The Kristiyanong Kabataan para sa Bayan (KKB) team expressing their wholehearted Praise to our God in one of the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Ministry's anniversary celebration held in Quirino Grandstand, Luneta Park, Manila, Philippines
The JIL Worship Leading team and Congregation joyfully singing and dancing as a gesture of their Praise to our Lord Almighty in one of the Jesus is Lord (JIL Ministry's anniversary celebration held in Quirino Granstand, Luneta Park, Manila, Philippines
Do you know that the ancient and fortified walls of Jericho had collapsed because of the powerful Praise expressed by the Israelites during the Joshua generation? This marvelous biblical account can be found in Joshua 6: 15-16 and 20.
Ancient history reveals that Jericho, the first city captured by the incoming Israelites under the strong leadership of Joshua, is now an eight-acre mound called "Tell es-Sultan" that lies beside the copious spring known as "Elisha's fountain".
According to John Garstang, great excavator in 1929-1936, the destruction of the walls of Jericho happened in 1397 B.C. Garstang had arrived into this conclusion after several meticulous discoveries through his excavations. In his earnest desire to execute the greatest care possible and in the spirit of a true scientist, to determine the period of the fall of Jericho, he called in three Palestine's high caliber archaeologists and pottery experts: Pere Vincent, Clarence S. Fisher and Alan Rowe. They had thoroughly had independently examined the pottery, the charred ruins and the fallen walls of Jericho until they signed statements with Garstang confirming the date of 1400 B.C., with a possible alternative date no later than 1377 B.C. This dating conforms well to the chronology stated in I Kings 6:1. So, Garstang had remarked that the walls of Jericho fell in 1397 B.C.
However, these discoveries and interpretation, they exposed had not satisfied some experts. In fact, there was constant opposition to Garstang's conclusions and pressure for almost two decades that had brought to have reexamined. This passion was satisfied in early 1952, when a joint expedition of the British School of Archaelogy, the Palestine Exploration Fund, the American Schools of Oriental Research, and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan started to re-excavate Jericho under the instruction of Miss Kathleen Kenyon. They diligently pursued the expedition for five seasons, during which the excavations sank pits to bedrock in six different areas on the mound. The first settlement of Jericho was discovered in one of these places, a site toward the north-east end. They found out the town was enclosed by a valuable stone wall six and one-half feet thick and twelve to twenty-three feet high, on which was a massive stone watchtower 30 feet high and 28 feet in diameter. An inner, staircase of twenty-two steps, each a slab of stone three feet across, led to the top of the tower.
In line with this, several carbon-14 analyses was conducted to determine the period of the earliest city. These analyses provided different dates such as 5850, 6250 and 6800 B.C. But the wide variation in these examinations led many to perceive them unreliable. Thus, when the test dates were challenged as being too early, Miss Kenyon remarked, "it does stretch out the stages between this and c. 3000 B.C. [next settlement] to an uncomfortable extent. Nonetheless, she mentioned, the city of Jericho would be called the oldest city in the world. However, to more meticulous scholars the actual age of prehistoric Jericho would remain indefinite. But, the bottom line here is that the Walls of Jericho were indeed strong and finally fell only by the power of the Almighty God as accounted for in Joshua 6:1-29. Do you also know that Praise had been one of the secret weapons of Paul and Silas, both great followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, why the chains from their feet loose and they were released from their cell? This remarkable biblical account was attested in Acts 16:24-26; 16:16-40.
Truly, Praise is very powerful weapon that the people of God must execute in every circumstance. If, we will only reminisce and meditate how Israelites during Joshua generation had conquered the city of Jericho and collapsed its fortified walls through the power of Praise, we can also enjoy the abundance of praise in our present generation.
To name a few of innumerable fruits of Praise can offer, here are some of them:
God inhabits the praises of His people as stated in Psalm 22:3
Praise releases victory and blessings out of the overflowing provisions of the Almighty God as indicated in Psalm 67:3-7; Psalm 147:7-9 & 11-15 and Psalm 112:1-3
Praise grants satisfaction to our soul spirit, and serves as a key for God's answer to our prayer requests and petitions. One of the examples of this truth can be found in Psalm 50:14-15
Praise not only makes us glad but is makes us wise. We begin to understand something of God's greatness and creative design in all that He does when we earnestly praise Him. This account is affirmed in Psalm 92:5-9. We gain a wisdom that is hidden from those who do not know God. The wicked may "flourish" and "spring up like grass for a moment as mentioned in Psalm 92:7, but, they will wither away.
