God is in the habit of revealing both Himself and His motives to every generation through His timeless Word. For is it not written that His word shall never pass away? That it shall endure for always and forever? Does it not say, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away?” [Matthew 24:35]. Then, if, as it is also written, that it is “in Him” that we live and move and have our being [Acts 17:28], and if He IS “the Word”, as it is also written [John 1:1], then is it not also true that if He is the Word, that it is in “His Word” that we therefore then all live and move and have our being? And if it is in His Word that we all then live and move and have our being, and if His Word is timeless, then what does "Jericho" represent for those of us today who not only live, but who also move, and who have our entire being in His Word? What is the Jericho message from His timeless Word for all of us today? 

For as timeless as He is, and as timeless as His Word is, there is no difference between who Jesus is or His Word. For when we refer to His Word, or when we refer to Jesus, we refer to exactly the same thing, for they are one and the same. Spiritually speaking, the timeless nature of the Jericho message, and its underlying spiritual patterns, represents three things to us today, just as it did for Joshua way back then. Jericho represents (a) the kingdoms or dominion of pride, which represents both the unseen dominion of man’s heart as well as the kingdom of the world as we see it today; (b) it represents the fortified city of strongholds, both personal and corporate, and (c) it represents the embattlements of rebellion, both personally, and that of the world as a whole against God. 

And right in the very opening verse of Joshua 6:1, right from the outset, the message God had for Joshua was that in addition to delivering “the entire city” into Joshua's hand, that God would also deliver "the king" of Jericho, as well as “all its men of valour". And if this message is as true for us today as it was for Joshua, since His Word is timeless, and God is in the habit of revealing both Himself and His motives to every generation through His timeless Word, does this then not show that for us too, just as for Joshua, that He can do exceedingly abundantly more than what we could ask or think? [Ephesians 3:20]. Does not the victory of the defeat of Jericho entirely by the hand of God, for no man laid a single hand on the walls, does this not tell all those today, who just like Joshua, who obey every command of the LORD, and who place all their trust in Him, that the Lord is able to preserve and deliver those who put all their trust in Him and Him alone? Is this not a clear and timeless message that for all who place their entire trust in Him, being all those who live and move and have their entire being in Him, that He will not only deliver us from the prison walls of the dominion of the world, but also from the kingdoms of our own personal pride? Does it not also say that He shall deliver us from every inward and outward stronghold that exalts itself against the knowledge of God? As well as from all internal and external emplacements and embattlements of rebellion? 

At the same time, does it not speak of delivering the gold and silver of the hearts and souls of those who live and move and have their being in Him from all principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual hosts of darkness in heavenly places that work to hold men captive to every lie that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, both in our own hearts and in the world? For in the context of Jericho, if Jericho also represents the kingdom of the world, being that deliberately isolated and walled-off dominion that has barricaded itself away and apart from the God of Joshua, who, then, would be “the king" of the world? Would that not be the devil himself? And who then would be his “men of valour”? Are these not all the "principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places" [as per Ephesians 6:12]. For is not Ephesians 6 the New Testament parallel to Joshua 6? Do not both books deal with spiritual warfare? For does it not say that God will soon crush Satan under our feet? [Romans 16:20]. Does His Word not also say, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you?” [Luke 10:19].

However, in just the same way that the defeat of the walls of Jericho was conditional for Joshua, then, our own personal victory "over our own Jericho walls" are equally conditional for us today. In this present age, as with every age since the writing of the Book of Joshua, spiritual Jericho is figurative for the fortified heartland of man, that is deep behind enemy lines, that the LORD wants to claim back for the Kingdom of God, being, namely, our heart and soul. The battle of Jericho speaks to the ongoing spiritual war for our hearts and souls that prevails daily against either the hardened or the imprisoned hearts of man, so as to add one soul at a time unto the kingdom of the Promised Land. Such is the task, and the battleground, because "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force." [Matthew 11:12].

Christianity is effectively the battle for one soul at a time.

In respect of the victory over Jericho, a fortified city in the heart of Canaan, Jericho stood for pride against God. It stood for defiance. It held itself in contempt of anything that would consider itself capable of overcoming its walls, including the God of the people of Israel. The standout point in this parable, is that the "walls of Canaan pride", being some twenty feet wide and twenty five feet high, simply fell flat - without man even lifting a single finger in battle. Being a metaphor for both spiritual strongholds and personal rebellion, twenty foot wide walls represent both either significant "spiritual entrapments" that hold us captive, and well-established measures of "hardness of heart" that hold us back from our personal and incremental surrender unto God. If we want them to, these walls can come down too. But there is a condition.

