³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

Under new leadership and after forty years wandering in the desert, the people of Israel continued their walk of faith. Actually, their faith had taken a four-decade hiatus! At Kadesh Barnea they had refused to enter the land under advice from ten of the twelve spies who had reconnoitered the land. Joshua and Caleb could not override the fears of those who saw themselves “like grasshoppers in our own sight, so we were in theirs” (Num 13:33). The people refused to believe they could defeat the people occupying the land promised to them as descendants of Abraham.

Had it not been for Moses’ faithful intervention before God on their behalf, God would have annihilated them right then and there! “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness … and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it” (Num 14:22–23). They learned that, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6).

Now, after their two score years of punishment, the new generation under new leadership follows God in a newness of faith, from which their parents’ generation had wandered. The take away for us today, at this juncture in the story, is that every generation must walk in their own newness of faith. We must not be limited by the wanderings of the generations before us.

Bypassing the miraculous parting of the Jordan river, we focus on the conquest of Jericho. The unconventional (to say the least) battle plan was executed exactly as the Lord had commanded the people of Israel. They were to march around the city, once a day for six days, with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant in front of the procession. Then on the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times, capped with the priests blowing their horns and the people giving out a loud shout. The result? The walls of Jericho fell and they defeated the inhabitants.

After years of spiritual dullness in the wilderness, the promise to Abraham and his descendants was still alive, and it motivated the people of Israel to get moving again. They dared to believe, though most of them were not alive to witness the great miracles in Egypt, and whose parents rebelled in unbelief. This was a new generation of faith and they are commended in God’s Hall of Faith!

Lord, help me not to be limited by the unbelief of those who have gone before. And help me leave a legacy of faith for those who follow after me.