What Do The Walls of Jericho and 2 Corinthian 10:5 Have In Common?

When we read the story tucked away in the pages of the Bible found in Joshua six, the last thing we think about is 2 Corinthians 10:5.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…”

What does 2 Corinthians 10:5 have to do with the walls of Jericho? Follow me through the next few paragraphs to find out the connection.

Supreme knowledge is knowledge about God and how he communicates and interacts with His creation. He communicates through His word and through creation and interacts through the Holy Spirit. True knowledge about God is the most prized possession that any human could have, so it should be no surprise that it is going to be attacked in a plethora of ways.

Here two ways. First people will deceive others by propagating a false belief about God. Islam, Hinduism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, etc. have a stake in counterfeiting the knowledge of God. Second- Mr. Atheist- will yell, “God does not exist! The concept of God is for weak-willed people!” Where do these people get their motivation and passion?

Dealing with Pre-beliefs, Active Beliefs, Arguments & Lofty Thoughts

Firstly, is there a false belief about God, and, secondly, are there lofty thoughts? These two work together in progressive way. You first have to come up with an argument against God- whether it is a false belief or what they call a non-belief- and then you can begin to form lofty thoughts. However, there is one more layer of beliefs we need to think through, pre-beliefs. Pre-beliefs form our active beliefs. What are active beliefs? These are the beliefs that form our arguments, but they are grounded in our pre-beliefs.

Let’s go back to Mr. Atheist to help explain the difference between pre-beliefs and active beliefs. What would be the pre-belief of Mr. Atheist? Come on. Put on your thinking cap! God does not exist. This is fundamental to him. It shapes the way he views the world, where he shops, who he votes for, and every cognitive decision is formed by thinking (you got it) that God does not exist. Therefore, his active belief, which forms his argument, is going to come from his pre-belief.

Here is his active belief in the form of his argument, “God does not exist; the concept of God is for weak-willed people.” The core of his active belief is: (God is for weak willed people.) He will sit on his lofty autonomous throne and claim victory over every believer in Christ with this one statement. He will put it

into action every time until it is challenged and destroyed. However, this statement is like trail markings leading us to his lofty thought. Second Corinthians gives us a word picture of what this lofty thought would look like in the real world. Picture, with me, a fortified city with walls and archers, walking along the top of the walls with flaming arrows in their bows, who are ready for action. This is the picture of lofty thoughts.

This same picture can be used for those who have false belief about God. It does not matter how old their beliefs are and how many followers they have. It does not matter how much money they receive or how credulous they are. The scenario of the fortified city with archers walking atop the wall still applies to them.

The ages and the number of followers will determine how apt and fortified these thoughts are in the false belief’s group, but the scenario is the same. The walls need to come down. How does Second Corinthians tell us to take down this fortified city? This is where the walls of Jericho come into play. Although, in Second Corinthians Paul is not talking about physical walls, the point still stands. The people of God had to believe God. When they believed God and obeyed Him, brick by brick Jericho’s walls were dismantled and were piled on the ground before them, and they routed their enemy.

Lofty thoughts are these mental, fortified cities in the unbelievers’ minds that we as Christians need to rip down brick by brick. Notice what these lofty thoughts are coming up against, the knowledge of God. Before we go any further I would like to give you a few common arguments that come from people’s pre-beliefs and in turn form lofty thoughts. What would be a healthy exercise for you is to see where you can add to this list and then to come up with the scriptures you will use to destroy that fortified city in the unbeliever’s mind! Here is the following list:

Arguments against God

1. Science does away with a belief in God

2. Creationists don’t believe in science

3. We don’t need a belief in God to be moral people

4. Societies make up morals

5. All beliefs say the same things about God

6. There is too much evil; there cannot be a God

7. There are too many different beliefs in God; he cannot exist

Lofty Thoughts

1. Look at all our advancements in science and technology. We don’t need God

2. I am God

3. I am a perfectly moral person, and I don’t believe in God

4. My money is my God

5. I don’t need God in my life; I am just fine

6. Mohammed is God’s prophet, and the Qur’an teaches about Allah

7. The Hindu Vedas are absolute truth

You don’t have the time to have me unpack all of these. I just put them here to get you thinking. The real battle is the fortified city of lofty thoughts, that come from the arguments, that are produced by active beliefs, that all come from pre-beliefs. The walls of these mental, fortified cities will not come down without battle. I am not talking about a physical battle, like Jericho. I am talking about the mental battle of exposing pre-beliefs, active beliefs, and the production of lofty thoughts.

Let’s Start Breaking Down That Fortified Wall

We have to take Colossians 2:3 and really begin to believe God’s Word as it says, “In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” We have to find the corner stone of that fortified (lofty) thought and to begin tugging at it and confronting it with the truth before it will crumble.

Let’s tug on point number one under lofty thoughts. Look at all our advancements in science and technology. We don’t need God. Remember the end of Second Corinthians 10:5, “take every thought captive to obey Christ…”

What would be a statement that is captivated by our reigning King Jesus? Where do you get uniformity in nature in order to do science apart from an objective, unchanging God who is not in a constant state of flux? The person will try to justify why he or she holds this lofty thought, but will fail. Remember this person has no foundation, while you do. We have to remember the battle is in the thoughts and repentance is needed to bring about a changing of the mind. This changing of the mind is something that only the Holy Spirit can do, but He uses our willingness to have the conversations and our willingness to go and to preach the truth in order to dismantle these fortresses in people’s minds. All of these active beliefs, arguments, and lofty thoughts are perpetuating from pre-beliefs, and they are destroying the human governments, countries, and cultures.

Remember that every unbeliever has a mental wall of Jericho made of lofty thoughts against God. They are setting themselves up against the pure and perfect knowledge of God. We have to love them enough to have conversations and relationships with them to help destroy their fortified walls. Listening and bringing them back to Biblical truth is what we are called to do. Until next time, go out and proclaim the Gospel to see a life transformed.