Trust and Assurance

When ol’ Joshua stepped up to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, the Almighty prepared three “tests,” or opportunities, for them to put their trust in Him. The first test was a body of water that they couldn’t get around: the Jordan River. It’s not like they had boats, and they couldn’t wade through it because the Jordan was in its flood stage. Instead of grumbling and complaining as their parents had done, they trusted God and had faith that He would make a way across — and He did (Joshua 3:13–17).

The second test waited on the other side: a mass circumcision (Joshua 5:2). Imagine about a million and a half men, who had never been circumcised, going under the flint knife — with no anesthesia. That was a place of pain and woe, I’m sure. Yet, there’s no record of anyone carping or complaining. They trusted and obeyed what God asked them to do.

After they healed up, they marched on to the third test: the battle of Jericho — no doubt they were revving up like warriors will do — maybe played a little loud music and hit each other on the breastplate. That’s when the Almighty revealed His unique battle plan, telling Joshua that the Israelites were to march around the city while the priests played their trumpets — and everyone else had to keep their mouths shut until the seventh day when Joshua would tell them to shout.

Now picture this scene from the perspective of those rascals inside the walls of Jericho. They’d heard about the Israelites’ reputation in war and were definitely not happy to have them in the neighborhood. Imagine their surprise when, on the first day of the battle, nobody fired a shot. Not one arrow. Not one battering ram. Instead, they walked around the walls playing trumpets and then filed on home. On the second day, the same thing happened. Ditto on the third day.

By this time the Israelites must have become a joke to the folks inside Jericho. That is, until, the shout rang out and the walls fell down. In an instant, Jericho was defenseless. Israel’s enemies lost. God won. End of story. So what was that all about? God was trying to teach the Israelites something important as they began to conquer the Promised Land: This battle is not your battle, it’s My battle. All you need to do is trust in Me.

In other words, the Almighty wanted every living Israelite to exercise their trust in Him, from the oldest to the youngest. No exceptions. When the Lord appeared before Joshua and told him that He was in charge, Joshua’s response was the only right one: he fell before the Lord in worship and obedience (Joshua 5:13, 14).

Taken from The Duck Commander Faith and Family Bible