The Lord says to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand.” Joshua didn’t literally see that. In fact, Joshua’s natural eyes couldn’t see that.

Jericho was under siege, but there was that little issue of the wall.

The Lord also tells Joshua that He’s given Jericho’s king and its valiant soldiers over to him as well. The king had had the opportunity to surrender himself into Joshua’s hands. That didn’t happen and wasn’t going to happen.

Joshua was ready to see. He doesn’t ask for fleeces. He goes and commands his army. He declares their victory before they “see” it. He sees it.

Where did that “seeing” come from? It came from his right responses before. It came from responding to the Lord with worship, listening with an open heart and mind, and obeying right away without question.

It came from years of following the Lord at Moses’ side, knowing who God was and having the humility to know it wasn’t him. He had learned from Moses, the meekest man on earth. He had learned to walk in surrender and to believe the God who saves will save again.

But they don’t all see.

Joshua gives a speech at the last moment about how everything should be devoted to destruction and how all the metals, the gold, silver, bronze, and iron were to go to the Lord’s treasury.

But in the heat of battle, when you’re facing your enemy, it’s not the time to get the direction. It’s not the time to be deciding what to do. Joshua gave them the direction a little too late.

Not everyone was ready to see it like he did.

We have to have spent that time with the Lord in worship and listening and obedience, so there is no point of crises, no point of deciding what to do. It should be long ago determined.

If you haven’t settled in your heart that there is never a choice to be made, only surrender and obedience to the Lord’s will, then ask God to come with His sword and bring you to the point of worship, listening, and obedience.