Smashing and demolishing Jericho

"It's kinda cool how different parts of the Bible work together, isn't it?"

Hailey's comment surprised me a bit, especially since my thoughts had automatically gone to "superheroes" and not "Old Testament heroes"...

"The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity." - 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, The Message

Hailey read the verses in her hyper-pink vinyl-covered Bible, and words like "smashing" and "demolishing" brought images of The Incredible Hulk and Superman to my mind. But for Hailey, these words conjured up memories and connections with Joshua and the battle of Jericho, in which the people trusted and obeyed God, and the walls came tumbling down. "Our tools are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture..." That's what the Hebrews' horns and voices and aching feet were used for! And that is what our abilities and gifts from God are meant for as well... destroying the things that are barriers and obstacles that keep people - including ourselves - from knowing the Truth of God. The city of Jericho was a roadblock to the Hebrews, and God didn't want them to just go around it and avoid it; he wanted them to completely smash it so that nothing would be left... so that it would never be a roadblock for anyone ever again.

We were reading these verses together as we talked about overcoming sin - that it is possible, not in our own power, but in the power of God. We have to admit we need his help, and then ask for his help - tap into that power source and do what he tells us to do in order to use that power. And that is a conscious decision we have to make, that includes being responsible and self-controlled (which, more accurately, is being God-controlled). The verse is more familiar to me in the NIV:

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

I'll never look at Jericho the same way again. It's kinda cool how different parts of the Bible work together, isn't it? Indeed, it is.