A God of His Own Order

The supernatural laws that God set in place can seem disorderly at times. Since when does it make sense that if you're giving something away, you'll end up receiving more than you can imagine? And yet it says in Luke 6:38, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." And yet, when you obey God step by step, you find out that the individual steps don't make sense to your natural mind. But when you begin to see fruit of those individual steps all coming together, the only thing that begins to make sense is that God's plan was better than your plan in the first place.

One of the many stories of the bible that doesn't make sense to our natural minds is that of Joshua. The bible says in Joshua 6:1, "Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in." It's hard to judge from the beginning of this passage how Joshua and the rest of the Israelites felt. At first I would read this with the impression that Jericho was an all-powerful city that nothing could come against. However, I found out from Rahab's comment earlier in the book that "...a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you" (Joshua 2:9). With this in mind, it's possible that the city of Jericho was not fortified because they were well-equipped but rather because they were terrified of what might ensue. In the beginning of this book, God continuously told Joshua to be strong and courageous.

Joshua had most likely heard about Moses' attempt to lead the Israelites into the promised land. Hearing about the challenges that he faced is enough to place fear in someone. However, Joshua himself was to lead the people into the land that God had promised them. Joshua had a legitimate reason to be afraid and yet God told him to not act on that feeling of fear. Soon after, Joshua may have been relieved to hear about Rahab's comment. However, he was unaware of how God would deliver Jericho into his hands.

The Lord tells Joshua in chapter 6 that He has given him the land. It's amazing that God had already provided him the answer before Joshua had even done anything. But Joshua still needed to march around the city in order to receive what God had already given him. The people of Jericho probably considered the Israelites to be crazy for marching around their city one time for six days. They may have even started to build up courage during that time, thinking that the Israeiltes were wasting their time. They probably let their guard down, thinking that maybe their God wasn't as powerful as they had all thought. God knew what He was doing. Joshua had commanded the armies to keep silent during this time of marching, making their act to seem even more strange. If the people of Jericho really did start to think that they had a chance in maintaining their city, I think that this would have given God all the more glory. On the seventh day, the Israelites were probably exhausted. Nevertheless, they marched around the city seven times and ended with a loud shout that sent the walls of Jericho straight into the ground. God's method in obtaining this city was outside of how any normal person would think. After hearing that he was supposed to take the land, Joshua could have rushed in with his army and taken the land by force. Instead, he listened to God's plan, which took a little bit more time. When he was obedient to God's way of doing things, it became evident that God was going to have to show up. God still has ways of doing things that sound crazy to the world but they bring Him glory. By being obedient to God, no matter how crazy the request may look, it will bring glory to Him and you'll find more satisfaction in your relationship with Him.