Today’s devotion comes from Joshua 6:1-16. Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%206&version=NASB1995
I quote only the following verses.
“Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.” Joshua 6:1-5.
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We see in today’s Scripture the miracle of God. “The LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors.” Verse 2. “… and the wall of the city will fall down flat, …” Verse 5.
We also see the detailed means by which God would perform the miracle through the number of days and the exact number of times and formation of the circling of the city and the blasting of trumpets and the people’s shout.
Later, we also learn that faith is also one of the detailed means by which God performed His miracle.
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.” Hebrews 11:30.
One of the lessons of today’s Scripture for us is to both singularly glorify God for His miracle and to also pay diligent attention to the means of grace that God provides us. Sometimes, so to speak, God will perform a miracle for us quickly without requiring us to wait long and do many things. But, other times, God will guide us to do many things and to wait a long time before He does His miracle.
Consider the following from the Canons of Dordt in the section titled FIRST HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of Divine Predestination.
Article 16. Those who do not yet experience a lively faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, peace of conscience, an earnest endeavor after filial obedience, and glorying in God through Christ, efficaciously wrought in them, and do nevertheless persist in the use of the means which God hath appointed for working these graces in us, ought not to be alarmed at the mention of reprobation, nor to rank themselves among the reprobate, but diligently to persevere in the use of means, and with ardent desires, devoutly and humbly to wait for a season of richer grace. …
Let us “persist in the use of the means which God hath appointed for working these graces in us”. As the concluding Scripture exhorts us, let us trust in the LORD and do good and wait patiently for Him.
“3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.” Psalm 37:3-9.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 