Devoted to the Lord

Joshua 6 - Episode 120

If we have faith in God and we act on that faith by making Jesus our Lord and Savior, then He will cancel our sin and give us eternal life. But we are all devoted to the Lord for destruction unless He saves us and devotes us to Himself as holy instead. He is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) But once we die, there is nothing more we can do to be saved. So, do not wait. Make Him your first priority and devote your life to Him today.

The Fall of Jericho - Joshua 6:1-27

The fear of the people living in Jericho had increased exponentially since the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan River into their land. Their gates had been completely shut so no one could go in or out of the city for any reason. They only hoped their walls were enough to keep them safe.

Scholars say the outer wall of Jericho was six foot thick, and the inside wall was twelve foot thick. Jericho was built on a hill and was less than half a mile in circumference. This made the whole city only about seven acres. Typically, to attack a city like this, the enemy army would surround it, making the people too scared to leave, further isolating them from food and supplies. By besieging the city in this way, the people would eventually begin to starve and be forced to surrender or die.

But this took a very long time and God was not interested in fighting His battles in the typical way. So, He instructed Joshua to take seven priests and have them go before the ark continuously blowing seven trumpets. They would march around the city for seven days, protected by half of the soldiers in front and half of them behind.

For the first six days, the army would march around the city only once. But on the seventh day, they were instructed to march around seven times. On their seventh trip, the priests would give a long trumpet blast and the soldiers would shout. At that instant, God would cause the walls to fall inward so that every soldier could run straight into the city and utterly destroy it. (It is quite possible that these instructions were given to Joshua through the Commander of the army of the Lord when He appeared to Joshua after the Israelites celebrated the Passover.)

Joshua, the priests, and the soldiers followed God’s instructions exactly. They started out early each morning marching around the walls of Jericho. The priests carried the ark of the Lord in the midst of the soldiers and continuously blew their trumpets as the rest of the army remained silent. Then on the seventh day, just as the day dawned, they began their march.

But this time, they did not stop after the first trip around the walls. They obeyed the Lord and continued to march until, on the seventh time around, the priests sounded a long blast, which signaled the army to shout their battle cry. At that, the walls tumbled down and the soldiers poured into the city, killing every living breathing thing as the Lord commanded.

Only the portion of the wall that housed Rahab stood strong. She and her family were saved, while the rest of the people died by the sword. Then, the soldiers gathered all the gold, silver, bronze, and iron for the Lord’s treasury and burned the city to the ground.

Joshua cursed any man who dared to rebuild the city saying its foundation would be laid at the cost of his firstborn son and its gates would be set up at the cost of his youngest. Sadly, Ahab, the wicked king of Israel, later allowed the city to be rebuilt. 1 Kings 16:34 says, “Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua.”

Devoted to Destruction – Joshua 17-18, 27

Can you imagine what it must have felt like to be in the city of Jericho as the Israelites eerily marched around your city blowing their trumpets? With every collective stomp they must have felt impending doom. They were probably very confused when they went back to camp the first day after only one trip around the city. But after the second or third day, they undoubtedly felt like they were being taunted. Then, by the fourth or fifth day, I am sure they wondered how long this would last and what would happen next.

But on the seventh day, when they began their second and then third trip around, they probably sensed they would soon find out. They must have been terrified when they heard the long trumpet blast, the battle cry of the soldiers, and the sound of rolling thunder as the walls tumbled to the ground. How must they have felt as the sea of soldiers poured into their city? The strength of their walls was no match for the Lord and there was no longer anything they could do to be saved.

The people of Jericho were not the only ones feeling the impending doom as the Israelites marched around the city walls. Their fame was in all the land. All the surrounding cities were aware of the Israelites, and they must have also felt their taunting during the siege. Then when they got word that the walls had fallen and the city had been destroyed, I am sure they greatly feared the Lord. But it no longer mattered. They too had been devoted to destruction because of their evil. God had given them hundreds of years to change their ways.

Devoted: under a net, captured, trapped, doomed