|
Possible?
Buenos Dias! Como esta?
Since I live in a valley where the population is something like 87% Hispanic, I figured I ought to begin practicing my Spanish – which is pretty awful, actually. Reyna Luna, who is one of the premier reporters for Telemundo and KTLM-TV, and a celebrity in her own right in Spanish-language broadcasting, was trying to teach me Spanish before I left the TV station and began my run for Congress back in 2003. I was making some progress, but without my teacher and without practice, my Spanish has gone to pot. Reyna, where are you? Hellllllpppp!!
Anyway, Folks, How’re you doing this morning? Ready to banish the word, “impossible,” from your vocabulary?
Coffee’s poured. Got a big pot of it this morning – my Nissan stainless insulated pot – and it ought to stay hot for a while to come.
Got to meet EtherZone columnist, Bill Kaliher, yesterday for the first time in person. We’ve talked before, corresponded by email, and Bill did a lengthy interview with me when I was running for Congress, but we’ve never met in person before. He had some business in this part of the world and made a point of getting together with me over some coffee. He’s on the road today, but it was nice getting to meet and talk with a guy who reminds of me my Alaska days – a lot! A conservative, but independent thinker. A Christian with some salt. Kinda looks and sounds like Bones. Hey, Bones! You’ve got a twin.
Before I get started today, just want you to know I’ll be on the road for six weeks to two months beginning in mid-April with a lot of miles to cover: Washington (all over the state), Idaho, Washington, DC for some meetings, Canada, possibly even Alaska. These daily Coffee Breaks will continue, but they may not show up in your mail box as early in the morning as I usually get to post. Just trying to give you some advance notice.
‘Nuff of that chit-chat. So pull up a chair, set a spell, and let’s get started today.
Like I said yesterday, there are lots of things folks today call “impossible,” and that’s only because they try to reason things out with their natural minds. Sometimes the natural mind just can’t handle what it can’t explain, and we try to rationalize or even refute those things we don’t consider logical.
A few days ago, the History Channel was doing a piece on archaeological digs. The piece was hosted by Spock….uhh, Leonard Nimoy. He had the good sense to say that just because archaeologists haven’t found some of the evidence they’ve been searching for to back up the scriptural account of Joshua’s conquest of Jericho, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. They just haven’t found what they’re searching for, yet.
I remember as a young boy hearing history teachers pooh-pooh the whole idea of the nation of Hittites just because archaeologists hadn’t found any evidence to support that nation’s existence. Some of these “great” minds even wrote books “proving” that the Old Testament accounts were simply fiction.
When a team of archaeologists discovered that the Hittites did indeed exist, and that they were once one of the most powerful nations on earth, the “great” minds that “disproved” the Biblical accounts not only didn’t retract their claims, they continued to dispute the findings despite the fact that the evidence was overwhelming.
That’s what happens when folks set out to “prove” that the Bible is wrong. See, it works like this. If they can convince themselves that the Biblical accounts are inaccurate or historically wrong, then they can justify rejecting God’s existence, reject the claims of Jesus Christ, and pretend that there’s no such thing as sin, eternity, or consequences for rejecting Jesus Christ.
Remember all the hoopla over Noah’s Ark? How many times have we heard throughout the years that there never was a great flood that covered the earth? How many times have we heard the account of Noah’s Ark disputed?
Back in the late 1980’s, a friend and acquaintance of many years, Henry Gruver, accompanied an archaeological expedition to Mount Ararat in Turkey to explore a find that folks have known about for many years. He took cameras along to photograph the expedition and chronicle the find for a series of specials on the ABC television network.
Not only did they find the remains of Noah’s Ark – and carbon dating of the wood clearly demonstrated it to be of the right age – they found other, fascinating evidence of Noah’s family and subsequent generations that grew up around the base of the mountain. Henry photographed and carefully chronicled the expedition, along with the scientific findings that followed. I got to see the footage he shot in the summer of 1991, about three or four months before ABC was supposed to begin its series.
Then, for reasons it takes no genius to figure out, ABC yanked the series of specials. They had even announced the series ahead of time, but when they canceled it, no explanation was given. It wasn’t hard to understand. They had some executives who simply refused to accept the evidence presented. It didn’t fit their liberal agenda. That agenda simply couldn’t accept the proof of Noah’s Ark as possible.
I’ve seen it happen time after time after time throughout the years. Folks witness events before their very eyes, then try to explain them away because their mouths are full of dead bark from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” and their “great store of knowledge” doesn’t allow for the acceptance of what they’ve just seen.
