Joshua’s victory at Jericho Joshua 6:1-21
A young man, who had worked on the railroad for years said he wanted a job as a signalman and so for his interview, he was told to meet the inspector at the signal box. The inspector asked him, “What would you do if you realized that two trains were heading toward each other on the same track?” The young man said, “That’s easy. I would switch the points for one of the trains.” The inspector then asked, “What if the lever was broken?” The young man said, “Then I’d jump down out of the signal box and I’d use the manual lever over there.” Next, the inspector said, “What if that lever had been struck by lightning?” The young man said, “Then, I would run to the signal box and phone the next signal box to let them know what was happening.” The inspector continued on, “What if the phone was busy?” The young man said, “Well, in that case, I’d get down out of the signal box and use the public emergency phone at the crossing up there.” Then, the inspector said, “What would you do if the public emergency phone had been vandalized?” The young man said, “Oh, well, then I guess I’d run into town and get my uncle.” And that answer puzzled the inspector. So, he asked, “Why would you get your uncle?” And the young man said, “because he’s never seen a train crash before.”
“Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said unto Joshua, see, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of ram’s horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, take up the Ark of the Covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD. And he said unto the people, pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.
And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward (or rear guard) came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout. So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward (Or rear guard) came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. And it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.
And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD. So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.”
During the previous forty years God had brought these people out of slavery in Egypt and not only did He use several miracles to get the Pharaoh to let them go but He also took them across the Red Sea on dry land and then He drowned the entire Egyptian army that were chasing them; and this was God’s way of telling the Jews that they’d never had to worry about these people again and these Egyptians had made their lives miserable for the last four hundred and thirty years.
And then when He was about to take them into the Promised Land they refused to go, and not only did they say they weren’t going but they actually said they wanted to go back to Egypt and when Joshua and Caleb tried to reason with them by saying that the same God who delivered them from Egypt would give them the victory over their enemies Numbers 14:10 says the people wouldn’t listen but they wanted to stone them to death. And so, in response to their bad attitude God sent the whole nation into the wilderness for forty years where every one who was over the age of twenty died with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.
And we also saw that during their forty years in the wilderness, God continually fed them with manna and you’ll remember that last week I talked about what manna was and what it looked like. The one thing I didn’t mention was what it tasted like because nobody knows. We don’t know if it’s true but one of the rabbis said, “It tasted like whatever you wanted it to.” In other words, there was no one who would sit down at a plate of manna and ask if there was something else to eat because out of two million people there was not one of them who either didn’t like it or was allergic to it.
And so, here in chapter six we see that the time has come for the people of Israel to leave the desert and it almost seems like God is taking them right back to where they were at the time of the rebellion as He led them through the Jordan River and they’re in the same spot as the previous generation and they had to make a decision. And the decision is, what are we going to do? Are we going to follow God who led us to this point or are we going to go our own way and do our own thing and see what happens?
And this is a question that we all us as believers need to ask. Am I content as an individual or are we content as a church to simply remain the way we are. I mean, we’re comfortable, we’ve got a nice building and money in the bank and our income exceeds our outflow. So, if you just looked at our bottom line I guess you could say we’re doing pretty good. The problem is, God doesn’t evaluate us on the basis of our financial bottom line.
And so, the question we need to ask ourselves is, how are we doing spiritually? Are we moving ahead or are we falling behind? I have heard it said that most people would rather stay in the certainty of misery than move to the misery of uncertainty. You see, the problem we all have is, we may not like things the way they are but we’re willing to put up with almost anything rather than have to change.
And churches are simply a group of people and a church as a whole is either reaching people or it’s dying. The two functions of a church as far as the scriptures are concerned are disciple making and evangelism and both of these are necessary because either one by themselves doesn’t really produce anything.
