Shout Them Down

 I've been feeling for some time now that I needed to write a blog on why we shout and why we speak out loud about things, in decrees, in prayer, etc... In the prophecies the Lord gives to Julie Green He often tells those of us listening/reading to shout things down. Where does this come from? Probably every single person reading this knows that it comes from the book of Joshua where the Israelites brought down the walls of Jericho by shouting and blowing shofars (a ram's horn) on the seventh day. Let's put aside the Jericho stories you've seen of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber (Veggie Tales) walking around the wall or other animations where you see a few people walking around the wall playing instruments or talking amongst themselves. The actual story told in the Bible is a little different and quite amazing.

It's worth noting here that these people going to Jericho are a new generation of God's people. The original people who left Egypt with Moses have died off. It has now been over 40 years. Moses has died as well, and God is now speaking to and leading through His servant Joshua. In fact, the only two we know for a fact were with the original Exodus and still remained were Joshua and Caleb, and even 40 years later the Bible tells us Caleb was still ready to go after the Giants. These were also the only two who originally said the Israelites were well able to take the land because they knew they had God on their side but due to much grumbling, complaining, whining and unbelief the much shorter trip that God originally had planned for the Israelites didn't go as He had planned for them at all. Does that sound familiar? It should because God intended for all of this craziness, we are experiencing right now to be over and done with by now, but we still see the church grumbling, complaining, whining and even going as far as attacking the prophets and saying God isn't going to do anything about what we see right now. The church of yesteryear still walks amongst us and has learned very little even with the word of God at our fingertips.

I read through Joshua 4, 5 & 6 to familiarize myself with the text. I encourage you to do the same. In Joshua 4 we find that God parted the waters of the river Jordan to let His people walk through on dry ground and the second the last person's foot hit the other side the waters came back together. Sound familiar? Yes, God was showing this new generation that He was still very much with them even though Moses had passed on and He was showing them that Joshua was chosen to continue leading them. Let's look at Joshua 5:6 NKJV.

6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

God had warned them. They were told that there was a land flowing with milk and honey. He said if they wouldn't hear Him, obey Him and go the direction He wanted them to go He would not show them the land. Isn't this exactly what we are walking through today? God has told us through the Prophets and Prophetic voices over and over that we must fully trust and believe in what He is doing, or we will not experience what the faithful Remnant will. Protection, healing, and the wealth transfer are coming to the Remnant church, but you have to be on God's side of the fence. You cannot just sit back with a 'wait and see attitude'. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. You must make a decision to follow Him and obey Him and once you do those two things, trusting and believing will become a part of who you are. When you hear of wars or rumors of wars you will laugh it off because God has promised that no evil will come near your dwelling. A tornado warning will come across or sirens will go off in your city and you will know that you know that you know that if a tornado came anywhere near your house, it would literally go around and not touch or harm you. This is why the Lord has been speaking through His prophets for over 2 years now. He wants us prepared, standing and believing in faith that He has this, and He has us.

Another interesting thing is that you might think with the previous generations dying out there wouldn't be that many left, but of course, along their 40-year journey they kept having families, and many children were born to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert and several new generations grew up following Moses with Joshua as his right-hand man. In Joshua 4:13 we find that forty thousand prepared for war and went across the river Jordan headed toward Jericho. Can you imagine? Yes, I said forty thousand. Please take a minute to close your eyes and try to imagine 40,000 people walking toward Jericho, the city that was a literal fortress with walls thick enough for several chariots to ride on the top side by side, not one behind the other. In fact, they probably had chariot races back in those days. I have said many times that we deceive ourselves if we take our little Bible study stories of David and Goliath, Jericho, Jonah, and others and have our children grow up believing them. Of course, they've been softened for children, but it is important for God's people to realize that they have a responsibility to teach their kids this biblical history, but we cannot just throw our kids into a Sunday school class thinking we've done our job. No, we are told in Proverbs 22:6 to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Once your kids turn a certain age revisit the stories, they learned in Sunday School and fill in the blanks so that they know the truth. God's word says 40,000 were prepared for war. Bob and Larry were nowhere in sight...lol

Once near Jericho Joshua pulls them aside and has a few things to share. This too is important to see in this story. Today we have countless prophetic words speaking because God is trying to get our attention. With Moses dead all of those people had to trust and believe Joshua. Now we already know that spies were able to get into Jericho and spy out the land. They met Rahab and made a deal with her. If she would hide them, they would save her and her entire family the next day. She agrees and literally saves her entire father's household including her own children because she has a genuine fear of the Lord. Today you have to wonder if people would save their families at all with all the division in the world and even in the church. So, the Lord tells Joshua to speak to the people and tell them to walk silently around Jericho once a day for 6 days. Again, can you imagine us today putting 40,000 people together and silently walking around the entire city of Jericho. Surely there were people that thought; 'what in the world are we doing this for? Can some of us run, jog or talk along the way? Can I at least bring my cell phone, look at Facebook or watch something on YouTube? No, these people although their parents wandered for 40 years also had a fear of the Lord. Imagine 40,000 individuals prepared for war walking around a city once a day for 6 days. They were prepared for war, but God never had them fight that war. In fact, they got all the way to the seventh day in Joshua 6:15-16 NKJV and God changed things up a bit. 

