After the death of Moses, Joshua, the son of Nun, took over Moses’ leadership. Joshua was chosen and appointed by God to lead His people into the promised land and to take the promised land as an inheritance. Joshua witnessed God’s greatness and contrary to the others, Joshua had faith in God and had proven his faith in God by trusting in God and obeying the words of God, which were spoken through the mouth of Moses, and by his actions. And so Joshua took over Moses’ leadership and led the people into the promised land. After they crossed the river Jordan and entered the promised land of Canaan, Jericho was the first city they conquered. The gates of Jericho were closed. Why were the gates of Jericho closed? Kerana bangsa Israel. Tetapi pintu gerbang yang ditutup tidak menghalang rakyat Israel untuk menakluki Yerikho. Apabila tembok Yerikho runtuh, orang Israel dapat menakluki Yerikho. Tetapi bagaimana tembok Yerikho runtuh?
Seperti Tuhan bersama Musa, begitu juga Tuhan akan bersama Yosua
Selepas Musa meninggal dunia, Tuhan berjanji Dia akan bersama Yosua, yang namanya asalnya Hosea. Tuhan memerintahkan Yosua untuk menyeberangi sungai Yordan dan memiliki tanah yang dijanjikan. Setiap tempat Yosua meletakkan tapak kakinya telah diberikan Tuhan kepada Yosua, seperti yang Tuhan katakan kepada Musa. Satu-satunya perkara yang Joshua dan orang ramai perlu lakukan ialah memasuki dan memiliki tanah itu, yang telah Tuhan janjikan dan berikan kepada mereka.
Tiada siapa yang akan dapat berdiri di hadapan Yosua sepanjang hari-hari hidupnya. Kerana seperti Tuhan bersama Musa, supaya Tuhan akan bersama Yosua. Tuhan tidak akan mengecewakan Yosua atau meninggalkan Yosua.
Joshua perlu kuat dan berani
Tuhan memerintahkan Yosua tiga kali untuk menjadi kuat dan berani. Yosua harus kuat dan berani kerana kepada orang-orang dia harus memberikan tanah itu sebagai milik, yang Tuhan telah bersumpah kepada nenek moyang mereka untuk memberi mereka.
Yosua perlu kuat dan berani untuk mematuhi semua hukum, yang diperintahkan oleh Musa hamba Tuhan, dan tidak berpaling ke kanan atau ke kiri, supaya Yosua akan makmur ke mana sahaja dia pergi.
Kitab Hukum tidak boleh keluar dari mulut Yosua tetapi perlu sentiasa berada di dalam mulutnya. Yosua terpaksa bermeditasi di sana siang dan malam, supaya Yosua dapat mematuhi untuk melakukan mengikut semua yang tertulis dalam Kitab hukum Taurat, kerana dengan itu jalan Joshua akan makmur dan dia akan mendapat kejayaan yang baik.
Tuhan telah memberikan Yosua dan orang-orang Firman-Nya, tetapi terpulang kepada Yosua dan orang ramai jika jalan mereka akan makmur atau tidak dan sama ada dia akan mendapat kejayaan yang baik. Tuhan tidak bertanggungjawab untuk ini, tetapi Yosua dan orang-orang itu (Baca juga: ‘Adakah cara Tuhan mengikut cara anda?’ and ‘Berhenti menyalahkan Tuhan!‘).
Yosua perlu kuat dan berani dan tidak takut dan tidak kecewa, kerana Tuhan Allahnya bersamanya, ke mana sahaja dia akan pergi.
Yosua dan bangsa itu mematuhi firman Tuhan
Yosua berjalan dalam ketaatan kepada firman Tuhan dan memelihara perintah-perintah-Nya dan memaklumkan kepada orang ramai. Orang-orang berjanji bahawa ketika mereka mematuhi Musa, mereka juga akan mematuhi Yosua dan mereka akan melakukan semua yang Yosua perintahkan untuk mereka lakukan. Dan sesiapa yang tidak mentaati Yosua, akan dihukum mati.
Janji ini telah dilakukan oleh rakyat, yang bermaksud bahawa semua orang, yang tergolong dalam umat Tuhan, Bersetuju.
Bandar Yerikho
Kota Yerikho ialah bandar pertama, yang ditakluki oleh Yosua dan bangsa. Selepas kota itu digeledah oleh kedua-dua pengintip itu dan mereka kembali kepada Yosua dan memberitahu Yosua apa yang berlaku dan bahawa Tuhan telah menyerahkan seluruh negeri ke dalam tangan mereka, kerana semua penduduk negara itu takut kepada orang Israel, mereka bersedia untuk memasuki tanah perjanjian dan menguasai kota Yerikho.
Yosua memaklumkan kepada orang ramai dan memerintahkan mereka untuk menguduskan diri mereka. The people obeyed the words of Joshua and sanctified themselves and prepared themselves to enter the promised land.
After God had spoken to Joshua and informed him about the way they had to go, Joshua spoke the words of the Lord to the people
The priests and the people did according to the words of Joshua.
They went to the river Jordan and when the priests, who carried the ark of the covenant, put the soles of their feet in the waters of Jordan, the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off, dan orang-orang itu menyeberang betul-betul menentang Yerikho.
