Winning Strategy • Joshua 6:12-25
By Roland L. McMillan
The lesson for this week focuses on Joshua 6:12–25, but the story actually starts in Joshua 5:13. Israel had miraculously crossed the flooded Jordan River on dry ground. The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire from their wilderness wandering were gone. Now the nation was following the symbol of God’s presence, the ark of the covenant. They had entered the land that God had promised to Abraham. The people had started eating the produce from the land, and the manna had stopped. In Joshua 5:13, Joshua met an angelic figure, and started receiving God’s instructions for the next step, the conquest of Jericho.
At the beginning of Joshua 6, the city of Jericho was closed and ready for a siege. The inhabitants braced themselves for a fight, but God’s instructions did not come in the form of a battle plan. Instead, God gave Joshua a plan for a series of parades displaying the ark of the covenant, the symbol of God’s presence. The processions were not about battle strategy. They were about the presence and power of God. Instead of regular siege warfare, they had worship processions each day, and seven worship processions on the seventh day. The armed vanguard came first. Next came seven priests, each blowing a trumpet in front of the ark of the covenant. An armed rearguard followed the ark. The parades around Jericho with the ark were not magical, with people trying to get the attention of a god. The people were obeying the one true God.
Each day the suspense was building. Every day they acted out a message about the presence of God. On the seventh day, the anticipation kept growing with each circuit around the walled city. When they finished the seventh circuit around Jericho, the trumpets were blasting, but then the action paused. Joshua gave instructions about metal objects from Jericho going into the Lord’s treasury. They were supposed to destroy everything and everyone else. Joshua told the army to spare Rahab and her household. Then came the climax. The trumpets blasted, the army shouted, the walls collapsed, and the army charged. Verse 20 describes the whole fight. The battle itself is not emphasized in the story. The emphasis is on the power of God. Today, roughly 3400 years later, the wall at Jericho sits collapsed on itself. Some archaeologists debate the evidence, but a good case exists that the collapse and destruction of the city happened at the time when Israel entered the promised land.
In our times, many people are likely to question the destruction of Jericho. Destroying everything and everyone in the city seems wrong to some. Yet, good reasons exist for the destruction. One of those reasons is that God is the ultimate owner of everything. The Creator may do as he pleases. Creatures who think that the Creator is in the wrong get everything out of order. Every correct idea we have about what is right comes from God. Another reason was to protect God’s people from evil influences. Passages like Exodus 23:33, 34:16; Numbers 33:55; and Deuteronomy 7:4, 20:18 display this truth. We may prefer to focus on God’s love, but God’s justice is an important idea, too. Sin has consequences. We would do well to keep both love and justice in biblical balance.
This story has several features in common with what we have seen in Joshua so far. Like the story of the crossing of the Jordan River on dry ground, this is a simple story that the author chose to tell with much detail and repetition. The choices the author made help readers focus on the presence and the power of God highlighted in the story. Like the other stories in Joshua, God is in charge. God is powerful. Joshua was an effective leader because he was obeying God. God gives instructions, and Joshua obeys. Joshua passes God’s commands to the people, and the people obey. God confirmed Joshua as the leader of the nation through his mighty acts. Like the rest of Joshua, God kept his promise to Abraham as the nation moved into the land and began to conquer it. We see God keeping his promises to Abraham throughout the Bible. We see it in the promised land, and in Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of Abraham.
McMillan is senior pastor of Roseland Park Baptist Church, Picayune.
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