Upon the death of Moses, the leadership of the nation was passed on to Joshua (Old Testament, Chapter 1-6). It was the responsibility of Joshua to be victorious in leading his people over the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
It is interesting that during slavery in America, Harriet Tubman, a slave, was appropriately known as “the Black Moses,” as she led her fellow slaves out of slavery to the “promised land.” In this period of time in America, the walls of slavery were finally being broken down.
Today, there are many Joshuas and Harriet Tubmans marching around and about the walls of Wall Street in America and throughout the world. These folks are declaring justice and not “just-us” to share in the wealth of this beautiful United States of America.
Enslaved people in America sang a gospel battle song entitled, “Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho.”
“Joshua fit de battle of Jer-I-cho, Jer-I-cho, Jer-I-cho
Joshua fit de battle of Jer-I-cho, and an, de walls come tumb’lin down, down
You may talk about the man of Gid-e-on, You may talk a-bout the man of Saul.
Dere’s non like good ol’ Joshua an’ de battle of Jer-I-cho
Up to the walls of Jer-I-cho he marched with spear in hand
‘Go blow dem ram-horns,’ Josh-ua cried, ‘For de battle am in my hand.’”
For just a little history on the name Joshua, Donald Spoto, a theology professor for 20 years at Fordham University, where he concentrated in New Testament studies, presented a brief history of the name Joshua.
When Joseph and Mary named their infant son eight days later at the traditional Jewish rite of circumcision, their son was named Iesous (Jesus), a Greek name derived from the shortened form of the Hebrew name Joshua (Yehousa). Joshua means “Yahweh is salvation” or “God Saves.”
After the return of the Jewish people from exile in Babylon, in the 6th century B.C., Jesus became a common name for “God saves.” It remained popular until the second century A.D., when the quickly growing Christian faith led the Jews to abandon it and revert to the original longer form, Joshua.
Well, after this brief history concerning the name Joshua, which can be found in the Old Testament, Joshua 6:11-16, it is described how the people and priests were instructed by Joshua to walk around the walls of Jericho and, at a certain point, to shout, causing the walls of Jericho to tumble down and causing the Jewish people to win the battle and become free and inherit the promised land.
If you can’t march, please pray for a march without violence. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mandela and others have marched and succeeded, causing walls of greed to fall.