I’ve seen churches who spent all their time in discipleship mode and the people of that church knew everything from creation to the end times. They could even tell you what each knuckle on the ten toes of the beast in the book of Daniel stood for but they’ve never reach anyone for the Lord and for the most part they couldn’t care less.
I was talking to someone like this the other day and he told me he was saved but also said he saw no need of evangelism because he believes that God has chosen those who will be saved and predetermined those who are lost and there’s not a thing that you or I can do about it. Now listen, this person knew a little bit of the great doctrines of the scripture but I wondered if he really knew the Lord. Listen, if someone else didn’t have a burden for souls none of us would be sitting here today.
On the other hand I’ve seen churches that were so committed to evangelism that every member was involved in either: door to door visitation, bus ministry, street preaching or personal witnessing. These people were reaching all kinds of people with the gospel and yet the back door of their church was as open as wide as the front and the people they were reaching were going to the church next door to learn the Bible.
Listen, we need to learn the truth of the word of God and then we need to be using the things we’ve learned to reach others but one without the other is useless. In other words, we have to be putting the things we hear into practice.
An old Chinese proverb says, “May you live in interesting times” and we do. Did you know that the various cults that are at our doors today take certain truths of the word of God and they use them to grow? For instance, did you know that the Mormon Church prides itself on this statement that is made to every Mormon convert? They say, “We will require more of you than any church you will ever belong to!” And because of their approach to ‘discipleship’ they build an average of 380 new churches every year. And not only do they build 380 churches but every church is absolutely debt free the day it opens.
All of us have seen Mormon missionaries riding their bicycles, wearing dark pants, white shirts and ties. Well, let me tell you a little more about their life-style. They don’t see their families during the two years of their mission service. They are allowed to call home only on Christmas and mother’s day. Their work day begins at 6:30 in the morning with an hour of bible study and prayer. Then they work until 9:30. They have about an hour to do laundry and study scripture before lights out. And this is their schedule six days a week. And there is no TV, no movies or dating for two years.
And yet, the Mormons have the weirdest beliefs you’ve ever heard. For instance, they’re absolutely legalistic when it comes to how they live. Did you know that if you use alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, coke or Pepsi or don’t tithe you will not only lose your membership in the Mormon Church but you’ll actually lose what they refer to as your position in the godhood.
Not only that but their members are told to focus their attention on being baptized for their ancestors and many of them perform these rituals for so many celebrities, heroes and perfect strangers that the practice has simply spun out of control. Did you know that Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Zedong, King Herod, Al Capone and Mickey Mouse have all appeared the International Genealogical Index for proxy baptisms? In other words, they’re all Mormons.
I was also reading this week and came across several articles that said every Mormon has to wear special underwear. These are like two piece long johns and they’re worn by both men and women and they believe these are a constant reminder of the promises they’re made to God and they actually believe that these underwear will keep them from harm. They have signs embroidered on them that represent the priesthood of Melchizedek and Aaron and they say they symbolize the "coats of skins" which God made for Adam and Eve before He threw them out of the Garden of Eden. And they’re believed to be a spiritual "shield and protection" against the powers of evil and they wear them all the time unless they’re taking a bath.
But, in spite of their weird beliefs, on average there are 55,000 Mormon missionaries who are knocking on doors around the world at any given time. Today, every young man or woman who is considered to be a worthy member of the church is expected to fulfill a mission and that means going wherever they told to go for two years. And listen to this, the missionaries and their families are expected to pay their own way, or as much as they can. In circumstances where extreme poverty or hardship might prevent a young person from going, their home congregations can help out but many young Mormons have a missionary fund set up when they’re born to pay for their future mission.
Now, we believe in missionaries going out to serve the Lord but these people really take the idea seriously and they see it as everybody’s responsibility and not just the few who are ‘called.’ They’re planting churches, they live separated lives and they act like reaching the world is a personal obligation. These are people who are doing all the right things for the all wrong reasons and when we see this we need to ask ourselves, what am I doing? Not what are we doing but what am I doing?
