Joshua 6:1-20
In Isaiah 42:13-14 we read about the battle cry of the Lord.
13 The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry (Isaiah 42:13)
Someone might say: “How can God shout? What are these shouts, what is all this?” But Isaiah answers: “Yes, yes! Do not think you misheard me. You heard me very well! The Lord will not only shout — He will roar! He will roar like a lion!”
and will triumph over his enemies. 14 “For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. (Isaiah 42:13-14)
This is a battle cry that brings victory. I once heard a preacher who preached on this text, and he tried to demonstrate how a woman cries out in childbirth. I will not do that, for I could hardly manage to cry out in such a way — that is something a person lives through, and only those who have become mothers truly know it. But here it says that God will cry out in exactly that way. Of course, this is an anthropomorphism — the ascribing of human qualities to God — but it underscores the power of the Lord’s cry.
These words describe God to us as a warrior who conquers. And He enters the battle with His “battle cry.” Men who have served in the army know — women perhaps do not know this so well — that when they go into battle they must let out a battle cry: “Hurrah!” or “Charge!” They go into the fight with a shout. The battle cry is something very special. On the one hand, its purpose is to rouse the warrior. It is a common practice, a general principle — you see it in weightlifting and in the martial arts (perhaps you have watched such contests) — that they shout. Somehow the shout multiplies the strength of the athlete or the warrior. The cry gives strength. Perhaps even the woman giving birth knows this, for she too cries out as she gives birth — because she needs strength to bring the child into the world. On the other hand, the purpose of the cry is to strike panic into the enemy and to sow fear in his ranks. For when someone shouts in your face, you flinch. The cry can frighten you, throw you into panic, paralyze you.
In Joshua 6 we find the account of one of God’s battles. It is God’s battle, because immediately before this chapter, at the end of chapter five, we read of the “commander of the army of the Lord.” This “commander” stands before Joshua with a drawn sword in his hand. This is a theophany, an appearing of God in a material form that can be seen and that can speak with a person. Such a form represents God fully — His presence and His will for the particular occasion. A similar theophany was when Moses saw the burning bush that was not consumed, and God spoke to him out of the bush (Exodus 3:2-5). A similar theophany was when the Spirit descended “in bodily form” upon Jesus. The Spirit is spirit, but here He took on “bodily form” (Luke 3:22). This is exactly what a “theophany” is — God is Spirit and cannot be seen, but He reveals Himself — as the angel who wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32:24-32). Joshua’s meeting with the “commander of the army of the Lord” was something like this (Joshua 5:13-15). Perhaps at that moment Joshua was troubled and thinking: “How will we take this city of Jericho? It is a fortress. I have never taken fortresses before. I do not know what to do…” And at exactly that moment a stranger stood before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua was perhaps frightened, and he too drew his sword. If a warrior stands before you with a drawn sword in his hand, surely he means to attack you, does he not? So perhaps Joshua drew his sword, took up a defensive stance, and put the question to the warrior: “Who are you? Friend or foe?” And he answered: “I am the commander of the army of the Lord.” Perhaps Joshua thought that he himself was the commander of God’s people, but God said to him: “No! You do not lead My armies — I Myself fight in your battles. The battle is not yours, but Mine!” This shows us that it was God who fought for Israel.
And we see that the tactic which God, as supreme Commander, gave to Joshua was that the wall would fall at the “shout” of God’s army. They had to cry out in the name of God. And when they shouted, it was such a cry that the walls of Jericho collapsed where they stood. Without question this is one of the most thrilling stories recorded in the Bible — a story in which the mighty, supernatural power of God is displayed in answer to faith and obedience on the part of His people. I have simply used this idea of “the cry of the Spirit,” of “God’s cry,” to divide this passage into several parts in which we can see how we too, through “the cry of the Spirit,” through God’s supernatural intervention, can have victory over our enemies and live a triumphant Christian life. The separate parts of this story teach us about the need for faith, obedience, and praise, so that we may have God’s anointing on our lives and it may bring us victory.
A CRY OF FAITH
First of all, the cry of the Spirit is a cry of faith. Jericho was to be taken not in a human way — not by human abilities and strength — but in God’s way, through praise and a shout (vv. 1-5).
