CHAPTER TWO-JERICHO-FOLLOWING THE SCRIPT

To say the least, the plan God had for the Children of Israel, the way He wanted them to accomplish this task of occupying Canaan was vastly different than they could have ever imagined.  I heard a little joke a few years ago that went like this:

Little Johnny went to Sunday school for his first time.  His parents were concerned as to how he would like it and when he returned home they questioned him about his first experience with Bible stories.

“What did you learn today at Sunday school Johnny”?  His parents asked.

“Well”, Johnny said, “We learned about Moses and the Children of Israel”.

“Tell us the story Johnny.  We want to hear it”.  His parents were so proud of little Johnny.

“Ok”.  Johnny said. “You see there was this general named Moses and he had a big army and they needed to get across the Red Sea. There was a mean general named Pharaoh who was trying to stop them.  He chased them all the way to the edge of the Red Sea. General Moses built a pontoon bridge and his men crossed over the sea with their tanks and trucks and jeeps. When general Pharaoh tried to follow him with his tanks and trucks and jeeps, Moses called in an air strike and bombed the bridge and killed all of Pharaoh’s men and Moses and his army got away”. 

Surprised by Johnny’s slight exaggeration of the story, his mom asked, “Johnny, are you sure that’s the way your teacher told the story”? 

“Oh no, mom that’s not the way she told it but if I told it like she told it you would never believe it”. 

I think that’s about the way Joshua must have felt when God passed on the instructions for taking Jericho.  No doubt Joshua had heard stories of armies building ramps against a walled city.  Perhaps he had heard how armies had put cities under siege and starved them out.  Perhaps he expected to make a full frontal attack against the city with God’s help.  But instead of all these tactics God gave him this plan.

You and your army will march around the city. Do it once a day for six days.  But on the seventh day you will march around seven times and the priest will carry the ark and they will carry trumpets and when they blow the trumpet everyone will yell and the walls will fall.  Can't you just hear Joshua saying “Are you sure that’s the way this story goes”? 

Warriors don’t just wonder around a city.

Heroes don’t holler.

Trumpets aren’t used as trajectories of war.

I can imagine that Joshua caught a lot of flak from his generals. I imagine there were a lot of alternative ideas presented. “Wait God, don’t you think this is a better way”? 

I could have learned my battle techniques from these guys.  I bet you could have been on this team as well.  When God gives us instructions as to how to accomplish certain task our first act of obedience is usually to try and convince Him that our way is better.   

“God, surely you must be mistaken about this.  Surely, you must not mean to do things like this”. 

I’m good at questioning God.  Let me give you an example.

Just this morning I was walking just after sun up.  My wife and little dog were still sound asleep.  The sun was up but the land was quiet and still.  I enjoyed the early February morning and walked around the 30 acres that God has so graciously given us.  Our land is bordered by the interstate highway and as I passed it on that part of my stroll, I noticed a large F-250 truck driving down the interstate.  It was “tweaked out”.  It had all “the bells and whistles”.  It was pulling a large trailer with two campers on the back.  I imagined that this man had bought the campers and was going to sell them for a nice profit.   

The thought came to my mind.  “If God would just allow me to have a little extra money I could do stuff like that. I could buy a few old cars and fix them up and sell them.  I perhaps could buy an old house and fix it up and rent it for some extra retirement money.  I wouldn’t have to save up for everything I wanted. God, I wouldn’t have to beg You to give me the stuff I think I need”.   

Just about as quickly as these thoughts hit my mind, I realized that I was trying to be the God in my life.  I realized how wrong my thinking was and that there is only one God and it ain’t me.  I was committing the sin that Adam and Eve committed way back in the garden years ago.  They were trying to have a better idea than God Himself.  They were trying to write their own script. They were trying to be God in God’s place.  It didn’t take me long to realize how selfish and unthankful I was and ask God to forgive me of that.

I bet it didn’t take Joshua long to convince his warriors that there was only one position for God in his army and it wasn’t going to be filled by any of his men.  If they were going to fight in God’s army they were going to have to follow God’s script.  There was no place for freelancing in God’s army.   

That is a lesson we must learn.  We must see our “ideas” as nothing more than rebellion, the sin of rebellion and relinquish them to God.  He knows the way. He knows how to fight our battles. He knows what lies in the road ahead of us.  We don’t.   

I don’t know what God is leading you to or through today.  But I know this.  If you are to be successful in your life, if you are to make it into your Canaan, you are going to have to follow His script to the “T”.