Shhhhh...

SCRIPTURE

Joshua 6:1-21 (NRSV)
The Israelites conquer Jericho

Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in. The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram's horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead." So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark of the Lord." To the people he said, "Go forward and march around the city; have the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord."

As Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets; the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. To the people Joshua gave this command: "You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout." So the ark of the Lord went around the city, circling it once; and they came into the camp, and spent the night in the camp.

Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord passed on, blowing the trumpets continually. The armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. On the second day they marched around the city once and then returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

On the seventh day they rose early, at dawn, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent. As for you, keep away from the things devoted to destruction, so as not to covet and take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it. But all silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are sacred to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord." So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. Then they devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.


DEVOTION

Today my imagination is captured by the importance of the “voice” in this Biblical narrative. In essence, God tells the Israelites, “I am going to allow you to overthrow Jericho with your voice.”
According to the Bible, their instructions were simple. They were to march around the city for six days with a silent voice. There was to be no talking at all! Then on the seventh day, when Joshua gave the signal, they were to SHOUT with a loud voice!

Now, I don’t know about you, but I think it would be very challenging for me to observe a complete fast of my voice for seven whole days! It would have been hard for me to avoid the temptation to argue, fuss, fight, and complain as I was “forced” to march around a city in a circle with no visible or tangible results.

Now, you know how we are, my friends.

Don’t you think it is amazing that no one said, “What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Look at the folks in Jericho; they are laughing at us! Let us just go up and take the city. Why do we have to act like punks?! I thought God was on our side…”

Isn’t that what a lot of us do in the midst of difficult circumstances? God has promised to bless us and keep us and make God’s face to shine upon us. God has declared that God has a good plan for us not to harm us, but to give us a future and a hope. God has said that God will never leave us nor forsake us.

But, when the going gets tough, we forget the promises of God and use our mouths and our voices to argue, fuss, fight, and complain against God and God’s timing in our lives.

Today, we are reminded that sometimes we just need to get silent and do what God has told us to do! Joshua told his people, “You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout."

This is good advice my friends! I think that as Christians we talk too much! It would be good for us to follow some good ole fashioned advice. My mama used to say all the time, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all!”

I truly believe that many of us are guilty of talking ourselves out of our blessings! We talk ourselves into forsaking the commandments and directions of God. We talk ourselves into disobeying God and going our own way. We talk ourselves into believing that God will not do what God said God would do!

Lord, have mercy on us!

Today, let us determine to be like the Israelites at Jericho. Let us hear and heed the word of God, silently wait on the manifestation of God’s salvation, and then shout the victory when it is at hand!

Our voices are best used to lift up the wonderful Name of Jesus! If we need to say anything, let it be, “Jesus saves and He saves to the utmost!”

Let us use our voices to declare the victory of our God and to tell the good news story that God loves us so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life!

Proverbs 18:21 says, “The power of life and death is in the tongue…”

Will you speak life or death today?

Holy God, I want to use my mouth to declare your praise and to bear witness to the good news that You love, gave, and save! Please forgive me for the times in the past when I have used my tongue for evil and to forsake your way. God, you are so good and I want my words to affirm this Truth. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.