Una Batalla de Obediencia | El Dîa a Dîa

Welcome to chapter 6 of the book of Joshua. My name is Victor Martínez, pastor of Crossroads en Español. And today we will be discussing a little more about one of the most epic battles in the history of humanity. In fact, the word epic is probably short when we think about what happened during the battle of Jericho. In this story we see how God tells Joshua to do something that may sound a little crazy, a little curious and interesting. However, we see the position of a leader who fully trusts God and his word to go and take this city. If you don't know the story, I'm going to give you a brief summary of what we can read in chapter 6. In the battle of Jericho, as the people of Israel approached, God invites Joshua and his people, his priests, to do a very similar routine for seven days. From day 1 to 6, they would have to go around the city of Jericho, which at that time was totally protected by very high walls. The city, in fact, was closed and did not allow anyone to enter and leave because it knew that the people of Israel were there, which they had already heard before of the feats they had achieved thanks to the God who walked with them. And during the first six days they would walk, playing a trumpet basically around the city for a round. In other words, they would go to the sound of a party that would surprise and probably even make the city of Jericho, perhaps with fear, but perhaps with mockery, wonder what these fools would do going around. And on the seventh day, the instructions were that they would take seven rounds around the city and that at the end of that, everyone would scream and at that moment the walls would collapse. Well, guess what happened? The same. The people of Israel, under the mandate and leadership of Joshua, decide to obey God and take their one or only round for six days each day. And then on the seventh day they take seven rounds and scream and the walls collapse. But something curious seems to be happening here. And it is that inside the city of Jericho there was still Raab, a character that we saw in chapter 2, where God reminds Joshua to give the instructions about rescuing Raab and his family for the role they played during the support they gave to the spies. But after rescuing Raab and his family, he destroys the city. They burn it completely. Now, most likely God is not calling you or me to walk around a city to break down its walls. However, it seems to me that there is something in this chapter that is very important for us to reflect on. And in fact, I am reading a study Bible, a biblical Bible, and I want to read you ten things that really stand out from Joshua and his position. Number one, he made obedience his first priority. Number two, he never expected to see what the crowd wanted to do. Imagine that the crowd asked him, hey, what do you think of this idea of ​​going with music around this city to break down the walls?

They probably would have said it was a crazy idea. Number three, he made decisions from an eternal and not temporal perspective. It was very possible that Joshua would say, I don't know if I'm going to do something like this because maybe my leadership is going to get in the way. However, he knew that there was a divine plan behind all this and he still decides to follow God's instructions. He says he acted with decision. Here, in this aspect of having faith, it is likely that Joshua struggled a little with the idea of ​​really God, this is what you want me to do. However, once he makes the decision that he is going to do it, he acts with decision. Number five, he deeply appreciated the past without worshiping it. He understood what God had done. However, he was not stuck in the things that God had done, but he had hope for what God could still do. Number six, he valued the results more than the image and reputation. Number seven, he knew that to influence others he had to stand out and that they had him in mind. Number eight, he never wavered in his understanding of what was right. Joshua was a very fair leader and was very firm in his convictions about the things and instructions that God had left the people of Israel. Number nine, he trusted God more than his talent. And number ten, he made glorifying God his ultimate goal. Certainly, many of these battles could have been avoided. were to be used as excuses or reasons for which Joshua wanted to exalt himself. However, Joshua at all times sought to give glory to God and remind the people of Israel that the victories that were taking place were thanks to God and not thanks to Joshua. So, Joshua's stance, all these points that I have just read to you, are things that may apply to us much more than the fact of walking around a city. So my invitation to you is to reflect, to go back to this video and listen to those 10 points and see which one is the one that touches you deeply. For me, trusting God more than his own talent impacts me a lot, in addition to making obedience his first priority. Sometimes I ask myself, and in fact sometimes I have seen examples in my life where I end up being obedient to God, but there are times when it becomes difficult for me to take those steps of obedience. I don't know if that makes me less qualified or more qualified to be a leader.

However, I want to trust God more than my own talent, more than my own convictions. I want to trust that if God tells me to do something, I will be obedient because I know that God's plan will always be better than any plan that I can build or that I can design. So, I encourage you to keep walking, keep going around that city, trusting God that at some point He will break down the walls and you will be able to experience success, not for your glory, but for your benefit and for the glory of Him. So, cheer up, keep going, and see you soon.