Are these events possible? Are they impossible?
Let’s get back to Joshua and the conquest of Jericho. This is a tale that has fascinated folks for years. Are these events possible? Open your mind’s eye and follow me into the past to watch an incredible event unfold. Let me paint a picture in words to help you understand and appreciate the scope of what we will see.
The first day of the march around Jericho has come. There are the priests assembled in front -- seven of them with their rams' horns. Their seven rams' horns represent the sound of the seven Spirits of God, trumpeting deliverance for those who will follow the Lord God into a land and realm that they have never known, and judgment to those who insist on serving their cheap, lifeless gods.
The armies of Israel -- now there's a contradiction in terms -- are being assembled by their captains. There are warriors arrayed from each of the twelve tribes, swords in hand. You have to admit, these are some odd looking warriors. Israel has never been a nation of soldiers and warriors, and those who were trained for war in Egypt have since died out. They have been a nation of shepherds, a pastoral people, and -- as of less than fifty years ago -- ten generations of slaves forced to do the bidding of cruel taskmasters in Egypt.
This is a sight to behold! Some of them have makeshift armor of leather and brass, others are outfitted in some pretty decent armor as armor goes, but most of them look pretty rag-tag. This is undoubtedly going to be the most peculiar army Jericho has ever seen.
It is an early hour of the morning. Off in the distance, the sun has just shown its first glow of light. The sky is emblazoned in the streaks of dawn. This early light silhouettes a parade which surely brings joy and gladness to the hearts of God’s people – but a parade which will in the years to come seem like the march of death to many inhabitants of this land.
The march is beginning. There go the priests. They are blowing together in unison on those rams' horns. The sound penetrates our beings and sends shivers up our spines. Behind them are the twelve priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant. The armies of Israel have begun their trek around the walls of the city. There are thousands of them marching in cadence together. Thousands of feet coming down at the same time.
It is creating a rumbling sound across the valley and throughout the hills. Although Israel cannot see them, we see a vast panorama of angelic hosts set in array, who have created a sound of their own which adds to the thunder and quaking of the ground made by what I will estimate as 160,000 marching men -- make that 320,000 marching feet -- and the blowing of the seven trumpets which echo and resound from hillside to hillside, back and forth across the valley. This is a sound which is likely being heard from the Dead Sea to the Sea of Chinnereth some fifty miles to the north.
All along the walls of the city of Jericho, people have gathered to watch. The king of Jericho has ordered every last able-bodied man to stand alert. The city residents who have been on the walls are being pushed aside as soldiers are brought into position. When you back away to look at the city, it really is a strange sight.
Walls ranging from sixty to a hundred feet high are lined with soldiers, spears standing erect. The walls almost appear like some strange comb with the thousands upon thousands of spears visible.
If one were to compare might to might in the natural, Israel's army is a joke when seen next to the precise order of the Jebusites, their polished armor gleaming as the first rays of the sun strike the brass. They have all the appearance of a well-trained, well-practiced, well-prepared fighting force.
Looks, however, are deceiving. When you look into the hearts and spirits of these Jebusites, they are quaking in fear. Terror has come upon them because of the victories that the Lord has given Israel over the kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og -- not to mention the Amalekites -- and word that their God has once again parted the waters supernaturally -- this time, the waters of the Jordan -- allowing them to cross unimpeded. Most of these soldiers would probably rather switch than fight, but they have no choice in the matter.
Five days have passed. We look at these same soldiers standing their positions on the wall. Puzzlement lines their faces. After hearing of the great victories and battles which this somewhat scruffy looking Israelite army has fought and won, they expected an onslaught of spears and arrows following the march around the city that first day. Nothing happened. The priests and their troops just went back to their camp. No one said anything.
Maybe they're just waiting for the right karma or something. Who knows?
Riiiight!
Day Seven. The king of Jericho has climbed up in one of the towers on the wall to watch the daily spectacle.
What are these people doing? They began their marching early this morning, and now they are encircling the city for the fourth time. They have always just marched once each day. This is different. How on earth can those priests blow those trumpets so much? Hmmmm.........Something is afoot! Better call everyone to alert status. Never know what these strange people might do.
It is now mid-afternoon. Watch what happens. The priests are coming to a stop. The Ark of the Covenant is stopping. With a precision that surprises even the well-trained Jebusite soldiers, the companies of Israelite soldiers come to a sudden halt. One more time, the priests lift the rams' horns to their mouths.
