The Wall of Jericho and What We Are Facing Today

(Minghui.org) There is a common theme across cultures – when people have sincere faith in the divine, follow the divine’s will, and repent their mistakes when doing things wrong, they will be blessed with miracles. This might help with our situation today.

After evidence of U.S. presidential election fraud emerged early last month, the mainstream news media, courts, and state governments have refused to acknowledge the existence of widespread fraud, much less take concrete action to investigate and address the issue. Many Trump supporters are worried.

Two major rallies have been held in Washington D.C. during this period of time, one on November 14 and another on December 12. Both were attended by hundreds of thousands of people, calling to Stop the Steal and seeking justice for a fair election. Both events had the Jericho March in which people walked around the U.S. Capitol seven times while holding the Bible. Participants hoped this would bring blessings and end the deep state forces that blocked a fair election.

A similar concept of praying to the divine has also existed in China throughout history. One example is the story of Fengxian County described in the Journey to the West. A three-year-long drought left the area with poverty, death, and despair. But when people changed their minds, miracles occurred instantly.

Both of these stories could help us understand the current situation. As the free world is experiencing unprecedented threats, the solution may come from ourselves and our faith.

The Wall of Jericho

The Battle of Jericho was documented in the Book of Joshua. After Moses led Israelites out of Egypt and broke away from slavery, he experienced numerous miracles including crossing the Red Sea and food that fell from the sky. Nonetheless, he passed away before arriving at the promised land of Canaan. Now headed by Joshua, Israelites crossed the Jordan River and eventually entered the prosperous Canaan.

The Battle of Jericho happened during that time and it was the first battle after crossing the Jordan River. Jericho was a military stronghold and soldiers did not let them pass. Furthermore, the gate was tightly shut so that no one could get out or come in. Nonetheless, the Lord had already given Jericho to Joshua and instructed him how to conquer the city.

Following this order, Joshua and his army marched around the city once a day for six straight days, with no fighting, violence, or words. While marching, they carried the Ark of the Covenant led by seven priests who were playing trumpets. On the seventh day, as the trumpets sounded again, all the Israelites shouted and the wall collapsed miraculously.

This story tells us that having firm faith in the divine and following the divine's instructions will bring about miracles.

Story of Fengxian

The anecdote of Fengxian County appeared in Chapter 87 of Journey to the West, a classic novel about what Monk Tang and his three disciples – including the Monkey King – had experienced on their journey of seeking Buddha scripture. As Monk Tang and his disciples came to Fengxian County, they learned that the area has been suffering from a drought for three years, with devastating consequences: no grass or crop would grow, and people lived in misery with many dead.

Trying to help relieve the disaster, Monkey King told the county head Shangguan that he could help out. Upon arriving at heaven, Monkey King learned that it was not that simple as Shangguan had committed a sin. It started three years before, when the Jade Emperor went out for a survey expedition and saw Shangguan pushing down the worshiping table and giving the offerings to a dog, along with making insulting remarks about the divine.

As a result, three obstacles were set up as punishment: a 100-foot-high rice mountain to be eaten up by a fist-sized chicken, a 200-foot-high flour mountain to be licked up by a dog, and a foot-long lock with a finger-thick crossbar to be broken by heat from an oil lamp. “It won't rain again in Fengxian County until the chicken has eaten all the rice, the dog has licked up all the flour, and the lamp has melted the crossbar of the lock,” said a heavenly guardian to Monkey King.

Upon returning to earth, Monkey King asked Shangguan about what he had done to offend heaven, and he confirmed the incident and said it was due to a fight with his wife. Seeing him filled with regret, Monkey King passed on to him a solution from the heavenly guardian: this could be resolved through practicing goodness and things would change once kind thoughts moved the heaven.

Following the advice, Shangguan kowtowed to heaven, repenting his sins and vowing to keep firm faith in heaven. Every family in the county also did the same, burning incense in worship and reciting scripture to reclaim their faith in heaven. As a result, “The rice and flour mountains have collapsed: the rice and flour all disappeared in an instant. The crossbar of the lock has also been broken.” The rain fell and the county was blessed with prosperity thereafter.

This story, while a novel, reflects ancient people's faith in the divine and indicates what the divine values most is people's hearts. Every thought of humans is known to the divine. As long as people venerate the divine and know to repent sincerely when doing wrong, the divine will help people.

From Ancient Times to Modern Society

The above stories, one in the east and the other in the west, are not just isolated events. Throughout civilizations, especially Chinese history, people believed in the harmony of heaven, earth, and mankind. By following moral principles, people would remain humble in front of the divine, fulfill their responsibilities, and care about each other. In turn, they would have a prosperous and happy life.

However, all these were gone after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power in 1949. In the name of helping the poor, the CCP seized land from landlords, robbed wealth from business owners, and nearly wiped out traditional values and dignity in Chinese citizens, including intellectuals. With help from Western countries, the totalitarian regime gradually grew to be the second-largest economy and the largest exporter in the world.

With such strong economic power, the CCP wasted no time in advancing its communist ideology globally. From manipulating international entities such as the United Nations and WHO, to disinformation through news media and social media, the regime has dominated the world and nearly destroyed the free world after decades-long infiltration.

