#6 Destroying Fortresses: Triumph of Faith

Do you want to combat your Jericho and break down those walls that are in front of you?

(Joshua 5:13-15 NIV) Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" {14} "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" {15} The commander of the Lord's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

In the fourth century A.D. there was a courageous Syrian minister named John Chrysostom. He suffered opposition from a Roman emperor and was eventually martyred for his faith. John Chrysostom said, "You are but a poor soldier for Christ if you think you can overcome without fighting, and suppose you can have the crown with the conflict."

He was absolutely right. As Christians we have enemies that constantly wage war against us, trying to keep us from claiming our inheritance in Jesus Christ. The world system, our own flesh, and Satan himself are all united against Jesus and the church, just as the pagan nations in Canaan were united against Joshua and the people of Israel.

There are people in the religious world today who are not comfortable with this idea of a church that is militant, of being soldiers for Jesus Christ. Maybe it's because this idea of warfare seems to contradict a lot of things that Jesus said and did. But one of the main themes in the Scriptures is God's holy warfare against Satan and against sin, beginning right after the fall. In Genesis 3:15 God declared war on Satan when he said, "And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

And one day God is going to declare ultimate victory when Jesus returns. There is a powerful picture in Revelation 19 of Jesus riding a white stallion, coming back as the conquering general, defeating all opposition. If we eliminate this militant reality of our Christian faith, then we have to abandon the cross, because it was on the cross that Jesus won the victory over sin and Satan.

In Colossians 2:15 Paul talks about the meaning of the crucifixion of Jesus: "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him."

It's easy for us, if we're not careful, to cultivate a sentimental emphasis exclusively on the love of God, the peace of Christ, and good will among men, and to ignore the spiritual battle against sin-sin all around us in the world and even sin at work in our own lives.

If peace is our primary emphasis, it could mean that unwittingly we're being co-opted by the enemy, that we might even be in danger of losing spiritual victory in life. The Scriptures are clear that the battles we fight are not against people-it's not against flesh and blood, Paul says, but against enemies in the spiritual realm (see Ephesians 6:12). And the weapons that we use are spiritual, not carnal or physical. Satan and his demonic army will use people, organizations, and movements to oppose us, to attack the church of Jesus, but again, neither the people themselves nor the organizations are the ultimate enemy. The evil force behind them is the true enemy.

So we are called as soldiers of Jesus Christ to take our stand. In Jesus' army there is no place for neutrality. Jesus himself said in Matthew 12:30, "He who is not with me is against me...." He spoke those words in the context of spiritual warfare. The Scriptures over and over again use military images to describe the Christian life. We can't ignore it. And chapter 6 of Joshua will not allow us to ignore it.

In chapter 6 we're starting a new section of the history of Israel. Remember, in chapter 1 God called and commissioned Joshua to leadership in the nation, and promised him three things:

We need to begin with a the closing verses of chapter 5 today because they provide Joshua an insight that we also need today. We need to be made to remember who is actually in charge of this spiritual battle.

It seemed obvious that the next step would be the capture of Jericho. But since no divine message of instruction had yet come to Joshua (as before the crossing of the Jordan), he went out to reconnoiter the seemingly impregnable city.

Was Joshua perplexed as he viewed the secure walls of Jericho? The spies reported at Kadesh Barnea that the cities of Canaan were “large, with walls up to the sky” (Deut. 1:28). Despite Joshua’s long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible.

There was also the question of armaments. Israel’s army had no siege engines, no battering rams, no catapults, and no moving towers. Their only weapons were slings, arrows, and spears—which were like straws against the walls of Jericho. Joshua knew the battle of Jericho must be won because, now that they had crossed the Jordan, Israel’s troops had no place to which they could retreat. Further, they could not bypass the city because that would leave their women, children, goods, and cattle at Gilgal exposed to certain destruction. Pondering these heavy thoughts, Joshua was startled when something came across his sphere of vision.

This paragraph records one of the pre-incarnation appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ recorded in the Old Testament:

It must have been a great encouragement to Joshua to realize that he was not alone. There is a loneliness to leadership that can be disturbing and even depressing as you realize how much your decisions affect the lives of others. “To be President of the United States is to be lonely,” said Harry Truman, “very lonely at times of great decisions.”

God had promised to be with Joshua (Josh. 1:5, 9), and the people had prayed that the Lord would be with him (vv. 16-17). The enemy knew that God was with Israel (2:8ff), and Joshua had encouraged his people with this promise (3:9ff). Joshua was now experiencing the reality of that promise!

