<image courtesy of Dano>
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The last few posts on the book of Joshua focused a little on the battles faced by the Israelites, and how God prepared them to find and find victory as they began their conquest of the land they had been led to as well as some things we can take from their pre-battle lessons.
Now in the story (chapters 6 and 7 of Joshua), we’ll follow the Israelites as they battle at Jericho (which is a well-fortified city whose residents/leadership had seen Joshua’s army coming from afar—so they are very, very ready for a fight) and at another town called Ai. If you’re familiar with the story at all, you might have in mind that the battle went something like this:
- The Israelites march around the city a few times and the wall surrounding the city are supernaturally destroyed.
- The Israelites claim victory and move on.
But there’s a great deal more to the story; and there’s a great deal more for us to learn about where victory was found in these particular battles. Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin by looking at where victory in battle wasn’t found (you might be surprised to learn that the walls collapsing wasn’t the mark of victory in this battle; neither was ‘conquering’ the town; and the assurance of victory wasn’t in the confidence of the people) before we look at what really brought victory for the people of Israel.
But even this little conversation makes me wonder if, in the areas of life that are uphill and otherwise difficult right now, I have been looking for a ‘win’ that really isn’t a win at all but my simple, wrongheaded definition of victory. How do you define ‘victory’ or a ‘win’ in your circumstance right now?
