Chapter 9
Bringing Down the Walls
The Reading: Joshua 6
The Problem:
Jericho was known as the oldest city in the world, and it was a symbol of military might. It was the gateway to the entire region and, if defeated, all the other cities would be vulnerable. Also, if taken, that would split the region in half. The kingdoms to the North and South wouldn’t be able to unite against their enemies. Being in such a strategic location, in Joshua's day Jericho was surrounded by a system of two massive stone walls. The outer wall was 6 feet thick and about 20 feet high. The inner wall was about 12 feet thick and was 30 feet high. Between the walls was a guarded walkway about 15 feet wide.
In addition, Jericho was a city whose inhabitants were violent and depraved. They were so corrupt that when God commissioned the city to be destroyed, Joshua 6:26 states that anyone who sought to rebuild the city would be cursed. God wanted this place wiped from the map. The only exception was to be Rahab the harlot and her family, because she believed in the one true God and had assisted the spies (Joshua 2).
In ancient warfare such cities were either taken by assault or surrounded and the people starved into submission. Its invaders might try to weaken the stone walls with fire or by tunneling, or they might simply heap up a mountain of earth to serve as a ramp. Each of these methods of assault took weeks or months, and the attacking force usually suffered heavy losses.
However, the strategy to conquer the city of Jericho was unique in two ways. First, God Himself laid out the strategy, and, second, the strategy was a seemingly foolish plan. God simply told Joshua to have the people to march silently around Jericho for six days, and then, after seven times around on the seventh day, to simply shout.
The Turning Point:
Israel marched around the city in obedience to the Lord. Can you imagine how absurd some of the Israelites must have thought the command was? And I wonder what the people in Jericho must have been thinking?
When they first saw the armies of Israel approaching their city, they probably thought that they were about to be invaded by the enemy. Then, just as Israel came near the city, they turned and began to march around the walls. I imagine those inside Jericho ran to the windows to see where the Israelites would mount their attack. However, instead of attacking, the soldiers and the priests simply marched around the city one time. Not a voice was heard. All that could be heard was the bone-chilling sound of the ram's horn trumpets and the pounding of the soldier's feet upon the ground. And this was repeated for 6 days.
By the third or fourth day, the people in Jericho were probably mocking and jeering at the Israelites. But they continued on in obedience, in silence, day after day. Finally, according to God’s instructions, on the seventh day they marched around the city seven times in a row.
The Miracle That Followed:
When they had finished that seventh lap, the priests gave a long blast on the trumpets and the people of Israel shouted with a great shout! It wasn't the shout of an attacking army, it wasn't a shout of fear, but it was a shout raised in praise to God Who had promised them the victory. And when the people shouted, the walls fell down flat, and the Israelites ran into the city and utterly destroyed it.
The Bottom Line:
Jericho was the first city the Israelites had ever seen that was surrounded by huge walls. It must have looked like an absolute impossibility to many. However, although it seemed foolish, Joshua and the Israelites followed God’s instructions to the letter. When the people did finally shout, the massive walls collapsed instantly, and Israel won an easy victory. In fact, God had given the city of Jericho to them before they even began to march around its walls (Joshua 6:2, 16). It was when the people of God, by faith, followed the commands of God that the walls of Jericho fell down (Joshua 6:20).
This story assures us that God keeps His promises (Joshua 6:2, 20). The walls of Jericho fell because God said they would. God’s promises to us today are just as certain. They are just as unswerving. They are exceedingly great and wonderfully precious (Hebrews 6:11–18; 10:36; Colossians 3:24).