The Lord met him as Captain of the Lord’s armies, whether in heaven or on earth. “The Lord of hosts [armies] is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Ps. 46:7, 11).

Joshua would recall the song Israel had sung at the Red Sea: “The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is His name” (Ex. 15:3).

What kind of a military force did this divine Commander lead? The “army of the Lord” was surely not limited to the army of Israel though it may have been included:

Joshua was walking alone outside the camp, looking up at the city walls of Jericho. He was thinking about the best way to take the city. Suddenly he was confronted by an armed warrior with a drawn sword. Being a warrior himself, Joshua took the offensive and challenged the man, asking him to identify himself: "Are you friend or foe?" The answer recorded in the text puts everything in proper perspective. God is sovereign, and it's never a question of whether God is on our side, but whether we are on God's side. Joshua responded wordlessly.

I appreciate the courage of Joshua as he confronted this stranger; for he wanted to know whose side he was on. With Joshua, there was no compromise: You were either for the Lord and His people or against them:

(Matthew 12:30 NIV) "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

(Luke 11:23 NIV) "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

The presence of the holy God sanctified this spot in a strange and defiled land (cf. a similar command to Moses, Ex. 3:5). When Joshua discovered the visitor was the Lord, he fell at His feet in worship and waited for His orders.

This was a deeply significant experience for Joshua. He had anticipated a battle between two opposing armies, Israelite and Canaanite. He had thought this was to be his war and that he was to be the general-in-charge. But then he confronted the divine Commander and learned that the battle was the Lord’s. The top general of the Lord’s army had not come to be an idle Spectator of the conflict, or even an ally. He was in complete charge and would shortly reveal His plans for capturing the citadel of Jericho.

How comforting all this was for Joshua. He did not need to bear the heavy burden and responsibility of leadership alone. By removing his sandals he gladly acknowledged that this battle and the entire conquest of Canaan was God’s conflict and that he was merely God’s servant.

In Christian ministry great public victories are won in private as leaders submit to the Lord and receive their directions from Him. It’s doubtful that anybody in the camp of Israel knew about their leader’s meeting with the Lord, but that meeting made the difference between success and failure on the battlefield.

Watchman Nee wrote, “Not until we take the place of a servant can He take His place as Lord.”

Joshua was reminded that he was second in command. Every father and mother, minister, and Christian leader is second in command to the Lord Jesus Christ; and when we forget this fact, we start to move toward defeat and failure. The Lord came to Joshua that day, not just to help but to lead. Joshua was an experienced soldier, whom Moses had trained for leadership. Yet that was no guarantee of success. He needed the presence of the Lord God.

The Lord’s first order to Joshua revealed to him that he was standing on holy ground. This reminds us of God’s words to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:5). Joshua was standing in “heathen territory”; yet because God was with him, he was standing on holy ground.

If we are obeying the will of God, no matter where He leads us, we are on holy ground; and we had better behave accordingly. There’s no such thing as “secular” and “sacred,” “common” and “consecrated,” when you are in the Lord’s service. “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31, nkjv).

The sequence here is significant: first humble worship, then holy walk, then heavenly warfare. This parallels the “spiritual postures” found in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Joshua first bowed the knee (Eph. 3:14); then he submitted to a holy walk (4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15); and then he went out to battle the enemy in the power of the Lord (6:10ff). Like Joshua, we have already been given our inheritance (described in Eph. 1-2) and we must overcome the enemy in order to claim it for ourselves and enjoy it.

When Joshua met the Lord, he discovered that the battle was the Lord’s and He had already overcome the enemy. All Joshua had to do was listen to God’s Word and obey orders, and God would do the rest. God had already given Jericho to Israel (Josh. 6:2); all they had to do was step out by faith and claim the victory by obeying the Lord.

The main lesson of Joshua 5 is that we must be a spiritually prepared people if we are going to do the Lord’s work successfully and glorify His name. Instead of rushing into the battle, we must “take time to be holy.” All of us are His ministers, His servants; and we want to be holy instruments that He can use successfully.

