The Seventh Time Around

Then the LORD said to Joshua. “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. Joshua 6:2 (NIV) This is an awesome declaration of victory considering the fortified strength of the city of Jericho! However, notice that God gave Joshua this Word in verse 2 of the battle portrayed in chapter 6! Verse 2!?!! God says, “see, Joshua… see, I have given you the victory!” But what Joshua actually saw, at that moment, with his physical eyes, was a city with scary thick walls so strong and solid the enemy was actually living inside them!! Can you relate?! Have you ever found yourself in a “battle” you could physically see no possible way for good, let alone a victory… I mean the enemy was/is practically living in the odds stacked against you like literal walls!?!!  

Joshua could have backed down in verse 2 of the battle. The actual battle had yet to begin, but the battle of the mind was well under way! If Joshua had backed down from the physical battle because the battle in his mind was too much for him to handle, he never would have experienced the victory God was declaring! 

God had to flip Joshua’s vision from the physical to the spiritual so He started with the “mind-field”. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV) 

Joshua walked by faith, trustfully allowing spiritual vision to trump the physical. God said the victory was his, so he believed it was, and led his troops accordingly. Next came the more detailed battle plans from God to Joshua. Wild plans they were too! God said, “march around the city one time. Do this for six days. Then on the seventh day walk around seven times.” Think about this plan for a moment… seven days of walking around the city and on that last day walking around it seven times?! Seven being the number of completion I think Joshua could have been completely exhausted or maybe completely filled with doubt?! That’s a lot of time to walk and think. If minds were not steadfast on the Word God gave Joshua, the physical surroundings and emotional strain would have gotten the best of Joshua and his army! Obviously they fixed their minds and hearts on Truth, enabling their spiritual vision to remain 20/20 so… The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! Joshua 6:16 (NIV) I love that Joshua never lost sight of Who really won that battle.

The seventh time around on that seventh day they received the victory God had promised back in verse 2! Exhausted though they may have been, the only thing going down that day were the enemy’s walls! God only leads us into battles He knows end in victory (2 Corinthians 2:14). The way the victory appears and the strategic steps in the battle plan, belong to Him. Half our battle is won through surrendered willful obedience to His victorious will and way.

Maybe you are in your own “verse 2”, having to choose to either rely on your physical vision or to trust the spiritual vision of victory God has given you (wild though it may seem). Grounded in Scripture is the best place to take a first flying leap of faith dear one. Or maybe you are on your seventh day/week/year… in the battle, completely exhausted. Don’t stop short of the promised victory won in Jesus! Philippians 1:6 encourages us to be confident in God’s completion of every good work He begins in us! You may be just rounding the corner of the final lap on the final day!! You may be exhausted as it may be the seventh time around, but you are not going down, lift your spiritual eyes, for He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23)!! 

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV)