'Possible with God!'
- Aug 8, 2025
- 6 min read
Over the past couple of weeks, we have discovered from Joshua 5 that we must be a people that are spiritually prepared. This is needed especially if we are going to do the Lord’s work His way!
Now there’s a battle looming, but it’s not one that Joshua is going to fight for God! This is a battle God is going to fight for Joshua and the children of Israel.
By the way, Joshua is 80 yrs old and still having serious dealings with God!
What God requires is our surrender. Last week it was ‘sandals off’, or more importantly, “take time to be holy.”
Does this remind you of a hymn? The second verse of such –
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on; Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be; Thy friends in thy conduct, His likeness shall see.
J.I. Packer’s definition of revival: “God’s quickening visitation of his people, touching their hearts and deepening his work of grace in their lives.”
At the heart of revival must be the Lordship of Christ!
Today I want to ask, what do you think when you hear the word 'Jericho'?
A song from way back in Sunday School? An ancient city mentioned in the Bible which is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth? A backdrop for the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’, or the home of Zacchaeus, the tax collector?
Or this Jericho?
Jericho was located just off what later came to be known as the "King's Highway." This was the central trade route from Egypt to Mesopotamia. This city then, was key to Israel's claiming of the land. They couldn’t bypass it; it would be too dangerous to leave such a force behind as they ventured on and into the Promised Land!
It's not as if God hadn't spoken to them about Jericho before (see Num 33; or Deut 32).
God told Moses how one day they'd conquer this great city. But Jericho was always ahead, just across the Jordan, a future problem, tomorrow's concern. Unsure how many times they would have walked past it on the other side of the Jordan, now Joshua is back at Jericho.
Jericho reflects 40 years of Israel’s fear of an impregnable city and land, but no longer. Now, they were right up next to it. So, Israel in moving forward had to deal with Jericho, it cannot be avoided any longer.
Is there a “Jericho” that you need to face in your life? Those walls that stand as obstacles getting in the way of LIFE! That situation that keeps getting worse? An illness that doesn’t get any better? A job that is a constant source of frustration? A circumstance that feels out of control? A financial need beyond your reach? A nagging addiction? An unforgiving spirit? An apt description maybe is found here -
Joshua 6:1: "Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in."
What is that Jericho that simply remains shut up? That is, until today!
Maybe today that’s where you are: against the wall of your fear, at the limit of your ability and not a clue what to do! I know you may have tried, but it’s been absolutely impossible to bring down the walls!
Maybe your Jericho wall is some habit you just can’t break; a long-standing issue you will not let go; walls of fear, guilt, anger, unforgiveness, self-pity, unbelief or lack of faith that have built up over time! Even 40 years of time! Could it be an unsurrendered area of your life?
If we still have “walls of Jericho” in our life today, it might be because we haven’t arrived at this point: “God, I can’t, but You can!” Everything is possible with God!
What has stopped you moving forward, going deeper, or pioneering in your walk with God?
One of the greatest problems we have in our Christian life is to get to the place where we’re prepared to admit that the whole thing is too big, and if the Jericho’s of life are going to fall, then God must bring it about.
This must be the place of surrender!
Listen to Joshua 6: 2: 'Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men."’
Isn’t this an amazing verse? Note the past tense, God says it’s done!
I wonder what Joshua thought? This is why we have to live by faith and not by sight.
Henry Blackaby said, "As a child of God, you ought to expect God to answer your prayers. Do you ask God to do something without adjusting your life to what you are praying? If you are praying for revival, how are you preparing for its coming? If you are praying for forgiveness, are you still living with guilt? If you have asked God to provide for your needs, do you remain worried and anxious? Ask God to increase your faith, and then begin living a life that reflects absolute trust in Him."
The first city to be conquered would be Jericho. The faith displayed by Joshua and Israel in the victory at Jericho was such that it was held as an example of faith in Heb 11:30: "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days."
I have to admit that standing where Joshua is standing, looks can be very deceptive and misleading, and things don’t seem to be as they are!
So, note the word “see” in verse 2. It comes from the Hebrew word râw-âw, and it means to ‘envision something.’ It was to see far beyond the physical realm, the present reality, to see something as it can, and will be. God’s call for Joshua to envision the fall of Jericho was based not upon Israel’s power and might, but upon God and His power and might. God reassured Joshua, the victory was already won!
God lets them know about the conclusion before they start! All they had to do was trust and obey God’s orders!
The battle wouldn’t be long - 7 days, that’s all! Oh I know, battles have been going on much longer than that. We’ve tried to ignore or go around the problem. You’ll have to face it one day!! When you do, you’ll probably find it shut up in fear of Jesus. But listen again, the victory is already won! We just need to ‘SEE’ and have a new vision of what this means.
Dr Sanders once said, "Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen."
It was Jesus himself that said: “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).
Just stop for a while
Michael Green once said that, "Vision that looks inward becomes duty; Vision that looks outward becomes aspiration; but Vision that looks upward becomes faith."
"See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men." (v2).
The story of Jericho fascinates us because we all face walls - those of opposition in our lives; walls of hurt; walls that stand between us and opportunity. It may be a self-built wall because of some seemingly impossible enemy within, or to guard against something you’ve just struggled with all your Christian life.
As we face these walled areas in our lives, we need faith to believe the Lord, to take Him at His Word and trust Him for the victories! (Look up Rom 4:21; 2 Cor 1:20.)
No matter how overwhelming the "walls" may seem, we must remember that as Christians we fight from victory not for it.
“All things are possible with God”
Let me remind you that Joshua’s first encounter of Jericho was in Numbers 13! This was over forty years before Joshua 6!
However, today, each of us can deal with the Jericho’s of life through Jesus and His promises for us! The victory is secure in Jesus, and it’s through faith!
Is there still some wall that seems to stand as an imposing obstacle before you? Then read 1 Corinthians 15:57 and 1 John 5:4-5.
As I close, did you know the Hebrew word translated 'Jericho' is ‘Yeriychow’, pronounced ‘yr-re-i-cho’ and means 'fragrant?'
The fragrance of God’s grace, as expressed through His promises to us.
"For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To one an aroma that brings death; the other, an aroma that brings life." (2 Cor 2:14).
How many of us would like to capture the fragrance of life again?
May the walls come down and the fragrance of life, of love, of worship and grace, that’s ours as children of God, begin to flow again!
“All things are possible with God”
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