"The Battle Is Not Yours"

Well...  Hello again...  I thank you all for continuing to check in.  It has been a hard couple of months, but I'm still standing and slowly coming up on the other side of "through."  I know it's been a minute, but if you recall, we were nearing the end of Joshua.  Since that post, and the loss of my mother, we have been steadfast in our Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. 

Because I've been away for some time now, and as I ease myself back into the blogging water, there are a couple of things you need to know about the book of Joshua.  First, it is a rather boring book I must admit.  Second, there are only two major events that many of you might find noteworthy - the spies encounter with Rahab (which you read about in a previous post), and the battle of Jericho, which will be the focus of this post.  But first, some housekeeping. 

If I haven't already mentioned it, Joshua is one of the books in what is known in scholarly circles as the "Deuteronomic History" of Israel, with the book of Deuteronomy being its introduction.  This "history" encompasses the books of Joshua, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, and 1&2 Kings, also referred to as "The Former Prophets."  Now, don't get your panties in a wad about the word former meaning less than.  A more common label would be the "Historical books," for their focus on telling Israel's history from the first entrance into the "Promised Land," on through the period of the Babylonian exile, beginning in 586 BCE.  So, before I go any further, the book of Joshua can be summed up into three major points: 1) "The Word of God for the people of God" - that is, remembering the words and instructions of Moses, to follow and be obedient/faithful, as God has been faithful to you, 2) God will fight your battles - that is, killing off all your enemies and giving you their land, and 3) Worship no other Gods but God - no explanation needed there.

With that said, and coincidentally after the couple of months I have had, the battle of Jericho and the notion that God fights our battles for us resonates within me (Joshua 6:1-20).  Now, it is believed that Jericho was indeed a providence in Canaan, fortified by a great wall.  But what happened to that wall remains unknown.  Scholars have found evidence of a great fire, but where that fire came from and what caused it, is still unknown.  What is clear for me is the message within the battle of Jericho.  If you're like me, that is, not wealthy, arguably comely, committed to social justice, fairness, equality, economic parity, and against the death penalty, (just to mention a few of my character traits), then you too have come up against many seemingly insurmountable walls that block your progress, your aspirations, and thus, your happiness.  In light of the "Occupy Wall Street," protests cropping up all over the country, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do like Joshua?  You know, call forth the warriors/activists - we'll call them Patriots, the Priest armed with trumpets, and together with the PEOPLE, circle the places that guard and protect the keys to the kingdom.  On the seventh day, after seven trips around the identified bastions of excess, greed, nullification and interposition, when the sound of the trumpets are heard, and the PEOPLE shout, the walls would miraculously come tumbling down.  

Well, that isn't going to happen.  It didn't happen then and it ain't g'on happen now.  What is going to happen is what is already happening.  God, always present and accounted for is watching the PEOPLE do what is required of them.  They have shown up on the battlefield.  They are raising their collective voice in a chorus of freedom, a chorus of righteousness, a chorus of "being sick and tired of being sick and tired."  It is a chorus that is so loud, so harmonious, so divine that it will reverberate throughout this country, to your country and throughout the world.  It is a divine chorus with divine intent, that calls out with great expectation of a divine response from the Ancestors, the Universe, the Creator, The Great One, The Truth, the Really Real, Oladumare, Allah, Krishna and all the names used, known and unknown.  And that response will come.  It is sure to come.  For when we do our part, we are met with an equal and greater power that burns with a heat so hot that it will lay mountains low, and bring down the strongest and most fortified walls so the PEOPLE may proceed forward, onward and upward.  

Shhh...  Listen to the sound of the trumpet.  PEOPLE it's time to make our way to the battlefield, raise our voices, and then stand back, "Be still and know that I AM God (Psalm 46:10a)."

© Dorinda G. Henry, 2011

THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!