Blessed be Yahweh, the Elohim (God) of Israel, as we assemble on this second day of our annual Jericho March for offensive, not defensive, spiritual warfare. We are told that when Joshua and his army arrived "Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out, and no one went in" (Josh.6:1, NRSV). So the first order of business is to identify, and isolate your obstacle and put it on the defensive. To do that we must, in faith, declare to our oppressor or oppression, 'ENOUGH! NO MORE! and take the war to him.

To be a successful overcomer you need to know two essential things:

• 1. Who you are; and
• 2. The reality of your present condition.

We are on Day #2 of our annual Jericho March that coresponds to the annual festival of Chag haMatzah or the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Yesterday was Rosh Chodesh corresponding to the annual feast of Pesach (Passover); the first day of the second month of the current new year, and the first day of the seven day-long attack on Jericho. The warriors circled the city once with seven cohenim (priests) bearing seven shofars or trumpets of rams' horns, blasting away in front of the Ark of the Covenant. This was done for the first six days without variation. The shofars made their presence known for all to see.

They presented, not themselves, but the Ark, Yahweh's Throne on Earth and emblem of His Presence. We cannot assault the obstacles in our lives in our own strength. We are declaring, rather, Yahweh's Presence in us as spiritually regenerated sons and daughters of the Most High. We are declaring our salvation openly. Seven priests blowing seven trumpets indicates a complete declaration, without reservation, that which is real. And Christ-in-us is real if you have repented of your sins and acknowledge that You are saved by the blood of atonement that was shed for us at Calvary. In the Old Covenant the blood of a lamb was sprinked on the mercy seat of the Ark by the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) at Yom haKippurim, the Day of Atonements. Christ was the final sacrifice for sin. Now we can go straight to Him every day because we also know that we continue to sin, even though we are called to stop, and must acknowledge that. We must be real about what's going on in our lives today and every day. If you think you are without sin, that you don't sin anymore, then you are living in unreality. So we face up to our condition daily and we straighten things up, until the desire to sin disappears altogether. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousnes" (1 John 1:9, NIV).

Around 1473 BC, nearly 3½ thousand years ago, Joshua the son of Nun of the Tribe of Ephraim, an experienced warrior under Moses who vanquished the Amalekites, found himself, as Moses' successor, as the commander-in-chief of the Israelite forces facing an impregnable Canaanite fortress on the border of Canaan. Under his leadership, Israel had already experienced one miracle: the supernatural damming up of the mighty River Jordan enabling the nation to cross over to the west bank, calling to mind a similar though even more dramatic parting of the Red Sea under Moses many years before. So he was already a proven man of faith, one of the privileged 70 men allowed to encounter the glory of Yahweh on Mount Sinai (Ex.24:9-18). He remained with Moses there for the entire 40 days of his absence during which time Israel built a golden calf in the valley below and apostacised. He shared in Moses' indignation when he saw the grotesque Egyptian idol that his people were partying around. He was the one sent out by Moses, with eleven others from each of the 12 tribes, to spy out the Land of Canaan, he and Caleb alone bringing back a positive report in spite of the terrifying size of the giants in the land.

Safe on the west side of the Jordan, he had supervised the circumcision of all the young men at Gilgal who had been born in the wilderness, memorialising this covenant ordinance by piling up seven great stones taken from the river bed of the dried-up River Jordan. Soon thereafter he met with the Malak (Angel) of Yahweh's Presence, the pre-incarnate Messiah, Yah'shua (Jesus), who solemnly gave him his instructions for the taking and destruction of the Jericho fortress that would become the bikkurim or firstfruits of Israel's conquest and a sign to the new generation of Yahweh's power. Notice how Yahweh starts with the biggest obstacles first. Why? To build emunah (faith) and to separate out the disobedient like Achan who looted Jericho of that which had been dedicated to Yahweh. So we're here to deal with the biggest stuff in our lives. We're not like the weight-lifter starting with small weights and working our way up to the bigger ones. We start with the heaviest first because Yahweh is the one doing the lifting and we just have to believe that He can!.

The Jerichoites knew all about the Israelites and how their Elohim (God) had defeated the mighty Egyptians a generation before. But there is a diffence between hearing the accounts of others and actually meeting up with the characters involved in these fantastic events face-to-face. They were afraid, to be sure, but when they saw the motley crew of untrained warriors that the Israelites were, they must have begun to wonder if the stories they had heard of the exploits at the Red Sea weren't somewhat exaggerated. To the King and inhabitants of Jericho, the Israelites must have looked unimpressive. How could they possibly overwhelm its massive walls? They had no siege weapons, no battering rams, no ladders, nothing but a religious artefact (the Ark), blaring trumpets and sheathed swords slung across their backs. Moreover, the Egyptian débâcle had occurred a generation before. The younger generation of pagans was, as is typical, more sceptical than their elders, and doubtless wondered if the accounts of the greatness of Yahweh weren't somewhat exaggerated just as I am quite sure many of you younger ones have wondered whether an old codger like myself hasn't somewhat exaggerated the things Yahweh has done for, and through, me and my brethren. Be honest. I mean, people often exaggerate in order to impress, don't they? So it's quite 'natural' that you should wonder...

