Joshua 6:1 ¶ Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. 2 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
Jericho is under siege. Archaeologists are conflicted about
Jericho. The dating of events seems to be a problem for them. Usually they
compare things like pottery found in certain locations to come up with some
kind of a date. However, the pronouncements of famous archaeologists like
Kathleen Kenyon will land on the front page and other less famous
archaeologists who criticized the celebrity’s work must be searched out by the
student.
What we can surmise from the archaeological “babel” is that the
city was surrounded by extensive defensive walls strengthened with rectangular
towers and elaborate cemeteries. It was continuously occupied until the latter
half of the second millennium, our time period here, and was destroyed. It was
a strong place and would have been hard for any invader to take at that time.
Except of course, for God Himself.
The phrase straitly shut up is interesting in that the word
strait comes down to us not only for a body of water but for a narrowing
effect, a confining effect, as in straitjacket. Here is the Biblical
definition.
Matthew 7:14 Because strait
is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it.
So, this was a siege of a strong fortified position which could
not be taken normally due to its powerful defenses. Siegecraft was the common
way to attack a city throughout history. Armies would lay siege to a city until
it surrendered, was relieved by a powerful force, until the besieging army
simply gave up, a deal was made, or sallies from the city weakened the
attackers. In later years trenches would be dug to draw closer and closer to
the walls and then the walls could be undermined by tunnels. Often,
countermeasures would be taken by the besieged. But, in this case a different
tactic was called for by Joshua based on God’s plan. Read the instructions
here. God is saying that He is going to do something pretty spectacular and
like the Red Sea crossing and the defeat of the might of Egypt the word is
going to get around, I should think.
Joshua 6:6 ¶ And Joshua the
son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the
covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the
ark of the LORD. 7 And he said unto the
people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before
the ark of the LORD. 8 And it came to
pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing
the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the
trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. 9 And the armed men went before the priests
that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the
priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. 10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying,
Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any
word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye
shout. 11 So the ark of the LORD
compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp,
and lodged in the camp. 12 And Joshua
rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of
rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the
trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the
ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
14 And the second day they compassed the
city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. 15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that
they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the
same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.
16 And it came to pass at the seventh
time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people,
Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.
This is simply a telling of their obedience to the orders they
were given under Joshua’s leadership.
Joshua 6:17 ¶ And the city
shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the
LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in
the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves
from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take
of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19 But all the silver, and gold, and
vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall
come into the treasury of the LORD. 20
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets:
and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the
people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the
people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the
city. 21 And they utterly destroyed all
that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and
sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. 22
But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go
into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath,
as ye sware unto her. 23 And the young
men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her
mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred,
and left them without the camp of Israel. 24
And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only
the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into
the treasury of the house of the LORD. 25
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and
all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because
she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. 26 And Joshua adjured them at that time,
saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth
this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in
his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. 27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was
noised throughout all the country.
Along with the command to refrain from
causing any hurt to Rahab, the prostitute, and her household a warning is given
not to take things that are accursed or consecrated to the heathen gods.
They are to be consecrated to the LORD God and placed in His treasury. We
actually will learn coming up what constitutes an accursed thing.
Verse 20 tells
us that the walls fell down flat when the people shouted. God caused this to
happen in response to their obedience. Looking for an external event recorded
in history like an earthquake is as pointless as looking for the specially
prepared fish that swallowed Jonah and as silly as supposed the apostle John is
still alive wandering around somewhere because you, as a modernist, tried to
read the Bible like the owner’s manual to your car.
Archaeology confirms the walls falling down. City
walls could collapse and ancient city walls as in Istanbul, Turkey recently
have collapsed. City walls would collapse again with disastrous effects for
Israel’s enemies.
1Kings 20:30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city;
and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left.
And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
Without our modern building codes you can imagine God
watching the original builders of the walls of Jericho and seeing ahead to what
He would do for the Israelites.
Rahab and her household was spared so the damage to
the city walls must have been very specific as her house was on the wall. The
city was then put to the torch which is confirmed by some archaeologists albeit
without agreement on dates.
Joshua’s curse in verse 26 is prophetic in that…
1Kings 16:34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho:
he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates
thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he
spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
Joshua is becoming famous and in a way
that terrifies the enemies of God and of Israel.
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