God's Glory Church

There is one aspect of faith that haunts me – the time period between when you know what to believe and begin to act on faith and the moment when, after a day, a week or years, you finally see the embodiment of what you believed in. We all love to enjoy the pictures of faith that God reveals to us. We all love to see real fruits of faith in our lives or in the lives of people around us. It is so inspiring when you or someone near you says: “I believed and the Lord heard me, my need was solved, my illness went away, my circumstances miraculously changed…” But there is one fact that precedes all this – that God said that birds multiply on the earth (Genesis 1:22).

I would really like to tell you that if you are believers, then everything will automatically work out for you. What you don’t take on will simply change before your eyes, but scripture says that between a miracle and what we see today, there is always a certain period when you and I are on earth, in our unchanged circumstances. This period is the time when your and my faith is tested to its strength. This is the time when one word or circumstance can destroy the most beautiful dreams and the most wonderful revelation from God.

What advice does scripture give us? Has God really not provided anything for you and me in this case? It turns out that there are many examples in scripture of what to do during the wait between receiving a revelation of what will happen and the very moment when you can fly above all circumstances with your wings spread. One such example is recorded in the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews: By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after a seven-day march (Heb. 11:30). Therefore, let us remember this story together and draw from the example that the Lord gave us in it.

Before starting hostilities, Joshua himself decided to inspect the walls of the city of Jericho. When he approached the city for this purpose, suddenly not far from him he saw a man with a drawn sword. “Are you ours, or one of our enemies?,” the brave leader asked him. “No, I am the captain of the army of the Lord,” answered the stranger (Joshua 5:13-14). Joshua bowed to him to the ground and, as a sign of respect for the holiness of the place, at his command, took off his shoes. Then the Archangel of the Heavenly Host revealed to Joshua the will of God, how to take the impregnable fortress of Jericho. The entire Jewish people must walk around Jericho with the Ark of the Covenant for six days, once at a time, and on the seventh day walk around it seven times. Then, at a sign from his leader, he must shout loudly – and at this time, with God’s help, the walls of Jericho will collapse. Joshua did just that. For six days in a row, the Israelites left the camp and once a day marched in a solemn procession around the fortress walls at a distance safe from arrows and stone projectiles. The besieged climbed the walls and watched these actions with surprise and fear, suspecting that some sinister magical meaning was hidden in them. For since Jericho stood, it has never happened before that the attackers behaved so incomprehensibly. At the head of the procession, armed soldiers walked in battle formation. Immediately behind them came the priests, blowing loudly with silver trumpets. Then came a group of priests who, on gilded poles, solemnly carried the shrine of the Israeli people – the Ark of the Covenant. The procession was closed by a crowd of women, children and old people in festive clothes. Everyone walked in silence, and only the loud playing of trumpets could be heard in the air. At dawn on the seventh day, Joshua again led his people out of the camp and walked around the walls six times, maintaining, as before, strict silence. However, making the seventh circle, the people shouted loudly at this signal – and at that time a miracle happened: the walls of the city of Jericho shook to the ground and collapsed. Israeli soldiers rushed into the city from different sides, and the battle began on the streets of Jericho. The Lord condemned this city, therefore, with the exception of Rahab and her relatives, the Israelites destroyed all its inhabitants. The fall of Jericho inspired the Israelites to further conquer the Promised Land, but the most important thing is what they learned! Now each of them knew that there is always a time between God’s revelation and its implementation in life when you walk in circles, and circumstances do not change and the only thing that can help you achieve victory is obedience to what God has said and consistency in what he has revealed to you.