As a result, western society has largely downplayed or ignored the CCP's human rights abuses, including the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 and the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong, which began in July 1999. The world had become too weak to defend disinformation from the CCP about the coronavirus pandemic, let alone holding the regime accountable. The enforced National Security Law at Hong Kong, if neglected, could become another stepping stone for the CCP to escalate regional and global domination.

Our Faith and Our Future

At this critical moment, Trump appeared. Vowing to “drain the swamp,” he declared “In America, we don't worship government — we worship God.” He has also been countering the CCP's influence since he became president in 2017.

His efforts of restoring traditional values and faith, and standing up against the CCP, however, have been met with unprecedented resistance from news media, government officials, and other elite groups. As mounting evidence of election fraud surfaced, the U.S. Constitution as well as the free world is in jeopardy. Mainstream news media, government officials, and even the Supreme Court have refused to take appropriate actions.

“As President, I have no higher duty than to defend the laws and the Constitution of the United States.” Trump said in a speech on December 2, “That is why I am determined to protect our election system, which is now under coordinated assault and siege.” “If we don’t root out the fraud, the tremendous and horrible fraud that’s taken place in our 2020 election, we don’t have a country anymore,” he explained.

With nearly all efforts to address the election fraud having failed and hardly any hopes on the horizon, should we continue to fight for a fair election or accept the status quo? This is a question for all of us, and our faith.

In English, the word “trump” has multiple meanings, one being “trumpet.” When Israelites blew their trumpets, the wall of Jericho collapsed miraculously. Coincidentally, we have a president surnamed “Trump.” Perhaps it is time to follow the divine's will again. As long as we have faith, we will see miracles again.

“People with faith started this country and we cannot let it go,” concluded Arina Grossu, a co-founder of the Jericho March. Similar to the other co-founder, Rob Weaver, she heard the voice from God that “it is not over.” She did not know Weaver at the time, but she had the same vision. Speaking during the rally in Washington D.C. on December 12, , she said, “We want our voice heard... we want God to hear our voice. We are crying out to Him and asking Him to have mercy on our country, to have the truth come out, and for transparency.”

She also called out to the nation for a day of prayer. “By repenting, we can all turn to God as a nation. Because that is what our founding fathers did and that is how we won this country, because of our love for God and our faith,” she explained.

Also speaking at the event was Pennsylvanian state senator Doug Mastriano, who led a Senate hearing in Gettysburg on November 25. He recalled the winter of 1776 when George Washington was badly defeated. At that moment, “George Washington appealed to heaven. God intervened and it was a Christmas Day,” he continued. As a result, Washington drove the enemy out of Trenton, defeated them, and changed history.

He said our faith will also help us. “This is our time, and this is our generation,” he remarked.

Praying in drizzling rain at Lansing, Michigan, on December 12, 2020.

Besides Washington D.C., people who attended other rallies on the same day also expressed the same idea.

During a rally in the rain at Lansing, Michigan, on December 12, Timothy Parker and his friend Larry Van Beek said they felt the fraud happened due to the increasing moral decline in the U.S.

Timothy Parker and his friend Larry Van Beek joined the rally. Parker has a Doctorate in Theology. They feel the reason for this large scale and premeditated election fraud is due to a steady moral decline in the U.S. for many years. The role of churches and people’s belief in God and morals are declining.

Parker said, “Thomas Jefferson warned if we lose morality, we will lose our republic.”

Van Beek said, “What caused this problem was that we have gotten away from God. Many people have become cowards. We do not preach the gospel in a lot of churches, so the churches are very weak today. I am not saying all of them. But we have a lot of so-called Christians that do not really proclaim the truth of God.”

Van Beek said, “God has His people and He brings them in. So if we do not understand that God wants to redeem people from their sin, that's the biggest issue. When we set aside sin and we exalt sin, we’re in trouble. Even though we have many Christians in our country, in fact that many people have forgotten God and exalt sin, that's why we're in trouble.”

Rally-goer Dean said, “Traditional American values are built on the belief that all men and women are created equal, that there is a God who made us and that he is the moral lawgiver, and people have value because that value comes from a lawgiver.”

“The new ideology comes out of atheism and despair, which absolves itself to pretend to be God. But instead they want to make their own rules,. In so doing, they devalue humans and you get death and destruction in the wake of all socialism and communism,” he continued, “So I’m here for human life, for freedom and for American values that were built on the Bible's values and for families and neighbors and community.”

His friend Lisa agreed, “I echo that completely. I think he summed it up well that we're here because our God called us here for the values. We don't want this country to be taken over by socialism and communism that allow us to not have any of our freedoms. Socialism and communism come from an atheist nation. We are God’s children. We love life. We love family. We love traditional marriage.”

“I believe truth will prevail. Evil always runs out of itself. Evil is overconfident because it doesn’t count on the creator of the universe, who won’t let it run without being judged,” concluded Dean.

If Trump is the chosen one for the mission to restore tradition and defeat the CCP, and the Trumpet has started blowing for the battle between good and evil, what should each of us do then?

After all, our faith is not merely what we tell others who we are. Rather, it is our heart, our words, and actions that explain who we are, brings us back on track, and leads us to the future.