With this in mind, what is one of the keys to God tearing down either spiritual strongholds in our lives, or any walls of rebellion that encircle our hearts and souls? The answer has many parts. Any time there is "a condition" attached to a breakthrough or a blessing or a miracle, it pertains to either man’s “obedience” or his "sacrifice". God always prefers obedience [1 Samuel 15:22]. In Joshua's case, this also was true. Obedience was required. "Step-by-step" obedience. Defeating the walls of Jericho was as much a test of obedience as it was a test of faith. Obedience showcases our faith.

Step-by-step obedience represents PROCESS. God is as interested in "our process" as He is in "our end state". In order to arrive at our desired end state, we need to be obedient throughout "the process" of journeying to that end state, step-by-step. For Joshua, this process covered seven days, with specific instructions for each day. The mission could have failed at any point without complete obedience on each of the seven days. In other words, defeating the walls of Jericho required "complete obedience", not "partial obedience". This is the first part of the answer. Seven, and the seven day process, represents complete obedience.

So what, then, does this "seven day process" mean for us today? For the first six days, Joshua and the people had to march around the city once each day. But on the seventh day, they had to march around the city seven times. And there also had to be "seven priests" with "seven horns" or shofars. And the priests had to blow the horns, and the people had to shout for the LORD (give glory to God). And if they did exactly what God instructed, and obeyed Him completely, then, and only then, would the walls fall down. Where else is "seven days" mentioned in the Bible? With creation, in Genesis. All of creation was completed in seven days with man being the centrepiece of both God's creation and His heart. So, in this context, the seven days represents COMPLETION. Completion by God. God will, firstly, complete both our victory over self (rebellion) and our liberty from captivity (strongholds). Amen. Selah.

The "seventh day" also represents REST. For "on the seventh day He rested" [Genesis 2:2]. It represents "God's rest". Which is "complete rest". God also promises to "complete that which concerns us" [Psalm 138:8], and in that completion (our ultimate end state), we will find our rest, just as the whole of creation found its rest on the seventh day. "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." [Hebrews 4:10]. Starting at day one, and progressing to the seventh day, also represents "process". We can also find rest "in our process", not just at our "end state". And it is in this regard to finding rest, "during our process", that we see the fruit of the glory of obedience. 

As part of Israel's process, the seventh day had "special requirements' of obedience. Unlike the first six days, where God's people where required to walk around the city only once on each of those days, the seventh day required God's people to walk around the city seven times. In terms of the seven days, the seventh day is the Shabbat or the Holy Sabbath. Circling the city seven times on the seventh day, means giving the complete or entire day unto God. Therefore, the key to entering His rest even during any process, prior to arriving at the end state, is to come to Him first thing, every day for the first six days of the week. And then to also come to Him first thing on the Sabbath, but to come to Him for the "complete" or entire day of the Sabbath. "And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord." [Joshua 6:12]. As with Joshua, if we want to enter perfect or complete rest, which is the rest of God, whilst we are going through our various trials and tribulations, we need to walk around the city (which symbolises claiming our rest or believing in our peace and rest) every day, and on the seventh day, to rest fully in God. We need to honour the Shabbat. Which is to rest in Him fully.

In Exodus 20:8, God says "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy", which is one of God's "Ten Commandments", being where we find all ten of God's Commandments. The number seven is repeated eleven times in Joshua 6, in just a short chapter of only twenty seven verses. By God repeating seven again and again, God clearly wants us to remember His Sabbath. God commands us all, as His people, to give Him that one day a week where it is completely His. And in return, He promises us His rest. His rest. Perfect or complete rest. And part of that rest comes from both a tearing down of strongholds and from removing the walls of rebellion that surround our hearts, being the walls that we think protect us but actually prevent us from entering His perfect peace and rest. If we honour God's Sabbath, and obey His commands, we will not only enter His rest, but God will defeat our enemies for us, and tear down everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God [2 Corinthians 10:5]. For it is through the absence of obedience that the kingdom suffers violence, and that violent men take it by force.

"And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valour. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him." [Joshua 6:2-5].

Sol Deo gloria

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be all the honour and all the glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17).