And it came about at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the Lord Has given you the city." - verse 16
Message: The Fall of Jericho
Time: Joshua "Yahweh saves" led Israel, under God's command, to victorious conquest of the Promised Land. The book spans about 25 years, beginning about 1406 BC. The conquest of Canaan, numerous military campaigns and regathering of the nation are major components.
What the Lord is Saying: This is a hard text to read. The text states that the Lord told Joshua that he and all the men will march around the city once for six days (v.3) and seven priests will carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark (v. 4). Then on the seventh day, all will march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing their trumpets. And then their will be a long blast with the ram's horn and the city wall will fall down (v. 5). Joshua clarified with the people that only on the 7th day are they to shout (v.10). Only Rahab will live or be spared (v. 17). From the city of Jericho, silver, gold, bronze, iron are set aside for the treasury of the Lord (v. 19). They shouted and took the city with the wall coming down (v. 20). Everything in the city was destroyed - man/woman, young/old, ox/sheep/donkey. Rahab and her family were spared (v. 23). Everything else was burned (v. 24). Then an oath was given by Joshua to not rebuild this city (v. 26).
A city like Jericho was fortified with a large wall around the city as a defense, preventing them from being captured. With gates shut, it would be difficult to penetrate the city. The people of Israel must have thought it to be preposterous that they are to simply walk around the city 6 days one time and they 7 times on the 7th day and the wall would come down. But this is also the God that parted seas. They were given a command and the followed through on it and did as they were told and the wall came down as they were told it would.
It is hard to read of those people, that they were annihilated. Yet the Canaanites were a people that only at this time were told they would be annihilated. Only for this time. Why? For they practiced detestable things. They were guilty of sin and encouraging others to sin and their ruin was prophetic. Deuteronomy 20:16-18, "Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hitite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you, in order that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the Lord your God." Also Leviticus 18 is a warning when the Lord says, "You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes."
This is a stark reminder that not all people are part of his saved ones. There is wrath to come for the impenitent. Rahab escapes by trusting in God. The goal is for people to be a people of faith, walking with God, trusting Him.
Summary: The Lord provides the fall of Jericho, a city where people do detestable things, sinning against the Lord and with a shout, the walls of Jericho fall.
Promise: The Lord will bless us when we fight according to the means He has given us.
Prayer: God, thank you for placing me on your side. There are consequences to people seeking their own way and encouraging others to do detestable things. Help me be a person that shows people the right way to live and to walk according to Your ways as you have intended. Pull the blinders off of people that act in way that does not honor you. Help people to read your word and see from it truth, the truth of who you are. Thank you for showing your power and your providence through these people and continuing to show how you provide for people that you have called.
Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.
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