Joshua 6:2, commentary and pictures

Before any fighting began, God assured Joshua that Jericho with its king and its mighty men of valor was already given into his hand. As Israel prepared for the first step in taking Canaan, Christ the Captain of the Lord's host stood before Joshua as an armed warrior with sword drawn to give assurance as commander of Israel's armies. The overthrow was God's work and not Israel's achievement, for the heavenly General with his angels brought down the walls so that no human hand touched them. The plan was deliberately simple and unlike human methods, so that no person could claim credit and God alone would be glorified. The gift called for belief and implicit obedience even when the marching seemed pointless, teaching God's workers to leave the work in the hands of the great I AM, do exactly as told while He does the rest, and give Him alone the glory.

Setting and Promised Gift

As Israel stood ready for the first step in the conquest of Canaan, Joshua withdrew alone from the camp to meditate and pray that God would go before his people. There Christ, the Captain of the Lord's host, stood before him as an armed warrior of lofty stature with sword drawn, to give assurance for the battle ahead. Falling on his face in worship, Joshua was commanded to loose his shoe because the ground was holy, and he learned that this Exalted One had come as commander of Israel's armies to direct the conquest himself.

The word then spoken was assurance given before any fighting, that Jericho with its king and its mighty men of valor was already given into Joshua's hand. It was God's promised victory, not the outcome of a successful human siege, to be received by following his directions until the walls fell and the army took the city. The overthrow was marched to from Gilgal, Israel's first encampment in the promised land, where the twelve stones for the passage of the Jordan were set up, where the manna ceased, where circumcision was renewed, where the first Passover after the wanderings was kept, and where the Captain had appeared.

Encouraged by the assurance, Joshua marshaled Israel with a chosen body of armed men in front, then seven priests with trumpets, then the ark of God borne by priests and surrounded by divine glory, then the vast army in perfect order by tribes under their standards. They circled the city silently once each day for six days, with no sound but marching feet and solemn trumpets, while Jericho kept its gates closed and guarded by mighty warriors who trusted their strong defenses. Its watchmen looked on with wonder and alarm, many ridiculing the demonstration while others were awed and terrified as they remembered the Red Sea and the Jordan. At dawn on the seventh day they were directed to march seven times around Jericho and at the trumpet blast to shout because God had given them the city, and when the trumpets sounded and Israel shouted the solid stone walls with towers and battlements tottered from their foundations and fell in ruin, so that the inhabitants with their men of war offered no resistance and Israel marched in and took possession.

The ark containing God's law went with the expedition as the symbol of God's own presence and watchful direction, with his appointed leaders to conduct it under his care so that with such supervision no harm could come. The victory came not from merely having the ark present but from obedience to the law it contained, which represents God himself. That distinction Israel later forgot, remembering only that the ark was borne at the passage over Jordan and at Jericho, and wrongly supposing that bringing the ark into battle by itself would give triumph over enemies. God had long purposed from the leading out of bondage to give Israel Canaan and magnify his name among the nations, but wicked murmurings, jealousy and unbelief provoked his wrath and caused weary years of wilderness wandering until all who insulted him with unbelief were no more. So the capture declared that their fathers might have possessed Jericho forty years before had they trusted him to give the country on the ground of his promise and past deliverances, though its mighty bulwarks had then struck terror to the unbelieving spies who thought it must be taken by military strength.

God Wins Without Human Power

The fall of Jericho was not Israel's achievement and not a successful human siege, but God's own work. Christ, the Captain of the Lord's host and heavenly General, directed the conquest and with His legions of angels overcame the city and made an entrance for Israel. The walls fell through the work of the Almighty and the Lord's angelic host, not by human force, so that no human hand touched them. The Lord as General made the battle plan and united heavenly and human agencies, arranging events so no person could claim credit. The account was to be kept fresh in memory and retold to children as an exhibition of God's power, for no human general devised the plan and the Captain gave the orders.

God had already given Jericho with its king and mighty warriors into Joshua's hand, and that promise made human strength powerless against the city. The victory came from the Lord rather than from Israel's power, wisdom, or might. His word was the only weapon used, and no human warrior was to bring strength against the walls, lest God's glory be lessened and His will frustrated. The work was left to the Almighty with the Captain leading His legions of angels to the attack, so that even if the foundations had been laid in the center of the earth and the summits reached heaven the result would have been the same.

