The story of the land of Jericho was Abrahamic. It was a promise of God to Abraham and to his children – that they would go to a land called Canaan where they would have milk and honey. When God gives you a word, there is a transition between the word God has given and the place that you are.
The fact that God gives you a word is not a guarantee that the place is already empty and vacant and you are just going to walk into it. There has to be a battle fought. The special place which God has prepared for you is already inhabited by giants and for you to possess the land, you need to receive a giant slaying anointing.
Psalm 66:12, “Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.”
There is a positioning for everyone and everything that you’ve been wishing for. When the Israelites got to the Land of Promise there was still a wall blocking them from entering. They were outside the wall and they couldn’t penetrate. You may be so close to your blessings yet there is a blockage that is stopping you. You know the Man of God has prayed for you, decreed words concerning your life and you know that God wants to bless you and has prepared a place for you but it looks like you can’t find your way in. That’s the wilderness. Now you are close to your promise. You can see it in visions, the word has gone forth. But there is a Jericho that is blocking you.
The Bible says the land of Jericho was full of milk and honey and precious things. When Joshua got there with the children of Israel, he knew that he had been there before and he finally brought them there but now he knew he needed to take them into the land of Jericho on a takeover mission..
GOD HAS PREPARED A PLACE FOR YOU
There is a place that God has prepared for you and He is going to take you there. Not by your might, not by your power but He is going to take you there by His Spirit.
Joshua was standing by the plains of Jericho looking, wondering how he was going to take these people into this place of Jericho with the walls so high nobody could go in or come out. The Bible says there came a man that stood by Jericho.
“When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, there stood a man over him with a sword drawn in his hand” (Joshua 5:13). Joshua went to the man and asked if he was for the Israelites or their adversaries. The man said “no I have come as the captain of the Lord of hosts”.
LET THE WALLS OF JERICHO IN YOUR LIFE FALL!
Joshua thought he was the one in charge of taking the people of Israel to the place of destiny but the God-factor was involved. . I want you to know in the original translation it wasn’t just a man. Joshua had fallen on his face and said, ‘what sayest thou, my Lord?’ The word Lord there means Jehovah. So it wasn’t just an ordinary man that came there. It was God, the Lord of hosts. So Jesus stepped into the battle in the time of Joshua to take them from where they were into the Promised Land.
After he saw the man, Joshua asked the man what He wanted them to do and the man told Joshua instantly that He wanted him to take off his shoes. Take off your shoes. For the place where you stand is holy. The word holy means sacred, a word that connotes integrity and the infallibility of God and His Word. So when the Lord says take off your shoes, where you are is holy. It means to take off your shoes, I keep my Word.
In the Scriptures, we sometimes see God telling certain people to take off their shoes, like Moses when he was approaching the burning bush. God asked people to take off their shoes because at that time shoes represented people’s securities or their rights. Taking off your shoes in Joshua’s time meant you were giving up your rights to the person that is there.It was a sign of surrender and submission to a higher authority; an acknowledgment of God’s power as the only One Who can give you the land in possession.
Joshua came there with his shoes but when it was time for God to let him take the land, the Bible says He told Joshua to take the shoes from his feet because where he stood was holy. You can’t get into the place of your promise with your shoes on. God is going to take these shoes and is going to give you brand new shoes that will prepare you for the place of destiny. He will give you new skills, blessings, and favor for where you are going is a great place. You can’t go there by your might or your power. It’s by the grace of God.
Joshua took off his shoes and afterward they entered the land of Jericho with victory. It was after that happened that the walls of Jericho fell down flat. If you want the walls of Jericho in your life to fall down you need to take off your shoes. Rely only on the unchanging grace of God and watch Him take you to places you never imagine were possible.
Give up your rights and say, ‘Lord, it’s not going to be by my power, it’s going to be by Your power. I hand over to Your will, Your way, Your promise.’ Give it all to God. Hand over all your rights. Tell God that you are following Him like a servant, like a sheep. Following God without trying to reason it out. I’m just following God.