I heard of a man who had never seen a train. One day while at the county seat he saw a big steam locomotive. It had six cars behind it. He looked at that engine—all of that steal and metal—and said, “They will never get it to move.” Sure enough, it sat there for several hours. But finally the engineer got inside the cab and pulled the lever. Steam discharged and went down into the cylinders; the cylinders began to slowly move. Those wheels moved an inch, then two, then three. It gathered momentum and began to move, clickety-clack. It began going faster and faster and as the train went by the man, it was just a blur. All he could see of it in the distance was the yellow light hanging from the caboose. He said: “They will never stop it.”

A plan for conquering the land of Canaan with its fortified cities and giants was, of course, crucial, but God never leaves His people to their own strategies. He comes to their aid with His own divinely-provided plan.

Indeed, we are repeatedly warned in Scripture against leaning on our own understanding or plans:

(Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; {6} in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

(Jeremiah 9:23-24 NIV) This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, {24} but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

(Jeremiah 17:5 NIV) This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

Undoubtedly, the strategy for invading the land was based on the geographical lay of the land. Campbell writes: The pattern of divine strategy for the conquest of Canaan was based on geographic factors. From their camp at Gilgal near the Jordan River the Israelites could see steep hills to the west. Jericho controlled the way of ascent into these mountains, and Ai, another fortress, stood at the head of the ascent. If the Israelites were to capture the hill country they must certainly take Jericho and Ai. This would put them on top of the hill country and in control of the central ridge, having driven a wedge between the northern and southern sections of Canaan. Israel could then engage the armies of the south in battle followed by the more remote enemy in the north. But first, Jericho must fall—and it would if Joshua and the people followed the Lord’s plan of action.[1]

In view of the lay of the land and the distribution of towns and fortresses, the strategic plan was to drive a wedge between the enemy’s lines of defense in order to conquer the land in three campaigns: one in the center of the land, one to the south and one to the north. They thus attacked the central portion first, which prepared the way for operations to the south and then to the north. The map below, taken from the Ryrie Study Bible, shows Israel’s movement into the central portion of Canaan.[2]

The Plan or Strategy for Victory (6:1-7)

If Joshua had met with his military advisors, no one would have come up with this plan. The plan set forth by the Lord in chapter 6 certainly illustrates the principle of a number of passages from the Bible like Proverbs 14:12 and Isaiah 55:8f.

God’s plan of salvation and deliverance is not a plan that man would design if he could or could if he would because of his basic alienation from God and proneness to depend on his own solutions. So today, men are prone to believe in a plan of salvation and sanctification that in some way or another introduces works into the equation rather than faith alone in Christ alone. Such a gospel is called by some easy believism when the truth is simple trust in Christ is not easy; it goes against the very grain of man’s makeup.

The directions given to Joshua by God for the conquest of Jericho obviously seem strange when compared to any human strategy men would devise, but only if we fail to think in biblical terms of the life of faith and man’s inherent inability to accomplish his own salvation or sanctification. Joshua 6, therefore, illustrates several vital concepts for walking by faith and dealing with the spiritual enemies we face in this life.

The Preparations of Jericho (vs. 1)

Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

Verse 1 is a parenthesis designed to introduce us to the plan for the overthrow of Jericho, but in the process, it shows us how Jericho, having stopped its normal activities, was preparing for a siege by Israel, but undoubtedly fearful with melted hearts because of the mighty works of God. They knew about the Red Sea and they had surely heard about the miracle at Jordan.

The land of Canaan was divided up among a number of “city states,” each ruled by a king (see 12:9-24). These cities were not large; Ai, which was smaller than Jericho (7:2-3), had about 12,000 people (8:25). Excavations at Jericho indicate that the city covered perhaps eight acres and was protected by two high parallel walls, which stood about fifteen feet apart and surrounded the city. It was the sight of cities like Jericho that convinced ten of the Jewish spies that Israel could never conquer the land (Num. 13:28).

But the news of Israel’s exodus from Egypt and their recent victories east of the Jordan had already spread to Canaan and put the people in panic (Josh. 2:9-11; see Deut. 2:25; 7:23; 11:25; 32:30). “I will send My fear before you,” God had promised; “I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you” (Ex. 23:27, nkjv).

The Promise From the Lord (vs. 2)

{2} Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

Before the Lord outlined His plan, He graciously assured Joshua of victory. Note the emphasis: “See, I have given.” Joshua was commanded to see, understand, and so reflect on the fact, as a matter of confidence, that Yahweh had already given them victory.

Victorious Christians are people who know the promises of God, because they spend time meditating on God’s Word (1:8); they believe the promises of God, because the Word of God generates faith in their hearts (Rom. 10:17); and they reckon on these promises and obey what God tells them to do. To “reckon” means to count as true in your life what God says about you in His Word.

