Prologue:
Joshua 1:5b NASB
5b ...Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not desert you nor abandon you.
Joshua 3:7 NASB
7 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.
God understood what He planned for Israel. He planned to put Joshua in charge. He planned to confirm His promise to Joshua with signs following. He planned to confirm His selection of Joshua as Heaven’s spokesman on Earth with mighty signs and wonders. He planned to elevate Joshua to the office of Prophet. His Prophet of Conquest. He would elevate Joshua in the eyes and hearts of the nation of Israel to the stature implied by his name, which meant, “God is my (our) Salvation.”
Joshua 3:14-17 NASB
14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who were carrying the ark came up to the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark [c]stepped down into the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16 then the waters which were [d]flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were [e]flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
In order to fathom the magnitude of the miracle at the Jordan river on the day that Israel crossed into the promised land, take a look at the pictures below. The Jordan River is normally about one hundred feet across and about ten feet deep in the plain where Joshua led the nation of Israel into the promised land. However, during flood season, which is when Israel crossed, the Jordan overflows its natural boundaries and expands out to a width of as much as two miles and a depth of about one hundred feet. Crossing during the rainy season would have been impossible in that circumstance. See the photographs below.
The first photo is a picture of the newly constructed Allenby Bridge with the Jordan River flowing peacefully about 30 feet below it.
The date of the photograph above is around 1920.
The photograph below was taken in February 1935. This was an unusually high year for the Jordan River and it “overflowed all its banks,” damaging and destroying surrounding buildings and roads. That bridge is pictured in the upper right section of the photograph.
The photograph above provides a clearer view of the bridge. The red marks delineate either end of the bridge.
Genesis 18:14a
14a Is anything too hard for the Lord?
So then, consider that the Lord stopped the flow of water at the point of crossing. Might it also be possible that the result was not only that Israel crossed on dry land, but that the water then backed up to, and possibly flooded the region surrounding the city of Adam, further upstream, thus adding to the dread that the people of Caana had for the people of Israel and for the God of Israel?
Joshua 5:10-13 NASB
10 While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. 11 Then on the day after the Passover, on [f]that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain. 12 And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.
John 5:24 NASB
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Then finally, it is noteworthy that after crossing the Jordan, the children of Israel consecrated themselves. First, all of the men were circumcised, then the entire congregation celebrated Passover. This Passover celebration held special significance as it was the first to be celebrated in the Promised Land. This Passover should also hold significance for Christians, in that it is representative of a crossing over from death to life; a new beginning as a new creature in Christ. It is after these events that our lesson begins.
The Lesson
Joshua 5:13 NASB
13 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Now when Joshua was by Jericho…” The narrative places Joshua at or near Jericho at the time of his next providential encounter. Jericho was a walled city of some significance. Regarded by archeologists as possibly the oldest city on earth. It actually was surrounded by two walls, with dwellings built both in the inner area and in between the inner and outer wall. The height of the walls was around thirteen feet. Additionally, the most prominent structure within the city was a tower, some thirty-five feet in height built just inside the innermost wall. Archeologists note that because of the location of the tower, it could not have been built for defensive purposes. Thus, they surmise that the tower had religious purposes, similar to other Ziggurats found throughout the middle east. This could be compared to the Tower of Babel, the most famous of Ziggurats. Additionally, the name Jericho is derived from the Hebrew word Yarech, which is the name of the Canaanite moon god. Thus, Jericho was known as the ‘Moon City’, or “The City of the Moon God”.
As Joshua stood within sight of the city, these facts would have been available to him. This is where Joshua encounters an armed stranger. Notably, Joshua takes a confrontational stance with the stranger, which gives us some insight into the confidence that Joshua walked in, as the leader of God’s people.
Joshua 5:14-15 NASB
14 He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” 15 And the captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
In the very moment that the stranger identified Himself as the Captain of the army of the Lord, Joshua immediately falls on his face, assuming a posture of surrender and worship. The next words from the lips of the stranger further identify Him as a pre-incarnate appearing of Christ, literally the Commander-in-Chief of the Lord’s Army. To command Joshua to remove his sandals completely identifies Him as Yahweh, the ‘I AM’, whom Moses encountered at the burning bush.
It is at this moment, within sight of the tower of the Caananite moon god, Yarech that the true and living God of the Universe reveals Himself to Joshua, so as to demonstrate His power over the false idols and religions of the Caananite people and His utter disgust for the detestable religious practices of the people of Caana. God demonstrates to Joshua that truly, He will be with Joshua in toppling the religious structure of Caana just as He was with Moses when He (God) toppled the Pharoah and the religious structure of Egypt.
Joshua 6:1-5 NASB
1 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. 2 But the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, with its king and the valiant warriors. 3 And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. 4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down [a]flat, and the people shall go up, everyone [b]straight ahead.”
The Lord then gives Joshua succinct clear instructions on how they are to proceed. Most importantly, the Lord does not instruct them to use arms or weapons, but only to march, thus demonstrating complete obedience to and faith and trust in the Lord, God. After all, this battle belongs to the Lord, not to Joshua.
Joshua 6:20 NASB
20 So the people shouted, and [a]the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down [b]flat, so that the people went up into the city, everyone straight [c]ahead, and they took the city.
For six days, the army of Israel silently marched around the city of Jericho, but on the seventh day the trumpets sounded and the people shouted, and… the walls fell. The army of Israel then went in and took the city of Jericho, according to the Word of the Lord and under the leadership of God’s own prophet, Joshua.
Epilogue
Joshua 6:24-25 NASB
24 Then they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the [k]house of the Lord. 25 However, Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua [l]spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Just a final thought on how complete God’s judgment against the city of Jericho was and on how great the mercy and grace of God is to those who love Him and commit themselves to His will and His way. The Israelites were commanded to completely destroy everything in Jericho, both the people and the livestock, and then to burn everything that would burn. They did as the Lord commanded, and found favor in God’s sight.
Additionally, because of her faithfulness to the spies of Israel, God rewarded Rahab with a place of prominence in the community of Israel and in the eternal household of faith. Literally, she was grafted into the royal lineage of Christ as the mother of Boaz, the husband of Ruth, and the great-great-grandmother of David, a place and position of eternal honor in the legacy of Heaven.
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