1 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. 2 And the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. 3 And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. 4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And it shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead."
6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD." 7 Then he said to the people, "Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the LORD." NAS
Finally, after much preparation, it was time to actually begin the conquest of the land. The next six chapters in Joshua are going to describe this conquest occurring in three phases or campaigns.
Phase #1 – The Central Campaign – Chapters 6-8
Phase #2 – The Southern Campaign – Chapters 9-10
Phase #3 – The Northern Campaign – Chapters 11
It is not a coincidence that the invasion begins at Jericho and the central campaign is first. Looking at a map, you would think they would enter the land in the south and then storm their way through the land. However, there was a strategic reason for beginning at Jericho and splitting the land in two.
The invasion of Jericho was important because of the city’s strategic location. Here, nomadic tribes entered the land through several valleys leading from the city to the central ridge of the land. Furthermore, by entering the land at Jericho, Israel could divide the land in two, prohibiting any significant alliances between the northern city-states and the southern inhabitants (Paul Enns, Joshua, Bible Study Commentary, pp. 55).This strategy prevented the Canaanites from banding together, and taking Jericho was the key. If the battle of Jericho was meant to do anything, it was meant to remind Israel that God was in control.
As we look at the story of the “Battle of Jericho” we want to emphasize or focus on five aspects to the story.
Emphasis #1 – The Specific Instructions – v.1-7
1 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.
Verse one is a parenthetical verse that bridges the end of chapter 5 with the beginning of chapter 6. The purpose of this verse is to describe the seemingly hopeless situation facing Israel, who had no previous experience in attacking fortified cities. In fact, these high-walled fortified cities were one of the things that had discouraged the ten spies 40 years earlier.
Numbers 13:28
28 Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. NAS
The conquest of a walled city was a major challenge. There were at least five ways that a walled city could be captured: (1) by going over the wall using ladders, ramps etc.; (2) by digging a tunnel under the wall; (3) by smashing a hole through the wall; (4) by laying siege until the city is starved into submission; (5) by some sort of subterfuge (e.g., the use of the wooden horse by the Greeks to conquer Troy….).
From a human standpoint the conquest of Jericho would be nearly impossible. According to Leon Wood,
The walls were of a type which made direct assault practically impossible. AnPaul Enns adds,
approaching enemy first encountered a stone abutment, eleven feet high, back and
up from which sloped a thirty- five degree plastered scarp reaching to the main wall some thirty-five vertical feet above. The steep smooth slope prohibited battering the wall by any effective device or building fires to break it. An army trying to storm the wall found difficulty in climbing the slope, and ladders to scale it could find no satisfactory footing. The normal tactic used by an enemy to take a city so protected was siege, but Israel did not have time for this, if she was to occupy all the land in any reasonable number of months (A Survey of Israel’s History, pp. 174).
But in addition the defenses included a fortification of two walls that surrounded the city; the outer wall was six feet thick and the inner wall was twelve feet thick. The city was built on a mound, making the invasion more difficult (BSC: Joshua, pp. 57).Unger describes the wall structure further:
A massive six-foot-thick wall was erected on the edge of the mound. The inner wall was separated from it by a space of from twelve to fifteen feet, and was itself twelve feet thick. The wall originally reached perhaps a height of thirty feet….The crowded condition led to the erection of houses over the space between the inner and outer walls (ibid, pp. 57).Not only did the circumstances seem impossible for Israel, but they presented a problem for the people of Jericho as well.
because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in
We were already told by Rahab that the inhabitants of Jericho feared Israel and their God (2:8-11). This fear is demonstrated by the shutting up of the city.
That no one was let out indicates how desperate the situation was. It was notAs Gene Getz puts it,
uncommon in a time of siege to send warriors out to harass the enemies or to engage them in battle. Sometimes a small party was sent out secretly in search of help or supplies. They may have been too frightened to attempt any of these strategies, and they may have wanted to prevent the city from being weakened by defectors or deserters (Donald Madvig, Expositors Bible Commentary Vol. 3: Joshua, pp. 277).
They were taking no chances. Somehow they believed they could protect themselves from the God of Israel by man-made walls—not facing the fact that those walls of brick were just as much subject to God’s power as the waters of the Red Sea and of the Jordan. If God can control and manipulate natural phenomena, how much more can He conquer man made structures. Foolish? Yes! But how common for men and women who do not know God and who are blinded by their self-centered life-styles and pagan religions to believe that they can wall out God (Joshua: Defeat to Victory, pp. 96-97).All of this was in fulfillment of God’s promise in Exodus 23:27
I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
As we will see once again, God has a solution for Israel’s problem, even in Jericho!
2 And the LORD said to Joshua,
This verse is a resumption of the conversation between Joshua and the captain of the host of the Lord (here simply identified as the LORD). The solution to Israel’s problem with Jericho (that it was shut-up and well protected) would not involve human ingenuity or strategy, but it would be in God’s power to fulfill His plans and purposes.
"See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors."
