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Joshua accepts a battle plan that defies military experience.

This Week’s Story relives American history and the Bible through brief inspiring stories presented on mp3 audio recordings and text for reading.

Joshua: Battle Plan Jericho,
part five

Joshua awoke and laughed joyously. “Lord, I’m ready for Day One, of Battle Plan Jericho! I think your plan for defeating Jericho will shock our warriors and the enemy. It is mighty unusual, and impossible to execute without you, but I trust you.

“I love your creativity, and your concern for us, even when we are miserable to deal with. Over and over you show us your power, so we Israelites will rest in your strength.

“You delivered us from slavery in Egypt. You parted the waters of the Red Sea so we could walk across and you parted the waters of the Jordan River for us. You led a Canaanite woman to hide our two spies in Jericho.

“You are great, but I confess we are grumblers. We complained about food shortages when we were only six weeks out of Egypt. You sent us food. We wondered what it was and called it manna. I suspect you were smiling when we saw thin flakes that fell from the sky. We made tasty bread with them for forty years.

“Lord, now we enter the Land, which you promised to our forefathers. Please guide us.”

Joshua stepped to the door of his tent as Caleb walked up to him. They greeted each other warmly, as old friends do. “We have waited forty years, Joshua, since we spied out the Promised Land for Moses. We told him, ‘We can take the Promised Land, if God is with us. The ten other spies with us thought we were fools. Our nation suffered for our disbelief and we waited for a generation of fighting men to die. We are again at the Promised Land. New spies have returned with encouraging news.”

“Caleb, Day One of Battle Plan Jericho begins. Our soldiers are moving into formation. They will march around the city once today. Armed soldiers are first, followed by seven priests, each with a trumpet. The Ark of the Covenant will be carried behind them, followed by the rear guard. There will be 600,000 armed men on the field.

Joshua’s orders were the same for six days and they were obeyed. Orders changed the seventh day and jolted the soldiers. Some said quietly, “How will we enter and defeat Jericho by marching around it, blowing horns and suddenly shouting? In many places the city walls are eleven feet high with a thirty-five foot stone slope on top. The spies say the walls are fourteen feet wide. Maybe we need to make a siege and starve out the enemy.”

These were a new generation of warriors. The last generation had died in the deserts. This one knew of their parents’ disobedience. They had seen the waters of the River Jordan separate and they had walked across the river bed. They had grown up with Moses as their leader and they had promised to accept Joshua as their new leader and obey God’s commands. What would they do with the orders for Day Seven?

This is Barbara Steiner with a famous story to conclude soon. It is presented in Joshua five and six and Numbers 13 of the Bible. The Associates for Biblical Research have helpful archaeological research on internet regarding Jericho.

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