Today, we are studying a famous episode in the Old Testament, when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. But to really understand this story, we have to backtrack to something we studied previously.
As the Israelites neared the Promised Land, the Lord commanded Moses to send 12 men, one from each tribe, to survey the situation to see if they could retake the land of their inheritance.
So these 12 men went, analyzed the situation, and then they returned, and 10 of them gave Moses this report:
“We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
“Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great” (Numbers 13:27-28).
These men focused on the difficulty of conquering. But another of the 12, Caleb, took a different approach. Caleb said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:29).
“But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
“... all the people that we saw in [that land] are men of a great stature.
“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:31-33).
Now, it was decision time for the children of Israel. These were the ones who had walked across the Red Sea while it was parted; these were the ones who had survived on manna; these were the ones who had looked to the brass serpent—in other words, had looked to Christ—and had been healed. And, now, here, they were, just about to receive their reward, if they could but hope for one more miracle and put their trust in God one more time. Surely, these people who had seen many mighty works of God would believe in one more.
Sadly, they did not. Instead, we read that they took this attitude:
“AND all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
“And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
“And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
“And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt” (Numbers 14:1-4).
Amazingly, these followers of Moses, one of the greatest of prophets, these beneficiaries of the Lord’s many blessings, who had been delivered from Egypt and sustained in the wilderness, refused to receive their reward.
How could these people, of all people, have forgotten the greatness of their God?
How could these people, of all people, fail to put their trust in God?
Of them, Neal A. Maxwell once said, “If one is without the faith that remembers, past benefactions are forgotten because of present deprivations. Thirst for water caused some to forget that they were once rescued from far too much water at the Red Sea. It is ironical that the very repetition of some blessings can routinize these blessings. The ration of the daily miracle of manna was taken for granted, even complained about by some.”
[Translation: They had forgotten the Lord because of their present trials and because they failed to acknowledge God’s hand in all things.] The same thing can happen to us. Under the struggles of a present adversity, we may forget how the Lord has blessed us in times past, and we may forget how he has seen us through previous adversity. We may lose our courage and our faith, and cowardly proclaim, “Why has God forsaken me?” Through many experiences in my life, I know God has never abandoned me. Yet, when faced with a trial, I, like the ancient Israelites, am quick to say, “It won’t work out because of this and this and this.”
Yet when I do so, I am leaving out the most important factor in the equation: the Lord. I should say, “It will work because the Lord is on my side.”
The faith Caleb shows here is similar to the faith Nephi showed when Nephi said, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7). Nephi was essentially saying what Caleb said: Whatever obstacle the Lord puts in our path, we are well able to overcome it.
The faithlessness of the 10 other spies and the people is reminiscent of the faithlessness of the Book of Mormon’s most notorious characters, Laman and Lemuel. On the journey for the brass plates, where Mr. Go and Do, went and did, his brothers took a different approach. They began by complaining that it would be difficult; halfway through, they wanted to give up and return. Even after being rebuked by an angel and being commanded to try one last time, “Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?” (1 Nephi 3:31). So Nephi went, and Nephi, because he relied on the Lord, succeeded, much to the surprise of Laman and Lemuel.
But there is another example from the journey of Lehi’s family that correlates more directly with Caleb and Joshua’s experience. That is when they had to cross the sea to the get to the Promised Land. Just like the inhabitants of Jericho were the final impediment for the ancient Israelites in their journey, the sea was the final obstacle for Lehi’s family in the journey to the Promised Land. Nephi, as always, was willing to finish the journey; Laman and Lemuel, as always, were not.
Amazingly, in his speech to persuade Laman and Lemuel to go to the Promised Land with him, Nephi quotes the experience of Caleb and Joshua. Nephi starts by recounting the miracles that brought the ancient Israelites to that point. Then Nephi says:
“And notwithstanding they being led, the Lord their God, their Redeemer, going before them, leading them by day and giving light unto them by night, and doing all things for them which were expedient for man to receive, they hardened their hearts and blinded their minds, and reviled against Moses and against the true and living God” (1 Nephi 17:30).