Well, here we are at the wall of Jericho. A pastor asked a class of Sunday school children, "Who broke down the walls of Jericho?" A little boy answered, "Not me, sir!" The pastor turned to the teacher and asked, "Is this typical?" She replied, "I believe this boy is honest, and I really don’t think he did it." The pastor went to the chairman of the education committee and told him about the conversation but he said, "I’ve known the boy and the teacher for years and I don’t think either of them would do such a thing." Then the pastor went to the chairman of the deacons and told him about these conversations but he said, "Pastor, let’s not make an issue of this. Let’s just pay for the damage and charge it to maintenance."
Well, we know the wall was there and we believe that God actually knocked it down. I like as one man said, “If we believe that God could be born in a manger and still have all the powers in the universe then what’s a wall.”
I Israel had a problem
And to understand why God broke down these walls and then had the people go in and kill everyone except Rahab and her family we need to understand that Jericho was a very important city both from a military, religious and economic point of view. It stood right on the border of the Promised Land and it was the first line of defense against any enemy that was approaching from the East.
And it was also located on what was known as the central trade route that came from Egypt and because it controlled the trade routes it was the gateway into the heart of Canaan and as such the Canaanite rulers made it a fortress city with high, thick walls; well-fortified gates; guard towers; and well-armed soldiers.
For most of these Jewish people Jericho would have been the first real city they had ever seen and it was surrounded by these huge walls; so, it must have looked like an absolute impossibility as far as they were concerned.
And the first thing we see in this chapter is that the city was shut up or it was closed up tight because of the children of Israel; and it says nobody went in and nobody went out. And to a bunch of people who had been roaming around the desert this place must have looked like Fort Knox. I mean, here they were; they were told they were going to capture this city and they didn’t even have any weapons.
History tells us the name Jericho came from the personal name of the mood-god Yara and the early inhabitants probably worshipped this god believing that he controlled the cycles of the moon which, in turn, determined the agricultural seasons.
The late British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, who excavated the site in the 1950’s, wrote, "In this dazzling expanse, the oasis of Jericho stands as one would imagine the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis." And all this was due to the presence of a perennial spring, called the Sultan’s spring which flowed at a rate of over 17 gallons an hour and this supported the town’s agriculture and thanks to its rich soil, abundant water supply and its mild climate, bananas and citrus fruits grew plentifully there.
But, before you start feeling sorry for these people who lived in Jericho; you’ve got to realize who they were in terms of their morality. For instance, when one of their kings came to power and built the city, their status was attributed to a spiritual power and so, when the city was finished they had a dedication ceremony and they ended it by putting a live baby or two in the walls to appease their gods.
These Canaanites were devoted to idolatry and necromancy which is getting guidance from the dead and they were known as enchanters, witches, charmers and those who consulted with familiar spirits. So, God had decided that the time had come to deal with them and on one hand their destruction was a punishment while on the other it was God’s way of destroying their influence.
So, from a military viewpoint, the Jews would have to conquer Jericho if they wanted to take the Promise Land. They couldn’t simply go around Jericho and attack the smaller villages because that would leave them open to attack from behind. And besides, God is a God of righteousness and holiness so it only stands to reason that He’d judge and punish sin and sinners.
In verse 1 it says, "Now Jericho was straitly shut up, because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in" and basically this verse is known as a parenthesis which is like a side comment and it’s meant to show us what’s happening here. This tells us that not only were the people of Jericho afraid of the Jews because of what they had heard had happened at the Red Sea and the Jordan but it also tells us that any faith or hope they had was in the walls of Jericho.
They tell us there were at least five ways to conquer a walled city in that day. They could scale the walls using ladders or ramps. They could dig tunnels underneath, they could use battering rams to break open the city gates or they could smash a hole in the walls of the city or they could lay siege to the city until the people were starved into surrender and then use some means of deception such as a truce or ambush.
