Priests and Army at the Falling Walls of Jerichoby CBPepper
6:12Joshua 6:12
And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
Joshua's rising early in the morning and the priests' taking up the ark was obedience to the divine command for the conquest of Jericho, given by the Captain of the host of the Lord with assurance that the city with its king and mighty men was given into his hand as the first step in taking Canaan. On the seventh day from the first dawn he marshaled the armies to compass the city once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day, with the ark borne by priests in sacred dress leading the ordered procession after armed men and seven priests with trumpets while the vast host followed tribe by tribe in solemn silence broken only by footsteps and trumpets until the blast and shout threw the walls down. The march went from Gilgal under heavenly guard, for angels accompanied the ark and Christ with the heavenly host attended its circuit and cast down the walls, and the ark borne by holy men by express command was the symbol of God's presence and repository of His law that had led Israel across Jordan and now went before them with His promise to go with them. The taking of Jericho the key to Canaan came not by Israel's strength or skill but by God's power making the simple sounding of trumpets effective, with no human hand to touch the walls so that no person could take glory, for strength was not in merely having the ark present but in obeying the law it contained, to the glory of the Lord God of Israel alone. The same God still casts down walls not by might nor by power but by His Spirit, so His workers must leave the work in the hands of the great I AM and follow His appointed means exactly with humble trust and perseverance, keeping the deliverance fresh in memory to teach their children, in contrast to the later time when the ark was borne by doomed men while the law condemned the people to defeat for following human plans against divine counsel.
The Morning March Described
Joshua's rising early in the morning and the priests' taking up the ark of the LORD was obedience to the divine command for the conquest of Jericho. The command had been received from the Captain of the host of the Lord, who gave assurance that Jericho with its king and mighty men of valor was given into his hand. This taking of Jericho was the first step in the conquest of Canaan, undertaken after seeking assurance of divine guidance for reducing the city. The ark led the procession as Israel obeyed the Lord's instructions for the city's conquest.
On the seventh day, with the first dawn of light, Joshua marshaled the armies of the Lord for the final assault. Israel was on that morning directed to march seven times around the city and then at a mighty peal from the trumpets to shout with a loud voice, for God had given them the city. The march was solemn and silent except for the measured tread of many feet and the occasional sound of the trumpet breaking the stillness of the early morning. Watchers on the massive stone walls looked on with rising fear through the successive circuits toward the impending seventh-circuit blast and collapse.
The ark led the ordered procession, borne by priests in sacred dress denoting their office and surrounded by a halo of divine glory. It was placed after a chosen body of armed men set in front not to fight but to believe and obey and after seven priests with trumpets. The vast army followed in perfect order, each tribe under its standard, in silence except for footsteps and trumpets. They compassed the city with the ark once each day for six days, and on the seventh day beginning with the first dawn of light marched seven times around. They kept solemn silence for seven days until the trumpet blast and shout threw the walls down for a great victory.
The march to the overthrow of Jericho started from Gilgal, Israel's first encampment in the promised land. Gilgal was the starting place from which they marched to the overthrow of Jericho and the conquest of Ai. The march went under heavenly guard, for four angels always accompanied the ark in all its journeyings to guard it from danger and to fulfill any mission connected with it. Christ the Son of God with heavenly angels attended its circuit around Jericho, cast down the massive walls, and opened the way for Israel.
The ark was the symbol of God's presence among His people and the repository of His law borne by holy men by express command. It had led the way for the hosts of Israel when they crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land, and was now carried before the armies. It was carried before them nearly forty years after the rebellion, with God's promise to go with them and with appointed leaders directing their movements under divine supervision. With such guidance no harm could come to them, unlike the earlier attack made contrary to God's command without the ark and without divine direction.
God Won The Victory
Jericho was the key to Canaan, to be taken by trusting God's promise rather than by military strength or skill. Israel was to remember how God had brought them out of Egypt and safely guided them, and to trust Him to give them the land, for failure to do so was unbelief and hearts out of harmony with His plans. The victory came from God and His heavenly host rather than from Israel, for Christ the Captain of the Lord's host with His angels threw down the walls and opened the way for Joshua and Israel. The simple act of sounding the trumpets around the city was made effective by God's power, and success rested on humble trust, faith, and faithful obedience to His commands and appointed means rather than on human methods or force. That miracle strengthened Israel's faith in God's power and rebuked their former unbelief, showing that God accomplishes His work through His appointed means and that men must follow His direction rather than take control themselves.
No human hand was to take down or touch the massive walls of the city, lest man take the glory of the victory to himself. The plan of the mighty General of armies was made so simple that no human being could take glory to himself, and no human general devised it. God directed the battle and assigned human agents their part, with the priests' carrying of the ark belonging to His plan, yet the overthrow gave no person grounds for credit or achievement. The victory was God's work through both heavenly and human agencies, and God alone was to be glorified.
Strength was not in merely having the ark present at Jericho, but in obeying the law contained in the ark, which represents God Himself. The easy conquest that followed the priests' bearing of the ark did not come from the ark itself as a guarantee of victory. Israel afterward wrongly remembered Jericho and thought that bringing the ark into battle alone was all that was necessary to triumph over enemies.