A sharp staccato erupts from the trumpets, followed by a long blast. Once again, the angelic hosts amplify that sound and it rings across the valley, and resounds throughout the plains. As if cued by a master conductor, one hundred sixty thousand voices explode with a shout -- a roar which will be heard from one end of Canaan to the other.
In an instant of time, walls which have stood for centuries, virtually impregnable from outside attack, are breaking up as though a gigantic hand has gripped them and is pulling them apart. The earth beneath is quivering like quicksand. Fissures are opening, swallowing portions of the wall vertically. Other sections are falling flat, tumbling like huge dominoes. The soldiers who have stood on the walls of the city during these past seven days are being tossed about, thrown -- in some cases -- more than a hundred feet. From end to end, Jericho is flattening out.
As the walls disappear into the ground or are laid flat by the sovereign power of the Lord God, the armies of Israel are rushing upon the city in wave after wave after wave. Within hours, some three hundred fifty to four hundred thousand men, women and children will die, their houses burned with fire, their sheep, cattle, and beasts of burden destroyed. The only things which will be brought out of the city will be the gold, silver, and vessels of brass and iron -- reserved unto the Lord for later use as He so instructs.
There is one peculiar sight in the city, however, and none of us can say that we really are surprised. There is a short section of the wall of Jericho -- perhaps fifty or sixty feet in length -- which still stands intact. A scarlet sash hangs out the lone window. The warriors of Israel have been instructed by Joshua not to touch the dwelling place nor the people who remain within this dwelling.
And here comes Salmon, along with his trusted friend, Amminidab, climbing over the debris and making their way to the door of this dwelling. The look of joy on Salmon's face tells it all. As he raps on the door and calls out, the massive front door nearly falls from its hinges.
"Rahab! Is everyone all right?"
Wiping dust from their faces, a dozen or so very dazed people emerge through the barely hanging door. Rahab is the last to leave, following her parents, brothers, sisters, a brother-in-law, sister-in-law and two small children. Throwing her arms tightly around Salmon, Rahab begins to weep. Her parents are being hugged by Salmon's companion, and the two small children are holding onto his legs. It is difficult for any of them to speak at all. A look of shock and horror is etched on Rahab's brothers and sisters as they gaze at what used to be the city of Jericho.
There are few words spoken for now and they are not really necessary. There will be plenty of time to discuss things later. Except for a few whispered thanks from some, very little conversation will ensue as Salmon and his fellow-officer lead this small band of survivors through the rubble and over the slabs of stone which once stood as the walls of Jericho.
About 300 yards away from the still crumbling city, they hear a rumbling noise as the earth shakes. Turning their heads, they are just in time to see the earth open up and swallow the remaining section of wall which was attached to Rahab's home. Moments later, the walls of her house -- weakened by the earth's upheaval -- break apart and crumble into dust.
Now away from the cries and screams of the dying, and entering the camp of Israel on the plains of Jericho, the two ex-spies lead Rahab and her troupe to Joshua and introduce them. Aware of the traumatic conditions which they have just departed, Joshua welcomes them and makes certain of their accommodations, which have been prepared just outside the camp. He assures Rahab that because of her expressed and demonstrated faith in God, and courageous acts of assistance to the two spies, she and her family will always have a home in Israel.
Rahab will marry Salmon not long afterwards. They will have a son whom they will call Boaz. Boaz will marry Ruth, the Moabitess, and have a son they will name, Jesse. Jesse will be the father of David, the man who will symbolize Israel for all the generations that follow thereafter.
Possible? Did these events happen? Possible just doesn’t describe it. Not only did they happen, these events set the stage for a series of events that would forever change the history and the nationality of the rightful residents of that region.
This isn’t just history: this is a part of our present, and those events have a bearing on us today. What is possible far transcends our conventional thinking. We just have to get our minds out of the boxes of conventional “wisdom.”
Buckle your seatbelts. There’s more to come – a whole lot more!
Blessings on you, your labors this day, and your households.
Regner A. Capener
EKKLESIA HOUSE
RR-15, Box 6180
Mission, TX 78574-9589
(956) 583-5355
Chat
with Regner
Music
- Give Thanks by Henry Smith © 1978 Integrity's Hosanna!
This article may be reprinted, reposted, copied and re-used – in whole or in part – with proper attribution.
|
