Joshua, Chapter 6 - Jericho Has Fallen | Prophets of Israel

[music] >> Shalom friends, welcome to the Prophets of Israel daily. This is chapter six of the book [music] of Joshua. This series is brought to you by the Land of Israel network at the landofisrael.com. This is the chapter of the story of the conquest of Jericho. So first I want to give you a little background about Jericho. Jericho is presented in Tanakh and the sages of Israel not only as a marginal border, but really as a central symbolic and international city, which is precisely why it had to fall first. Its location is at the gateway to the land of Israel and it made it a strategic and economic hub. It was connected to trade routes, exposed to news, people, and ideas from many nations crossing through and we know from Rahab as she describes the miracles, she knew all the news, she knew exactly what was happening. The Midrash describes Jericho as the opening, the Petah Ha'aretz, the opening of the land and even called the head of Canaan. And like the head, the rest of the body follows. And so it was a wealthy and influential city. It was the center of idolatry because so many nations would pass through, each one with their own gods. The Gemara in Sota 2A says that the walls of Jericho were double layered and that people lived inside the walls like Rahab's house as she let the spies escape her window, they escaped to the city because she lived inside the wall. And so the city was a fortified mega structure and Jericho represented not only military strength, but it was a spiritual and cultural superpower of the area. It couldn't just be conquered by conventional war. Its miraculous collapse really declared God's sovereignty to everyone that was watching. And that's why the spoils of the city were dedicated to God. The first act of conquest was meant to show the nations that Israel's entry into the land was a revelation of the one true God over all other competing powers. So prophetically Jericho comes from the word root word in Hebrew Yareakh, moon. And it's a gateway which brought all idolatries under one banner. And what banner was that? The moon. Like Israel today is battling jihad from forces in Yemen and Iran and Lebanon and Syria and Gaza, they still commit child sacrifice to their God under the same symbol of the crescent moon. Another prophecy, another sign for us, Joshua's first battle, a sign for our final battle in the land of Israel. I mean the signs are all clear to anyone that opens their eyes and reads the Bible. People around the world are living in a narrative made up by Russia or the European Union or Tucker Carlson, who knows what. But to actually be in touch with reality, people have to change their narrative to the eternal narrative of Israel, the eternal narrative of the Bible. It's the one that stood the test of time and it's the one that's shaping the future. But Jeremy, that is amazing. I really I never understood that Jericho, Yareakh, moon god, the crescent, that's really amazing. You know, what from what I understand, right, what I've learned, Jericho thought it was the ultimate security system of the ancient world. That I understood. Double walls, international influence, cultural power. They thought they thought they were the gateway city controlling who and what could enter the land. It's all about their control, right? And then history shows it was actually the gateway through which Hashem introduced himself to the world. You know, sometimes what looks like the strongest gate is actually just the first door that's about to open. And if there's one consistent pattern in Jewish history, it's that the walls people build to keep redemption out somehow end up becoming the stage where redemption makes its grand entrance. Well, this was Israel's grand entrance into the land of Israel, that's for sure. And so let's look inside. Chapter six opens with a city sealed in fear. Verse one starts, "Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in." So scripture's telling us that the city is in psychological and spiritual collapse. Jericho put itself under siege before Israel even arrived. And so God then commands a strategy that looks nothing like warfare. It's a battle plan structured around the number seven. The ancient Jewish tradition at weddings is that the bride circles her husband seven times under the chuppah, inspired by the story of Jericho, representing that any walls or barriers that separate them should come down in their marriage as they become one. In ancient times the number seven and the number 13, they were seen as cursed numbers. They're unnatural, you can't find them in nature. Until today there are hotels that don't have a 13th floor. They skip from 12 to 14. And seven and 13, they just can't be seen anywhere in nature. They're prime numbers, they don't divide equally by anything. There's no moon or sun cycle around the number seven. But in Hebrew, seven is a blessed number. Seven is Shabbat. Seven is holiness within nature. Seven represents God's presence within nature and 13 is a blessed number as well. 13 is a bar mitzvah. That's when a boy becomes a man and begins to take responsibility to keep the Torah. So the number seven now becomes the primary weapon of Israel. Look at verses three and five. "You shall march around the city, all you men of war. You shall go around the city once. You shall do for six days. And the seven priests shall bear seven shofars before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priests shall blow the shofars. It shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram's horn. When you hear the sound