Faith That Works: Learning From Joshua and the Walls of Jericho
One of the best ways to understand faith is to watch it lived out in real life. That’s the purpose of this teaching: to take Old Testament believers—people we identify with—and see how they applied God’s promises in impossible situations.
When you read Hebrews 11, you’ll find a long list of faith heroes: Abraham, Abel, Samson, David, and many others. Scripture honors them because they trusted God when they couldn’t yet see the outcome. But for many Christians today, faith can feel abstract—something we talk about, but don’t always know how to practice.
So let’s make faith practical by looking at Joshua.
Joshua: A Leader Formed by Hunger for God
Joshua’s story is compelling because his faith didn’t appear out of nowhere. From a young age, he served alongside Moses and developed a deep hunger for God. There’s a moment during Israel’s wilderness journey that reveals Joshua’s heart: when Moses went up Mount Sinai to meet with God, Joshua insisted on going with him. Moses eventually told him to wait while he went further into God’s presence—but Joshua’s willingness to follow showed that he wasn’t content with secondhand encounters. He wanted to be close to God for himself.
That matters because leadership in the kingdom of God isn’t sustained by talent alone—it’s sustained by intimacy with God.
The Transition: Following a Giant of Faith
After forty years in the wilderness, the older generation died off because of unbelief. God had promised they would not enter the Promised Land. Even among the twelve spies who inspected Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb returned with a good report.
Now Moses—the man through whom God shattered Egypt with signs and wonders—came to the end of his life. Because Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it, God told him he would not enter the Promised Land. And suddenly, Joshua was chosen to lead. You can imagine the weight of that assignment. Moses was the kind of leader who parted seas, called down plagues, and demonstrated God’s power before a nation. Joshua likely felt intimidated. How do you follow someone like that? How do you lead stubborn people into a land filled with fortified cities and trained warriors?
God’s answer was not, “Try harder.” God gave Joshua a key.
The Secret of Success
In Joshua 1:8, God gives Joshua a blueprint for victorious living:
-
Keep God’s Word in your mouth
-
Meditate on it day and night
-
Be careful to obey what is written
-
Then you will make your way prosperous and have good success
This wasn’t just spiritual advice—it was battle strategy. God was showing Joshua that success wouldn’t come from military might or human confidence. It would come from a life saturated in God’s Word—thinking it, speaking it, obeying it.
Jericho: The Problem That Couldn’t Be Solved Naturally
After crossing the Jordan River, Israel stood at the entrance of the Promised Land. Their first major obstacle was Jericho—a fortified city with walls so massive they seemed untouchable. The gates were shut tight. No one came in. No one went out. Additionally, Israel wasn’t a trained army with bulldozers or siege equipment. Humanly speaking, they had no solution. However, Joshua did something that reveals real faith: he went to God.
God’s Perspective: “I Have Given You Jericho”
When Joshua sought the Lord, God didn’t begin by describing the size of the walls. God began with the outcome:
“See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands…” (Joshua 6:2)
Notice that: have delivered—past tense—before anything happened in the natural.
This is how God speaks. He sees the end from the beginning. Scripture says God calls the things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). That doesn’t mean God is lying. It means God is speaking from a realm where the answer already exists. The solution may not be visible yet, but it is already settled in God’s mind—and often already prepared in the spirit realm.
Then God gave Joshua instructions that sounded almost unreasonable:
-
March around the city once each day for six days
-
On the seventh day, march around seven times
-
Have the priests blow trumpets
-
Then shout—and the walls would collapse
Marching doesn’t break walls. Shouting doesn’t tear down stones. But faith isn’t about what makes sense to the natural mind. Faith is obedience to God’s word even when it looks foolish.
God often gives “ridiculous” instructions because He is testing one thing: do you trust Him as God?
The Power of Silence—and the Danger of Negative Words
Another detail in the story is easy to overlook: for six days, God instructed the people to march—but not say a word.
That silence was protection.
In the middle of a battle, negative speech can sabotage faith. Complaining, fear-talk, and unbelief can weaken your heart and distract your focus. The people had to learn discipline: walk in obedience even while their minds were asking, How is this going to work?
Sometimes wisdom in faith is not only knowing what to say—but also knowing when to stay quiet. God told them to shout before the walls fell and that is the difference between sight and faith. Many people say, “I’ll praise God when the answer comes.” But God often says, “Praise Me now—because you believe My Word is true. Do you know that a shout of victory is a sign that you trust what God promised is already yours, even when the wall is still standing.
This is why faith can look strange to observers. Jericho probably watched Israel march day after day and thought, These people are crazy. But faith doesn’t require public approval—only divine instruction.
Faith Requires Action
One day, the story of Jericho hit with fresh clarity: the marching didn’t bring the victory. God brought the victory. The marching was simply an act of faith—proof that they believed God’s Word. Scripture teaches that faith without works is dead. Faith is not passive. It acts. It steps out. It moves when God speaks. That’s what Peter did when Jesus said, “Come.” Peter stepped onto the word “come” and walked on water. In the same way, Israel stepped onto the word of God, and the walls fell.
What This Teaches Us About Our Own Battles
Jericho represents the problems that feel insurmountable—the situations you can’t fix with logic, connections, or effort. But Joshua’s story gives us a pattern:
-
Go to God first. Ask, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
-
Expect God to speak from victory. He often declares the outcome before you see it.
-
Obey even when it feels foolish. The instructions may not make sense to your natural mind.
-
Guard your words. Don’t let fear-talk cancel your faith-walk.
-
Rejoice before you see the result. Praise is often the sound of confidence in God’s promise.
Faith is not pretending the wall is not there. Faith is believing that God’s Word is stronger than the wall.
Confidence in the Word of God
Faith, in simple terms, is confidence in the Word of God. The Word becomes your evidence when your senses can’t yet confirm the answer. When God gives you a promise, you hold it as substance against every contradiction.
And when God says, “Rejoice,” you rejoice— because you already see the breakthrough, and believe the One who promised cannot fail.
Just like Jericho, your wall will fall—when you trust God enough to obey Him, speak wisely, and praise Him before the answer appears.