Being shut up has two components to it. It shuts things OUT(strongholds), meaning it doesn't let anything IN.

     Part of Israel's "process" of tearing down the walls of Jericho required a strict observance of walking around the city for seven days.  Specific instructions for each day to secure victory were relayed from God to Joshua as the new High Priest (Zachariah 3).  The "seven days" pertains to a complete work, as with Creation.  The "seventh day" symbolises the Sabbath day.  The "seven times" on the seventh day pertains to giving the whole of the Sabbath unto God, honouring Him, and in return, He shall honour you.  Giving all of the Holy Sabbath unto God honours the commandment of "Remember the sabbath day", being the only commandment out of all ten commandments that the LORD specifically instructs us to remember.  And in our remembering, God promises that we shall enter His perfect rest, both during our process and at our end state.  And, at the same time, God will dismantle all the spiritual strongholds and walls of rebellion that stand in the way of us entering His rest and victory. 

     Speaking of commandments, if you will notice, for all seven days of circling the city of Jericho, the Ark also went with them.  The Ark housed the Ten Commandments given unto Moses by God that were carved on stone tablets.  Taking the Ark is a reminder to us take the commandments of God with us, as we face our own battles.  It tells us that we are to carry the laws of God with us, not on tablets of stone as with Joshua, but on the tablets of our hearts [as per Jeremiah 31:33; Proverbs 7:3; 2 Corinthians 3:3].  This means we cannot be in disobedience when we turn to God for help with defeating the enemy.  We need to be in RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Him, through our obedience.  Also, the armed men were commanded by Joshua to protect the Ark.  In the same way, we too are to guard the law in our hearts, and God's ways, always, every day, completely.  "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." [Proverbs 4:23].  This is why we need to circle the city at least once every day, first thing, before anything else, so as to keep God both first and foremost, and to thereby renew our minds daily, being that operation that effectively allows us to "guard our hearts".

     A further part to the answer of the key to Isreal's victory at Jericho is that “priests" lead Isreal to war, not “soldiers".  Seven priests, with seven trumpets.  Why do priests need to take the lead?  Because before the manifestation of victory in the natural can be seen, the spiritual dimensions of the problem first need to be addressed.  In Joshua's case, before "the people shall go up every man straight before him" and take Jericho, the walls need to come down first.  The walls represent both spiritual strongholds and personal rebellion.  In other words, there is a logical sequence to how our victories unfold.  The walls are the first step, which represents the spiritual component of the battle.  That there is a spiritual component is clear, for the Word clearly tells us this when it plainly states that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty THROUGH GOD for pulling down strongholds' [2 Corinthians 10:4].  This is why you need to take a man of the cloth and of the anointing first to a battle, so as to tear down the spiritual principality or power behind the stronghold first before you can STEP INTO your promised land.  

     "Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in." [Joshua 6:1].  Being shut up has two components to it. It shuts things OUT (strongholds), meaning it doesn't let anything IN, meaning that the entrance of illumination, being that agency that tears down strongholds, is thus thoroughly thwarted or prevented.  Hence why the walls of our souls need to come down first.  For "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." [Psalm 119:30].  Being shut up also shuts things IN, meaning it lets nothing OUT, representing being in a prison, and not being allowed out.  Overcoming both strongholds and rebellion are ultimately about setting the captives free, about our personal liberty.  "He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives..." [Luke 4:18].  This is why we need a holy man.  We need to send a holy man before us, as with the walls of Jericho.  

     At the same time, if we observe the Sabbath, and come before His glory, and "forsake not the gathering of the saints" [Hebrews 10:25], "remembering the Sabbath" [Exodus 20:8], we have a priest who not only goes before us, but who intercedes on our behalf.  Both then and now, a priest intercedes on our behalf, and furthermore acts as mediator between God and man.  Jesus goes before us and intercedes on behalf of man today.  The Word says Jesus, as an unchanging priest, intercedes continually for us. "But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." [Hebrews 7:24-25]. The Word also says that Jesus is the only mediator. "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." [1 Tim 2:5].

     At the same time, observe that together with the Ark also went the "mercy seat".  In Joshua's day, the High Priest would sprinkle blood on the mercy seat once a year for the atonement of sins.  Christ Jesus represents the mercy seat for us today.  Jesus is the High Priest who died for our sins and defeated sin and death.  As with the seven times around the city, Jesus also shed blood for us in seven different ways.  So together with a complete work, seven also represents “perfection".  Seven representing the perfect covering of His blood, and its perfect victory or work over sin and death.  So, on the one hand, whilst we carry the laws and statutes of God in our heart, we also need to daily apply the Blood of Christ, or the Mercy Seat, so as to ensure that we are in both RIGHT STANDING and RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God.

