King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 9 notes
1Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
2And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
3And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
This was no easy feat, encompassing a city every day for 6 days.
Dake's commentary reminds us also that the standing in the rivers of Jordan till all the people passed was also no small feat, possibly took a whole day.
And required much physical stamina.
This brings to mind how spectacular such a sight was. The waters of Jordan heaping up miles away like a dam.
Such supernatural power, and yet many of the people did not dig deep into God.
They had the opportunity of a lifetime where God was this close to man, yet they blew it many times.
For us, how we wish we saw those sights.
But guess what, here and now as New Testament believers we have also the opportunity of a lifetime... The Spirit of God lives in us for real, and our physical bodies are the temple that God dwells in.
Wow. Tell that to the people of old.
That there was coming a time God will dwell in man...
They could only imagine and wished they lived to experience that.
I'm sure they wished and imagined how it will feel like for God to be inside you. Kabayaa. Kobeiala. Maroshka.. Mili hatraliski.
Glory.
4And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
5And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
6And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.
You indeed need to be bold and courageous, because at any point in time God can come up with a command for the people and it must be executed.
It takes a strong 💪 leader to lead such a great flock of God in line with God's dictates.
Of course, that does not mean God's commands are erratic.
7And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.
8And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
9And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
Armed men protecting the most powerful and dangerous presence on earth. Why did the ark need protection? Why?
10And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.
11So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
12And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
13And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
Such work was for young, vibrant men. No wonder old men were taken out of service of the tabernacle.
14And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
15And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.
16And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.
I can imagine the fear 😱 as the Israelites compassed the city, once and then twice and then three times and then four 4⃣...
At this time the inhabitants of Jericho wondered what was going on; they knew today was different.
They could feel it that this march was going to crescendo into something, but this something they could not tell.
Until the seventh march... Their fears heightened with each march.
Then the people shouted and down came the walls of Jericho.
ALL the while Rahab's house had the scarlet cloth hanging down and signifying her cover from death ☠ and destruction.
As it hanged down, the angels 😇 of God saw and forbore, knowing that she was covered and protected from destruction of any sort.
Amazingly, the walls of Jericho came down mightily, yet Rahab the prostitute's side of the wall stayed intact because of covenant.
Oh, this our God... This God.
17And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
20So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
From the sound of things or the look of things, the wall fell down flat before the people at their side, so they had an entrance into the city. I don't know if the wall fell down all round the city. Would that have, in a sense, provided some escape for those on the outskirts, except the army of the Lord had encompassed the city all round?
21And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
What happens when the people of God fight an enemy stronger and more numerous than they?
Is it that they suddenly gain supernatural strength like Samson and root out the enemies of God, or the people fight with natural strength but the angels of God are present to be doing damage themselves to God's enemies?
Who, by the way, are God's enemies? The people who disobey the moral laws of God written on every human heart. Obviously not the rituals of GOD as it relates to ceremonial cleansing etc.
22But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.
23And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.
Because they were unclean till they had done the required rituals.
Just wondering — does that mean Rahab's end of the wall did not collapse when the Lord broke their walls?
24And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
25And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
27So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.