The Water and the Walls

The writer continues to walk us through the history of Israel. He is pointing out demonstrations of great faith in God. So far he has taken us up to the point of Moses. These passages point us to the people Moses led. Interestingly he’s going to skip the wilderness wandering and move straight to the Promised land in verse 31. That is probably because the faith of the Hebrews in the wilderness was so weak.

v. 29 The crossing of the Red Sea is of great importance to the Jewish people. As they fled from Egypt Pharaoh changed his mind about letting them go. He made the decision to pursue them. His intention was to bring them back into slavery. He sent his full army after them.

The Jewish people found themselves in a difficult situation. In order to get away they had to cross the Red Sea. When the realized they were being pursued by the Egyptians many of them got scared. They began to cry out to Moses. In fact, they had no faith. They said Moses had taken them to their death. They said:

Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?

Moses said to them:

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

The Lord said to Moses “Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.”

When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sea the Lord sent a mighty wind that divided a path in the water. There was a wall of water on the right and the left.

This is where the Hebrews exercised their faith. They stepped between those walls of water. That probably wasn’t an easy thing to do. They trusted in the Lord.

Let’s look at the contrast:

The Jews stepped into the sea by faith and were rescued.

The Egyptians stepped into the sea and were killed.

Notice it says, “they attempted to do the same”.

The Egyptians were drowned in the same Sea the Jews were saved from. Why? Because the Jews stepped out in faith towards their God.

We might say the Egyptians had courage, not faith. Courage can be a great thing. Courage can also be misplaced. Courage can get you killed.

We often say faith without works is dead. That is true. But works without faith is dead as well. The Egyptians found that out. There are many lost people who are not afraid to die. They should be. Courage is not the same thing as faith. Faith is trust in who God is and what He says.

It should also be noted that the Egyptians had gods. They were not atheists. They had many gods. They believed in them. The faith in their false gods could not save them. Only faith in Christ saves. There is only one God. If our faith is not in Him, we will not be saved.

v. 30 Now we move to the Promised Land. We are not told of a specific person or people who possessed faith. It simply says:

‘By faith the walls of Jericho fell down.”

We can assume it was the faith of Joshua and those he led. This is a collective faith like the faith in the crossing of the Red Sea.

Jericho is important because it represents a new beginning for them. It was the first city of the Promised Land to be taken. Let’s think about what they had been through:

Over 400 years of living in slavery to the Egyptians.

Moses died.

The last 40 years they had suffered hardship because of a lack of faith and rebellion toward God. They should have entered the land earlier, but an entire generation was judged because they would not take the wise counsel of Joshua and Caleb.

Only two men who were adults the first time they tried to enter the land are alive.

Jericho is described as a prosperous city.

Rich and flowing with milk and honey.

The inhabitants are described as tall, strong, and great in number (Deut. 1:28).

The city is also described as having large walls protecting it.

Those walls were a big part of the argument against taking the city. The people were so afraid to take the city they attempted to stone to death Joshua and Caleb for urging the mission on (Num. 14:10).

Now we have a new generation staring at the walls of Jericho. They are shut out. The citizens of Jericho are shut in. God gives Joshua orders.

They don’t sound like normal instructions for war.

The army is to march around the walls of Jericho one time a day for six days. This is what the procession looked like:

Armed men will lead the way

Seven priests with trumpets will follow them

Priests would carry The Ark of the Covenant

More armed men

They were told to be quiet. Not make a sound or speak a word. Why?

There would probably be citizens of Jericho shouting at them from the wall.

There would be a temptation of the Jewish people to worry and spread fear among the army.

They could not make a sound until the seventh day.

For six days they marched once around the city. The only sound was feet hitting the ground and trumpets being blown. Jericho probably thought the Jews had lost their minds.

On the seventh day they marched around the city seven times. When the seventh round was complete the priests blew their trumpets. Joshua commanded the army to shout. When they shouted the walls fell.

The Hebrew army took the city easily. They took it by faith. What can learn from this?

1. The failure of one generation should not deter the attempts of another generation. We don’t have to repeat the sins of our fathers.

2. God has always accomplished His will through that which is smaller.

3. It is our responsibility to obey God, not question Him. His ways seem odd at times.

4. Sometimes the victory is won by keeping our mouths shut.

5. God’s will is not normally accomplished immediately. Faith is tested over time.

6. The will of God often leads to roadblocks. This is our opportunity to trust and obey.