Remember the point of Joshua 5:13-15 is to remind Joshua that this was not to be his battle, but the Lord’s. Since it was His battle, victory was guaranteed. The Phrase I have given is in the past perfect which gives it the idea of that battle has already been won. Israel needed to take their eyes off of Jericho and its walls and put them on the Captain of the host of the Lord.
The phrase with its king and the valiant warriors reminds us that citizens of Jericho were not patsies, but great warriors. Israel however, had the Great Warrior on their side!
Now how was this great victory going to be accomplished? What specifically was the Lord going to do and what would Israel’s part be?
3 And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. 4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And it shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead."
God lays out His plan by giving Joshua a set of specific instructions that Joshua would in turn, give to the people. I can imagine what Joshua must have been thinking as the Lord revealed His plans to him. “You want us to march around the city for how many days?” Whatever might be said about the Lord’s strategy, it was certainly unique.
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts,erf/’r;gt
Neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.NAS
God’s wisdom is far above ours and He delights in using people and plans that seem foolish to the world (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
Warren Wiersbe writes,
Whether it’s Joshua with trumpets, Gideon with torches and pitchers (Jud. 7), or David with his sling (1 Sam. 17), God delights in using weakness and seemingThe priests and the army were to march around the city once a day for six days and on the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times then seven priests were to blow their seven rams horns, the people were to shout, the wall would fall and then they would charge Jericho.
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) (Be Strong, pp. 73).
The ceremonial nature of these instructions must be noted. This was to be first and foremost a religious exercise, a spiritual experience. All this is born out in the various elements of the processions: (1) there is the blowing of trumpets; (2) the ark is to be prominent; (3) the priests are visibly involved; (4) the number 7 is prevalent. These four things are clues to what God is trying to do in giving these specific instructions.
(1) The Blowing of the Trumpets or Rams Horns
These horns were not the metal trumpets that we know today, but actual animal horns. They were more “noisemakers than music makers.” In fact, according to David M. Howard, three different Hebrew terms are used in several combinations in this chapter, the qeren (v.5); the yobel, from which we get jubilee (v.5); and the shofar. The word shofar is used 14 times in chapter 6; v.4 (twice); v. 5, 6, 8 (twice); v.9 (twice); v.13 (three times); v. 16 and v.20 (twice).
A shofar was a curved ram’s horn used primarily as a signal. In Numbers 10:1-10 instructions are given about its use. It was to be used for:
· calling the congregation together – v.2-4, 7
· directing the movement of the camp – v.5-6
· warning of a coming conflict or battle – v.9
· signaling of an important religious event – v.10
Another example of a use of a shofar was in signaling the beginning of the Sabbath. Each Friday evening at sunset the shofar would sound to announce that the Sabbath had arrived. The shofar was also used in proclaiming the “Feast of Trumpets” (Leviticus 23:24). Here, at Jericho, they are being used to signal God’s deliverance and victory to come (Numbers 10:9).
(2) The Prominence of the Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned nine times in Chapter six. As was the case in chapter three, the prominence of the ark in the procession is meant help the people focus on God’s presence.
(3) The Involvement of the Priests
It was the priests that were to blow the trumpets and it was the priests who were to carry the ark. Their presence in the procession validates the fact that this battle was to have a religious or spiritual in nature.
(4) The Prevalence of the Number 7
According to Wiersbe:
In this plan the emphasis is on the number seven: seven priests, seven trumpets,He goes on to say,
seven days of marching, and seven circuits of the city on the seventh day. The number seven is written clearly into the life of Israel: The Sabbath celebrated on the seventh day of the week; seven weeks from Passover is Pentecost; the seventh year is a sabbatical year; and after forty-nine years (seven times seven) comes the Year of Jubilee. Three of Israel’s feasts fall in the seventh month: the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16), and the Feast of Tabernacles. (For details about this remarkable calendar, see Lev. 23.) (Be Strong, pp. 74)
In biblical numerology the number seven represents completeness or perfection. The Hebrew word translated “seven” (shevah) comes from a root that means “to beWhile it is easy to get carried away with numerology and types in scripture, there is no doubt that the number seven was used here to emphasize that this was a sacred event.
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 (ibid).
The last two verses of this section deal with specific instructions to the priests and to the people.
Instructions to the Priests – v.6
6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD."
The instructions to the priests involved the transportation of the ark and the use of the shofars, but the ark is the key. Israel could march around Jericho and the priests could blow the shofars until they dropped from weariness, but if the Lord was not with them, there would be no victory.
“When we accept God’s plan, we invite God’s presence; and that guarantees victory.” (Wiersbe)
Exodus 33:12-17
12 Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, Thou dost say to me, 'Bring up this people!' But Thou Thyself hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me. Moreover, Thou hast said, 'I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' 13 "Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found favor in Thy sight, let me know Thy ways, that I may know Thee, so that I may find favor in Thy sight. Consider too, that this nation is Thy people." 14 And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then he said to Him, "If Thy presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Thy sight, I and Thy people? Is it not by Thy going with us, so that we, I and Thy people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?"