“Be of good cheer,” Jesus told His disciples; “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). Christ has conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil; and if we reckon on this truth, we can conquer through Him. It’s possible to believe a promise and still not reckon on it and obey the Lord. Believing a promise is like accepting a check, but reckoning is like endorsing the check and cashing it.

Victory is always by the Lord’s hand, and since victory is by God’s power, we should expect it to be something that bypasses dependence on man and his own strength or abilities. So with the word “see” Joshua is called to see with eyes of faith and to envision Jericho as destroyed.

Likewise over and over again in the New Testament, we are assured of our triumph over sin and Satan. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14). See also Romans 6:1-14; Colossians 2:6-15.

The words “have given” represent a prophetic perfect in the Hebrew text which describes a future event or action as having already been accomplished. Victory was assured by the promise of an omnipotent, faithful, and immutable God.

The Principles to Note (vss. 3-7)

{3} March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. {4} Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. {5} When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in." {6} So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." {7} And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."

“Joshua did not take the city merely by a clever, human military tactic,” wrote Francis A. Schaeffer. “The strategy was the Lord’s.”^6-1

No situation is too great for the Lord to handle, and no problem is too much for Him to solve. When He saw more than 5,000 hungry people before Him, Jesus asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Then John adds, “But this He said to test him; for He Himself knew what He would do” (John 6:5-6, nkjv). God always knows what He will do. Our responsibility is to wait for Him to tell us all that we need to know and then obey it.

J. Hudson Taylor: three different ways to serve the Lord: (1) to make the best plans we can and hope they succeed; (2) to make our own plans and ask God to bless them; or (3) to ask God for His plans and then do what He tells us to do. Joshua received his orders from the Lord, and that’s why Israel succeeded.

This battle plan is highly unusual to say the least. The ordinary methods and weapons of warfare like battering rams or scaling ladders or towers were not to be used at all. Rather, Joshua and his men were to employ God’s plan of victory as outlined in verses 3-7. Each day they were to march silently around the city with the priests carrying the trumpets of rams’ horns. The city covered only about 8.5 acres. On the seventh day they were to march seven times around the city and the priests were to blow their trumpets.

Though this procedure would never be employed again with other cities, it would serve to teach Israel and God’s people of all ages that though we have human responsibilities in tearing down the strongholds raised up against the knowledge of God, victory is dependent on two things: God’s power and faith and faithfulness to His directions or plan.

1. He wanted to test his obedience. The Bible is not first and foremost a book to be understood. It is a book to be undertaken. We are to do it. When God tells us to do something, that is reason enough. His ways are not our ways. People respond: “I don’t understand why I am supposed to be baptized” “I don’t understand why I am supposed to give as I have prospered.” “I don’t understand why I ought to attend worship regularly.” There HAS to be compliance…we have to obey.

2. He wanted there to be some observation. Every time they went around those walls they got bigger and more massive. The distance around those walls got to be longer and longer. The people had to be brought to the point where they would throw their swords in the dust, bow their knees in reverence, and acknowledge God as the Commander in Chief! We must stop trying or testing and start trusting! If we still have “walls of Jericho” in our life today it might be because we haven’t arrived at the point to say: “God, I can’t, but You can.”

The number seven figures prominently in this chapter. In fact it is used eleven times. Seven priests, with seven trumpets were to march around the city seven days with seven trips around the city on the seventh day. In biblical numerology the number seven represents completeness or perfection.

The Hebrew word translated “seven” (shevah) comes from a root that means “to be full, to be satisfied.” When God finished His work of creation, He rested on the seventh day and sanctified it (Gen. 2:3); and this helped give the number seven its sacred significance. The Jews noted that there were seven promises in God’s covenant with Abraham (12:1-3) and seven branches on the candlestick in the tabernacle (Ex. 37:17-24).

Anything involving the number seven was especially sacred to them. It spoke of God’s ability to finish whatever He started.

(a) It signifies perfection or completion which reminds us that God’s plan, no matter how foolish it may seem to us, is always perfect and cannot be improved upon by man (first cf. 1 Cor. 1:18f and then Rom. 12:2; 11:33-36).

(b) Further, the number seven shows that the conquest was part of a spiritual exercise or process designed to set the people apart (sanctify them) for the Lord as a holy people who belong to a holy God.

