Joshua left the camp and went on foot to inspect the city of Jericho with its high walls. Glancing up, he saw a man with a sword in his hand. Joshua strode up to him. “Are you friend or foe?” he demanded.
“I am the general-in-chief of the Lords army,” the man replied. He was telling Joshua that he had come to be their leader and to show them how to win the battles against their enemies. Joshua realized that this Man was the Lord, so he fell to the ground and worshiped Him. It was the same Man who had come to Abraham’s tent long before to say that God was going to destroy Sodom. And He was the Man who had wrestled with Jacob when he was returning to Canaan from Laban’s house.
The people of Jericho had shut the city gates to stop the Israelis from coming in. But the Lord said He would give Joshua the victory anyway. He even told him how to plan his attack.
All the Israeli soldiers. He said, must march around the city once every day for six days and the priests must go with them carrying the Ark. Seven priests were to walk ahead of the Ark, blowing trumpets made of ram horns.
On the seventh day the Israelis were to march around Jericho, not once, but seven times while the priests blew the trumpets. As they finished the seventh time around, the priests must blow a loud, long blast, and all the army must give a mighty shout. Then the walls of the city would fall down flat, and the Israelites could walk right in!
Joshua told his army that only Rahab and those with her in her house would be saved alive. The Lord had commanded that all the rest of the people of Jericho must die for their sins. All the silver, gold, brass, and iron in the city belonged to the Lord and must be put into the treasury where gifts into the Lord were kept. Joshua told the people not to take any of it for themselves, for the Lord would send a great punishment upon them if they did.
The people did as the Lord commanded. The first day they all marched around the city once, the priests following behind blowing the trumpets. Then came other priests who carried the Ark.
On the second day they marched around the city again, and so it went for six days.
But on the seventh day they got up early, before it was light, and marched around the city seven times. The last time around, the priests blew a great blast on the trumpets, and Joshua called out to his army, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!”
They gave a mighty shout, and at that moment the walls of the city tumbled down before them, and they rushed into Jericho and captured it. Joshua told the spies who had been a Rahab’s house to protect Rahab and everyone with her, just as they had promised her. So they saved Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers, and all who were with her in the house. Afterwards the army of Israel burned the city; but the silver, gold, iron, and bronze were put into the treasury of the Lord.
Hebrews 11:30
Questions:
Who was the Man who came to Joshua to lead the Israel army?
How many times were the Israeli’s supposed to march around Jericho on each of the first six days?
How many times on the seventh day?
Then what happened?
Why was Rahab saved?
Joshua 6:1-27
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