17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight, and I have known you by name." NAS
Instructions to the People – v.7
7 Then he said to the people, "Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the LORD."
“Then he said,” the he here is really “they” in Hebrew, “they” being the elders and officers. This once again reminds us of the chain of command that was established in chapter one. The “people” refers primarily to the men of war mentioned in verse three. It is very unlikely that all of the people of Israel marched around the city of Jericho each day. It is more likely that it was the soldiers only and maybe not all of them. According to Numbers 26 there were over 600,000 men able to bear arms in Israel at this time, this would have been more than enough to defeat Jericho after the walls fell.
Emphasis #2 – The Solemn Procession – v.8-16
Joshua 6:8-16
8 And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the LORD went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. 9 And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets. 10 But Joshua commanded the people, saying, "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!' Then you shall shout!" 11 So he had the ark of the LORD taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.
12 Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 And the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while they continued to blow the trumpets. 14 Thus the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days.
15 Then it came about on the seventh day that they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. 16 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. NAS
This section serves as a summary description of the events of each day. The first day is summarized in v.8-11; the second through sixth days are summarized in v.12-14; and the seventh day is summarized in v.15-16.
The First Day Summarized – v.8-11
Picture the sight of the solemn procession as it circled the city of Jericho with no noise made except the blowing of the horns. You can imagine what was going through the minds of Israel as well as the residents of Jericho.
The Second through Sixth Days Summarized – v.12-14
This is simply a repeat of day one and still no noise!
The Seventh Day Summarized – v.15-16
This time instead of once around, they circled the city seven times.
In our next post we will look at the events of this seventh day more closely. The question that arises as we contemplate God’s instructions for Israel and His commands for a solemn procession, we have to wonder why? Why go to all of this trouble? Was this just a trivial exercise or was there more to it than that? As we think about those questions we can come up with at least two purposes behind God’s plan. One purpose is for Israel and one purpose is for the people of Jericho.
God’s Purpose for Israel – To teach them the importance of faith and obedience
The writer of Hebrews tells us that
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days. NAS (Hebrews 11:30)
Warren Wiersbe writes,
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 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 (Be Strong, pp. 76-77).Don’t miss this. It is not that Israel needed more faith to believe that God could do it (i.e. Red Sea, Jordan River); but that they needed faith to acknowledge that He was in control and that He knew what He was doing! They needed to be faithfully committed to His will and His way.
Most of us have been guilty of saying, “God I know you can do it, but do you know what you are doing?” It is only when we submit to His will that we can truly obey Him, and that takes faith. The Lord could have just spoken a word and wiped out the Canaanites and given the land to Israel, but they needed to learn to trust Him (His power and His will). Through their experience we can learn as well. We often face enemies and high walls in our lives that challenge us. The way to victory is to trust God and submit to His will and obey Him.
God’s Purpose for the Inhabitants of Jericho – To give them one more chance to repent
Every day that Israel marched around the city of Jericho was one more day that God was graciously waiting for people of Jericho to repent. From Rahab’s testimony we know that they understood the God of Israel and that they feared Him. However, knowledge and conviction are not enough. There must also be faith (trust) and repentance (2:9-12). By having Israel march around the city as He did, the Lord was reaching out to Jericho, one last time.
Gene Getz writes,
As Israel marched around the walls of Jericho, it seems that God is once for allThere is also another element here to consider. As each city-state in Canaan is judged and destroyed it will serve as a warning to the next city as well. Every city that falls screams to the next city-state, “Repent, or you to will likewise perish.”
saying, “Judgment is coming. Repent and turn from your sins.” With each day, the
final hour was growing closer. And it reached the grand crescendo on the seventh
day as the people marched around the city seven times.
There are numerous events in the Old Testament to indicate that if the people of Jericho had flung open the gates and begged for mercy, turning to God and asking for forgiveness, the Lord would have relented. When Jonah warned the people of
Nineveh that in “yet forty days” God would pronounce judgment on them, the
people repented and God relented (Jon. 3:4-10). God would have spared Sodom and
Gomorrah. In fact, God promised Abraham He would spare both cities if there were
only 10 righteous people living there. God’s reticence to bring judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah is clearly seen in His willingness to relent when Abraham asked Him to spare the cities if 50 righteous people could be found; then Abraham moved the number down to 45, to 40, to 30, to 20 and finally to 10. Even then God promised He would not destroy them if Abraham could find just 10 righteous people (see Gen. 18:23-32). Of course, there were not even 10. And God’s judgment fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, just as it did on Jericho (Joshua: Defeat to Victory, pp. 102-103).
All this relates to God’s missionary strategy in the Old Testament. God chose Israel – not to show favoritism or to demonstrate a narrow concern for mankind. Rather, He chose Israel to be His means to convey to all nations His existence, sovereignty and righteousness. He chose Israel to bear the message that He was Jehovah the Great I Am. Israel was God’s unique and dramatic visual aid to convey to all men that He was a loving and merciful God, ready to save people from their sins.
Romans 10:13
13 for "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." NAS
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