◄ Shout of Faith ►

And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
Joshua 6:5

Faith Contrasted

The shout of steadfast faith is in direct contrast to the moans of wavering faith. I do not know of anything that is more valuable than the secret of this shout of faith. The Lord said to Joshua: see, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.” Joshua 6:2

Present Possession

The Lord did not say to Joshua, “I will give,” but “I have given.” Before the battle had already been fought the Lord had already given them the city, The city already belonged to them; and they were simply called to take possession.

Steadfast obedience

But the great question was, HOW? How were they to take the city? It looked impossible, but the Lord had declared His plan, to Joshua: when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the walls of the city shall fall down flat.

Steadfast Faith

Now, no one can suppose for a moment that this loud shout caused the walls to fall. The vibration from their combined voices was insufficient to cause 1 stone to tumble, and yet the secret of their victory lay in their shout – for it was the shout of faith. It was a shout of obedience to God’s instructions – and it showed faith in God’s word.

Promised Victory

The army of Israel raised their combined voices in obedience to God’s command: when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout; with a great shout, and the wall of the city shall fall down flat. They dared to shout, on the authority of God’s Word, to claim a promised victory.

Accomplished Victory

The towering walls of this fortified city of Jericho must have appeared impregnable, but though there was no sign of an accomplished victory – they trusted God’s word – and they shouted the shout of faith.

Shout of Faith

God had said, “I have given it to you,” and they believed Him, and shouted in faith, and God honoured His word and God did unto them according to their trust in Him – and when they shouted the shout of faith, God caused the walls to tumble down.

Triumphant Record

God had declared that He had given them the city, and faith reckoned this to be true.. and centuries afterwards the Holy Spirit recorded this triumph of faith in Hebrews: by faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days. Hebrews 11:30

Precious Promises

The word of God is filled with examples of God’s faithfulness to His people. The Scriptures are packed with many precious promises of God to His children. The Bible is the way that God speaks to His people today – and He is faithful. And all He wants from us is obedience to His Word and trust His precious promises.

Incomplete Canon

In the times of Joshua and Moses, the full canon of scripture was incomplete. In the days of Israel’s “shout of faith” – God spoke to His people through prophets: long ago God spoke many times, in many ways to our ancestors through prophets.. but in these last days He has spoken to us by his Son –Jesus, the Word of God. Hebrews 1:1

Obedient Submission

 Israel’s shout of faith was a demonstration of believers that trusted the Word of God – and they were obedient to carry out what God required of them – in His way…  Let us trust in the Word of God and similarly demonstrate our ‘shout of faith’ – as we obediently submit to all that is required of us, as set out in the Word of God.

Crowd of Witnesses

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses, who lived by faith – such as Joshua and the Israelites who obediently did all that God commanded them to do... let us like them obey what God has asked us to do, which is to strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up – the sin of unbelief…. and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us – by faith. And let us keep looking to Jesus, Who is the founder and perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, and despised the shame.