08/20/2008
Joshua 6:1 - 5 (HCSB) 1Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelitesno one leaving or entering. 2The LORD said to Joshua, Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its fighting men over to you. 3March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days. 4Have seven priests carry seven rams-horn trumpets in front of the ark. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the trumpets. 5When there is a prolonged blast of the horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the people will advance, each man straight ahead.
Joshua 6:15 - 16 (HCSB) 15Early on the seventh day, they started at dawn and marched around the city seven times in the same way. That was the only day they marched around the city seven times. 16After the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua said to the people, Shout! For the LORD has given you the city.
Joshua 6:20 (HCSB) 20So the people shouted, and the trumpets sounded. When they heard the blast of the trumpet, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. The people advanced into the city, each man straight ahead, and they captured the city.
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I have read that during certain battles of the Civil War, that families would take lunches and have picnics overlooking the battle-ground as an afternoon outing. In one battle, the tide turned so radically that the oncoming army even overran the picnickers.
The city of Jericho is the first significant city that Israel took west of the Jordan River. Note in verse 1 that the city was fortified because of the Israelites. This means that the reputation of the Israelites had preceded them and Jericho had intentionally built up their fortifications in defense. But no defense made my man can withstand the hand of God.
God did not tell Israel to build huge battering rams, or catapults to break through the fortifications, but simply to walk around the city. Imagine the first day, as the army of Jericho stood on the walls looking down at Israel expecting a siege but nothing.
Then the next day, and the next day nothing.
By the seventh day, I am sure the army of Jericho and quite possibly a large population of the city had gathered to watch the spectacle. Just like those picnickers of the Civil War, the people of Jericho were probably feeling very safe within their man-made walls.
Yet God had other plans.
Like so many of the miracles in the Bible, God works in ways that defy explanation. Had God told Israel to use a battering ram or some other method, then it could easily be argued away that there was no divine intervention. Some have even suggested that the shout of the Israelites shattered the walls like the voice of an opera soprano shattering a glass. But the amount of sonic vibration required to accomplish such a feat is in itself astounding.
It is more reasonable to simply say that God tore down the walls. At the moment that Israel began to shout, I can imagine the people and army on the wall focusing their attention on the people waiting for a siege. And then the wall beneath them began to shake and crumble. Panic and confusion would have quickly ensued, and as the walls fell, Israel could move directly into the city with minimal resistance.
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