Joshua 3 - 6

Chapter three begins with what resembles a military deployment. The Israelites move to the Jordan River. Joshua 3:3, “After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Priest, who are Levites carrying it, you are to move out. . . and follow it.” Everyone had to have all their gear packed and ready to move on a moment’s notice.

Joshua gets some reassurance from God in Joshua 3:7, “And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.’” I imagine that was very reassuring for Joshua. He must have wondered how God would do it. This exaltation would send a message to all of Israel that Joshua is in charge and has God’s favor.

Then the Israelites themselves got reassurances that God would be with them in verse 10, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.” Notice again the promise that God made to “drive out before you.” This is not going to be a military victory based on the strength of the Israelites, but a miracle of God who drives the inhabitants of the land out. Most of the non-combatants may have already been evacuated since the inhabitants knew what God would do and their hearts were filled with terror.

Who were all of these “ites”? They were the groups of people who lived in the land of Canaan, and were descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. You might recall that after Noah and his family got off the ark Noah had a bit too much to drink and his son Ham did something to him that led God to say in Gen. 9:24-25; “Cursed be Canaan.” Once the Canaanites were driven from the land, they disappeared from history. 

Now as the priests were carrying the ark to the edge of the river, they might have wondered, “I hope God does something fast or we’re going to be carried away downstream by the current.” Just as their feet touched the water, and to their great relief of everyone, especially the priests, the “water stopped flowing and it piled up in a heap” (Joshua 3:16). The water parted much like the Red Sea parted when Moses led their parents out of Egypt. For those who thought that their parents made up those stories, this proved otherwise.

God then told the leaders of the tribes to build a memorial to this event. So, when their children ask them, “What do these stones mean.” They can tell them this story (verse 7). A memorial is supposed to encourage people to ask questions and give others an opportunity to explain the historical significance. In the U.S. there have been many statues removed because they represented people of questionable character or values. Some say that removing them removes part of our history and that they should remain in place. Like Rahab, nobody is entirely good nor entirely evil. Statues should be reminders of what was good about a person or actions, in spite of the darker aspects of a life. 

Joshua 4:14, “That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.”

Joshua 5:1, “Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted, and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.” As I’m writing this, there are reports of the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from Ukraine, with women, children and the elderly going first. This is in anticipation of a Russian invasion of the nation. I would suggest that by the time the Israelites showed up at the doorstep of Jericho, like the Ukrainians, the women, children, elderly, etc. had already been evacuated from the city.

The Israelites appear to be on the threshold of battle. What should they do now to prepare for battle? How about incapacitating their own soldiers by having a mass circumcision? Joshua 5:2, “Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites.” No, there is no mention of lidocaine injections or sterile scalpels. They had not practiced this rite since they left Egypt. “Can’t we wait until after the battle to do this?” “NO!” Fortunately, they at least were given medical leave to recover before they moved on. Joshua 5:8, “They remained where they were in camp until they were healed.”

Another rite that they apparently hadn’t observed was the Passover. The last recorded observance of Passover was at Mtn. Sinai. I hope someone took good notes. But now, they had food from the promised land and so they observed the Passover. Now that they had a new source for food. Joshua 5:22 says, “the manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites.”

This Passover meal must have been a very memorable one. For some people they had known no other food but manna. I wonder if there was any variation in the manna from day to day. Perhaps a crunchy manna on Monday, chocolate flavored on Tuesday, chicken flavored on Friday. Why not? If God can create manna, he can create flavored manna as well.

The good news: no more manna. The bad news: no more free food. Grocery expenses soon skyrocketed.

The Battle of Jericho was about to begin. As Joshua was nearing the town, he says a “man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand” He asks, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” (Joshua 5:13). I guess they weren’t wearing military uniforms back then. Joshua 5:14, this alien, ghost, or whatever, answered Joshua, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Who this figure was is not clear. He might have been a theophany, which is when god appears in human form. Or, He might have been an angel. The figure tells Joshua to, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” Is that it? Is that all we hear from this figure? What was the meaning of his appearance? It is thought that he was telling Joshua, “God’s not working for you, Joshua, You are working for Him. He is in charge, and He will give you the victory.” Imagine if Joshua goes back to his people and says, “Guess who I ran into?” It reminds me of the time Moses approached the burning bush and he was also told to take off his sandals. Imagine Moses going home and saying, “Guess who I ran into while watching over the sheep?”

In Joshua Chapter 6, the Battle of Jericho begins. The city or fort is all tightly shut, everyone safely inside. So, how do you attack a walled fort or city?

Joshua 6:3, “March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the walls of the city will collapse.”

Let me see if I understand this correctly. The way to attack a city is to have all the religious leaders blowing trumpets and carrying sacred items, march daily around the fort, then on the seventh day, march around seven times and scream loudly. Is that the plan? Really? Why would they do that? If you go back to Deuteronomy 20, you will find the laws of war, which included allowing the enemy to surrender peacefully. What the Israelites were doing, I think, was to give them time to make peace or escape. They were already terribly scared and most of the inhabitants have probably already escaped. The purpose is to drive them out, not necessarily kill people. The Canaanites were driven out because of their sin. It was not arbitrary. God was patient with them. Gen. 15:16, says that the Israelites would have to wait four generations to take over the land because “the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” God’s patience continues as he gives the remaining defenders seven days to put down their arms. This strange military tactic is not usually taught in Command and General Staff College of our military. In fact, if a commander asked his staff for courses of action for him to consider in conquering Jericho, and they came up with this plan, they might have been referred to the unit psychiatrist. This strange behavior of marching around and blowing trumpets not only gave the enemy time to escape but was also a tool of psychological warfare. Joshua 6:11, “So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.”

Again, imagine what the people of Jericho were thinking. “Is that it? Are they going away?” “Are we out of danger?”

The next day the Israelites did the same strange thing, marched around the fort, and then went back to their camp. Then again, and again. Their bizarre behavior only added to the stress of the people of Jericho. 

Joshua 6:15-17, “On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times. . . when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, ‘SHOUT! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared.’”

Then they were cautioned in Joshua 6:18-19, “But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. . . All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.” That’s right, soldier, you can’t grab a bunch of souvenirs to take home with you. The valuables belong to God, and they will go into the tabernacle treasury. Why is this so? Well, remember that strange character who appeared to Joshua 5, the “Commander of the Lord’s Army”? This battle was not won by priests marching and shouting, it was won by God. He gets the valuables. As we used to say in the Army, “rank has its privileges.”

The city was taken, burnt to the ground and those who remained died in defense of a lost cause. The book ends with, Joshua 6:27, “So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.” God did what he promised to do, he exalted Joshua.

Now about that prohibition against taking any plunder. . . well, apparently at least one person didn’t think that the rules applied to him. His story is the subject of Joshua 7.