The fall of the city was a work accomplished by Christ rather than by Joshua alone, and it directed Israel to give glory to the Lord God of Israel and not to themselves. The Lord's plan, not Israel's finite strength, determined the victory, so victory is no reason for self-exaltation. Whatever makes a person different or better comes from God, and God's people facing formidable opposition are to show courage and perseverance by trusting the strength and help He supplies rather than boasting in their own power.
Lessons For God's People
The miraculous capture of Jericho was to be kept fresh in memory and repeated by parents to their children in the home training school. With the escape from Egypt, the deliverance from bondage to serve God and keep His Sabbaths, the water from the rock, the bread from heaven, and the commandments of God, it belonged to the instruction to be given even to the smallest child. No human general devised the plan for taking the city and no human hand touched its massive walls. The Captain of the Lord's host gave His orders to the heavenly army and down came the walls as an exhibition of God's power.
God planned the taking of the city in such simplicity that no human being could take glory to himself. No human hand was to take down the walls, lest man take to himself the glory of the victory. God is the Instructor of His servants and will work through whom He will. The work must be left in the hands of the great I AM to be done in His own way, rather than controlled and managed by men who desire too much power and feel qualified to hold the highest place, and no human being is to take to himself glory for the work he accomplishes but the Lord alone is to be magnified.
God casts down walls by the most simple means to do wondrous works, and His people were to do exactly as He told them, rising early with the priests taking up the ark, and God would do the rest so that His name would receive all the glory. The same God still works in the same way through whom He will, not by might nor by power but by His Spirit, so His workers must follow His directions with faith, with Jesus the Captain of the Lord's host with them. The simple act of sounding the trumpets was made effective by His power, showing that victory depended not on human methods or strength but on God's power and on carrying out His direction with humility and faith. Trust in God and obedience to His will are essential in spiritual warfare as in Joshua's battle, and God's people can face formidable opposition with courage and perseverance, trusting in the strength and help God supplies rather than boasting in finite power. That fight is with unseen foes more formidable than giants and can only be overcome by the sword of the Spirit.
At Jericho Israel was an obedient and believing people walking in obedience to God, and God worked mightily for them. The ark was then not a mere symbol expected to give blessings that God alone could bestow, but the repository of His law borne by holy men in accordance with His express command, with the divine presence vouchsafed to them and the Captain of the Lord's host going before it, so that God's own arm brought deliverance for them. That obedient condition stands in wide contrast to a later state of following human plans in opposition to divine counsel. Then the ark was borne by doomed men while the law under the mercy-seat condemned the people to defeat, disaster, and death.
Joshua's rising early in the morning and the priests' taking up the ark was obedience to the divine command for the conquest of Jericho, given by the Captain of the host of the Lord with assurance that the city with its king and mighty men was given into his hand as the first step in taking Canaan. On the seventh day from the first dawn he marshaled the armies to compass the city once each day for six days and seven times on the seventh day, with the ark borne by priests in sacred dress leading the ordered procession after armed men and seven priests with trumpets while the vast host followed tribe by tribe in solemn silence broken only by footsteps and trumpets until the blast and shout threw the walls down. The march went from Gilgal under heavenly guard, for angels accompanied the ark and Christ with the heavenly host attended its circuit and cast down the walls, and the ark borne by holy men by express command was the symbol of God's presence and repository of His law that had led Israel across Jordan and now went before them with His promise to go with them. The taking of Jericho the key to Canaan came not by Israel's strength or skill but by God's power making the simple sounding of trumpets effective, with no human hand to touch the walls so that no person could take glory, for strength was not in merely having the ark present but in obeying the law it contained, to the glory of the Lord God of Israel alone. The same God still casts down walls not by might nor by power but by His Spirit, so His workers must leave the work in the hands of the great I AM and follow His appointed means exactly with humble trust and perseverance, keeping the deliverance fresh in memory to teach their children, in contrast to the later time when the ark was borne by doomed men while the law condemned the people to defeat for following human plans against divine counsel.
The Morning March Described
Joshua's rising early in the morning and the priests' taking up the ark of the LORD was obedience to the divine command for the conquest of Jericho. The command had been received from the Captain of the host of the Lord, who gave assurance that Jericho with its king and mighty men of valor was given into his hand. This taking of Jericho was the first step in the conquest of Canaan, undertaken after seeking assurance of divine guidance for reducing the city. The ark led the procession as Israel obeyed the Lord's instructions for the city's conquest.
On the seventh day, with the first dawn of light, Joshua marshaled the armies of the Lord for the final assault. Israel was on that morning directed to march seven times around the city and then at a mighty peal from the trumpets to shout with a loud voice, for God had given them the city. The march was solemn and silent except for the measured tread of many feet and the occasional sound of the trumpet breaking the stillness of the early morning. Watchers on the massive stone walls looked on with rising fear through the successive circuits toward the impending seventh-circuit blast and collapse.
