does it seem reasonable to us that they would risk their lives for the lives of others? No, but God directed them to go and they obeyed. God is not looking at life the way we do. His ultimate purpose is to reach everyone with the gospel. He desires that all would be saved, and sometimes people will suffer for the salvation of others, but there will be an eternity of rejoicing for those who allow their faith to rule their decisions.
