Joshua at Jericho: The Lord Will Fight for You

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 asked him, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" The man replied, "Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come." Joshua bowed face down to the ground in reference to him and asked what message the Lord had for him, his servant? The commander of the Lord's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy."

Commander of the Lord's Army

A Long Journey

The Israelites have journeyed 40 years in the desert to finally arrive at the land the Lord had promised to their ancestors. Along the journey, they ate manna from heaven daily and followed the leadership of Moses and Aaron, and then now Joshua. Miraculously, when they reached the flooding waters of the Jordan River, while the Levitical priests carried the Ark of the Covenant, the Israelites walked across the river bed on dry ground. After they were safe at Gilgal, the flood waters returned as before. One man from each tribe (12), placed a stone at Gilgal as a memorial to share with future generations.

The military aged men along the journey had all been circumcised, but while in the desert, none of their sons had been. The Lord God told Joshua to make flint knives and circumcise all the Israelite males before proceeding to Israel. Then they celebrated the tradition of Passover and ate produce from the land of Canaan. The next day, the manna, which they had been receiving for 40 years, ceased. The day following Passover, they began eating produce from the land of Canaan.

The Israelites ate manna in the wilderness for 40 years.

Marching Around the City

Joshua followed the Lord's instructions for how to capture the city of Jericho. They marched around the city one time daily for 6 days, while the priests blew rams' horn trumpets. On the seventh day, they marched around the city 7 times, while 7 priests blew the trumpets. When Joshua commanded on the 7th day, the army shouted and the walls of the city fell, just as the Lord told them it would. 

The Sin of Achan

The Israelites were warned to not take any spoils of war, called "devoted things" of the Canaanites. But one man (Achan, from the tribe of Judah) confessed to taking and keeping a beautiful robe, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels. Achan said he coveted them and took them, and hid them in the ground inside his tent. As a punishment for his disobedience and theft, Achan, his sons and daughters, cattle, donkeys and sheep, tent and all that he had was taken to the Valley of Achor. Fearing the wrath of God on all the Israelites, Joshua implored to know why Achan would disobey and bring on the wrath of the Lord?!

Joshua said in chapter 7:25, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today." Then all of the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned everything. They piled stones on top, and the Bible says, this punishment turned [away] the fierce anger of the Lord.

This passage troubled me as being too severe, but I did read online that this is a parallel to how all of mankind was punished for the sin and disobedience of Adam and Eve. More at this link.

In the New Testament, in Romans 5:18-19, we learn that all of mankind is saved by the obedience of one man--God in human flesh--Jesus Christ. The theme of propitiation of sin is a thread throughout the Old and New Testament. The solution to this ongoing problem of sin is fixed and finished in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all of mankind by faith. Jesus is described as our advocate (lawyer) who presents himself as the holy requirement that bridges the gap between the sin of mankind and the holiness of God. 

The Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God

All of the city of Jericho was burned, except the silver, gold, bronze, and iron articles were put into the treasury of the Lord's house. By grace, Rahab, and all of her household, were brought out of Jericho before everything else in the city was burned. Because the city of Jericho was given to the Israelites as an inheritance, Joshua pronounced a solemn oath that anyone who would undertake to rebuild Jericho would be cursed by God.

The Conquest of Canaan: Unlikely Heroes

The story of the Israelites in the Old Testament is basically a continuous retelling of the covenant relationship they have with the Lord God. This contract began with Abraham, and continued to Isaac, Jacob, and future generations. As the book of Joshua is beginning, we see the transfer of spiritual leadership from Moses to Joshua. The plan of God is to provide for their worldly and spiritual prosperity, but they must remain faithful, obedient, and trusting. It is a reflection of the ideal relationship between children and their father, and it was God's desire to be their Heavenly Father.

This is a constant battle between their human will and their desire to obey the Lord and follow the Book of the Law (Deuteronomy). In the book of Numbers, more specifications were given as to how they are to conquer the land of Canaan and defeat the pagan tribes who practice Canaanite religious practices, such as child sacrifice, fortune-telling, magic, and consulting the dead. Any Israelite who practices these forbidden things, it is said, shall be put to death (Exodus 22:18). These activities were attempts to control nature and peoples' destinies; Israel was to worship, obey and trust God alone--He was to be their only connection to the spiritual realm (Westbrook 348).

Rules of War

Old Testament battle scenes depict ancient warfare in all its glory. Is this God's doing? We read it was God's desire that the Israelites not be defiled by outside civilizations and tempted to practice idolatry (leave monothesism and the worship of God alone (I AM); sexual immorality, adultery (break the marriage covenant); or to allow people who practices such things to live among them. If an Israelite army defeated a Canaanite land, and a man took a female captive, he was required to marry her and provide for her economically for the rest of her life. She would be fully incorporated into the Israelite community--not just used and abandoned (Westbrook 349) (Deut. 21:10-14).

Ironically, it is a prostitute named Rahab, who ends up becoming a heroine of the faith in the lineage of Jesus because of her faith. Her story is found in the second chapter of Joshua. She is also praised in the New Testament in Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25, and Matthew 1:5.

That You May Be Successful (Joshua, Ch. 1)

The Old Testament book of Joshua was written sometime before 1000 B.C. The earliest Jewish traditions claim that the author is Joshua, except for the final section about his funeral, that was probably written by Eleazar, son of Aaron. The theme of the book is the conquest of Canaan and establishment of Israel in the land promised to them by Moses (Holy Bible: NIV, p. 274).

The book of Joshua begins with him being instructed by the Lord to lead the Israelites to cross the Jordan River into the land that had been promised to them by God since the days of Moses. He was encouraged by the Lord to be strong, courageous, and to obey the laws given by Moses--the Israelites were not to turn from it to the right or to the left that they would be successful in all they do. The Lord said he would never leave nor forsake them.

"Do not let this Book of Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (1:8).

Joshua told the people they had three days to get supplies ready and to prepare for taking the promised land. To the tribes of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, they had previously been promised the land east of Jordan River as an inheritance. They were told they could rest there, but first they had to be fully armed and cross over ahead of their brothers' tribes to help them, and when the Lord had given them rest, then they could go back to occupy their land east of the Jordan River.

"Your wives, children, and livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but your fighting men must go" (v. 14).

They answered, "Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you" (vv. 16-18).

12 Tribes of Israel in the Promised Land

A Solemn Covenant (Genesis 15)

The Lord God Most High promised to Abram that he and his descendants would be blessed. In Genesis 15, Abram appeals to the Lord explaining that he remains childless and the only heir in his household is his servant, Eliezer of Damascus. The Lord reassures Abram that this man will not be the heir, but a son that will come from Abram’s own body, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars…so shall your offspring be” (v. 5).

The Lord instructed him to bring a sacrifice, and Abram prepared it. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep. A dreadful darkness came over him, and the Lord explained to him what would happen in the next four generations.

Abram’s descendants would be strangers in a country and enslaved and mistreated for 400 years. Afterwards, the Lord would punish the nation they served in as slaves, and they would come out of the land with great possessions. Abram would be at peace and die at an old age. At the end of the 4^th generation, the descendants would return to the land of Canaan.

When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces of Abram’s sacrifice. It was on that day that the Lord made a covenant with Abram,

“To your descendants I give this land [of Canaan], from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." (v. 20)

It was stated that Abram believed what the Lord promised him, and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness (v. 6). Though God was trying to reassure Abram, it would take many years before Abram understood and saw the fruition of this promise.