The ark led the ordered procession, borne by priests in sacred dress denoting their office and surrounded by a halo of divine glory. It was placed after a chosen body of armed men set in front not to fight but to believe and obey and after seven priests with trumpets. The vast army followed in perfect order, each tribe under its standard, in silence except for footsteps and trumpets. They compassed the city with the ark once each day for six days, and on the seventh day beginning with the first dawn of light marched seven times around. They kept solemn silence for seven days until the trumpet blast and shout threw the walls down for a great victory.
The march to the overthrow of Jericho started from Gilgal, Israel's first encampment in the promised land. Gilgal was the starting place from which they marched to the overthrow of Jericho and the conquest of Ai. The march went under heavenly guard, for four angels always accompanied the ark in all its journeyings to guard it from danger and to fulfill any mission connected with it. Christ the Son of God with heavenly angels attended its circuit around Jericho, cast down the massive walls, and opened the way for Israel.
The ark was the symbol of God's presence among His people and the repository of His law borne by holy men by express command. It had led the way for the hosts of Israel when they crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land, and was now carried before the armies. It was carried before them nearly forty years after the rebellion, with God's promise to go with them and with appointed leaders directing their movements under divine supervision. With such guidance no harm could come to them, unlike the earlier attack made contrary to God's command without the ark and without divine direction.
God Won The Victory
Jericho was the key to Canaan, to be taken by trusting God's promise rather than by military strength or skill. Israel was to remember how God had brought them out of Egypt and safely guided them, and to trust Him to give them the land, for failure to do so was unbelief and hearts out of harmony with His plans. The victory came from God and His heavenly host rather than from Israel, for Christ the Captain of the Lord's host with His angels threw down the walls and opened the way for Joshua and Israel. The simple act of sounding the trumpets around the city was made effective by God's power, and success rested on humble trust, faith, and faithful obedience to His commands and appointed means rather than on human methods or force. That miracle strengthened Israel's faith in God's power and rebuked their former unbelief, showing that God accomplishes His work through His appointed means and that men must follow His direction rather than take control themselves.
No human hand was to take down or touch the massive walls of the city, lest man take the glory of the victory to himself. The plan of the mighty General of armies was made so simple that no human being could take glory to himself, and no human general devised it. God directed the battle and assigned human agents their part, with the priests' carrying of the ark belonging to His plan, yet the overthrow gave no person grounds for credit or achievement. The victory was God's work through both heavenly and human agencies, and God alone was to be glorified.
Strength was not in merely having the ark present at Jericho, but in obeying the law contained in the ark, which represents God Himself. The easy conquest that followed the priests' bearing of the ark did not come from the ark itself as a guarantee of victory. Israel afterward wrongly remembered Jericho and thought that bringing the ark into battle alone was all that was necessary to triumph over enemies.
The fall of the city was a work accomplished by Christ rather than by Joshua alone, and it directed Israel to give glory to the Lord God of Israel and not to themselves. The Lord's plan, not Israel's finite strength, determined the victory, so victory is no reason for self-exaltation. Whatever makes a person different or better comes from God, and God's people facing formidable opposition are to show courage and perseverance by trusting the strength and help He supplies rather than boasting in their own power.
Lessons For God's People
The miraculous capture of Jericho was to be kept fresh in memory and repeated by parents to their children in the home training school. With the escape from Egypt, the deliverance from bondage to serve God and keep His Sabbaths, the water from the rock, the bread from heaven, and the commandments of God, it belonged to the instruction to be given even to the smallest child. No human general devised the plan for taking the city and no human hand touched its massive walls. The Captain of the Lord's host gave His orders to the heavenly army and down came the walls as an exhibition of God's power.
God planned the taking of the city in such simplicity that no human being could take glory to himself. No human hand was to take down the walls, lest man take to himself the glory of the victory. God is the Instructor of His servants and will work through whom He will. The work must be left in the hands of the great I AM to be done in His own way, rather than controlled and managed by men who desire too much power and feel qualified to hold the highest place, and no human being is to take to himself glory for the work he accomplishes but the Lord alone is to be magnified.
God casts down walls by the most simple means to do wondrous works, and His people were to do exactly as He told them, rising early with the priests taking up the ark, and God would do the rest so that His name would receive all the glory. The same God still works in the same way through whom He will, not by might nor by power but by His Spirit, so His workers must follow His directions with faith, with Jesus the Captain of the Lord's host with them. The simple act of sounding the trumpets was made effective by His power, showing that victory depended not on human methods or strength but on God's power and on carrying out His direction with humility and faith. Trust in God and obedience to His will are essential in spiritual warfare as in Joshua's battle, and God's people can face formidable opposition with courage and perseverance, trusting in the strength and help God supplies rather than boasting in finite power. That fight is with unseen foes more formidable than giants and can only be overcome by the sword of the Spirit.
At Jericho Israel was an obedient and believing people walking in obedience to God, and God worked mightily for them. The ark was then not a mere symbol expected to give blessings that God alone could bestow, but the repository of His law borne by holy men in accordance with His express command, with the divine presence vouchsafed to them and the Captain of the Lord's host going before it, so that God's own arm brought deliverance for them. That obedient condition stands in wide contrast to a later state of following human plans in opposition to divine counsel. Then the ark was borne by doomed men while the law under the mercy-seat condemned the people to defeat, disaster, and death.