“When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse…”

If you are a basketball fan, it is about now that the NBA gets exciting.  Here in the Bay Area we are caught up in the Warriors and the anticipation of an NBA Championship.  Tonight they open up the western conference finals, reaching this point for the first time in 39 years.  Opponents of the Warriors dread playing them because Warrior fans are so loud that it is deafening and can cause teams to lose their rhythm and attention.  The power of shouting.  When was the last time we cheered at work?  How loud are we metaphorically shouting at our competition to startle them from their position?  As the PR announcer is known to say, “Let’s make some noise!”

Why did God give Joshua the instruction to have his men shout at the walls of Jericho?  My own interpretation is that men might have been able to scale the walls, or maybe even have had success in causing fires or blows that would have weakened the walls until they collapsed.  But, only God could cause the voices of men to bring down the walls of a fortresses of a city.  Think about this for a moment.  Maybe today God is asking us to raise our “voice” for Him so that we can bring down a wall or two of defense in others?  We know that when we get excited, so do others, so if we aren’t shouting every now and then about Jesus, then how would others know what He has done in our lives?

Reference: Joshua 6:5 (New Living Translation)