But, God had a different plan and we see this in verse 2. "And the Lord said unto Joshua, see, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor." God told Joshua that before the battle was even fought that He had already won. And where it says, "see” it means to take note of or keep steadily in mind.” He says ‘see’ I have given into thine hand Jericho." So, this was God’s doing and there was no room for anyone to boast.
II So, first we see that Israel had a problem but then we see that God had a plan.
And then we see the plan in verses 2-5 where it says, "And ye shall compass the city: all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they have made a long blast with the rams’ horns, when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him."
Joshua and the people weren’t left free to do their own thing but they had to obey God’s orders and when they did; they were told they’d see the destruction of Jericho.
God’s ways are not only very different from man’s ways but they’re always designed to bring glory to Himself. I mean, not only did He completely demolish a fortress by simply having people walk around it but we see other things in scripture that were just as extraordinary. For instance, God used a floating Zoo called the Ark to rescue mankind. Moses who was the greatest leader that the Jews ever had, began his life by being preserved in a basket which was made out of bulrushes. Goliath was the giant that couldn’t be beaten by anyone and he was brought down by David who used a rock and a slingshot. The prophet Elijah, the widow and her son were kept alive during a famine with just a handful of meal. John the Baptist who was probably the greatest preacher next to Jesus lived in the wilderness and it says he wore a coat of camel’s hair with a leather belt and he ate locusts and wild honey. (He certainly doesn’t fit with our idea of a successful evangelist but he certainly was.) And then Jesus Himself was born in a filthy stable, wrapped in rags and laid in a manger which is nothing more than a feeding trough for animals. I mean, God takes something the world calls trivial and uses it to change history.
Now, I want you to look a little bit more closely at the instructions Joshua received from God and notice the order of the procession around the city. First, we have the "men of war" and then came the ark with seven priests in front of it who had "trumpets of rams’ horns," and behind all that came the people. The ark was the symbol of God’s presence and the fact that it was carried in front of the people tells us that God led the way and that He was the one who’d provide the victory.
And after marching around Jericho once a day for six days then they were told to do it seven times on the seventh day. And as far as we know the people really didn’t know what was going to happen next. You see, as you read the text, it tells us that Joshua didn’t tell them the entire plan, but day by day he gave them instructions. And the first six days they’d go out and march silently around the city and then they’d return; but nothing happened. The walls were still standing and Jericho hadn’t given up. And yet, it’s interesting to see that the people didn’t murmur, complain or question his instructions. They simply obeyed day after day until the seventh day when they marched around the city seven times. And at the command of Joshua on the seventh day they gave a great shout and it says the walls fell down flat.
It’s interesting that the number seven figures prominently in this chapter; in fact it is used eleven different times. There are seven priests, with seven trumpets and they were to march around the city seven days with seven trips around the city on the seventh day. Seven signifies perfection or completion and it reminds us that God’s plan, no matter how foolish it may seem to us, is always perfect and there’s no way we can make it better.
So, that’s what they were supposed to do and that’s what they did but we also see a warning in verses 18 and 19, and it says, "And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord." In other words, they weren’t to take anything for themselves. And the reason for this was; Jericho was considered to be the first fruits of Canaan, and as such it had to be completely devoted to God.
And then in verse 20 it says, "So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets. And it came to pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the walls of Jericho fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city."
A. W. Pink said, “The sounding of the trumpets by the priests had a twofold design, one was to strike terror into the hearts of the Canaanites and the other was to inspire with courage and confidence the people of God.”
Just think about the practical faith these people had. During the first six days they were completely silent and on the seventh they were told to "shout for the Lord hath given you the city.” And did you notice the tense of “hath given?” You see, as far as God was concerned it was something that was already done. It’s already down even though it was standing right in front of them. Their victory was assured by the promise of an omnipotent, faithful, and immutable God.
