After the resounding victory of the people of Israel over the city of Jericho, Joshua 7:1-26 records how the people of Israel stumbled at the smaller hurdle of the city of Ai where they suffered a resounding defeat. The causes of this defeat were many. One was the trap of self-confidence that Joshua and his men fell for. The defeat of Jericho only inflated their pride not their humility. Another was the trap of prayerlessness. Joshua fell on his face before the Lord after the defeat, but maybe should have sought the Lord before the battle. The main reason for their loss was the trap of disobedience. Unbeknown to Joshua, one of his men, Achan, kept some of the spoil from the victory over Jericho for himself and God was not pleased. It was only when Achan’s sin was exposed and judged that Israel could go on. Thankfully God does not make our sins public (unlike Achan’s) and has also provided us with gracious means of salvation through the death of Jesus on the cross.

When the people of Israel entered the land of Canaan, their first major obstacle to overcome was the city of Jericho with its thick, high and wide walls. By human account, getting past those wall was an impossibility, but when Joshua fell on his face before the Commander of the Lord’s Army, he guaranteed victory for his people by abandoning his plans for attacking Jericho and being obedient to the Lord’s strategy. That strategy found in Joshua 6:1-27 involved a lot of marching, trumpet blowing and shouting, but the wall fell and we learn from it the kind of patient, disciplene and perserving faith that God’s people need in daily living.

Once the people of Israel under the leadership of Joshua entered the promised land of Canaan, they faced all kinds of next lessons and experiences. In Joshua 5:1-15 we find that by instructing Joshua to circumcise all the men, God reminded them that their past disobedience would no longer be tolerated. By ending the daily supply of manna, God showed His people that His daily provisions would no longer come in the same way. By sending the commander of His army to meet Joshua, God showed Joshua that he was no longer in charge. By falling on his face to worship, Joshua won the battle that was to be fought against Jericho in chapter 6. All these lessons remind us that we are always in God’s school, as He calls us to learn His ways and walk by faith not sight.

All kinds of memories can be evoked by certain sounds, sights or smells. In Joshua 4:1-24, God instructed the people of Israel to gather large stones from the bed of the River Jordan while the waters were held back and to create a memorial on the banks of the river. By this memorial, the people of Israel were taught to remember the Lord’s power who saved them, to fear the Lord’s name because it is great and to know for sure that they were His people. All believers know of God’s saving grace and can testify to what God has done by the power of the gospel at work. They will also know that God no longer bears witness through memorials but does so through His ‘living stones’ who can speak openly of His grace at work in them.

After the encouragement Joshua received through the conversion and rescue of Rahab, the next obstacle in his way was the flooded Jordan River which lay between the people of Israel and the Promised Land. However, as we read in  Joshua 3:1-17, God knew what He was doing, and arranged it so that when the priests of Israel placed their feet in the flowing water, it stopped flowing and stood up in a heap. It was a miracle of a similar order to the crossing of the Red Sea under Moses. And by it, God showed His people that He was able to get them into the land, just as He had got them out of the land of Egypt. He can be trausted to complete what He has begun