Joshua 6:17, commentary and pictures

The city with everything in it was set apart to the Lord as accursed for destruction as the firstfruits of Canaan because the victory was wholly His. That devotion meant putting every living person and animal to the sword and burning the city with its palaces and wealth, while silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron were consecrated to His treasury, and its site was laid under a curse against ever rebuilding it as a stronghold. Only faithful Rahab and all with her in her house were to live and were spared because she hid the messengers sent to her. The overthrow was the work of Christ as Captain with heavenly angels attending the ark who cast the walls down to make an entrance for Israel, not the strength or warfare of Israel. The doomed city was thus given by God and taken by believing obedience through the simple means He appointed, so that no person could take glory to himself and God alone would be magnified.

Jericho's Setting and Fall

Joshua 6:17 belongs to the instruction for the capture of Jericho as the first step in the conquest of Canaan, given after Joshua withdrew from the camp to meditate and pray for assurance that God would go before Israel, when Christ Himself standing before him as Captain of the host of the Lord assured him that Jericho with its king and mighty men of valor had been given into his hand. The verse is associated with Israel's march from Gilgal to the overthrow of Jericho. Israel was marshaled in perfect order with armed men, seven priests with trumpets, the ark borne by priests, and the army tribe by tribe under its standards, and circled the city once each day for six days in solemn silence except for marching feet and trumpets, then on the seventh day marched seven times around and at the trumpet blast shouted with a loud voice. The carrying of the ark around the city for seven days in solemn silence with trumpet blowing and shouting preceded the walls falling flat.

The solid stone walls with massive towers tottered and fell flat in ruin after the seventh circuit when the trumpets sounded. The terror-paralyzed inhabitants with their men of war offered no resistance. Israel then marched in and took possession of the city, which was given by God and whose capture did not result from human strength.

The delivery of Jericho into the hands of Israel was the work of Christ and heavenly angels with the ark rather than Israel's strength. Christ the Captain of the Lord's host commanded the heavenly army, and no human general devised the plan for taking the city and no human hand touched its massive walls. Four heavenly angels always accompanying the ark to guard it from all danger and to fulfill every mission connected with it attended its circuit around Jericho, and Jesus the Son of God followed by heavenly angels laid hold of the massive walls to cast them down and make an entrance for Joshua and Israel. The miracle showed God's power to defeat Israel's enemies, strengthened the people's faith, rebuked their earlier unbelief, and was to be kept fresh in memory and repeated to children as an exhibition of God's power.

Devoted City, Spared Household

Jericho with everything in it was devoted to the Lord as accursed for destruction, as the firstfruits of Canaan, because the victory was wholly the Lord's. This taught Israel that they conquered not for themselves nor for riches or self-exaltation but only as instruments to execute God's will for the glory of Jehovah their King. Jericho had been marked for destruction because it was devoted to extravagant idolatry. Its people were very wealthy in gold and silver, credited all their riches to their gods, and were corrupt and blasphemous like the people before the Flood, until by insulting and provoking the God of Heaven His judgments awakened against them.

The devotion required putting every living thing to the sword, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and ass. The city was then to be burned with its palaces and temples, magnificent dwellings, rich draperies and costly garments. Silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron that fire could not destroy were consecrated to the Lord and set apart for His treasury and for the service of the tabernacle. The very site was laid under a curse never to be rebuilt as a stronghold, with judgment threatened that whoever restored its walls would lay its foundation in his firstborn and set up its gates in his youngest son.

The people were warned not to take anything from what was devoted, because doing so would bring a curse and trouble upon Israel. Yet Achan knew this command but coveted and stole the forbidden silver and gold consecrated to God. Only faithful Rahab and all with her in her house were to live and were spared because she hid and showed favor to the messengers, in fulfillment of the promise of the spies. The command guarded Israel from mingling with idolatrous nations and being deceived by their attractive groves, shrines, temples and altars, arranged in expensive, alluring manner to pervert the senses so that God would be supplanted in their minds.

Victory Belongs to God

The doomed and devoted city was given by God and taken by believing obedience rather than by skill in warfare, military strength, human ability or status. No human general devised the plan for its taking and no human hand touched its massive walls, for the Captain of the Lord's host gave His orders to the heavenly army and the city was taken by the armies of the Lord's host under their heavenly General. Israel marshaled in perfect order with armed men, seven priests with trumpets, the ark borne by priests, and the army tribe by tribe circled the city once each day for six days in solemn silence except for marching feet and trumpets, then on the seventh day marched seven times around and at the trumpet blast shouted with a loud voice. The solid stone walls with massive towers tottered and fell flat in ruin, the terror-paralyzed inhabitants with their men of war offered no resistance, and Israel marched in and took possession of the city, with heavenly and human agencies carrying out His plan.

God made the simple act of blowing trumpets around the city effective in overthrowing it, and the result came through God's power and not the method itself. He can do wondrous things by the most simple means when His people do just as He tells them and leave the rest to Him, planning it so His own name receives all the glory, and He still works in this way not by human might nor power but by His Spirit. The mighty General of armies planned the battle in such simplicity that no human being could take glory to himself, and the walls fell without human hands lest man take to himself the glory of the victory. The victory Christ Himself accomplished rather than Joshua directs attention to God and teaches that people must not take glory for themselves or exalt themselves, for victory belongs to God and not to human ability or status, and God alone is to be glorified and magnified and exalted rather than the human instruments through whom He works.

The conquest depended on trusting God's promise and power as an obedient and believing people walking in obedience, remembering how He had brought them out of Egypt and safely through the sea to give them the land as He had promised. Success depends on His help joined with human effort and not on worldly methods or human skill, while failure to trust reflected hearts out of harmony with His plans and limited expectation of what He could do. The divine presence was vouchsafed to them when they walked in obedience, the ark was borne by holy men in accordance with His express command, and the Captain of the Lord's host went before the repository of His law, and then His arm brought deliverance for them. The victory was won while carrying the ark, yet the ark was only a symbol of that presence and not a charm guaranteeing success, for the blessings themselves could be bestowed by God alone. Its sacredness and the blessings associated with it depended on honoring God's law contained in it, which represents God Himself, and on obeying the covenant, for Israel's strength in that victory was in obedience to the law. Israel later remembered only that the ark had been present at Jordan and at Jericho and concluded that merely bringing the ark into camp would guarantee triumph over enemies.

The miracle showed God's power to defeat enemies, strengthened the people's faith, and rebuked their earlier unbelief, for Christ the Captain commanded the angels to bring down the walls and make an entrance for Joshua and Israel. The capture was to be kept fresh in memory and repeated by Israelites to their children as an exhibition of God's power. Those same armies under their heavenly General will do many things now if men move in accordance with God's will and obey their great Captain in obedient faith. The lesson is to give God a chance to work in His own way instead of men marking out the course for others and desiring power and control, leaving the work in the hands of the great I AM who in His own way plans how the work shall be done, who is the Instructor of His servants and will work through whom He will. The same God still requires obedient faith and faithful workers who follow the directions of Jesus the Captain of the Lord's host in fighting unseen foes more formidable than giants.