Gods Sabbath

S UCCESS AND F AILURES

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point of view, the Israelites faced an impossible task. But in stead of looking to outward circumstances, Joshua looked to God alone for the plan of how to begin the conquest. He withdrew to a place where he could be alone, in order to secure the specific orders for the battle. He first of all sought assurance of divine guidance, which was granted him. The following scripture de scribes his attitude of prayer: “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, ...” Joshua 5:13 (NKJV). In this way Joshua left the full responsibility for the invasion plan with God. Neither he nor his men made any attempt to work out a solution to the problem. Given the opportunity to demonstrate His methods of working, the Lord showed that He had not changed in the least since the multitude had been deliv ered from Egypt. Just as He had not instructed Moses to assem ble the elders and tell them to form the escape plan, so He did not say to Joshua, “Return to the camp and assemble a commit tee of the elders. Have them pray most earnestly for divine gui dance and then work out a plan of attack. Once this is done, present it to Me for My blessing.” Not once in the history of their journeying from Egypt until this moment had the Lord worked that way, because it is never His way. His role is not that of a helper to human plan makers and problem solvers—He alone is to be the Plan Maker and Problem Solver in order for the mission to be successful. God accomplished the fall of Jericho exactly as He had done in their escape from Egypt. Without consulting human agents, He simply gave the Israelites a plan and required them to fol low it implicitly. They were to assemble at a given time each day and in utter silence march around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they were to multiply this silent circuit by seven, at the conclusion of which the priests were to blow their trumpets followed by a mighty shout from the whole army. (See Joshua 6).*

* When He commanded them to march seven days around the city, God's instruction would not have involved their breaking the Sabbath law. Six of

the days were working days and the seventh day was the seventh working day, which would have been the eighth day since the marching began.