1 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. (Joshua 6:1)
Jericho, called in other places in the Bible “the city of palms” (it was an oasis), lies 244 meters below sea level, in the deepest depression on earth. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth — 417 meters below sea level — and Jericho is only 13 kilometers from it. In those days Jericho was an impregnable fortress. Although archaeologists do not agree about exactly where ancient Jericho stood, it is thought that the city was surrounded by two walls: the outer one 1.80 meters thick and 6 meters high, and the inner one 3.60 meters thick and 9 meters high. Between the two walls ran a road 4.5 meters wide along which a guard continually made its rounds. So, humanly speaking, this fortress was impregnable. Within it there was a spring, so it had an unlimited supply of water; and with sufficient food stores as well, it could withstand a long siege.
And so this impregnable fortress was besieged. And we learn that, in spite of the protection of their walls, the people of Jericho were afraid. They were terrified of the invincible God of the Israelites, and they had shut themselves in for fear that one of their enemies might slip into the city and hand them over. The fact that not only did no one come in, but no one went out either, shows how desperate the people of Jericho were. In those days it was not unusual, during a long siege, for small bands of soldiers to sally out of the city and attack the besiegers and then return, or to go out to scout, or to seek help or supplies from their allies. But the people of Jericho were so afraid that they did not even think of employing any of these tactics. The city was shut up and barred — no one went out and no one came in.
Shut up and bolted like this, Jericho was an insurmountable obstacle before God’s people in their conquest of the promised land. As we go through life we too meet insurmountable obstacles — difficulties and barriers we must pass through and cannot overcome on our own. Such may be:
- the loss of a loved one;
- the need for the salvation of someone who seems utterly indifferent to God;
- a ministry God has given us, but for which we feel unprepared and inadequate;
- family problems, financial hardship;
- a secret sin that springs up again and again in our lives.
This is a Jericho we run up against in our lives. But we must learn not to look at obstacles as dead ends or blind alleys from which we cannot escape, but as opportunities for God’s supernatural intervention in our lives. For with God nothing is impossible. Jericho was shut up, but it says:
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. (Joshua 6:2)
The fact that there is a God, and that He is alive and active in our lives, changes the situation. In the newest translation of the Bible the word “see” is left out. But in the original this word is there, and it means: “Look!” “Look, I have delivered Jericho into your hands.” This word reveals to us the spiritual principle that before we can have something, we must first see it — have a vision, a picture of it. And this is in fact the way faith works, the way God works, the way miracles come to pass in our lives. God first speaks to us and gives us a promise. That promise gives us a vision of what the situation will be when God fulfills it. And when we have the vision, it kindles our faith and we are able to believe. And our faith, in turn, sets God’s power in motion in our lives.
So God said to Joshua: “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” These words are a continuation of chapter five — of Joshua’s meeting with the “commander of the army of the Lord,” of which we spoke. And notice that this “commander of the army of the Lord” received worship from Joshua, and we know that angels do not receive worship (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). And this “commander of the army of the Lord” said to Joshua the same words that Moses heard at his first meeting with God: “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” These are God’s words. God gave the victory to Joshua and to Israel. The same God who brought Israel out of Egypt was the One who gave Canaan to His people. He gave the victory over Jericho to Joshua and to His people. And He did it in an astonishing way. Notice the tense in which He speaks: “I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” He did not say, “I will deliver…,” but “I have delivered…” This is past tense — God spoke as though the battle were already over and the victory already won. God spoke of future events as though they were already finished. Why? Because He is eternal, because He is outside of time and knows the end from the beginning, because He is almighty and with Him nothing is impossible. Therefore, when God says something, we can trust Him. For He knows, and He does not lie!
But God still gave Joshua something he had to do — whenever God works in our lives there is God’s part, but there is also a human part that must be carried out.
