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.

Joshua's Battle Strategies

Joshua secretly sent two spies to survey the land of Canaan, especially Jericho. So these men went to the house of a prostitute, Rahab. Apparently they were noticed, and someone warned the king of Jericho that it looked like spies were in the land. The king sent a message to Rahab warning her to bring the men out. Rahab took the men to the roof and hid them under stalks of flax. She then told the kings' men that she didn't know the men or know where they came from so she sent them away at dusk before the closing of the city gates. So the kings' men set out on a pursuit of the spies, falsely trailing them on the road leading to the fords of the Jordan river. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the city gates were shut. Rahab told the spies:

"I know the Lord has given this land to you and a great fear has fallen on us. We have heard of how the Lord dried up the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt..."(Joshua 2:12). 

Illustration from a 15th-century French manuscript
of Josephus' Jewish Antiquities, 15th-century.

Because her house was built inside one of the city walls, Rahab used a rope to allow the men to lower themselves out of one of her windows to escape. She told them to run into the hills and hide for three days until the pursuers stopped looking for them. She asked that they show kindness (and mercy) to her and her family because she had shown kindness and helped them escape. They agreed to an oath with her. As long as she tied [a chord] of this rope of scarlet red in her window, and all her family remained inside her home, she and her family would be safe. But, they said, if the scarlet rope is not in your window, and your family is not in your home, then this oath is not binding.

Then they went to the hills and hid for three days before fording the river and returning back to Joshua. They told him everything that happened, and added,

"The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us" (v. 2:24).

This first story of the eventual conquest of Canaan falls in line with what some Bible scholars describe as a partial willingness (limited bloodshed) among the landless social class to help take the land away from the Egyptian governors of Canaan. A type of coup d'etat from within as many Canaanites embraced the faith of the Israelites and were willing "to come over to their side freely and willingly" (Barnes 361).

Stage of future battle.
The Israelites would cross from east to west, from the Moabite plains, across the Jordan River, before pausing at Gilgal, and then conquering Jericho.

Follow the Ark of the Covenant

In Joshua 3, the officers gave orders for the Israelites to follow the Ark of the Covenant and priests (Levites) who were carrying it, but they were warned to stay at a distance of at least 1000 yards away from it--"don't go near it!" And the Lord said to Joshua,

"Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they will know that I am with you as I was with Moses."

The Lord then told Joshua to have twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel, to be ready. When the priests, who carry the Ark of the Covenant, reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, they will place their feet in the water. As soon as they do this, the flooding river waters flowing downstream will be cut off and cause the water to stand up in a heap. So the Israelites did as the Lord instructed Joshua, and they were all able to pass through. The priests even, who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant, stood firm on dry ground while standing in the middle of the Jordan river. When the people all passed through safely, the flood waters returned as before.

The twelve men (one from each tribe, chosen before) brought one stone each from the middle of the Jordan riverbed, where the Ark of the Covenant had passed through, and carried them over to the camp at Gilgal. They placed them there as a memorial for future generations, so they could remember and explain what the Lord, the God of Israel, had done for the Israelites as they passed through the Jordan river.

"He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God" (Joshua 4:24).

I found an interesting article about "gilgals" and the symbolism of an ancient stone memorial circle and wheel. Find it here.
And this blog is full of archaeological photos and explanations of what is thought to be an original site of this gilgal, but I can't verify the accuracy of that.
And another blog explaining this passage with a poem and link to a hymn. Very creative people online!

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.