Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. 2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 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 the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone 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 army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
8 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 army, “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 army 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 army, “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 army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone 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.
22 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, her brothers and sisters 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 one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.” 27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land. (Joshua 6 NIV)
Today, we come to one of the most famous stories in the Bible. It is a story that every child in Sunday School knows. They sing songs about it. It is one of the greatest miracles in the Bible.
This miracle was unique. It has never happened before and has never happened since then. It is a miracle story. It is about God doing the impossible. It is a faith story. It is about trusting God when what He says makes absolutely no sense.
It is a story about big walls that seem insurmountable and watching the walls come crashing down. It is a story about judgment on a wicked city, but it is also a story about grace to sinners.
A city is destroyed but a family is saved. Jericho is destroyed but Rahab’s entire family is saved. The two spies who Rahab saved were the ones who saved her. They went into Jericho and escorted her and her family out. They made a promise to her and kept it.
It is a story with a lot of symbolism in it. We see the number seven a lot: seven priests, carrying seven shofars, marching for seven days, and marching around the city seven times on the final day.
The ark of the covenant is symbolic. It was at the center of the procession. The Ark led the army around the perimeter. The ark represents the presence of God. It was not simply a military operation. God was involved in this. He was at the center of the whole thing.
There have been many Jericho marches today. There are prayer walks. People walk around sites and pray for the end of something. Some have done that outside of an abortion clinic.
It is also a chapter that has been attacked and abused. Let’s talk about it.
Attack of Skeptics
This chapter has come under attack by skeptics. Why? A lot of people die. It is one of the most violent stories in the Bible. People were put to death by the edge of the sword. We do not tell that part to kids in Sunday School.
We just tell them about the marching and the walls coming down. One of the most difficult verses in Joshua 6:21. It says, “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.”
That is one of the most terrifying verses in the chapter. Atheists argue that this makes God a moral monster. They would call it mass murder. They would call it ethnic cleansing or genocide today.
They would call it a war crime, the mass slaughter of an entire population, men, women, children, infants and even the animals. Animal rights activists would be outraged. That doesn’t seem fair. That doesn’t sound very loving. How would you answer them?
Let’s answer the hard questions today. We are going to address some deep topics. God is love but he is also holy. Many only focus on one aspect of God’s character. God has many attributes.
The other thing to note is that this was NOT a conquest; it was a judgment. It was not a conquest because they were not allowed to take anything for themselves out of the city. That was specifically forbidden.
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. (Joshua 6:18 NIV)
This was God’s judgment. It was His judgment on a wicked society. What stands out in this chapter is the terror of divine judgment.
The Bible says that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31 NLT). It is a terrible thing to be under His wrath. It is scary. It is frightening.
What is the difference between JUDGMENT and GENOCIDE? Genocide targets a group of people regardless of their personal character or behavior. It just looks at who they are, their race or skin color or ethnicity.
This was NOT genocide, because Rahab and her family were saved. It tells us that this had nothing to do with race. It is proof that this was not done for racial reasons. If it was genocide, everyone would be killed.
Judgment is based on behavior, not race or nationality. God holds individuals and even nations accountable for their behavior and for their rebellion against His Word.
Genocide is done by people. Judgment is done by God, although sometimes He authorize people to act in his behalf to execute judgment. He authorizes the state to execute murderers.
You say that is all fine but why were innocent children and infants killed. They had not done anything wrong. That is true. Why were they judged?
We are all born in sin, even babies. We are all born with a sin nature. The Bible teaches the wages of sin is death. We all deserved to die because we are sinners.
God is the Creator of all life. He gives life. He takes away life. He can decide when and how we all die. He can decide when animals die as well.
If you believe that infants who die go to heaven, as many do, this would actually be an act of mercy. If all of the adults were killed, the animals and children would not have even survived.
Abuses of this Chapter
Now, let’s talk about how this chapter has been misinterpreted by people and some of them are Christians. There are many abuses of this chapter.
1) Terrorist Abuse
Is this chapter a justification to commit jihad or holy wars today? Is it justification to commit religious violence? If Joshua wiped out entire cities, can we do that today? It is in the Bible. There is a good reason.
God commanded the Jews to do this. It was done by divine command. This action was divinely sanctioned. It came by divine revelation. The Jews did not decide on their own to do this. That is the difference.
Muslims have the concept of holy wars. Some radical terrorists even try to justify what happened on 911. They give all kinds of arguments, like US support for Israel or US army bases in Saudi Arabia near Muslim holy sites or ten other reasons.
What they do not claim to do is base it on divine revelation. They can’t, because God has not spoken. He has not said anything. Actually, He has said something. He gave us the Sixth Commandment which forbids murder, but it is not murder for God to take a life. He gave life and He can take it at any time.
2) Charismatic Abuse
You see more in Word of Faith or some charismatic churches. The idea here is that we bring down walls. We bring down walls through human effort, the power of our praise, or our shouting. The only weapon in the story is the people’s voice. One shout and the walls came down.
Word of Faith theology emphasizes that words carry power. If we just shout positive declarations, decree financial abundance, and speak victory over their bank accounts or health, we can have them.
Can we just shout at our problems and make them disappear? Can we do a Jericho march and march around our problems for seven days, shout in faith, and refuse to give up, we can bring down the walls in our life? Will this approach remove every problem or obstacle that we have? There are three problems with this view.
