The Battle and the Crushing of the Jericho Walls
In ancient warfare, a fortified city often was taken by assault or surrounded, but in Jericho, God had to use a totally different strategy. In ancient times, the walls of a city were typically made of stone, and so its invaders had to break the stones by fire or tunneling; or they could simply heap up earth on top of the city walls as ramps for their troops to climb over.
But in the story of Jericho, God told Joshua to gather his people and their priests and to have them walk around the city walls once while they blew trumpets and carried the ark of the covenant. For six days, the armed men did this, and after seven circuits on the seventh day, the priests blew their trumpets, and the army shouted, and then the wall collapsed!
That’s a pretty strange plan for an army to take on, but it was exactly what God wanted. And in fact, it is a very important piece of evidence that the Bible is reliable.
Joshua fell on his face and worshipped the Lord!
This was a very courageous move on Joshua’s part, for he knew that the Lord was the Commander-in-chief and that He was in control. He had no doubt that He was able to deliver him from the enemy. He also knew that he had no choice but to obey the Lord and go into battle!
