Month 2:4, Week 1:3 (Shleshi/Bikkurim), Year 5935:034 AM
Jericho IV (Revee/Shavu'ot)
Gregorian Calendar: Saturday 7 May 2011
Dealing with Certainties
Lessons from the Battle of Jericho
Continued from Part 3
"[Yahweh] made a decree which shall not pass away" (Ps.148:6, NKJV).
In a world of much uncertainty, where the foundations of society are increasingly seen to be like sand, where the truth becomes more and more uncertain in a Matrix-like environment, people are urgently looking for security.
Those Israelites who marched around the city of Jericho day after day for a whole week had a degree of certainty that would be the envy of any modern army. They based their certainty of the many promises Yahweh had made to their parents and to themselves which had proven reliable. So it was no 'strange' thing that they were marching around an enemy fortification without brandishing weapons or making any sort of plan of attack. The only One who had brandished any sort of weapon was the pre-incarnate Messiah who appeared to Joshua (Yehoshua):
"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, 'Are You for us or for our adversaries?' So He said, 'No, but as Commander of the army of Yahweh I have now come.' And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, 'What does my Master say to His servant?' Then the Commander of Yahweh's army said to Joshua, 'Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.' And Joshua did so" (Josh.5:13-15, NKJV).
This particular sword was not weilded as a natural sword made of iron or of steel but spiritually. As Paul taught the early believers:
"Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Ruach (Spirit), which is the davar (word) of Elohim (God)" (Eph.6:17, NKJV).
The Word of Elohim (God) is always Emet (Truth) which is action in tavnith (pattern) by command of El Elyon, the Most High. The tavnith was clearly spelled out, Joshua and the people believed, and they acted upon the Davar (Word):
"Yahweh said to Joshua: 'See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valour. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven cohenim (priests) shall bear seven shofars (trumpets of rams' horns) before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the cohenim (priests) shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the shofar (trumpet), that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him" (Josh.6:2-5, NKJV).
This was a male-only, soldiers-only and seven-priests-only affair, which meant there was no one under the age of 20 on that march. They were given precise instructions, a precise tavnith which they were not permitted to deviate from. They could not change anything at will nor try to 'improve' anything in the formula. Joshua and his men did not question anything, they obeyed and did as they were told. Their certainty lay in their knowledge that they were in tavnith!
Yahweh has told us exactly what to do in our lives. We have a detailed tavnith or pattern for the walk of our life in the Bible. I have only one question for you all: are you following it? If you are not then I have to tell you bluntly that you have no promise and therefore any 'certainty' you may entertain is vain.
Certainty comes in obedience to tavnith (pattern) - doubt and confusion spring from disobedience to tavnith (pattern).
For those who know what the Bible says, but refuse to obey it, they have no promise and can have no certainty. They are then responsible for their own doubts, confusion and ultimate failures. The Israelites didn't complain, add any women to the march, or choir boys, or a float with a display showing mighty Israelite warriors. They didn't dance or add music for effect. They didn't do any twirls or wave spears in defiance or make howling noises. They didn't beat their shields. They did what they were told to do and no more and so were IN TAVNITH and therefore totally secure.
Do you want security? Then do as you are told by the toqef (authority) over you, without complaining, and simply trust. Then watch those walls come tumbling down!
Continued in Part 5
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