Joshua

Chapter Introduction

We get so used to our human wisdom, we dismiss the supernatural, as though God can’t do a thing unless we can explain it.  However, if we can explain it, its not from God.  When He intervenes, and when we follow closely, we’ll be doing things that can only be explained as the hand of God.  In this way, He gets all the glory.

God often confounds the mighty with the weak things.  When I am weak, He is strong.

Joshua 6:1-5

Jericho was an impenetrable fortress, especially with the gates closed.  They were on high alert and felt confident in their defenses.  These folks knew of the God of the Israelites from the stories of parting the Red Sea and conquering the kings of Og & Sihon.  But they saw him as a nature God (a god who could control natural things).  They felt safe in a walled city.  Jericho’s walls were 25’ high and 20’ thick. 

The Lord told Joshua that Jericho would be delivered into his hands as if it was already done.  How many of us would have looked at the Lord and said, "Are you crazy?  Don't you see the walls?"  We don't get the sense that Joshua had those thoughts, even when he heard the battle plan.  This plan wasn't manpower and swords and arrows.  It wasn't militarily penetrating the wall.  This involved the priest and the Ark.  Within the law, there was no provision for the priests or the Ark to be engaged in warfare.  This plan's payoff was when everyone shouted, and the wall would fall.

This plan required belief.  It required the people to trust in it.  It required them to be part of it.  Then, the Lord would do the hard part.  God wasn't reliant on them, He could have knocked down this wall any time he wanted.  But He wanted His children to be involved and in a relationship with Him.  He wanted to exercise His power through His people. 

Our battles with evil and sin are battles because we allow ourselves to fight.  In fact, Christ conquered death and sin on the Cross.  Our battle has already been won; all we have to do is step out in faith and accept the victory.  How many victories have we missed out on? 

What are God’s perfect plans for your victory?

Joshua 6:6-14

Joshua called the priest and told them about God’s plan.  The scriptures don’t say it, but I can imagine some raised eyebrows of concern.  The Ark wasn’t to be taken to war.  They had never done such a thing.  Joshua had been established as Moses' replacement in the people’s eyes, but this had to be pushing the limits.

Jericho was an incredible stronghold with massive walls. A siege of such a place could take months if not a year or more. To imagine they could conquer Jericho was a stretch. The military, which had been trying to figure out a method of attack, had to be perplexed.

The seven priests, bearing seven trumpets, took up the Ark as the core of this procession.  The number seven is seen multiple times, understood as the number of completion or perfection.  The Shofar first appeared in Exodus when Israel was before the mountain of God (Ex 19:16).  A shofar blast struck them with fear.    

For six days, they were to march around the city once, blowing trumpets but saying nothing.  The people led the march, and the army followed the Ark, which was the center of the parade.  The rest of the army was made up of the rear guard.  This entire procession wasn’t to frighten Jericho with their military but to display God’s presence among the people.  This was the God that Jericho had heard of and whose reputation drained them of courage (2:11). 

Joshua 6:15-19

On the seventh day, they were to march around seven times with the priest blowing the trumpets.  This was a violation of the Sabbath.  The seventh time around on that day, as the priests blew the trumpets, the people would be commanded to shout.  It is at that time the Lord would give them the city.

The city was marked as “charem,” doomed to destruction.  This is an indication that something is set apart for service or destruction by the Lord.   It had a sacred purpose.  As such, no one could take spoils.  The city was to be utterly destroyed except for the exceptions the Lord indicated.  The first exception is Rahab and her family.  The second is the precious metals that went to the Lord’s treasury. 

Commentaries note that there is no good translation for the word charem.  It is translated to:

• Accursed
• Devoted
• Doomed to destruction
• Appointed to utter destruction
• Under the ban

Joshua 6:20-27

The people shouted as instructed, and the wall came down.  What a moment this must have been for those people.  For seven days they wondered how this would end.  They experienced the Lord’s hand by being faithful and obedient.  Do you suppose there were those who stood aside and said, “I will not shout like a heathen.  This entire thing is ridiculous!”  Imagine their embarrassment.

Rahab was spared, and the text points out her presence within the community at the time of the writing.  Of course, we know she would marry into Israel and have a son named Boaz who would later marry Ruth.  The rest of the city was burned.

Joshua speaks a curse on Jericho.  The man who rebuilt it would be cursed.  The laying of the foundations would cost him his firstborn.  Setting up the gates would cost him the youngest.  In 1 Kings 16:34,

 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.  (1 Kings 16:34)

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This certainly feels like Passover as she was kept safe from the judgment right outside her door.  A Scarlett thread guaranteed her safety.  It also encompasses the idea of the rapture.  God keeps His people safe while he brings destruction in judgment.  Read Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25.

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The actions of Joshua have some resemblance to Revelation.  This picture of judgment is after the two spies enter and offer safety by faith to Rahab.  Is this a model of Christ’s return?  The use of the trumpets of Jubilee points toward the day of the final trumpet. Will the return of Christ happen in the Jubilee year?  We can't conclude from this, but we can surely see Christ in these scriptures.  And the lessons that come from it can certainly be relevant to us. 

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” (1 Corinthians 1:18 – 29)

The Big Idea

The victories of faith aren’t won by men gathering to form plans.  The largest army or bank account does not win the day, nor do those who attend church most often or place more in the offering.  The victory is won by faith.  It is obedience of the least to the Most High – regardless of how odd, countercultural, or counterproductive it may appear.  It is simply those who fear God more than man doing what He called them to do.

©2006 Doug Ford, revised and updated 2008, 2015, 2024