Victory Now
Imagine being at a drag strip. Picture your opponent next to you, the quarter-mile track ahead of you, and the Christmas tree near you in your periphery. Heat from massive tires radiates through your fire-resistant suit. Your body moves with the rumbling from the massive engine ahead or behind you. Sweaty palms grip a steering wheel or yoke.
Now imagine someone coming up to your car and saying, “Hey, great news: you’re gonna win this thing.” Or even, “You have already won.”
Victory before the battle even begins? It sounds strange today, and it probably sounded strange to Joshua as he began his leadership. Just three verses into the book of the Bible that bears his name, God speaks to the new leader with this promise: “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” (Joshua 1:3)
As important as it was for God to give his people land so he could establish them as a holy nation, the way he did it was even more important. God used espionage and reconnaissance (Joshua 2), movement (Joshua 3), preparation and consecration (Joshua 4 and 5) and the establishment of a camp (Joshua 5) to prepare the people physically and spiritually for the battle. Tension builds. The battle draws near.
Then Joshua goes to see Jericho for himself. A man, who is later called “the commander of the Lord’s army” (Joshua 5:15), assures Joshua of God’s presence. But the battle begins with these words: “Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” (Joshua 6:1-2)
Although Israel had laid siege to Jericho, no fighting had begun. Yet God uses the past tense, “delivered,” to describe just how confident Joshua could be in this victory. It’s only after this announcement of victory that God describes how it’s going to happen, including the famous marching, trumpets, and yelling.
Violent military battles are all over the Bible, and they’re worth studying. Jericho, however, is worth imitating, if only for the means of victory God uses. He empowered their trumpets, not their swords; strengthened their unity, not their individual members (like Achilles in Greek mythology or Captain America in the Marvel universe); amplified their voices, not their muscles; and motivated their walking, not their routing/flanking/ambushing.
God uses these same means of victory today. Believe that he gives victory before the battle, and step out in faith to use these counterintuitive means of victory:
Your weapon for glorifying God. When the victory is a victory for God, the weapon is an instrument. Your instrument could be a socket wrench, CAD program, sewing machine, flute, typewriter… if God empowers your use of it to win battles for him, it’s an instrument.
Your unity with the people of God. Joshua didn’t win the battle by himself. He needed people to work together. Your unity could look like an athletic team, book club, racing team, or a committee at your job or church. God has used groups of ordinary people for extraordinary victories since the very beginning.
Your voice declaring the victory of God. The people were commanded to “Shout! For the Lord has given you (past tense again) the city!” (Joshua 6:16) In prayer before surgery, in a marriage counseling session, or before internal work on a Volkswagen W12 Phaeton, boast loudly about the victory that is already God’s – no matter what happens.
Your walk for practicing faithfulness to God. After promising victory to Joshua way back in Chapter 1, this was his first real military instruction. All he had to do was walk, and tell his people to walk. Sometimes, when we don’t know how to be faithful to God or don’t know exactly what it looks like, we can begin by taking a first step: finding the phone number for the addiction hotline, downloading a resume template, deciding which friend to ask to pray for you, or watching a YouTube tutorial on W12 Phaeton engine work.
When we know God is with us and the battle ahead of us is no match for his power, all of this becomes easier. So get ready. The light is about to turn green. God is about to show you that victory in him was yours before the battle even began.
