Joshua 6:1-27

6:1 | The Israelites were not prepared to defeat Jericho in a conventional manner. Although the residents of Jericho were afraid of the Israelites (2:11), the city was fortified, well armed, and prepared for war. That Jericho was securely shut up is another way of saying that its people were ready for an attack. Ancient fortified cities, with walls as high as 20 feet and as thick as eight feet, and with double or triple gates, could withstand a siege for months if they had sufficient food and a water supply. Guards standing high upon the walls in towers were prepared to shoot arrows, pour hot oil, or dump boulders on enemy warriors who tried to scale the wall or punch through it with a battering ram.

6:2 | Joshua could move forward with confidence because, even before the fighting began, God promised, I have given Jericho into your hand. All believers are “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). This means every child of God can enter every spiritual battle with the assurance that the war has already been won and , through obedience, the outcome is certain.

6:3-5 | The Lord’s unusual battle plan was so impossible in the world’s eyes that when Jericho fell, He alone would get the credit. Only His invisible hand would make the city wall fall down flat.

6:8-10 | Picture the parade: out in front were the soldiers followed by the seven priests with the rams’ horns, followed by the ark of the covenant – God in the midst of His people – followed by more soldiers. The city of Jericho was only about half a mile around, so the trip would not have taken very long. The plan was constructed to strike terror into the hearts of the people of Jericho.

6:11-16 | Joshua did not tell the Israelites how many times they had to circle the city or precisely what would happen when their days of marching were done. The people received instructions one day at a time, and they obeyed one day, one step at a time.

6:20 | What the people shouted was either a war cry (1 Sam. 17:20) or a shout of celebration over the victory they were about to experience (1 Sam. 4:5-6). Reputable scholars such as B.G. Wood argue that the major excavation reports from Jericho contain remarkable parallels with the biblical account, including the collapse of the eastern walls before fire scorched them. This is consistent with the author’s report that the wall fell down flat before Israel burned the city.

6:22-23 | Rahab’s house apparently remained standing, and she and her family were rescued, as the spies promised. Matthew 1:5 reports that she was absorbed into the Israelite community. She married an Israelite named Salmon and became the great-great grandmother of David and an ancestor of Jesus.