The taking of the city was planned by God Himself, the mighty General of armies, in such simplicity that no human being could take glory to himself. It was not the result of methods people would judge scientific or sensible, but of simple means with God's people doing exactly as told while God did the rest. The Lord arranged it so His name would receive all the glory and be magnified among the nations, with God alone to be glorified. He promised to accomplish the rest and to cast down the walls wondrously, working not by might nor by power but by His Spirit.

That miracle displayed God's power to defeat enemies. It strengthened Israel's faith for what lay ahead. At the same time it rebuked their former unbelief.

Obedience and Present Lessons

The promise that Jericho with its king and mighty warriors was already given came before any fighting and called for belief and obedience rather than skill in warfare. The victory came through trusting the message from God and obeying His commands even when marching around the walls might have seemed pointless and the instructions seemed unlikely to succeed. That obedience tested and strengthened reliance on God as leader, for the triumph was God's work and not the result of ceremony, display, human methods, or means people would judge scientific or sensible, so no human being could claim credit or glory. Encouraged by the assurance, Israel was marshaled with a chosen body of armed men in front, then seven priests with trumpets, then the ark borne by priests and surrounded by divine glory, then the vast army in perfect order by tribes under standards, circling silently once a day with no sound but marching feet and solemn trumpets. For six days they made the circuit while Jericho kept its gates closed and guarded by mighty warriors who trusted their strong defenses, while watchmen watched with wonder and alarm, many ridiculing the demonstration and others awed and terrified as they remembered the Red Sea and the Jordan. At dawn on the seventh day they were directed to march seven times around and at the trumpet blast to shout because God had given the city, and when the trumpets sounded and Israel shouted the solid stone walls with towers and battlements tottered from their foundations and fell in ruin, the inhabitants with their men of war offered no resistance, and Israel marched in and took possession.

The land of promise was not to be gained by warfare but through submission and unqualified obedience to God's commands, with God Himself directing Israel to go up and take Jericho and promising to go with them. Israel should have trusted God to give Canaan on the ground of His promise and past deliverances rather than believing they had to take Jericho, the key to the land, by their own military strength. The ark containing His law was to go as the symbol of Himself, and His appointed leaders were to conduct the expedition under His watchful direction, and with such supervision no harm could have come. Going contrary to God's command and the prohibition of leaders, without the ark and without appointed leadership, cannot prosper because the Lord is not among them.

With the overthrow of the Midianites, the conquest stands as a victory unlike any in the history of nations, won not by worldly wisdom, skill, or military custom but by God's help working with human effort. No heathen general ever waged war as Joshua did, because divine principles and modes of working are widely different from those of the world. The Lord was the army's general who made the battle plan and united heavenly and human agencies, arranging events so that no human hand touched the walls and no person could claim credit, that God alone would be glorified. The lesson is that God's help is the only sure ground of success, that trusting to own wisdom and skill brings disappointment, and that humble trust and implicit, faithful obedience are as essential for Christians in spiritual warfare as they were in the battle for Jericho.

For God's workers the verse means the work is to be left in the hands of the great I AM, who in His own way plans how it shall be done, who is the Instructor of His servants, and who works through whom He will by His Spirit and not by might nor by power. God Himself, the mighty General of armies, planned the taking in such simplicity that no human being could take glory and no human hand brought down the walls, for the armies of the Lord's host under their heavenly General did the work after He had given the city with its king and mighty men into Joshua's hand. His people were to do exactly as told while God did the rest, planning it so His name would receive all the glory, and He Himself gives the victory when men move in accordance with His will and obey their great Captain. This teaches workmen to depend on Him and trust His direction rather than claim power or credit, to give God a chance to work in His own way instead of marking out the course for others and centering everything under human control, not to desire too much power and control or feel qualified to hold the highest place, and not to take glory or make human agents the object of glory or praise, but to magnify the Lord alone while He accomplishes His work through human agents. The account of the capture, in which no human general devised the plan and the Captain gave the orders and no human hand brought down the massive walls, was to be kept fresh in memory and retold to children as an exhibition of God's power. The same God still calls His workers to be faithful like Caleb, to have Jesus the Captain with them, to follow His directions with faith and humble trust, and to fight unseen foes more formidable than giants with no weapon against evil but the sword of the Spirit.