The Walls Came Down
By Shauna Leis
“When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.”
Joshua 6:20
In 1961, a wall was erected between East and West Berlin. Communism took over Eastern Germany in 1948 and began to repress the lives of the people living in that part of the country. West Germany remained democratic and received money from the U.S. under the Marshall plan to improve the economic conditions of the country. Over the 13 years between 1948 and 1961, roughly 2.6 million people defected from East Germany to West Germany to improve their quality of life and find something that was greatly lacking on the East side – freedom. Considering that East Germany housed less than 20 million people at the time, this was a devastating blow to the already poor conditions.
And so the wall was built to separate the East from the West. This wall stood as a barrier between the two regions until 1989, when President Ronald Regan urged the associated powers to finally reopen the border. In October 1990, Germany was finally reunited back together, and freedom was shared on both sides.
Historically, walls were built for protection and separation. In this case, the wall was not only a physical separation in keeping the two parties from each other, but in the mind of the Eastern Government, it was also protection against the progressive nature of the “other side.” The government rulers feared what they did not understand and sought to keep their people separated and under their control.
In the Bible, another city was also protected by a wall. Joshua and the Israelites had just crossed the Jordan River into “The Promised Land.” As they were scoping out the new land, the first city they came to was Jericho. However, Jericho was surrounded by a huge wall as protection against their enemies. Joshua 6:1 says, “Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.” The people of Jericho were so afraid of the stories that they had heard about God going before the Israelites that they had shut up the city so tightly that no one was going in, and no one was coming out. They were completely protected, or so they thought, from all that threatened them from the outside.
However, what they did not realize was they were actually trying to keep out the Almighty God of the universe, a most futile attempt. Because they had opposed the Israelites, the chosen people of God, they had just held up a red flag and waved it in the face of God, too. So, God told Joshua to lead the people around the city of Jericho carrying trumpets and “the ark of the LORD’s covenant.” Now, likely the people of Jericho were looking down from the top of the wall and were thinking what an odd sort of attack they were experiencing from these “Israelites.” They knew that there was no way that these people could tear down their wall and enter their city. And, one has to wonder, too, if the Israelites felt a bit foolish just walking around the outside of this massive city and its wall, carrying trumpets, and shouting.
But, the people were faithful and listened to God’s direction. On the seventh day, the wall crumbled at their feet, and they were able to take over the city and all that was in it in the name of the LORD. Joshua 6:26 indicates that Jericho was also not to be rebuilt. “At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: ‘Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.’” God determined that this wall had to come down so that His chosen people could proceed into the land He had promised them, and He used a means by which there could be no doubt about who was in control.
Precious friends, many of us have erected walls around our hearts and our entire lives against the attack of other people and maybe even against God Himself. We have been wounded or attacked at some point in our lives and believe that it is the only way to keep ourselves safe from all that rages on around us. We build these walls brick by brick with each wound and shut out the rest of the world to stay protected and separated from the outside world. There are times that we even believe that we can keep God out of the secret places in our lives with these “walls” we have constructed.
However, God is a master at tearing down those walls. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The only reason that God wants to tear down those walls is so we can have full access to the love of God. He will not tear them down without our permission, but if we will give Him access to even those secret places, the walls will crumble at our feet, and a true healing will take place.
What about you? Are you willing to let God in to tear down those walls you have erected around you? He is waiting to come in today to heal those secret places where you have been wounded by other people. You will never find a more complete and peaceful healing than what God can provide for you today.
Pray with me: Precious God, we know that there are walls around our hearts because we have been wounded and built them up brick by brick. Lord, we want those walls to crumble before You, our Almighty God and Father. We open ourselves up to You and Your unfailing love. We know that You have plans to prosper us and not to harm us, and to give us a hope and a future. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ! Amen.