3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. (Joshua 6:3-4)
Why was the city to be marched around for “seven” days, and on the “seventh” day seven times? Why were the priests to be “seven,” and to carry “seven” trumpets? Seven… Why seven? Seven is the number of divine fullness and perfection. This emphasis on the number seven, the use of the trumpets made of rams’ horns, the presence of the priests, and the carrying of the ark of the covenant showed that the battle for Jericho was something more than a military campaign. Just reading how they march around — it is like a triumphal procession. They march, they play — it looks like an act of worship. You do not wage war against a city by marching around it! Yet they marched around Jericho in formation — like a solemn processional. And in fact it was God who gave them the victory. The purpose of all this, and especially of the use of the number seven, was always to remind the Israelites that the promised land, that Jericho, was a gift to them from the Lord. The Lord was the One who gave them both the land and the victory over their enemies. And in verse 5 God says:
5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in. (Joshua 6:5)
The barrier will be removed and they can go straight forward, because there will be no obstacle before them. At the end of the chapter we read that it happened exactly as the Lord had said (v. 20).
20 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. (Joshua 6:20)
We do not know why that wall fell — whether because of the resonance, whether because of the shout, whether at that moment there was some incredible earthquake that leveled it to the ground, or whether it simply burst apart and crumbled into its component pieces. We do not know how God did it, but — He did it! He is God. Often we try to explain miracles to ourselves and ask: “Now how did that happen?” But if you knew how it happened, you would have done it yourself. It is a miracle precisely because it is inexplicable to our human reason. And God does it in such a way that you do not know how it happens — so that you would have need of Him.
The taking of Jericho by a shout is something amazing. Yigael Yadin, an Israeli military commander of recent times, lists five ways a fortress can be taken — a city surrounded by a defensive wall:
1. To cross over the wall by means of ladders, ramps, or other devices.
2. To dig a tunnel under the wall (these are military tactics).
3. To break a hole in the wall (perhaps by setting off explosives, or by some other means).
4. To besiege the city until its food stores run out and it surrenders.
5. By some kind of ruse — like the wooden horse at Troy, or to pretend to flee and so lure the besieged to leave the fortress in pursuit, while the besiegers set an ambush for them — as at Ai.
Up to this point the Israelites had not faced the challenge of fighting against a fortified city. They had wandered in the wilderness for forty years and were not prepared or equipped for this kind of battle. So it was not they, but God, who would hand them the city. And He would do it not in a human way, nor by any of the military methods we have just mentioned. Jericho would not be taken by any traditional method, but by a method that has never since been repeated — through a seven-day march followed by a mighty shout. This was God’s way. Incredible! But it required faith.
And so the wall of Jericho was brought down with a mighty shout. But what was this shout — “noise” or “faith”? In Hebrews 11:30 we read that this shout was definitely an expression of faith. That is why I tell you that the cry of the Spirit is a cry of faith. If the Holy Spirit is going to do something in our lives, it will be something that, on our part, will require faith.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. (Hebrews 11:30)
“By faith” — this is stated explicitly in the New Testament. In what did the faith consist in this case? The Israelites raised a battle cry and set out in attack against the enemy, even though that enormous wall towered between them and their foes. They set out as though the wall were not there. But it was God who moved them to act as though the problem were not there (v. 5). And this in fact is faith — to expect the impossible. Because they expected with one hundred percent certainty and full assurance that God would intervene according to His promise, their deeds gave their faith life, and it brought them the miracle. God wants us to do the same — to expect with one hundred percent certainty and full assurance that God will intervene according to His promise, and to act and behave as though the problem were not there. That will bring us the miracle. This is faith — to believe that, because God has said it, the problem is solved. And while it is still standing there, to act and behave as though it were not there (Mark 11:22-24). This is also how divine healing happens. In Acts 3 it says that Peter lifted up the man who was paralyzed and was begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. He “lifted” him up. The man was lame, he was begging, but Peter took hold of him and lifted him up. And when Peter lifted him up, the lame man stood. And when he acted as though he were already whole, then it says that “instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong” (Acts 3:7) — that is, faith set God’s power in motion, and this brought the healing.
So if we want to win victories in our lives, we too must let out this cry of faith — to stand upon God’s promises and to act according to them, even though, humanly, their fulfillment may look not only impossible but even foolish. Why? Because God is almighty — with Him nothing is impossible! And besides, God is faithful to His word, and if He has said something, He will fulfill it.