(c) Because of the significance of the number seven to creation and the Sabbath and the fact they were entering into their inheritance, it undoubtedly signified the beginning of a new order and the land as a picture of the believer’s rest in the Lord (see Heb. 4).

We have in this a reminder of 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

John Chrysostom (347-407): “You are but a poor soldier of Christ if you think you can overcome without fighting, and suppose you can have the crown without the conflict.”

The Christian life involves challenge and conflict whether we like it or not. Our enemies are constantly waging war against us and trying to keep us from claiming our inheritance in Jesus Christ. The world, the flesh, and the devil (Eph. 2:1-3) are united against Christ and His people just as the nations in Canaan were united against Joshua and the Jewish nation.

Too many Christians cultivate only a sentimental emphasis on “peace and goodwill” and ignore the spiritual battle against sin; and this means they’ve already lost the victory and are working for the enemy. We must never forget Paul’s warning about the savage wolves that are ready to destroy the flock (Acts 20:28-29).

The Christian’s warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against enemies in the spiritual realm (Eph. 6:10-18); and the weapons we use are spiritual (2 Cor. 10:3-6). Satan and his demonic armies use people to oppose and attack the church of God; and if we don’t take our stand with Christ, we’ve already lost the battle.

(1) The Nature of the believer’s weapons: As the walls of Jericho were brought down apart from human ability, so the spiritual weapons of our warfare are appropriated through prayer, faith, and various truths of the Word of God.

(2) The Design and Purpose of our weapons: Our weapons are designed to tear down strongholds. Strongholds are those things (human reasoning or ideas, values, and designs, etc.) raised up by a satanic world system and by fallen man that oppose the knowledge of God (biblical principles of grace, eternal values, etc.) and what knowing God intimately should mean in the lives of His people.

(3) The use of the blaring trumpets adds significant spiritual overtones. These trumpets could produce only a few notes. They were used mainly as an instrument of signal. They were used at the time of jubilee in connection with the religious feasts to proclaim the worship and presence of God and they were used in military contexts. Both concepts are applicable here. Here they signaled both God’s presence and announced Jericho’s impending doom. This was not just a military undertaking, the trumpets declared that the Lord of heaven and earth was present to tear down the walls of Jericho.

The Jews used two different kinds of trumpets, those made of silver and those made of ram’s horns. The silver trumpets were used especially by the priests to signal the camp when something important was happening (Num. 10). The ram’s horns were used primarily for celebrations. The common Hebrew word for “trumpet” is shofar; for “ram’s horn,” it is jobel, which is the root of the word jubilee. The “Year of Jubilee” was the fiftieth year after seven Sabbaticals, and was a special time of celebration in Israel (Lev. 25; 27:17-24). The priests blew the ram’s horns to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land” (25:10).

The priests didn’t use the silver trumpets in this event because Israel was not declaring war on Jericho, for there was no war! The Jews were announcing the arrival of the “Year of Jubilee” for Israel in their new land. God’s people today can march in triumphal procession because of the victory of Jesus Christ over all the enemies of God (Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor. 2:14; Col. 2:15). We should be living like victors, not victims.

God’s plan for the conquest of Jericho was seemingly foolish, but it worked. God’s wisdom is far above ours (Isa. 55:8-9) and He delights in using people and plans that seem foolish to the world (1 Cor. 1:26-29). Whether it’s Joshua with trumpets, Gideon with torches and pitchers (Judges 7), or David with his sling (1 Sam. 17), God delights in using weakness and seeming foolishness to defeat His enemies and glorify His name.

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” (2 Chron. 16:9).

Application: We each have our Jericho or Ai that stands in the way of our ability to possess our possessions in Christ; virtual strongholds that impede our spiritual progress. It may be a weakness in our character, a physical infirmity, it may be indifference to spiritual things in general or to a specific area we are neglecting. It could be materialism or some life-dominating pattern. It may be a difficulty at one’s place of work, in the home, with a particular personality, or it may be a financial burden. Regardless of the nature of our Jericho, we must realize victory always comes through God’s plan of deliverance—never ours.

The Path or Sequence to Victory (6:8-21)

(Joshua 6:8-21 NIV) When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord's covenant followed them. {9} The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. {10} But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!"

{11} So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there. {12} Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. {13} The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. {14} So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

{15} On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. {16} The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! {17} The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. {18} But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. {19} All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."

