The Fall of Jericho

There is an old spiritual called “Joshua Fit the Battle at Jericho.” I remember playing a piano arrangement of that particular song when I was in elementary school. However, I really wasn’t aware at that time what the song was about. I just knew it was fun to play and it had a catchy tune. The story of the Fall of Jericho is one of my favorites, especially now that I understand how it relates to our every day lives on the spiritual battlefield. Joshua was fit for the battle at Jericho because he had come face to face with the commander of the Lord’ s army and he was faithful to fight the battle as the Lord commanded him to do. In Joshua 5, we find that Joshua had a personal encounter with the Lord Himself. Joshua 5:13-15 recalls this encounter: Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ”Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither”, he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?” The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The city of Jericho was a closed community and no one could come in or leave from its borders. It may have possibly been the center of worship of the moon-god. God Almighty not only wanted to destroy this Canaanite city but also its pagan religion, so He was going to help Joshua accomplish this. In Joshua 6:2, the Lord promised Joshua that He would deliver Jericho into his hands, along with its king and all of its fighting men. The method that the Lord chose to destroy Jericho was unconventional and probably did not make sense to Joshua, but he did it anyway. The battle plan was for Joshua and his men to march around the city once with armed men and they would do this for six days. Seven priests were to carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets. When the trumpet gave a long blast, the people were to give a loud shout and the wall of the city would collapse so that Joshua’s army could attack Jericho and destroy it.

This type of battle wasn’t initially fought with swords and stones, but with perseverance and endurance. I think I would be exhausted after marching around the city just once, but Joshua’s army was to march around the city without stopping for six days. After six days of marching around the city without stopping, I think I would barely have any life left in me. However, Joshua’s army was commanded on the seventh day to march around the city seven times! Surely these men were beyond exhausted and yet somehow, they were going to have the strength to march around the city seven times and then destroy the people of Jericho. It is interesting to me that the wall of Jericho, which was possibly a very strong, double wall did not fall because it was blasted by large boulders, but it fell because the people of God were obedient, and faithful to do what God asked them to do. All they had to do was to shout and the wall fell down. I would have loved to have been there to see that avalanche!

In our own battles, it seems that we may “march around the city” many times without seeing any results. But because we serve a victorious God who is on our side, one day the walls of the enemy will tumble down because of our faithfulness to pray and persevere. When Christ comes again, we will hear one final blast of the trumpet (1 Thess. 4:16) and all of our battles will be over. All of our walls of sorrow, discouragement, bitterness, disillusionment, etc. will come tumbling down and we will celebrate Christ’s eternal victory. Lord, give us the grace to keep walking…to keep standing….to keep praying until that final day!