Joshua 2:10-11 (NIV) 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
Something happens in the heart of an adversary when they not only hear about your past conquests, but discover that you are next on their schedule. I’m sure Jericho’s people had quite solid hearts throughout the period when Israel was wandering around in the wilderness, learning how to identify with being free. It wasn’t until Israel’s movements began to track in their direction that knowledge of the past began to affect the solidity of their hearts. Although many of those events had occurred years ago before many of them were even born, when they, as descendants, began to move in the strength and courage of the Lord, they were identified as those very same people. It was God who caused the sea to part and the destruction of the kings, but He did so when the people followed His lead and moved in faith. They were His people all along, but it was with their movements that hearts began to melt in fear of what their God would now do through them.
There may be a period in which there is a bit of wandering around, just learning to identify with freedom. We’ve been made to be one with Christ and are heirs of everything promised that is now ours. There will be a phase of growing in the knowledge of this to a maturity that demonstrates just how powerful it reality is. Our God is that same God of creation who delivered the children of Israel and destroyed kings before them. Projecting His nature may take some time. However, a season is coming when the wandering is over and occupation of territory is forthcoming. The waiting has ended and it’s time to go on in. When the church rises up to move forward in obedience to the direction of the Spirit, it becomes identified with every prior demonstration of God’s power. Though far removed in time from the stories of the Old Testament, we begin to be recognized as the very people through whom God has already shown Himself strong in so many ways. At the realization of this there is a melting of hearts much like that of Jericho’s residents. The failing of these hearts is part of the preparation for flattened walls and demolished strongholds of bondage. Before the people who know and respond to their God, there is both the atmosphere of defeat for the enemy and a spirit of triumph for the more-than-conquerors. There is spreading everywhere of a fragrance that is power to the warriors of light and total defeat and destruction to the dark resistance.
It is God who ensures the triumph. The battle is the Lord’s. However, there is a part we play in preparing the hearts of our adversary for their impending defeat. As we come out of the wilderness and take our place on the border of the promise, every prior demonstration of God’s faithfulness in battle becomes our identity. Every triumph is proclaimed and heralded in our procession. In this rising is the release of mountain moving faith for the church and heart melting fear for the foe who is overwhelmed with the realization of his impending doom. Let the melting begin.