The Walls of Jericho
Joshua 5:13—6:20

Lord God, take my words and speak through them, take our minds and think through them, take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you, you who are Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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A spiritual
I considered starting my sermon this evening by singing a bit of Elvis Presley to you. But I imagine you’ll be pleased to hear I soon gave up on that idea. I wouldn’t be able to do the song justice. And, as it’s an early Elvis song, from his Gospel album, ‘His Hand in Mine’, released way back in 1960, I wouldn’t be able to do the moves justice either. Even if I could, wearing these robes they’d be lost — even Elvis wouldn’t have earned his nickname had he worn a cassock and surplice. So I’ll just read the chorus instead.

The song is, of course, based on the Old Testament reading we’ve just heard; which tells the story of how the Israelites captured the city of Jericho before they advanced into the land of Canaan.

‘Joshua fit the battle of Jericho’ is a grand old American spiritual song, and has been recorded by many different artists over the years. If you have access to the internet, have a look at YouTube, and you’ll find lots of variations. But one of my favourites is the Elvis version.

It seems an odd thing to sing, ‘Joshua fit the battle’; but I imagine ‘fit’ is a dialect word for fought, otherwise its just nonsense — which, I guess, isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

It’s a song that’s encouraged generation after generation to fight spiritual battles against seemingly impossible barriers, confident that through the help of God they’ll succeed at last.

Spiritual battles
You notice that I said ‘spiritual battles’. The Old Testament is a very warlike book — or, more properly, library of books. It’s as violent as some of the modern films we see in the cinema and on our television screens.

But if anyone thinks this means that God condones the use of force to overcome evil, they’re mistaken. These are old legends, and therefore not necessarily historically accurate. The archaeological evidence is far from clear whether the walls of Jericho, the oldest city in the world, ever collapsed. It’s a yarn passed down from generation to generation. And its purpose isn’t to encourage physical violence, but spiritual perseverance.

Barriers
There are many spiritual barriers that need to be broken down.

There are barriers of mistrust, between individuals and between nations. There are barriers of race and class that divide the people within a nation, even in relatively stable countries such as our own.

There are barriers of poverty that prevent the starving people of the third world from sharing in the relative prosperity, which we enjoy. There are trade barriers and sanctions, which makes that poverty worse for individuals in those countries affected.

There are gender barriers, and the famous, or should that be infamous, ‘glass ceiling’ which prevents women being promoted to a level that their competence deserves — sadly, this happens in the Church just as much, if not more so, than in secular institutions.

There are barriers of sin and guilt that can separate us all from God.

God wants all of these walls, all of these barriers, to come a-tumbling down, so that we can live together as brothers and sisters to each other, and as children of a loving heavenly Father.

Patience and perseverance
But to bring these barriers down requires patience and perseverance.

For six days the people of Israel had to walk all the way around the walls of Jericho in silence. The soldiers went in front; behind them were the priests with the Ark of the Covenant and the seven trumpets; and after them the rest of the people, without firing a single arrow.

Not a sound was to be uttered, apart from the blowing of the trumpets, which I think must’ve been incredibly difficult. It isn’t hard to imagine the questions that would’ve been on the minds of the people as they walked around that city, especially as the days wore on.

The city was besieged, and apparently impregnable. But the Lord told Joshua they weren’t to give up prematurely.

The soldiers of Jericho must’ve gone through something of a roller coaster ride of emotions at this extraordinary behaviour. You can imagine them being quite concerned when they first saw the Israelites coming. But as the days wore on, and all the Israelites did was walk around the walls, you can imagine their confidence growing. Then perhaps doubts would’ve started to creep back in — the Israelites were so quiet, they appeared so confident in what they were doing, surely they must have a plan.

Then on the seventh day, the Israelites walked around the city seven times. That must have taken a very long time, probably most of the day.

At last, when they’d done this, they were allowed to let all of the tension out, and shout and blow the trumpets. At this astonishing sound, ‘the walls came a-tumbling down’, and Jericho was conquered for the Lord.

In the case of all the other barriers we’ve mentioned, also, the process of breaking them down is often a long one, and not one for the faint-hearted.

Prayer and praise
We don’t know what the Israelites shouted. Their battle cry would’ve probably been the Hebrew equivalent of, ‘God for Harry! England and Saint George’, and will have involved calling on the name of the Lord. So it was likely to have been a combination of prayer and praise.

Both prayer and praise are needed in all our spiritual battles: prayer that God will help us, and praise because we’re confident that he’ll bring the barriers down; for it’s only God who can break down the spiritual barriers, break down the spiritual walls.

God will bring them down
In Saint Paul’s time there was a barrier between Jew and non-Jew. It was a barrier of suspicion and mutual hatred — until all races united in one Church, as children of the same God. Then, Saint Paul said:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. (Ephesians 2:13-16)

Compared to breaking down entrenched barriers of fear and distrust between races and nations, bringing down the walls of Jericho was a cinch.

With the patience and perseverance of his people, and their prayer and praise, God in his own time will bring a-tumbling down all the barriers which divide his people. Trust him!

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Amen