{20} When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. {21} They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

These verses give us the sequence of events from the first day’s march around the city to the last day and the collapse of the wall. The statement about the men being able to charge “straight ahead” calls our attention to the fact that they were able to charge in from all around the city. There were not just one or two breaches in the wall where soldiers were able to pour into the city. The whole wall around the city collapsed with the exception of the portion where Rahab’s house was located.

Some interpreters claim that an earthquake caused the destruction. If so, it was a remarkable miracle of timing and localization since the camp at Gilgal (a little more than a mile away) and Rahab’s house remained intact.[3]

The Prior Preparation

We should not forget that these instructions and the events of this chapter were preceded by a number of things God used to prepare the people to believe and obey Him. Israel had been prepared to trust the Lord by the events of the first chapters and their consecration to the Lord, especially in chapter 5. I am reminded of Luke 16:10, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” Spiritual preparation is fundamental to our ability to appropriate God’s strength in exchange for our weakness.

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days” (Heb. 11:30). “And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4, nkjv).

Faith is not believing in spite of evidence, for the people of Israel had been given one demonstration after another proving that God’s Word and God’s power can be trusted. The Lord had opened the Red Sea, destroyed the Egyptian army, cared for His people in the wilderness, defeated great kings, given Israel their land, opened the Jordan River, and brought His people safely into the Promised Land. How could they do anything other than believe Him!

Joshua first shared the Lord’s plan with the priests. It was important that the ark of the Lord be in its proper place, for it represented the presence of the Lord with His people. When Israel crossed the river, the account mentions the ark sixteen times (Josh. 3-4); and here in 6:6-15, the ark is mentioned eight times. Israel could march and the priests blow trumpets until all of them dropped from weariness; but if the Lord wasn’t with them, there would be no victory. When we accept God’s plan, we invite God’s presence; and that guarantees victory. (See Ex. 33:12-17.)

Then Joshua instructed the soldiers. He probably didn’t enlist the entire army for this important event; for that would have involved far too many people. According to the military census of Numbers 26, there were over 600,000 men able to bear arms. Think of how long it would take that many men to march around the city walls! And when the walls fell down, Joshua certainly didn’t need hundreds of thousands of soldiers to rush in and overcome the people. The men would have been falling over one another!

Over 2 million people were in the nation of Israel, and marching all of them around the city of Jericho would have been time-consuming and dangerous. The people no doubt watched in silence from a distance and then participated in the great shout on the seventh day. It was a victory for Israel and Israel’s God, and not just for the priests and soldiers.

It’s important that leaders receive their orders from the Lord and that those who follow them obey their instructions. As with the crossing of the Jordan River, so also the conquest of Jericho was a miracle of faith. Joshua and his people listened to God’s orders, believed them, and obeyed; and God did the rest. When God’s people rebel against spiritual leadership, as Israel often did in the wilderness, it leads to discipline and defeat.

The activities of the week were a test of the Jewish people’s faith and patience. No doubt some of them were anxious to get on with the invasion so they could claim their inheritance and settle down to enjoy the rest God had promised them (Josh. 1:13). To some of them, it may have seemed a futile waste of time to devote an entire week to the taking of one city. Impatience was one of Israel’s besetting sins, and God was helping them learn patient obedience; for it’s through “faith and patience” that God’s people inherit what He has promised (Heb. 6:12). God is never in a hurry. He knows what He’s doing, and His timing is never off.

If the week’s schedule was a test of their patience, the divine command of silence was a test of their self-control. People who can’t control their tongues can’t control their bodies (James 3:1-2), and what good are soldiers whose bodies are not disciplined? “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). In the Christian life there’s “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecc. 3:7); and wise is the child of God who knows the difference. Our Lord is the perfect example of this (Isa. 53:7; Matt. 26:62-63; 27:14; Luke 23:9).

How did the people in the city of Jericho respond to this daily procession around the city? It’s likely that the march on the first day frightened them, for they probably expected the army to raise a siege against the city. But the Jews neither built ramps against the walls nor did they try to batter down the gates. When the marchers returned to camp after making only one circuit of the walls, the citizens must have felt greatly relieved. However, as the march was repeated day after day, tension must have grown in the city as the people wondered what would happen next. They knew that the God of Israel was a “great God of wonders,” whose power had defeated Egypt and the kings east of the Jordan. What would Jehovah now do to Jericho?

