"Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho
And the walls came a-tumbling down"
Do you remember singing that song as a kid? It’s a cute little song, but it’s not really correct. It wasn’t Joshua who brought down the walls. It was God. And It wasn’t Joshua’s fighting that won the victory. It was his faith in God.
Skeptics have long tried to reason out what might have happened that day. Some have suggested that by mere chance, the shout coincided with an earthquake. Others have suggested that the shout itself produced an earthquake-like effect. In 2013 the fans of the Seattle Seahawks boasted of producing a small earthquake-like effect when their cheering reached a level of over 130 decibels. So what did happen that day? Was it a lucky coincidence? Was it a man-made phenomenon? Scripture teaches us that it was the hand of God moving in response to the people’s faith. The Bible says
Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell flat. Faith brought down the walls!
What is faith? Faith is our confidence and trust in God that causes us to obey Him. Study the heroes of Hebrews 11 and you will find many men and women who were given difficult and impossible situations; yet, who had such confidence in God that they obeyed whatever He told them to do.
I grew up singing “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho.” It’s a fun song to sing; especially when you’re a kid. But I believe that we should modify the song just a little bit so that it will say –
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho
And BY FAITH – the walls came a-tumbling down
Today GOD Is Saying To You, Have Faith, And Those Walls Will Be Brought Down.