What Do The Walls Of Jericho And 2 Corinthians 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 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 a 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!  The rest of this article is for GGM’s monthly champion partners. If you want to benefit from our monthly champion university click here to find out more about it.