A CRY MADE IN OBEDIENCE
So we have said that the cry of the Spirit is a cry of faith. And here I want to add a little more. When I speak of “the cry of the Spirit” I also have in mind what the New Testament says — that we do not know how to pray, but the Spirit Himself “intercedes for us through wordless groans.” In Romans 8:26-27 it says:
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
So the Holy Spirit “intercedes,” He pleads for us before the Father and the Son. He prays. And sometimes this prayer is simply a “groan” — a “wordless groan.” The Spirit groans. He groans over the sin in this world. He intercedes for the lost before God. He groans over missed opportunities, groans over those in the church who have grown cold. He groans over our needs and problems — both spiritual and material. So the Holy Spirit prays through us. But at the same time He also lets out a cry of victory, because He never is and never can be conquered or defeated. The Holy Spirit is a victor. He is a conqueror. And His cry is a cry of faith, but also a cry made in obedience.
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” 7 And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.” 8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” (Joshua 6:6-10)
And we read that they did exactly what God, through Joshua, told them to do. They marched around the city once a day for six days, and on the seventh day — seven times.
11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there. 12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. 15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. (Joshua 6:11-15)
Notice, the Israelites carried out everything God had commanded them to do, without asking for explanations and without offering God their own suggestions about how things ought to be done. Very often we — when God tells us to do something — begin to negotiate with Him. “But, Lord, why do You want me to do this now? Can it not be done some other way?” Unlike us, the Israelites asked no questions. God told them what to do, and they did it. It even says that they got up early (v. 12), at dawn, “at daybreak” (v. 15) — this shows us that in this case the Israelites were “quick to listen” (James 1:19). Moreover, they demonstrated absolute submission to God’s instructions. They neither left out anything of what God had told them to do, nor added anything to God’s commands — they carried it all out exactly. For six days they marched around the city in a silent procession (with only the blowing of the trumpets), and on the seventh day they marched around the city seven times. On the one hand this was something very monotonous and tedious, but on the other it seemed to lead to an escalation of the tension.
In this connection we should notice two more things — the patience of the Israelites and their precision in the Spirit. Their patience is seen in that they waited on the Lord for seven days (vv. 14-15). We often want God to answer at once. “Can God not do something right away?” No. Seven days passed. And this shows us that in order to be successful, we must wait for God’s time. The wall did not fall after the first march, it did not fall after the second march. Thirteen marches were needed in all — six days of one march each, and on the seventh day seven marches — thirteen marches! Are you ready to make “thirteen marches,” or do you want your problem solved “the first time”? And the Israelites made them without grumbling, without losing patience, without beginning to fret. Very often we are inclined to start fretting before God. (I judge by myself.) “Now, Lord, why is it not happening the way it should?” Are you carrying out God’s instructions exactly? Are you waiting for God’s time? They waited. And this was an astonishing obedience, which was an expression of their faith. So if we have the cry of faith within us, if we truly have real faith within us, that faith will express itself in obedience. Not just some random shout, but a shout at the right time, a shout in the right place.
We do not know how this marching around their city affected the people of Jericho. But picture them. They stand up on the fortress wall and watch the Israelites. They do not know what is happening. Suddenly they look: the army forms up and begins to march around the fortress. It makes one circuit and returns to its camp. The next day — the same thing again. Perhaps the people of Jericho wondered what was going on. Perhaps what they saw made them relax and go back to their normal lives — eating, sleeping, and so on. Perhaps they said to themselves: “They just march around and do nothing… As long as they only march around — that does not bother us… As long as they do not attack us — no problem.” Or perhaps this absurd marching baffled them. They wondered what on earth these Israelites were doing. “What kind of battle is this? They just march around… and around… and do nothing…” Perhaps some of the people of Jericho mocked the Israelites from the walls and jeered at them: “Hey, you madmen, have you started marching around again? What do you think you are doing with these circuits of yours? What is this nonsense you are doing? Is this how you wage war? Is this what your God teaches you? To march around?!” And today such voices are heard against us too — people who mock us and wonder why we do what we do. But we do what we do because God has commanded us to do it.