15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. 16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!

So now they had to obey and walk around those walls and that city seven times and the seventh time Joshua says, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! Notice he didn't say shout and the walls will fall down or shout the walls down. No, he said “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! 

He knew that the Lord was using their obedience and unity to bring those walls down. In Joshua 6:20 NKJV we read...

20 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

So, this is my question then, was it the walking around the walls that brought it down? Was it the silence for six days that brought it down? Was it walking around seven times in one day rather than just one time a day? Was it having 40,000 prepared for battle or was it even the shouting at all that brought the walls down flat? The only thing I can see here is that it was their obedience that brought those walls down. God's people in one accord were able to do in seven days what God's people in 40 years would never consider doing. In those days God was the one with the power. The children of Israel were not Holy Spirit-filled people like you and me. They had to trust and rely wholly on God. God wanted so much more for the children of Israel who left Egypt, but they built other gods, murmured and complained about food, water, and who God had chosen to speak through (Moses). Scholars say that it might have been millions that came out of Egypt on that great and powerful day of the Exodus where they literally saw the Red Sea part so that they could walk through on dry ground defeating the Pharaoh and his army.

There is one final thing I wanted to share. I may have in a previous blog so don't be surprised if you read my writings and I mention things over and over. There are powerful people and powerful truths that we need to be reminded of. One is that although Rahab was considered a Harlot the Israelites did not reject her. In fact, quite the opposite. They welcomed her and her family into their group and if you get into the genealogies of Jesus Rahab is actually mentioned in His line. Most often in genealogies, it is the men who are mentioned but God wanted us to know that Rahab was there.

Another is something Rahab said to the first spies who came to check the place out. In Joshua 2:9-11 NKJV we read...

9 and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. 10 For 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

I absolutely love this text. These great and mighty events proved to these people that our God is the God of heaven above and on earth below. He never gave up being God of the earth. We just forgot about Him. Go back to when Joshua brought 40,000 (most likely all men) prepared for war and they walked around the walls. Those inside Jericho had to be scratching their heads saying, 'What on earth are they doing, we heard they were so powerful and mighty. We've been told that their God is the Almighty who parted the Red Sea but look at these people. They are doing nothing. They are simply walking around the walls every day.' They were terrified because the reputation of the Israelites and of their God had come before them many times with the great things the Lord and His people had done but by day six, they were probably laughing and thinking it was all pretty foolish. If they want in, they should be breaking the walls down, but they are literally doing nothing but just walking?

This too is what God is getting ready to do for us today. Although many things are happening literally daily there is an event planned that will rock this world. God will have His world back. He will have His children back and He will take this Country back but there is an event planned that all eyes will see, and all ears will hear. No, I am not speaking of Jesus coming through the skies on the white horse. It is not exactly time for that yet, but something is coming that is so out of the ordinary, so awesome and amazing and so noticeable that every single eye will see it and every single ear will hear it. Hearts will be cleansed of all this wickedness and evil that has been forced upon us and people will know for a fact that our Father, the creator of Heaven and Earth, Abba, the great I Am, Yahweh, El Shadia, Jehovah, and so many more names is the one true living God, and they will be given the opportunity to choose Him. To choose the path of life or to continue on the path to death. He will give them what they want.

And I will close by saying let's get this job done. Why does God ask us to pray, speak, decree, and shout because if we are spirit filled, we have the Holy Spirit within us. That same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. He created the world with words. We need to learn to do the same because He needs His children who are made in His image to shout, declare, speak, cry out, and help Him to bring down those walls. The walls the Deep State has created in the last 100 or more years. The walls our government is putting up even now with tyranny, deception, corruption, and socialism. The walls must come down and we should also remember to pray that walls of protection must stay up over our rightful President Donald J. Trump, his family, those working with him, and our borders. Don't stop praying, prophesying, and declaring the word of the Lord over those who even now need us desperately.

Stacy Whited does a prophetic podcast weekly on Rumble and I love one thing that she always says. We were all looking to Donald Trump and expecting him to do 1 million things to save our Country, but God wants 1 million of us to do at least 1 thing to save our Country and not put everything on the shoulders of one man. He is just that. A man. Although called, appointed, and anointed he needs us to call him back to his rightful seat so that he can get back to work making America Great Again and to restore the gold and wealth of our Nation. I pray that you are obeying the Lord by making your decrees and speaking things that the Lord has asked of us into the atmosphere like the Marching orders God gave to Julie that I have sent you. Speak, shout and decree the things I've e-mailed. Don't shelve them. In fact, I even went as far as to create my own '2023 is for me' list and I prophecy it daily over my home and family. It is not selfish. God has asked us to do it. You can do the same or at least do the one's the Lord gave to Julie. 

We can and will see the end of this. The Ark doors will finally close, and the Lord will bless those of us who stood in unity and obeyed but we must take this seriously and stop looking to one man to do everything. 

Grace and peace to you from God

our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

Sheryl L. York