Three days ago the enemy threw down the gauntlet again and made a display of his power to impress and frighten. It's been about two decades now since he last tried to assault this place both spiritually and physically. A new generation has arisen since then who know only of stories their parents have told them, of fire from heaven and the enemy being instantly burned to ashes. And the Enemy's new-bloods are themselves always keen to demonstrate their prowess with a show of reckless bravado to prove how tough they are to their comrades and to those whom they are replacing who remember the fruitless searches for their vanquished, vanished comrades in the times before.

So remember this: every new generation of the world wants to prove itself and make a name for itself just as it did in building the Tower of Babel. They said:

"Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves..." (Gen.11:4, NKJV).

The devil's servants are no different today either. Do not assume that they will be fully persuaded of the mighty power of Yahweh experienced by their own fathers simply by listening to their stories, especially if there has been a long period of inactivity inbetween. Memories are short and they will want to test the Creator for themselves, having also been raised on stories that Satan is mightier than Yahweh. Every new generation of devil-worshippers has to be met by an Elijah-prophet or two and receive a bloodied nose before they come to see the lie they were taught and to start doubting the 'official satanic narrative' given to them. And a doubter is always more hesitant to go into battle. He usually needs to be shamed, prodded or threatened into action by his own people when doubt has set in. So some of them will be sent as canon fodder against the Elijah Prophets as Ahab sent soldiers to arrest Elijah who were burned to a crisp:

"So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, 'If I am a man of Elohim (God), then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.' And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Then [Ahab] sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he answered and said to him: 'Man of Elohim (God), thus has the king said, 'Come down quickly!'' So Elijah answered and said to them, 'If I am a man of Elohim (God), let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.' And the fire of Elohim (God) came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty [too]" (2 Kings 1:10-12, NKJV).

Your faith is about to be tested in a new Mt.Carmel-type contest. We, the older generation, have the benefit of hindsight since we have already had our baptisms-of-fire...or some of us have, at any rate. We have met these people head-on before. Each new generation must have its Joshua's and Caleb's from the previous generation to lead and guide them until they are fully able to stand on their own two feet, and hopefully with a double portion of the Ruach (Spirit) to receive the greater challenges lying ahead of them (2 Ki.2:9). So the first generation under Moses has, in the Book of Joshua account, conquered the East Bank of the River Jordan but the second generation has yet to take the West Bank.

Like the Serpent trying to get Eve to doubt what Yahweh had told the first couple (Gen.3:1), so the Enemy wants Yahweh's modern-day Joshua's and Caleb's to be doubted by those they lead too. I get it, even if I will never commend or praise it; for we are called, in the words of Paul to Jude, to "be merciful to those who doubt; [to] snatch others from the fire and save them; [and] to others show mercy, mixed with fear..." (Jude 22-23, NIV) in the same way we ourselves have sought mercy when we, when we were growing up in the faith, also doubted sometimes.

What happens from now on, and our responses, will set the tone for this work in the years to come. You must ask yourself: 'Have I built my spiritual foundation on rock or sand?' (Mt.7:24-27) 'Have I cultivated the spiritual life or have I been negligent?' (Ps.119:16) All of that is about to be put to the test. The conquest of the East Bank was a relatively easy affair compared to the challenges that lay waiting for them on the West Bank in Joshua's day. Joshua and Israel still had the experienced Moses leading them in the conquest of the East, but Moses was no longer with them and Joshua was, as yet, untested in his new rôle as Israel's captain. Every leader gets his 'baptism of fire' on the battlefield.

Let's pray:

"Father Yahweh, whose Throne shall last forever and ever, whose royal sceptre is a sceptre of integrity, You who love virtue as much as You hate wickedness, anoint us as we continue to march in faith, in unison, around the strongmen of our lives. We recall Your marvels, the astonishing things that You have done throughout the ages since You created all things by the power of Your Davar (Word).

"You put an end to wars. You break the bow and snap the spear and You cast shields into the flames. Yahweh Sebaoth, Elohim (God) of Armies, You are on our side, we can lean securely on You and know that You will bear us up. The true leaders of the nations will rally to the people of Elohim (God), to the sons of the Elohim (God) of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You hold the Enemy in derision; a single glance brings down his towers; a single breath turns him to powder that blows away like chaff in the wind. Your right hand holds the victory. We declare that Yahweh is here, our Elohim (God) and Leader, for ever and ever.

"Why, then, should we be afraid of evil times, when malice dogs our steps and hems us in? Why, then, should we be intimidated by men who trust in their wealth and boast of the profusion of their riches? For we trust in You, Yah Almighty, for the wealth and power of wicked men is nothing before You. It is fleeting, here today, gone tomorrow. Their lives are but a breath away from the edge of the Pit into which they will be cast if they do not repent. Their arrogance is their undoing. Therefore justify us, Father, as we cling to You and march accoring to the pattern that You have shown us, in the Name of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), our Master (Lord). Amen."

Join me tomorrow at the same time as I unfold an ancient story and the tell you more of the new parallel one that is unfolding. Choices need to be made to either join the exhilarations and challenges of the Last Exodus or remain behind in the guilded Egyptian cage and gently slide down the slippery slope into oblivion. I'll see you tomorrow for the Third Day.