When the children of Israel entered the Promise Land ten cities stood as obstacles in their way. The first of these cities was Jericho. In Joshua 6:2 God said, "I have given you Jericho." Jericho was a promised victory. Israel was not yet an army – they were simply a group of desert wanderers with a promise. They had no army. Their resources had worn thin from years in the desert. Their only weapon of warfare was their obedience to God.
The Shout was the Focal Point
The Church stands before 2009 in a similar posture. We are facing a Jericho that is standing in the way. The world systems are unstable. Financial fear is trying to lure the people of God into its fear. There are a lot of walls standing in the way of promise. God is positioning His Church to bring down those walls just as He did in Jericho.
We all know the story of Jericho (see Joshua 6). This was a walled city. There was no way in. God instructed Israel to march around the city once for six days. On the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times, shout, and then they would have the victory. The shout was the focal point in the story. 1.5 million voices would rise together. This was a shout of grace. A shout that said, "Our only hope is if God shows up."
This shout of grace was wonderfully desperate because Israel had no way into Jericho unless God did for them what was impossible for them to do in their own strength. That is the nature of grace. Grace releases God's favor. Favor brings the victory. When we shout "grace" at our Jericho, God releases a supernatural favor that no wall can withstand.
What we miss in reading this story of Jericho is the size and dimension of what took place. The city of Jericho covered only six acres of ground. If you consider the outer fortifications the size of the entire city was only nine acres in total. At the time this event took place, the children of Israel numbered about 1.5 million people. This is the relative size of cities like Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Diego.
Try to get the image of what took place at Jericho. A city of nine acres was surrounded by 1.5 million people. Tens of thousands of people deep, as far as the eye could see, were a rotating mass revolving around only nine acres. There was no single file line of people. This was a mass of humanity.
For six days no one spoke a word. For six days Israel walked around the city only once each day. On the seventh day they walked around the city seven times. This was not a silent event. You don't move this many people quietly. The sound of 1.5 million people marching was powerful and loud. The earth shook. The dust cloud alone from so many feet pounding the earth would have looked like a dust storm of all dust storms.
On the seventh day, at the completion of seven circumnavigations of Jericho, 1.5 million voices rose up and shouted at the walls of Jericho and the Word says the walls of the city fell down flat.
"So the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city." Joshua 6:20
This was no timid shout. This was an aggressive and prolonged shout as Israel closed ranks over nine acres of land. I see people running forward and shouting with arms up and raised. 1.5 million people rushed straight ahead and closed the gap over the rubble that used to define the city of Jericho. This former obstacle vanished off the map.
Shout 'Grace' to Your Jericho Walls
"What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'" Zechariah 4:7
Where are your walls of Jericho for 2009? Those walls will not fall by human wisdom and reasoning. Another church program will not do it. Only the shout of grace will bring it down. The shout of grace in obedience to God was the weapon of supernatural warfare for Israel. When we shout grace we are making a statement that unless God shows up we won't be able to move ahead.
In 2009, God is asking His people to position themselves in unusual prophetic postures to perform unusual acts of obedience. God is asking us to shout "grace" to the walls that stand in the way of His promise. This is not a timid shout. It is loud and without apology. It comes after days of prolonged obedience and marching in the dust.
Many individuals and ministries have been on a long dusty march, but now a plan for victory is before us. The plan for this season is the same plan for victory in all of recorded history – the battle plan is always a plan of grace.
The cultures we live in are waiting to see God's miraculous provision demonstrated in His people. We are the ones who possess the shout of grace. The sound of grace is waiting to be echoed in every city and every nation upon the earth.
Today as you stand before the walls of your Jericho - shout out loud the word, "Grace." With that shout of grace will come the dismantling of the walls of those encampments that stand in the way of the promise.
• Gather your mounting bills and shout grace over them.
• Stand with your spouse and shout grace into your future.
• Shout grace over a wayward child.
• Assemble your ministry team and shout long and hard the word of grace to every obstacle that stands in the way of your vision and calling.
• Stand on the high places of your city and shout grace over the broken and lost.
Once you shout the grace of God, walk straight ahead and see the glory of God. Under your feet will be the remains of fear and impossibility.
Garris Elkins
Living Waters Church
Email: info@livingwatersmedford.org
Website: www.livingwatersmedford.org
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