of the shofar that all the people shall shout with a great shout, then the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up every man straight before him." So the battle plan has no ladders, no catapults, no ramming down the gates, there's no negotiation. It's a siege like no one has ever seen before and the weapons are seven priests, seven shofars, seven days, seven circles around the city with the Ark of the Covenant. And Joshua adds one command that intensifies the whole experience. It's like an ingredient that makes the spectacle more epic. He commands them to be silent the entire time. Verse 10, "Now Joshua had commanded the people saying, you shall not shout or make any noise with your voice. Nor shall a word proceed from out of your mouth until the day I say to you shout, then you shall shout." Can you imagine how incredible that looked? A nation in total silence circling the city led by priests slowly in total calm and faith in God like a bride circling her husband seven times at a chuppah. Israel is about to get married to the land of Israel and conquer the first and most fortified city in Canaan. And so this pattern repeats itself for six days. On the seventh day they circle the city seven times. Verse 15 and 16. "But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early about the dawning of the day and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened when the priests blew the shofars that Joshua said to the people, "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city." So the walls fall. Joshua then gives the final instructions in verse 17. "Now the city and everything in it shall be dedicated to God. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house because she hid the messengers we sent." So here's something incredible. It appears that Rahab's home was actually built in the wall like we said. So when she led the spies out of her window, she's letting them escape the walled city. There's an ancient archaeological site in Jericho in Israel today that has remnants of ancient walls of Jericho that collapsed and a section of the ancient wall still standing today as if a remnant of Rahab's home is still intact. And so Jericho is declared cherem. It's dedicated entirely to God. And it's like the first fruits offering. The first city conquered, all of the spoils Joshua declared should be dedicated to Hashem. Nothing is to be taken for personal use. Now it doesn't say that God made that request. It seems as though Joshua added that demand. And he says that the city should be cherem and everything in it either destroyed or dedicated to God. We'll see that Joshua's demand actually causes a problem for Israel a little bit later on in the story, but we'll get to that soon. The miracle then happens. The walls collapse. Israel is victorious in its first miraculous battle in the land of Israel. And then the curse of Jericho. Verses 26 and 27. "Then Joshua charged them at that time saying, cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds the city Jericho. He shall lay its foundations with his firstborn and with his youngest he shall set up its gates." That curse actually comes to pass in the book of Kings hundreds of years later, but that's for another time. Jericho is not meant to be rebuilt. It's to remain a permanent testimony. The biggest, most fortified city, there was no personal gain, there was no land, no spoils. It was all from God and for God a 100%. Ari, do you have anything you want to add to chapter six from your angle? There's so much you just gave us there, Jeremy. So much to talk about, but I guess I just I just love the battle plan here. You know, because if Joshua had presented this to a modern military command, they probably would have escorted him out of the room. You know, so let me get this straight. No weapons, lots of walking, mandatory silence, and then everyone screams at the end. I mean, it sounds less like a war strategy and more like a very intense Jewish meditation retreat. You know, but I think that's exactly the point. Jericho wasn't just a military stronghold. It was a psychological and spiritual fortress. And as Hashem basically says, you don't defeat that with bigger weapons. You defeat that by changing the entire rules of reality. You know, sometimes the strongest walls don't fall because we hit them harder. They fall because Hashem shows us that they were never as solid as they looked in the first place. Wow. All right. So, let's finish the chapter with the last verse. The final verse of chapter six seals Joshua's authority and sets up his leadership for the rest of the book. Verse 27. So, the Lord was with Joshua and his fame spread throughout all of the country. So, with Jericho completely destroyed, everyone in the land of Israel knows what's coming. And they're struck with absolute awe by the power of God. The purpose of Israel's war is ultimately to inspire the nations with awe by the power of the God of Israel. Our battle today with terror inspired by the symbol of the moon, we need to be led by the number seven, by Shabbat, by the force that's beyond nature, that's holiness within nature. This chapter teaches that our role is not to prove our own strength or our own brilliance. It's to reveal God's presence in the world. And when that happens, the walls will fall down on their own. And that really is the first lesson of the first conquest in the land of Israel. And if you're enjoying this series and you want more, you can find out more at the Land of Israel Network at the landofisrael.com. We'll see you tomorrow for our next chapter in the [music] book of Joshua. >> [music]