Listen, if anyone else told them to march around this city they’d probably laugh; but this was God. I read an interesting poem that said,
A tiger met a lion as they sat beside a pool,
Said the tiger to the lion, “Why are you roaring like a fool?”
That’s not foolish said the lion with a twinkle in his eyes
They call me the king of all beasts because I advertise.
A rabbit heard them talking and ran home like a streak
He thought he’d try the lion’s plan but his roar was just a squeak.
A fox came to investigate and had his lunch in the woods
And so, my friend when you advertise, be sure you’ve got the goods.
Well, these people weren’t trusting in themselves but they were trusting God. And it says they were to charge “straight ahead” and this tells us they rushed in from all around the city. There wasn’t just one or two holes in the wall but it says the whole thing fell down flat with the exception of the portion where Rahab’s house was located.
I think the hardest part was having several hundred thousand people marching around the city without saying a word but everybody was waiting for God to do something.
Listen, this reminds us that the Lord often works slowly. We want immediate deliverance from whatever is bothering us but the Lord often tests our faith and in the process He builds our character and develops our relationship with Him so that we’ll find that the Lord is all we really need.
Too often we want immediate solutions to all our needs right now. We’d rather trust in our health, our bank accounts, our reputation, our talent, education or abilities. We don’t want to trust the Lord alone.
Listen to Psalm 62:1-8, “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? Ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.” And the emphasis here is the need for us to wait patiently to find rest, not in our own solutions, but in God alone.
Conclusion
There are three expressions of faith in every life that lived for God. Jesus told us it’s not so much the quantity of our faith, as the quality when He said, "If you have faith like a mustard seed, that faith can remove mountains." The mustard seed was the tiniest of all seeds. And what Jesus was saying was that it doesn’t matter how much faith you have but if that faith is in God, it can do things as impossible, unthinkable, and unbelievable as moving mountains.
The first miracle we all experience is when we put our trust in the Lord to save us and we realize that all of our works are but filthy rags. So, it’s Him and Him alone that we’re not only saved but He’s the one who keeps us and all this is an act of His grace and all we can do is accept it.
I like how D.L. Moody said it, “Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment, trust in your friends and they’ll die and leave you. Trust in your money and it can be taken from you. Trust in your reputation and you might be slandered. But trust in the Lord and you will never be disappointed.”
And then the second miracle is a continuing one it’s when we rely on the strength of God to fulfill His promises and to use us for His glory. You’ve probably heard the old song that says, “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho...and the walls came tumbling down.” Well, it’s a nice song, but it’s wrong because Joshua didn’t fight the battle of Jericho but all he had to do was to show up and then clean up what the Lord began. But listen, he had to show up. And as I said last week, if God didn’t have anything for you or I to do then He would have taken us to heaven the minute we were saved. So, He wants to use you but it’s up to you to find out from Him what it is He wants you to do. And that’s a miracle when you think about God using sinners to reach sinners.
And then the third miracle that happens is when we’re willing to take a risk and either give something or do something for the work of God which is beyond anything we’d ever do in the flesh. Now listen, this is something that’s between you and God. There’s no room for applause from the crowd, there’s no tax deduction involved and there’s no recognition from anyone but God because it’s totally an act of faith. I mean, you’re here, so what does God want you to do?
The problem is when we talk about doing something for God everyone seems to have an excuse. I read in Dear Abby where she illustrates how certain people have overcome obstacles in their lives and she wrote, “Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott. Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan. Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington. Afflict him with asthma, as a child, and you have a Teddy Roosevelt. Make him play second fiddle in an orchestra and you have a Toscanini. Deny her the ability to see, hear and speak and you have a Helen Keller. Let him be born into slavery and you have a Booker T. Washington. Give him only 1 eye and you have a Lord Horatio Nelson.”
Listen, every Christian is going to run into a Jericho and he can either collapse under the pressure or he can charge strait ahead and I believe, if we do what God wants us to do then we’ll experience the kind of life He wants us to experience.
