Jericho

“So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” (Joshua 5:14 NKJV)

What is Jericho symbolized? Jericho was a fortress and impeccable stronghold in the land of Canaan. The people of Israel, however, must have gone through the city. They passed through the Jordan River as in a dry land. What a joy it would have been for the people of Israel? God opened the water twice for His people. It was an assured and undisputable sign demonstrated by the mighty hand of God in their midst. 

Now, they faced Jericho fortified by one hundred feet high and thirty feet thick of walls. The entrance of the city was locked down without a hint of opening. The joyous jubilee soon cooled down at the formidable look of Jericho which stood high and strong immovably. It was the very first obstacle that Joshua and his people faced nakedly.

So, Jericho stands for something impenetrable and impassible in our experience. Some situation seems like a deadlock and no way out in any direction. It looks daunting and dire and nothing seems to work out. It is definitely a chilling experience. That is Jericho in our Christian lives. For example, some may experience the strong and irresistible impulse for pornography, fornication, adultery, orgies. Some may do the deep entrenched hatred, anger, bitterness against others. Some may do the heavy financial burden. Some may do the incurable diseases.

What was the oracle of God in the midst? What God spoke to Joshua was the most nonsense operation that anyone could think of. What he was told to do was to walk around Jericho once six days and seven times the seventh day and to blow the trumpets without shouting. Amazingly, Joshua and his people obeyed just exactly what God commanded to do. They did not quarrel with God at all but walked seven days around Jericho and blew the sound of trumpets and shouted. I wonder what they chanted. Probably, they chanted, “WAAAAAAAH” at the top of their voices.

What’s happened? Jericho was gone, no more! It just crumbled from within and disappeared. The fortress Jericho which made Joshua and his people chilled on the back spine was just dissolved and out of their sight. It is the experience of overflowing victory through the work of someone else. It is called a Spirit-filled life. They entered the rest relying on the work of Christ Jesus. The war belongs to God, not ours. The supreme commander of warfare is Christ Jesus. There is no one stronger than the God of Jesus Christ who is forever trustworthy.

That’s how we fight the good fight, completely relying on Christ Jesus who has already won the battle against the evil ones. Jesus entered into the glory and sat at the right hand of God through His death until the enemy is at His footstool. Through the faith in God, we have been raised together with Christ and seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). All our victories depend on the work of Christ Jesus. So, we boast of nothing but Christ and Him crucified.