CHAPTER 6

(1451 B.C.)

JERICHO

¹Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the Children of Israel: none went out, and none came in (the strong fortress barred Israels entrance to the land; Satan will always have such a fortress to hinder our spiritual progress; it was impregnable, therefore, its conquest was impossible to Israel, but not impossible to God!).

²And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour (evidently, the Lord told Joshua these things when He appeared to him, as recorded in the previous Chapter).

³And you shall compass the city, all you men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shall you do six days (probably the strangest plan of battle ever formed).

⁴And seven Priests shall bear before the Ark seven trumpets of rams horns: and the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and the Priests shall blow with the trumpets (the number seven as used here is not without purpose and design; Biblically the number symbolizes perfection, totality, and universality; these are Gods Plans, and they always succeed; we should cease to make plans for ourselves, and let God plan for us; as stated, His Plans always succeed).

⁵And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the rams 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 shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. (This was a shout of obedience and a shout of victory. Spiritually, the shout had everything to do with the wall falling down flat, but, physically and materially, it had no effect at all, as would be obvious. The wall falling down flat was strictly a Miracle of God.)

⁶And 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.

⁷And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him who is armed pass on before the Ark of the LORD. (The Lord didnt need Israel to march around Jericho seven days, or even one day, for the walls to fall down. So why did He have them do this? It was to teach them trust, dependence on Him, and obedience, even though they did not at all understand the directions, as neither would anyone; however, understanding what the Lord is doing is not necessarily the criteria, obedience is!)

⁸And 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.

⁹And the armed men went before the Priests who blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the Ark, the Priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. (There is another problem that arises out of this illustration. Many have marched around particular obstacles, when the Lord had not said to do so, and when the ingredient was presumption instead of Faith. Let the Reader understand that presumption is just as bad as disobedience. Presumption brings reproach on the Work of the Lord, just as bad as disobedience!)

¹⁰And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, You 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 you shout. (As a military maneuver, all of this was worse than useless. But it was not a military maneuver, but rather that which was spiritual.)

¹¹So the Ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp (they only marched around the city one time, ever how long that took, after which they went back to their camp, along with the Ark of the Lord).

¹²And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the Priests took up the Ark of the LORD.

¹³And 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 came after the Ark of the LORD, the Priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

¹⁴And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

¹⁵And 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 (according to the directions of the Lord).

¹⁶And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the Priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD has given you the city.

¹⁷And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all who are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent (Faith will take the city, and Faith will save Rahab).

¹⁸And you, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves accursed, when you take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. (Unfortunately, there was one man who didnt obey, which caused Israel great trouble. Everything about the city was cursed by God, because it was wholly given over to idol worship. The modern Christian, likewise, must be very careful about his entanglement with the world. While we are in the world, we are not to be of the world. In fact, if the world gets into the Believer, it is the same as water getting into the ship. Ruin is the result!)

¹⁹But 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 (an expression used of anything specially devoted to God).

THE FALL OF JERICHO

²⁰So 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. (Had they attempted to do so without the leading of the Lord, casualties would have been great; however, following the Lord, there is no record that there were any casualties among the army of Israel at all.)

²¹And 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 (this they were commanded to do!).

RAHAB AND HER FAMILY

²²But Joshua had said unto the two men who had spied out the country, Go into the harlots house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she has, as you swore unto her. (Salvation by the scarlet line was not only simple, it was also sure. When the Day of Wrath came, it gave the safety it promised. Thus will it be in the Day of the Wrath to come. That Day will prove how sure is the Salvation which follows upon simply trusting Jesus Williams.)

²³And the young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel (and so Rahab and the entirety of her family were saved).

²⁴And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the House of the LORD.

²⁵And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her fathers household, and all that she had; and she dwells in Israel even unto this day (proving that this account was written during her lifetime); because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. (Although slated for destruction, her Faith saved her. Rahab married Salmon, one of the Princes of Israel. She is included in our Lords Genealogy [Mat. 1:5]. To what heights of glory her Faith took her, and so may it be for all who will dare to believe God. The Lord took her harlotry and turned it into Holiness. He took the curse that was upon her and turned it into a Blessing. What He did for her, He will do for you.)

CURSE ON JERICHO

²⁶And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, who rises up and builds this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. (The object of this solid pronouncement was to preserve Jericho as a spot devoted to God forever. And for this reason a curse was pronounced upon anyone who should attempt to build a city upon the devoted spot. It does not seem that it was forbidden to build habitations on the spot, for Jericho is frequently mentioned in the New Testament. What seems to have been forbidden was the erection of a fortified city. This curse pronounced by Joshua actually fell on the reckless Hiel [I Ki. 16:34]; he saw the laying of its foundation marked by the death of his eldest son, while the death of his youngest followed its completion.)

²⁷So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country (what an honor for the Holy Spirit to say that the Lord is with anyone).