The precision in the Spirit of the Israelites is seen in that they did not shout before God’s time came. Joshua had told them (v. 10):
10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” (Joshua 6:10)
And they did just that. They stood silent for seven days, until they heard the sound of the trumpet. Then they shouted and the wall fell. So may God grant us to be obedient. There are people who think they have great faith, and so they shout and cry out very loudly. In this way they draw attention to themselves. But the question remains: “Do they have the obedience of the Holy Spirit in their lives?” May God grant us to have obedience in our lives. And I am convinced that if our faith is real and living, it will express itself in obedience and in praise to God.
And finally, the obedience of Israel is seen in that the soldiers did not stop until they had carried out God’s will to the end. They did not stop until they had fully taken what belonged to them (vv. 5, 20). It says that they went into the city and took it.
20 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. (Joshua 6:20)
All this shows us what we must be if we want to have victory in our lives — to follow strictly and diligently the instructions of God which we find recorded in the Holy Scriptures. Then the mountains of our problems will move before us.
And we see how important obedience was. For God had told them one more thing. He had told them: “Keep away from the devoted things!” And they broke this command. The Israelites broke only one thing. Only one of them took a little gold, a little silver, and a garment. In fact it was not so little, for the gold was about half a kilogram, and the silver more than two kilograms. But whether little or much, Achan took from the devoted things, and because of this sin of Achan the Israelites were defeated by their enemies in their next battle. That is why we too must be very careful. For every act of disobedience carries a curse with it. In verse 18 of our text it says:
18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. (Joshua 6:18)
So every act of disobedience is something very serious, something very bad. May God keep us — to be obedient!
A CRY OF PRAISE
The cry before which the walls of Jericho fell was a cry of faith. For in Hebrews it says that “by faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.” This cry, before which the walls of Jericho fell, was also a cry made in obedience. For it was let out neither earlier nor later, but at the exact time at which God commanded it to be let out — after all the marching and after everything God had said was to be done. Besides being a cry of faith and a cry made in obedience, the cry before which the walls of Jericho fell was a cry of praise. For in verses 4-5 and verse 8 it says that seven priests went before the ark of God’s covenant and blew seven resounding trumpets, or “rams’ horns.” Some think that these horns the Israelites carried and blew were shofar horns — the horns which the Israelites still blow today at their New Year. And in verse 20 it speaks of a strong, victorious, “resounding” shout.
4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in. (Joshua 6:4-5)
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. (Joshua 6:8-9)
20 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. (Joshua 6:20)
This blowing of the trumpets was regulated by the Law. In Numbers 10:1-10 we read:
1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. 3 When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 4 If only one is sounded, the leaders—the heads of the clans of Israel—are to assemble before you. 5 When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out. 6 At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. 7 To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the signal for setting out. 8 “The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. 9 When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies. 10 Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.” (Numbers 10:1-10)
In the case of Jericho we see how they shouted, blew the trumpets, and the Lord gave them the victory. In God’s Word the song always goes before the sword. We know that even in the natural world, when soldiers go off to war, they sing. This is also a spiritual principle — praise brings victory over our enemy, Satan and his angels. That is why in our services we always have praise. For we expect that in this praise God will move, will answer our prayers, and will bring us victory. This principle of “the song before the sword” is also seen in Isaiah 30:29-32:
29 And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. 30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail. 31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria; with his rod he will strike them down. 32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them with his punishing club will be to the music of timbrels and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm. (Isaiah 30:29-32)
Here again we see praise, and we see that every stroke the Lord lays on Israel’s enemies came to the sound of musical instruments — “timbrels and harps.” In the same way today, when we praise God, God wars for us against Satan, God wars for us against the demons, the Holy Spirit wars for us against the unclean powers! That is why praise in the church is very important, because praise brings the victory. That is why we must always praise God, because praise brings God’s anointing, and this anointing breaks the yoke of Satan. In Isaiah 10:27 it says:
27 In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat. (Isaiah 10:27)
The “yoke” is a symbol of slavery. But this yoke is broken because of God’s manifest presence, for that is exactly what “anointing” means. Praise brings us deliverance. It brings us victory. The joy of the Lord is our strength!