     To illustrate this point further, Rahab put a "red cord" out her window on the wall of Jericho as a sign for Isreal's spies.  This scarlet cord symbolises the covering and protection of the Blood of Christ.  By applying the blood of Christ, Rahab and all her own were preserved.  Not only were they all preserved, but the Word says that "she was brought into the camp", which means she became a citizen of the Kingdom of God, leaving behind citizenship of the world, as with each of us who do the same.  She thereby entered God's rest during her "process".  The Word then says that "Rahab still dwells in Israel to this day", meaning she and all her own consequently dwell in eternity with the LORD.  She thereby entered rest and peace in her "end state" too, as is the promise for all of us who tear down the walls that hold our hearts from believing unto Jesus.  The story of Rahab sets an exclamation mark on how the Blood protects and preserves us.  Once the city was conquered, and everything destroyed, all the gold and silver and bronze and iron in Jericho were brought into the treasury of the house of God.  The real treasure, and currency of value, for the LORD is not gold and silver, but the soul of man.  THIS is what the LORD treasures.  Saving souls is what is important to the LORD. Man is the centrepiece of creation, and his soul constitutes the richest treasury of the house of the LORD.  And for all the gold and silver and bronze and iron that LORD takes into the house of God, the LORD tell us that He has prepared a room for each of us in the house of His Father [John 14:2,3].

     A further element to Isreal's victory and obedience was that before Joshua and his people were to shout for victory, that the priests were required to blow the shofars or trumpets first.  Numbers 10:9 tells us what the blowing of the shofars represent. “When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies."  For the believer in Yeshua, the blast of the shofar represents the shout of God's victory over the power of the enemy.  So God’s shout of victory comes before ours.  Which means that God will declare the victory if we first remember Him by blowing the trumpets, and give Him the glory.  Then He will remember us.  

    Lastly, Joshua charged them at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.”  In other words, if you rebuild the world and rebellion in your heart and your life, it brings a curse.  This curse was demonstrated and fulfilled at that time in 1 Kings 16:34 when Hiel tried to rebuild Jericho, and he lost both his oldest and youngest sons.  So the important point here is that the curse will visit not only us, but also the next generations, just the same way as the blessings visit both us and our next generations, as with Rehab.  

     Another way to demonstrate rebellion, or to fall into into rebellion, is to forget to observe the Sabbath.  So whist the LORD enters into a covenant for our good, if we obey His Shabbat and His commandments, for both us and our generations, He LIKEWISE warns of despair, punishment and dispersion if we are to disobey His commandment by not observing the Shabbat.  The LORD considers not honouring His Shabbat as rebellion.  We must destroy anything that represents rebellion in our lives, that represents a stronghold of the world in our lives.  It must be destroyed utterly.  The reason the LORD takes such a strong view on this is that God says that "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" [1 Samuel 15:23].  Witchcraft starts with a heart of rebellion.  And any witchcraft will bring a curse into us.  If we do not observe the Sabbath, we will not only not enter into rest, but our enemies will not be defeated, and it will ultimately bring curses upon us.  But if we OBEY, and observe and honour the Father in this, He will not only destroy our enemies for us, we will enter His rest, and find our completion in Him. 

     So what is the LORD saying?  If we shout for His glory, as per the instructions to Joshua in the defeat of Jericho, which is represented by the today by the acts of "praise and worship" through going to church and honouring His holy Sabbath, and if we come to him every day, which by doing so is effectively putting on the whole armour of God, God Himself will tear down our walls and strongholds, defeat our enemies, and give us the victory both now, and ultimately over sin and death.  So "the secret” to our entering rest, and what contributes to our victory of the world, strongholds, and our own rebellion, is in observing the Shabbat.  "God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation." [Genesis 2:3].  This is our inheritance both now and later.  

     On the other hand, part of the inheritance of rebellion is typified in the example of Jericho where everything else was destroyed by the sword and by fire.  These are the souls that didn't overcome the stronghold of their minds, or chose rebellion instead against the LORD.  The Word is the sword and the fire is hell.  The Living Word will judge us all one day, and those who do not have the covering of the perfect blood of Christ will succumb to both the sword and fire.  Which is the exact opposite of the peace and rest we enter into for those who believe in the LORD.  Where it concerns the Sabbath, the curse is that we do not enter into His rest, now,  during our time here on earth.  Who knows how formidable it is to enter deep rest, especially rest and peace that surpasses all understanding?  This is the rest our LORD speaks of when He says that "He makes us to lie down in green pastures."  Lying down typifies rest.  And "He leads me besides still waters."  Still waters represents rest. [Psalm 23:2]. This begins with obeying and observing the Sabbath.  

     In conclusion then, observing and honouring the Sabbath is a fundamental part in our victory over strongholds, rebellion and the world.  So whilst on the one hand it TEARS DOWN the walls of Jericho for us, at the same time it BUILDS the walls of Jerusalem.  "For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her (Jerusalem) a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." [Zechariah 2:4-5].  The LORD will protect our hearts with a wall of fire around them.  Today, a firewall is a security device that protects the assets behind it from harm.  Observing the Sabbath builds the right kind of wall around our hearts and our destinies.  It establishes a wall of fire in the midst of which is the LORD's glory.  "May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem." [Psalm 51:18].  So, for those in Jericho, the modern day Babylon, the LORD has these words of encouragement.  “Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye." [Zechariah 2:4-5].  May we all be the apple of His eye...

     In conclusion, then, Joshua 6 is, in fact, a condensed version of the whole of Christianity in a single book of 27 verses. And the key to it all is obedience.  Because obedience proves God has your heart.  But importantly, Joshua 6 is also the secret behind the Shabbat.     

- To God be all the glory. Forever and forever. Amen and amen.

- Blessings, Wayne Biehn