Reading the Story of Jericho With Fresh Eyes
Six Truths From Joshua 6
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The most well-known story in the book of Joshua is, probably, the story of Jericho’s fall in Joshua 6. But well-known stories aren’t always known as well as they could be. Familiarity has a way, sometimes, of obscuring key—even obvious—truths.
If we took some time to slowly read through the story about Jericho’s fall with fresh eyes, we could make a series of observations, which include these six:
1. The administration of Jericho refused to surrender.
I’m using the language of “refusal” because the people of Jericho knew what Rahab knew. She had said “the fear of you has fallen upon us” and “all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you” (Josh. 2:9). They had heard what God did in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and they knew what God had done to the two kings Sihon and Og (2:10).
Knowing these truths, Rahab confessed the living God and was ready to trust him (Josh. 2:11–13). Knowing these same truths, the others in Jericho did not trust in the Lord. They refused him, shutting their city. In Joshua 6:1 we read that “Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in.” The reaction of the city (in Josh. 6:1) was a collective hardening of heart. It was a refusal of repentance. It was a doubling down on their stance against Yahweh and against his people.
2. Only specific Israelites were to march around the city.
Growing up and hearing Bible stories, I used to imagine that the whole nation of Israel marched around Jericho every day for six days and then seven times on the seventh day. But that’s not what happened. The group of marchers was very specific.
In 6:3–4 and 6:8–9, we learn that Israelite warriors were placed at the front and the rear of the procession. In the middle of the front and rear guard were seven priests who held seven trumpets, and after these priests came other priests who held up the ark of the Lord. So: Israelite warriors, then seven priests who trumpeted, then priests bearing the ark, and finally a rear guard of warriors. All other Israelites would have remained in Gilgal, at their encampment.
3. The marchers were to remain silent as they walked.
You might imagine that when ancient warriors approached and attacked a city, the air was filled with their shouts and rallying cries. But the Israelites were not a normal army. They were supposed to circle the city of Jericho for seven days—once a day for six days and then seven times on the seventh day. And the group was forbidden from talking. Joshua told the group, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout” (Josh. 6:10).
The silence must have seemed so strange to the people of Jericho. After all, horn blasts accompanied the encircling, all seven days. But no words from the Israelites were permitted. No shouts or rallying cries. Imagine how psychologically intimidating this would seem! The Jericho soldiers would watch (from the vantage point at the top of their walls) day after day as a group of Israelites walked around the city but never said a word.
4. The ark of the covenant was carried around the city each day.
Priests and soldiers and trumpets weren’t the only circlers of Jericho. There were priests who held the ark of the covenant as they walked (Josh. 6:4). This symbolism was important, because God was circling the city which he would soon bring down.
The movement of the ark around the city recalls Numbers 10:35: “And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, ‘Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.’” The movement of the ark around the city was an ominous sign for the wicked. It was an indication of Yahweh’s wrath soon to fall.
5. The walls collapsed downward, not inward or outward.
The Lord told Joshua, “The wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him” (Josh. 6:5). The language is about a collapse downward. This image matters so that we don’t misunderstand the prediction. The wall isn’t going to fall outward as one piece, for then it would put the marching Israelites in danger. And it isn’t going to fall inward toward the confines of the city. The prediction is that the wall will collapse—it “will fall down flat.”
The fulfillment of this promise is recorded: “As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city” (Josh. 6:20).
6. Joshua’s curse was fulfilled in the life of a future builder.
The fall of Jericho was meant to be an abiding symbol of Yahweh’s judgment upon the wicked. Joshua said, “Cursed before the LORD be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates” (Josh. 6:26). This oath, this curse, was not a bluff. It was a solemn warning against trying to rebuild what God had brought down and condemned.
Fast forward to the book of 1 Kings. In 1 Kings 16, we read, “Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun” (1 Kgs. 16:34). The Lord’s word “which he spoke by Joshua” is found in Joshua 6:26. The leader of Israel had given a warning, and when a later builder violated this word, the content of the oath came to pass.
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