Despite assurances and pleas from Moses, Joshua and Caleb, that their trials would be like bread (Numbers 14:9), the Israelites saw those challenges as too impossible to overcome. Since the ancient Israelites didn’t trust God enough to receive the blessings He had prepared from them, they didn’t receive the blessings. Likewise, God has many blessings in store for us. In order to receive those gifts, we just need to trust him enough and live according to the words He gives to His prophets. We cannot take the Laman and Lemuel approach and say, “Oh, He’s not going to hear my prayers; He’s not going to help me.” Such an approach is illogical because it disregards thousands and thousands of years of recorded history, and years and years of personal history in which the Lord has shown us that He does hear our prayers and that He does answer them and that he does help us out whenever He can. We must take the Nephi approach and say, “Of course, I will be blessed.” The Lord has commanded us to “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” Isn’t that what Nephi did? Isn’t that what Caleb and Joshua did? Isn’t that what Laman and Lemuel failed to do? Isn’t that what the ancient Israelites failed to do? Look at the difference that made!
Only two of the original Israelite company lived to receive the blessings of the Promised Land: Caleb and Joshua.
It’s how they received that blessing that really ties into what we’re talking about today. Why didn’t those ancient Israelites want to receive the Promised Land? Because the feared the high walls of the city and the inhabitants therein. But when their children go to invade the city, what happens? We read in Joshua 6:20-21:
“So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
“And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city. . .”
The obstacle so feared by their parents was easily overcome. It wasn’t much of an obstacle because the Lord was on their side. In fact, the obstacle wasn’t worth the worry. Neal A. Maxwell once said, “Mostly, to avoid muttering, we need to trust more. So many of the things muttered about beforehand turn out to be marvelous experiences later, and we are inwardly, and deservedly, ashamed for having grumbled.” Man, if that hasn’t happened to me a million times. I wish I’d spend less time worrying and more times trusting.
S. Michael Wilcox wrote of the Joshua and Caleb experience: “The high walls of Canaan far too often serve as an effectual mist that paralyzes our efforts. The Lord, understanding this, many times offers his own forms of encouragement … The truth is, there are no walls high or thick enough to stop us. Has not the Lord sent us? I do not think it is coincidental that the first story we are told about the eventual conquest of Canaan by the younger generation is the fall of Jericho. The walls came tumbling down. The greatest fears of the earlier generation were simply unfounded. If we are willing to move forward, the Lord often removes the barriers standing between us and the rich harvest. I have often asked myself, How many walls that have caused me to hesitate in the past were in reality a mirage?”
Of this, Nephi told his brethren: “And it came to pass that according to [God’s] word he did destroy [the inhabitants of Jericho]; and according to his word he did lead [the Israelites]; and according to his word he did do all things for them; and there was not any thing done save it were by his word” (1 Nephi 17:31).
Three times, Nephi said to them, according to his word, and then tells them what the Lord did. Our God keeps His promises! That is one of the great messages of the Book of Mormon. It is a lesson Nephi learned and trusted in. Ditto for Caleb and Joshua. But it is a lesson Laman and Lemuel and the ancient Israelites, sadly, failed to grasp.
Nephi concludes this sermon by saying to Laman and Lemuel:
“And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.
“And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?” (1 Nephi 17:50-51).
He’s essentially saying, “Look, if the Lord has done all these great things for people in the past, then surely He can help out here. If He can bless them, He can bless me, and He will bless me.” Interestingly, Nephi is saying what Laman and Lemuel said when they feared returning to Jerusalem to get the plates. At that time, Laman and Lemuel said, “Why not us?” Now, Nephi says, “Hey, why not us?” But he uses that phrase in a completely different context. Where Laman and Lemuel feared man, Nephi trusted the Lord.
When we face a trial, we can be like Nephi and say, “Why wouldn’t God bless me? I am His child, made in His image! In me, lies the potential to become as He is! As a loving Father, he wants me to achieve my potential! Therefore, whatever He can do to help me, He will do it! Whether it’s helping us out with a project, such as building a boat to cross the great sea; or if it’s comforting us in a moment of despair; or if it’s giving us the help we need to grow and progress, or aiding us in whatever way He can, the Lord will help us out! Because He loves us! And that has already been proven, for He sent His Beloved Son to suffer, to bleed and to die for each of us that we may have the chance to become like and return to Our Father in Heaven!
When we come to realize the Great Love our Father in Heaven and our Brother, Jesus Christ, have for us, we cannot doubt that the Lord watches over us. We begin to see ourselves not as grasshoppers, as the ancient Israelites did, but as God’s offspring, full of divine potential. We come to know that God’s love is unending, and we agree with Paul, when he said:
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
“Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