When the procession went around the walls seven times on the seventh day, the tension within the city must have increased to frightening proportions. Then came the blast of the trumpets and the victory shout of the people, and the walls fell down flat! All that the soldiers had to do was rush into the city and take over.

The Holy Spirit directed the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews to use this event as one of the “by faith” examples in Hebrews 11. The fall of Jericho is an encouragement to God’s people to trust the Lord’s promises and obey His instructions, no matter how impossible the situation may appear to be. You and I may not capture a city as Joshua did, but in our everyday lives we face enemies and high walls that challenge us. The only way to grow in faith is to accept new challenges and trust God to give you victory. “Do not pray for easy lives,” said Phillips Brooks; “pray to be better men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for power equal to your tasks.”

The Priority of Silence

Can you imagine the difficulty of this? Several hundred thousand people marching around the city without a word, not even a whisper! There were the priests with their trumpets, those with the ark, the armed men and then the rest of the people. This may have included the women and children as well. If this was the case, the silence may be even a bigger miracle than the walls falling down!

The passage does not tell us why they were to be silent, but perhaps it illustrates and teaches the principle of being silent before God and just resting in Him. Does any passage come to mind? What about Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Then there is Psalm 46:10-11 which reads: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD Almighty is with us …”

As this Psalm suggests, the silence teaches us the need to get quiet, to stop our running around that we may rest quietly in Him as we think on Him in the midst of our trials and conquests in life. Our tendency is to gripe and complain to others or seek our comfort from people more than we talk to God and seek our comfort from Him.

The Principle of Obedience Through Faith

Regardless how unusual the plan was or how hard it was to carry out, there was explicit obedience. We read in Hebrews 11:30, “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down …” In spite of the taunts that were perhaps hurled down at them from the walls as they marched silently around Jericho, they were willing to look foolish and simply rest in the Lord. He was their source of strength.

If we want to overcome our obstacles and testings, we must submit to God’s way by faith:

For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness (Gal. 5:5).

22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord. He has also rejected you from being king” (1 Sam. 15:22-23).

The Principle of Endurance

Joshua’s command in verse 10, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’” shows the people must have understood God’s plan would involve more than one day. Yet, a careful reading of the text also suggest Joshua did not unfold the entire plan at the first, but day by day gave them instructions. Each day they would go out and march silently around the city and then return with nothing happening.

The walls were still standing and Jericho had not surrendered. Yet, they did not murmur or complain or question Joshua’s instructions. They simply obeyed day after day until the seventh day when they marched around the city seven times. At the command of Joshua on the seventh day they gave the great shout and the walls came tumbling down by the mighty hand of God.

Is it not significant that Hebrews 11:30, which says, “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been circled seven days,” is followed in the next chapter, 12:1-2, with a charge to run the race set before us with endurance by looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith?

This remind us that the Lord often works slowly. We want immediate deliverance, but the Lord often tests our faith and in the process builds our character and our relationship with Him so we find the Lord to be what we really need.

2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).

Too often we want immediate solutions and all our needs and wants met so we do not have to wait on the Lord and trust Him. We want to trust in our health, our bank accounts, our position in the community, our reputation, in our talent, education, and abilities. We don’t want to trust the Lord alone.

For a good illustration of this compare Naaman’s response when he was told he would have to wash seven times in the Jordan river (2 Kings 5:11-14). Cleansing only came to Naaman when he humbled himself and washed seven times, not four or five or even six, but seven.

See also Psalm 62:1-8 and the emphasis there of the need for us to wait patiently to find rest, not in our quick solutions, but in God alone. Surely, the Lord was teaching Israel the need to wait patiently to find their rest in Him.

6:20b-21. The men of Israel clambered over the debris. Finding the inhabitants paralyzed with terror and unable to resist, the soldiers utterly destroyed all human and animal life in Jericho, except for Rahab and her household (cf. v. 17). Though critics have charged that this destruction is a blemish on the Old Testament, it is clear that Israel was acting on divine command. The responsibility for this destruction rests therefore with God and not
the Israelites.

