The Jesse Tree: Day 11

Forty years had passed since God rescued the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. They had been liberated to a new life of freedom, and yet those four decades since their release consisted of nothing but endless wandering around the hot, sandy, wind-blown desert. Essentially, living out of suitcases, always traveling, never settling down, never planting gardens or building homes, but always longing for a place to call their own.

Always longing for home.

Finally, they were on the brink of the promised land, and home was within reach. But one obstacle still stood in their way—Jericho.

Jericho was situated on the border of the land, a towering guardian that kept intruders out. With its soaring ramparts and thick iron gates, Jericho couldn’t easily be overcome. Joshua and his military advisers brainstormed, mapping out strategies, drafting pros and cons lists, trying to figure this out. But it was impossible. They could never win against Jericho.

But surely God had a plan. He didn’t bring them there for nothing, they hoped.

Then God provided his military expertise, and it was anything but impressive. God’s plan consisted of spending six days marching in circles around the city, staying very quiet the whole time except for the trumpeters who had free reign to blast away. And then on the seventh day, after more marching, circling, and trumpeting, everybody would shout at once and create as much noise as humanly possible.

The plan was questionable at best. But thankfully, they trusted its author. They trusted God and followed his plan. And on the seventh day, all at once, their blaring trumpets and deafening shouts rose in a sudden onslaught of harsh, wild noise. The result must’ve been astonishing.

Miraculously, as the sound rose, the colossal walls of Jericho tumbled down in a great cloud of dust. And suddenly, with the collapse of this great towering guardian, the once blocked path to the promised land was now open. Finally, they could go home.

The longing for home is something we’re all familiar with, even if our yearning is for a home we never had. In reality, our true home isn’t found in any geographic plot or place. It’s not even on a map. Because our true home, the home we lost so long ago when our ancestors sinned in the garden, is with God.

As we wander through our lives, searching for something more, it’s this home we long for.

God collapsed the fortress of Jericho, opening the path home for the Israelites. And in the same way, Jesus collapsed into ruin the fortresses of sin and death, crumbling those towering strongholds that separated us from God, that kept us from home. The result of him dying on the cross and rising again in victory is that the once blocked path to our true home is now open. Now nothing stands in the way.

And when he comes again, finally, we’ll be home, forever.