Stacked Against
Jericho
*Todd Blansit | January 31*
At the end of chapter 5 we find Joshua spying out the city, probably wondering how they’re going to breach the wall when he comes across this strange man standing there holding a sword. Joshua asks him, are you for us or for our adversaries, and this man says, “no, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord.” It was the Lord himself, and Joshua took off his shoes and worshipped. And he asked him, what does my lord say to his servant? Tell me what to do.
Joshua 6.1-5
1 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.
3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.
4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.
5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
Joshua 6.8-20
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them.
9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding.
10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!”
11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.
12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.
13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding.
14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times.
16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!
17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.
18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.
19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.
The Walls of Jericho
The walls of Jericho loomed large over the Israelite camp below. The city appeared ready for the looming battle of Jericho. From inside the city walls the people must have surely watched as the Israelite nation crossed the Jordan, and set up camp within eye sight.
However, it is doubtful that the people of Jericho really feared for their lives. The fortifications of Jericho were massive. And when one hears of the ancient city of Jericho, the firs thing which comes to most minds are the famous walls of Jericho.
These walls were structured on a three tiered plan. The walls started with an earthen rampart, or embankment, which ran from ground level upwards on an incline to a stone retaining wall - the second tier. The stone retaining wall stood 12 to 15 feet in height (4-5m) on top of the earthen embankment, as the digital image below depicts.
On top of the stone retaining wall, stood another wall made of mud-bricks, 6 feet (2m) thick, and 20 to 26 feet (6-8m) high. Together these two walls combined to form a fortification 32 to 41 feet high.
To put this into perspective, envision a 4 story tall building. Such was the height of the walls of Jericho. On the other side of the double wall, the embankment continued to climb upwards. The third tier was at the very top of the embankment, where yet another mud-brick wall stood.
At their base, the walls of Jericho stood 46 feet (14m) above ground level outside the retaining wall. To the Israelites below, Jericho seemed impenetrable.
We are patching holes in walls that need to come down.
We are surrounded by walls. Everywhere.
Walls of fear
Walls of guilt
Walls of anger
Walls of bondage
Walls of suspicion
Walls of unforgiveness
Walls of self-pity
Walls of pride
Walls of depression
Walls of unbelief
Walls keep us in.
Walls keep others out.
Walls create barriers between us.
It was never about the walls, it was about obedience.
God could have toppled the walls without the marching.
John 15.14-16
14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
For seven days Israel circled, blew trumpets and shouted. I’ve never been in the military, but I’m pretty sure that shouting isn’t a strategy. Circling and blasting trumpets isn’t a strategy. There might be a psychological component, but ultimately you need more than shouting to breach a fortified wall.
Shouting wasn’t their strategy, believing in God’s promise and power was their strategy.
Without God, walking around the city for seven days is a pretty crazy plan. They needed God to show up or they were going to be the laughingstock of Canaan.
That’s pretty much the message of the entire Bible, without God’s power and promises we’re done.
The Gospel isn’t, as John Piper says, a help-wanted sign. Jesus didn’t come to form a salvation co-op with us. Just as God’s mighty hand pressed down on the wall with such force that it buckled and fell, Jesus’ mighty hand did on the cross what none of us or all of us could ever do.
We can’t pull down the walls that Satan and sin build in our own power. We need God’s power to do it.
But I want to do something to make those walls come down! I need control, I need to take matters into my hand.
We need to get this straight, we don’t have the power to make those walls come down. Only God does. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a part to play. Our part is to have the faith to obey God.
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