The city of Jericho and everything in it was “to be devoted (hÖeôrem) to the Lord” (v. 17). The NASB renders those words “shall be under the ban,” a more literal translation. Verse 21 includes a verb form of that noun hÖeôrem: They devoted (wayyahahÖaõr?òmuò, from hÖaôram) the city to the LORD. The idea is that the city’s contents were to be given over to the Lord by totally destroying them. To convey this, the NIV adds and destroyed. (The verb hÖaôram is trans. “totally destroyed” in 10:28, 35, 37, 39-40; 11:11-12, 21 and “destroy them
totally” in 11:20; cf. 1 Sam. 15:3, 8-9, 15, 18, 20. The noun hÖeôrem is trans. “devoted” or “devoted things” in Josh. 6:17-18; 7:1, 11-12, 15; 1 Sam. 15:21; “devoted to destruction” in Lev. 27:29; “set apart for destruction” in Deut. 7:26. Sometimes, however, the idea of destruction is not in the word; cf., e.g., Lev.
27:21, 28.)

The contents of Jericho were to be given “to the LORD” as the firstfruits of the land. Just as the firstfruits of a crop, given to the Lord, pointed to more crops to come, so the conquest of Jericho signified that Israel would receive all of Canaan from Him. No loot from Jericho was to be taken by the people. In carrying out the hÖeôrem, people and animals were to be killed (Josh. 6:17, 21), and other things were either to be destroyed or set apart, as in this case, for the purposes of the sanctuary. These items included “silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron” (v. 19). All was “devoted” either to destruction or to the Lord’s “treasury”; all was to be forfeited by the people.

Furthermore, God has the right to visit judgment on individuals and nations in sin. Is there evidence that the iniquity of the Canaanites was full? Few would question that the idolatrous worship and licentious lifestyle attested by archeological discoveries (e.g., the Ras Shamra tablets) justified the divine judgment on Jericho.

Finally, God’s purpose was to bless the nation of Israel in the land and to use her as a channel of blessing to the world. But this would be greatly hindered if they were infected by the degenerate religion of the Canaanites. Gleason Archer declares, “In view of the corrupting influence of the Canaanite religion, especially with its religious prostitution… and infant sacrifice, it was impossible for pure faith and worship to be maintained in Israel except by the complete elimination of the Canaanites themselves” (A Survey of Old Testament
Introduction. Chicago: Moody Press, 1964, p. 261).

Sin is desperately contagious. To compromise with evil is dangerous and invites spiritual disaster.

Archeological evidence for the collapse of Jericho’s walls in Joshua’s day is not as clear as was once supposed. This can be explained by the fact that further excavations have determined that in its long history Jericho has had some 34 walls. (Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. Many archeologists hold that it was inhabited as early as 7000 B.C.) The many earthquakes in the area, the thoroughness of Joshua’s destruction of the city, and the process of erosion over five centuries until it was refortified in Ahab’s time (1 Kings 16:34) also contributed to the meager remains and the extreme difficulty of relating these remains to the time of Joshua’s attack. The most significant evidence seems to be extensive pottery remains found on the mound and in the tombs of the area.
These findings point to an occupancy of Jericho until about 1400 B.C. Under the pottery is a thick burned layer of ash representing a major destruction. This no doubt points to Joshua’s destruction and burning (Josh. 6:24) of the city. (For a thorough discussion of the archeology of Old Testament Jericho, see Leon Wood, A Survey of Israel’s History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970, pp. 94-9.)

The Promise Fulfilled, the Sequel to Victory (6:22-27)

(Joshua 6:22-27 NIV) Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." {23} So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel. {24} Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord's house. {25} But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho--and she lives among the Israelites to this day. {26} At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates." {27} So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

In these final verses we see some marvelous facts about God and His dealings with people. First, they demonstrate God’s faithfulness to His Word; they remind us that God, who is immutable and cannot lie, is also absolutely faithful (cf. Jam. 1:17). The promises to Rahab were kept—she and her family were delivered. While it is not stated, evidently that part of the wall on which Rahab’s house was built did not collapse.

Second, they demonstrate God’s grace and mercy. God’s love and plan of salvation is open to anyone who calls on the name of the Lord (John 3:16; 2 Pet. 3:9; Rom. 10:11-13).

Third, in keeping with His faithfulness to keep His promises, the prophecy against any who would seek to rebuild Jericho (vs. 26), also demonstrates God’s severity and the surety of His Word. The prophecy of verse 26 came to be fulfilled in the days of Ahab (see 1 Kings 16:34). Jericho was occupied sporadically after its destruction, but never to the previous degree.

[1] John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck, Editors, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Victor Books, Wheaton, 1983,1985, electronic media.

[2] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Ryrie Study Bible, Expanded Edition, Moody Press, Chicago, 1995, electronic media.

[3] Ryrie.