Semasa perjalanan mereka, Tuhan memberikan perintah Yosua, yang dipatuhi oleh Joshua.
Selepas menyeberangi sungai Jordan, dan dua belas batu, yang dibawa keluar dari Jordan dan didirikan di tempat penginapan mereka di Gilgal sebagai peringatan, dan selepas berkhatan dan selepas memelihara Paskah, manakala Yosua berada di sebelah Yerikho, di sana menampakkan diri kepada Yosua, kapten bala tentera Tuhan dengan pedangnya ditarik di tangannya.
Yosua tersungkur ke bumi dan menyembah dan bertanya, Apa yang Tuan telah katakan kepada hambanya? Tetapi sebelum kapten tentera Tuhan bercakap, dia memerintahkan Yosua untuk melepaskan kasutnya dari kakinya kerana tempat di mana dia berdiri adalah suci. Dan Yosua mematuhi kata-katanya.
Jericho had closed his gates because of the children of Israel
Now Jericho had closed his gates because of the children of Israël. No one could go out and no one could come in. But nothing is impossible for our God!
The Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the king of Jericho and the mighty men of valour. And you shall march the city all you men of war and go round about the city once. Thus shall you do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams horns: and the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him (Joshua 6:2-5).
God’s people obeyed his words and compassed the city of Jericho
Joshua called the priests and informed them what the Lord had spoken to him and what they had to do and also instructed the people.
As soon as Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests, who bore the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. The armed man went before the priests and the reward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
Joshua had commanded the people to not shout nor to make any noise with their voice, nor speak any word until the day Joshua would bid the people to shout. Only then would the people shout.
The people obeyed the words of Joshua and the people and the ark of the Lord compassed the city and did this for 6 days.
On the seventh day, they rose early and compassed the city of Jericho, in the same manner, seven times, according to the words of God. Only that day, they compassed the city seven times.
At the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua told the people:
“Shout, for the Lord had given them the city. And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord” (Baca juga: ‘What happened in the valley of Achor?’).
The people did according to the words of Joshua and while they shouted and the priests blew with the trumpets, ia berlaku, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall of Jericho fell down flat.
The walls of Jericho fell
The walls of Jericho fell and the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, as Joshua had commanded and they took the city. They destroyed the city and burned all that was therein, except for the silver, gold, and vessels of brass and iron, which were put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.
And as promised Rahab, her father, mother, and her brethren and all that she had, were saved. They brought her and her relatives out and left them outside the camp of Israel (Joshua 1-6).
The fall of Jericho
The city of Jericho was destroyed and Joshua warned the people by saying, “cursed be the man before the Lord, that rises up and builds this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it”
And so it came to pass, during the reign of king Ahad, that the Bethelite Hiel rebuild the city of Jericho and laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Joshua the son of Nun (1 Kings 16:34).
How did the walls of Jericho fall?
In the natural (visible) realm it seemed impossible that the walls of Jericho would fall. But what seems impossible in the natural realm is possible with God.
The walls of Jericho didn’t fall per se by compassing the city, by blowing the trumpets of rams’ horns nor the shouting of the people on the seventh day. But the walls of Jericho fell by faith in God and the obedience to the words of God by God’s people
God sent His word and Joshua received the word of God and obeyed His word and did what God had commanded him to do, just like the rest of the people.
The obedience was the result of Joshua’s faith in God. Joshua believed God and His might and feared God and because of that Joshua trusted in God and stayed faithful to His words and did according to what God had commanded him to do. Through his obedience and acts (works), which derived from his faith in God, the walls of Jericho fell.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. (Bahasa Ibrani 11:30)
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith (Mark 11:22-23)
By faith in God and His Word, which caused them to obey the words of God and compassed the walls of the city for seven days, the walls of Jericho fell. By faith in God and His Word, this great miracle happened and many more miracles happened and by faith in God and faith in Jesus Christ and faith in His Name miracles still happen. Miracles, which seem impossible and inexplicable in the natural realm but are possible and explicable with God.
Joshua, who belonged to the generation of the old man, didn’t put his trust in his own action, in this case, in compassing the city, but Joshua had put his trust in God.
More faith and trust in formulas than in God
Unfortunately in this age, many believers have more faith in their words and actions (works) than in God. They have more faith in speaking the right words and following the acquired strategies, methods, and technics than in God and His Word.
Although they say they believe in God and have faith in Jesus Christ and His name, many times their actions speak otherwise.
Because if you really believe in God then you trust Him and you do what He says and you obey His words.
Selain itu, if you really believe in God then you know that what you will say will come to pass, if it is according to the will of God.
You will hold on and persevere and don’t give up and don’t doubt and question yourself whether you have spoken the right words or used the right methods and technics and followed the right strategies. You shall not wonder whether you have done something wrong and search for other (magical) words and formulas.
Faith is not believing in a formula and speaking the right words and using the right methods and technics and following the right steps and strategies. But faith is knowing God and to know His will and believing in His Word, which He has sent, and His power and trusting Him and doing what He says.
All the works Jesus did, He did by faith in God and through faith in His Name. If you believe in God then everything is possible. But you have to know Him and you only can get to know Him by His Word and do what the Word says.
‘Jadilah garam bumi’
