A couple of posts ago I reflected upon the city of Jericho. I didn’t note that it was known as the city of Palms (Deuteronomy 34:3). The Hebrew word for palm links to the word is spelt the same as the name Tamar who is noted for being righteous (Genesis 38:26). Psalm 92:12 picks up on the connection:
“The righteous flourish like the palm tree”.
The Israelites came to Jericho soon after the crossing of the river Jordan described in Joshua 3. It reminded me of this perceptive comment from a John Ortberg book which I used in a sermon a while ago:
“God is looking for obedience. When God brought the people of Israel into the Promised land, he had them step into the Jordan first, then he parted the river. If they’d waited on the banks, they’d still be standing on the banks. Faith grows when God says to somebody, ‘Go’ and that person says ‘yes’.”