That the cry of the Spirit in this case reveals itself as a cry of praise is seen not only in the sound of the battle horns, but also in the fact that the city was “devoted to the Lord.” The power for taking it was God’s, and therefore the whole city was presented as an offering to the Lord. This devoting of the city and all that was in it gave the glory for its capture to God. So the giving of glory to God was not only in the shout, in the trumpets, in the praise, but also in the giving over of the devoted things and the whole city as an offering and burnt sacrifice to God. The praise was not only in their words, but also in their giving.
AN ANOINTED CRY
In this account we see one more thing, and it is that in their circuits around Jericho the Israelites carried something special. What did they carry? The ark of the covenant of the Lord — the visible sign of God’s manifest presence. The ark of the covenant of the Lord was overlaid entirely with gold. On its lid were two cherubim, facing each other and taking a posture of worship, with the tips of their wings meeting and touching one another. And this lid was called “the atonement cover.” Inside this ark were “the tablets of the covenant law” — the Ten Commandments. And God had said that He would speak with Moses from exactly there — from between the cherubim. In Exodus 25:22 we read:
22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites. (Exodus 25:22)
So this ark of the covenant was in fact the visible sign of God’s manifest presence. This is exactly what the anointing is. We speak of anointing and we mean precisely this — God’s manifest presence. The walls of Jericho fell not only because of the faith of the Israelites, nor only because of their marching, nor because of the resonance from their loud shout. They fell before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. They fell before God’s presence. They fell before God’s anointing. God was the One who brought them down. God Himself. In verses 6-9 and 11-13 we read how many times the ark of the covenant of the Lord is mentioned:
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” (Joshua 6:6)
The priests played before the ark, and by their playing they showed that God was at the head of their army. God was part of the procession. Where was God? He was represented by His ark of the covenant. Remember that He had said to Joshua: “As commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And He marched with His people.
7 And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.” 8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. (Joshua 6:7-8)
Notice, the seven priests carried the seven trumpets “before the Lord.” It does not say simply before the ark, but “before the Lord.” Because God’s presence was in the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. (Joshua 6:9)
Notice the arrangement of this procession. In front went the army, after it were the priests with the resounding trumpets, in the center was the ark of the covenant, and behind the ark of the covenant was the rest of the army — “the rear guard.” But at the center of everything was the ark of the Lord.
11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there. (Joshua 6:11)
Notice, here again it does not say that Israel, or that the army of Israel, or even that God’s army marched around the city, but it says that “the ark of the Lord” went around the city.
12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. (Joshua 6:12-13)
No city is too hard for God. The wall fell because of God’s anointing — because of God’s might, because of God’s power. But this anointing was brought by faith, by obedience, and by praise. In Zechariah 4:6 it says:
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)
This is how the walls of Jericho fell as well — not by human might, not by human power, but by God’s Spirit, by God’s anointing, by God’s intervention, by God’s power. And this anointing of God, this power of God, was released through these three things:
- Through faith — because the Israelites believed that what God said would come to pass;
- Through obedience — they carried out God’s instructions exactly and did not shout before the moment Joshua had told them;
- And also through praise — because they blew the trumpets before the ark of the Lord.
And finally, all of this — faith, obedience, and praise — carried God’s presence and anointing, which was at the center of the whole procession. And on the seventh day, after the seventh circuit, when they shouted, the walls fell where they stood, the soldiers went into the fortress, and took the city. In the same way we too can have victory in our lives — when we listen to God’s words, when we are obedient, when we praise Him, when we have the anointing, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. For if the Holy Spirit is in us, He will lead us. The Holy Spirit is in us in order to lead us. And if He leads us, if we hear His voice, will we not be victorious? We will, because God thinks good toward us. His thoughts toward us are of how to give us a future and a hope. Therefore, may God grant us open spiritual eyes and ears — that we may see what God’s will is for us and where He is leading us.
- That we may follow God’s will for our lives;
- That we may read God’s Word, find the promises that are valid for us today, receive them for ourselves, and claim them;
- That we may walk in healing;
- That we may walk in victory — victory over sin, victory over Satan, victory over everything that wars against us;
- That we may walk in blessing.