One, the Jews had received a specific Word from God.
God gave them a specific Word about the city of Jericho. If you don’t have a specific word on a matter, you can’t assume the same outcome.
Two, God gave them the city. They didn’t just take it by force.
Jericho was a heavily fortified, walled city. It was already theirs even before they had done anything. God just gave it to them.
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I HAVE DELIVERED Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men (Joshua 6:2 NIV).
Three, the city didn’t fall because of human strength.
It didn’t fall because Israel marched, blew the trumpets and shouted at the top of their lungs. It fell because of the power of God. The battle was the Lord’s.
The people didn’t even try to knock the walls down by force. They did not use a bulldozer. This battle was not won by sword. It wasn’t won by strategy, or military power or technology. It was won by God.
The walls did not fall because of what the people did. They fell because of what God did. It was not the techniques for spiritual breakthrough that they used.
The Nature of Faith
What is the lesson from this chapter for us today? The main lesson for us today is all about FAITH. We see that in Hebrews 11, which is the great chapter in the NT on faith.
The fall of Jericho was an act of God, but it was also an act of faith. God brought down the walls of Jericho, but he brought them down through faith.
Hebrews 11:30 says, “BY FAITH the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days” (NIV).
What does that mean? How did the walls fall by faith? Was faith a magical force that knocked down the walls? Did the walls fall because the people believed hard enough and had enormous faith? What do we learn about faith here?
1. Faith is believing the Word of God
Faith is believing the Word of God and acting up on it. It is always a response to the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, “then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (NJKV).
It starts with believing the Word of God. God gave them a word about Jericho and they believed it. They took it at face value. They did not debate it. They did not question it. They believed it.
2. Faith is believing when it does not make sense
There are many examples of this in Scripture. God told Abraham and Sarah that they would have kids. Sarah was too old to have kids. She was past menopause and was infertile before menopause. That made no sense, but Abraham believed.
The feeding of the five thousand did not seem to make sense. Five thousand people were hungry. The disciples came to Jesus. He told them to give them something to eat. They brought Jesus their five loaves of bread and two fish and he told them to have them all sit down. They obeyed.
How about the wedding miracle. They ran out of wine at a wedding. Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. He told them to fill some jars with water and take a glass to the master of the banquet.
That did not make much sense. He asked for wine. They brought water but did it, even though it did not make any sense, and it turned into wine.
How about the Syrian military commanded Naaman. He was wealthy and powerful, but he got leprosy. A Jewish girl who worked as a servant to his wife said he would go see the Prophet Elisha.
When he went there, Elisha wouldn’t even see him. He must have been too busy. He sent a servant out to tell him to go wash in the Jordan River seven times. It made absolutely no sense, but he did it. He went and dipped seven times in the Jordan and he was completely healed.
How about Jairus’ daughter? Jairus was an important religious leader. He worked in the synagogue. He had one daughter. Luke says she was about twelve. She got sick and wasn’t getting better.
In desperation, he turned to Jesus for help but then she died. Jesus went afterwards and told them she was not dead but sleeping. That made no sense. They knew she was dead, but they trusted Jesus and went up to the room where she was laying and raised her from the dead.
The Bible is full of examples of this and what God told the Jews to do made absolutely no sense. It was patently absurd. It is one of the strangest battle plans in the Bible.
The battle of Jericho was the first military battle that the Jews faced as they entered the Promise Land. What was the plan?
March around the city quietly. Send out the musicians. Send out the marching band. This has never been done before and never since. That is not a way to bring walls down – march around a city.
It was a plan that made absolutely no military sense. It seemed foolish but they did it because God told them to.
3. Faith is believing without any visible results.
When we pray for something, we do not always get instant results, although sometimes we may. Last week, we had a personal crisis. Both of our cars were broken. They were out of commission. I could not go to work.
Obedience is not always followed by immediate, visible results. Israel had to continue following God’s instructions until the appointed moment. We could not even go to the store if we needed to get food.
We did not have a lot of money to pay for two big car bills. One we thought needed a catalytic converter. I woke up, prayed we would be able to get our cars fixed and not pay much. That evening, both cars were taken care of with no major bill. Both had minor problems that looked major.
Sometimes we pray and do not have any visible results for a long time. That is what happened with this battle plan. They walked around the city in complete silence for six days. Some trumpets were blown but everyone else was silent.
They did that day one and nothing happened. Day two, three, four, five and nothing happened. Day six, still nothing. You might start to think that this plan was not working but they kept doing it and one day seven something happened.
That is the definition of faith. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV).
Faith trusts God’s Word as true and trustworthy, even when we cannot see the fulfillment. Faith is “the evidence of things not seen.”
Noah believed that there was going to be a flood before he had seen a flood. He knew there would be one because God told him. Abraham believed he would have a child twenty years before it happened because God told Him he would have one.
Jericho was a heavily fortified city with tall walls and yet the Jews believed that the city would be theirs and the walls would fall because God told them. Their faith was the evidence of things not seen. It is the evidence or proof of things that you cannot see with your physical eyes.
Was all of this wishful thinking? Did they all just believe what they wanted to believe? No. In each case, they had a word from God about their situation. They had divine revelation. That was their proof.