part 3 of the “Around the Campfire” series
Over the last month or so, I have been hearing a song on the radio called “Jericho”. There is a line in the song that stood out to me. The whole song is good don’t get me wrong. But this one line stood out and gave me some encouragement. Here is the line:
“All of my fears like Jericho walls
Gotta come down, come down, come down” [1]
So when I heard that line in the song, I started thinking about the story of Jericho in Joshua 6. After Moses had died, Joshua took the lead of the Israelite people. The next battle ahead of them was Jericho. Joshua sent spies to the land on the other side of the Jordan River to check out the land there with special emphasis on Jericho (Joshua 2). The spies came back to Joshua to report that “the Lord has given us the whole land, for all the people in the land are terrified of us.” [2]
The nation of Israel then set out for Jericho. They crossed the Jordan River on dry ground (just like they did the Red Sea). [3] After this had happened, word got around to the surrounding kings who lived in the land along the Mediterranean Sea. They were paralyzed with fear because of what they had heard and seen God do for the Israelites (Joshua 5).
As the Israelite army approached Jericho with their marching orders, the king ordered the gates to be shut and locked because he was afraid of the Israelites. The Israelites began to march around the city of Jericho. On the seventh day on the seventh time around, they all shouted and blew their trumpets and the walls came crashing down.
Jericho was not a small city. In fact, Jericho was a city to be feared. Jericho has big walls and was very fortified. You couldn’t just walk into Jericho easily. So the Israelites were probably afraid of this city, even though God had already told them through the spies that He had given them the land. But that still didn’t mean that the Israelites weren’t afraid. Jericho could have sent out their army to fight them as they walked around the city. But instead of being afraid, they took God’s hand and did what God asked them to do. They had God on their side. They had nothing to fear.
But in life, we all run into some things that we are afraid of. I am afraid of unsecured heights - not heights - unsecured heights. I don’t mind heights if I am secure. I am not afraid of rollercoasters or plane rides but am a little uneasy with ladders. Ladders are not secure. I mean yeah ladders nowadays are designed differently with more safety measures. But they can still slip or move and that’s where my fear comes in. I once watched a ladder holding my grandfather get swiped out from under him by a big tree branch he had just cut off a tree and he fell many feet to the ground. I don’t like the dentist. I know that’s weird, but I do not like the dentist. I will go to the doctor and have surgery and all that - but the thought of going to the dentist just doesn’t work for me. I would just rather have fake teeth and never have to go again. I have a fear for my kids. I want them to turn out great and make the best choices in life. The fear then is that they won’t. I also want them to be safe and free from harm. The fear is that they get hurt and break something and such.
But with any fear there comes a time when they come true or when we have to come face to face with them. When that happens a lot of the time we don’t know what to do and sometimes we choose to run from them instead of conquering them. Fear can keep us crippled and lost. If the nation of Israel would have been intimidated and afraid by the city of Jericho, even though God told them the city was theirs, they would not have gotten to the bigger reward - the Promised Land.
Joshua and the Israelites went with God and faced the city of Jericho. They walked right through their fears about what could happen and knew that God was on their side.
God is on our side too. We all have fears. Some are way more serious than heights or the dentist. The fears we face could be more about our family, our kids, our jobs, our marriage, the future, the past, and many other things. But if we charge those fears, holding hands with Almighty God, they will come crashing down like Jericho.
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[1] “Jericho” by Andrew Ripp
Songwriters: Andrew Ripp / Ethan Hulse
[2] Joshua 2:24
[3] Joshua 3-4
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