Joshua 6:12-21

The City Destroyed Joshua 6:12-21

12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord
13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams-' horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets; and the armed men went before them; but the rearward came after the ark of the Lord, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.
16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city.
17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18 And ye, in all wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.
20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city,
21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

6.

Why did they rise early on the seventh day? Joshua 6:15

The people of Israel were to march around the city of Jericho seven times on the seventh day. The city itself was about a quarter of a mile long and about an eighth of a mile wide. The circumference of the city would thus be almost three quarters of a mile. Since the people would need to stay far enough away from the city walls to prevent their being struck by stones and arrows, the circle that they would use in their march around the city would be considerably longer, This would mean that the distance they traveled would be quite extensive, and it would be necessary for them to start at the dawning of the day in order to encompass the city seven times in one day.

7.

Was anything to be saved? Joshua 6:17

Because the Lord had given Jericho into the hands of the Israelites, they were to consecrate it to Him as a banthat is, a holy thing belonging to Jehovah. It was not to be touched by man, as being the first-fruits of Canaan (see Leviticus 27:28-29). Rahab, alone, was excepted from this ban, along with all who belonged to her, because she had hidden the spies. The inhabitants of an idolatrous town laid under the ban were to be put to death, together with their cattle. All the property in the town was to be burned, as Moses himself had enjoined on the basis of the law in Leviticus 27:29. The only exceptions were metalsgold and silver and the vessels of brass and iron. These were to be brought into the treasury of the Lordthe treasury of the Tabernacleas being holy to the Lord (Joshua 6:19; cf. Numbers 31:54).

8.

Why was Jericho delivered miraculously-'? Joshua 6:20

Jericho was the first and largest of the Canaanite cities. If the Israelites went out and conquered this city on their own and then conquered the remaining towns on their own, they would be led to believe they had wrought the deliverance by themselves. Now that the Red Sea had been crossed under the leadership of Moses and the Jordan River had been crossed under the leadership of Joshua, there could be no question after the fall of Jericho but that God was leading them in strange paths and over seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

9.

Is there a natural explanation for Jericho's fall? Joshua 6:20 b

Different attempts have been made to explain the miraculous overthrow of the walls of Jericho as a natural occurrence. Some suggest it was done by an earthquake, by mining, or by sudden storming. They suggest that the inhabitants had been thrown into a false security by the strange procession repeated day after day for several days and so were quite unprepared. Such humanistic explanations really deserve no serious refutation. All of them are arbitrarily forced upon the text. The destruction of Jericho was a miracle wrought by the hand of God. There is no natural explanation sufficient to account for all the aspects of the great victory won by Israel at Jericho.

10.

Why were Jericho's inhabitants and possessions utterly destroyed? Joshua 6:21

This first town was offered as a sacrifice unto Jehovah. In some of the other towns, the cattle were taken as booty. This town, however, was the first, and it was completely destroyed as an offering unto Jehovah. Since Jericho was devoted to the Lord completely, it was treated as something which a man would devote to God. The rules for handling these materials were laid down in the Law. No devout thing that a man devoted to God could be sold or redeemed. It was treated as the tithe of the land which belonged completely to God, Man had nothing to do with it after it was devoted to God. For this reason nothing in Jericho was to be saved and used by the people.