The Conquest of Jericho and the Battle of Ai
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March 11, 2012 |
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The city of Jericho was surrounded by an impregnable city wall that had inner wall and outer wall. It was the first city that the sons of Israel had to conquer to enter the land of Canaan. But when the Israelites obeyed the Word of God the wall of the biggest city-fortress in all Canaan collapsed.
* God Commanded the Israelites to Conduct Ceremonial Circumcision
The sons of Israel camped at Gilgal after crossing the Jordan. God told them to become circumcised just before conquering the city of Jericho. This is because all the people who were born during the 40-year-life in wilderness after they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.
The physical act of circumcision is to cut off the male's foreskin on the eighth day from birth. It was first commanded of Abraham. Those who were not circumcised had to be cut off from the people of God (Genesis 17:10-12). It was the symbol of the covenant that Israel had as the people of God. From this time the sons of Israel were circumcised on the eighth day from their birth.
From a common sense point of view, receiving the circumcision before the battle was just like handing their lives over to their enemies. Why, then, had God commanded them to do it just before conquering Jericho? This is because before the full scale conquering of the Land of Canaan began, God confirmed His covenant with them once again. He also let the sons of Israel know that only when God was with them could they win victory in battle.
In Old Testament times, they had the symbol of belonging to God by circumcision because it was not the time of the Holy Spirit and people could not cast away sins by their own strength. In the New Testament times, circumcision of heart is the sign of being God's children.
Spiritual circumcision is circumcision of heart (Deuteronomy 10:16), namely, sanctification by removing the foreskins of heart (Jeremiah 4:4). When we obey the commands of God telling us 'to do,' 'not to do,' 'to keep,' or 'to cast away' certain things as spoken, we can circumcise our hearts and become sanctified.
* Sons of Israel Conquered Jericho by Acting Only in Obedience
The Israelites circumcised themselves at Gilgal and waited for their cuts to be healed. They celebrated the Passover on the plains of Jericho. As Joshua approached the strong city walls of Jericho, God presented the way to conquer the city explaining how the sons of Israel would win the victory (Joshua chapter 6).
God told them to march around the city once a day for six days and then seven times on the seventh day. He told the seven priests with seven rams' horn trumpets to march before the ark of the LORD. He said on the seventh day, the priests were to blow the trumpets, the people were to then shout and the city of Jericho would collapse.
Joshua taught the method of God to the priests and the sons of Israel. They made no negative remarks nor did they complain. They just obeyed. At the shout of the people of Israel, the city wall turned into piles of rocks. They could conquer Jericho not because of outstanding strategy or capabilities, but because God was with them.
Here, the number seven is the number of perfection. God told them that when the people would shout with the priests blowing the trumpets, the city wall would fall. Spiritually this implies that God's will is for us to cry out to God as recorded in Jeremiah 33:3.
* The Reason God Commanded Israel to Kill Everyone in Jericho
The conquering of the land of Canaan was not just to give that land to the Israelites. It was also a result of just punishment on the Canaanites who were living in overflowing sins. The land of Canaan was full of grave sin and evils. The people did harm to themselves, burned their children as sacrifices, and committed lewd and obscene acts before idols. Because of the magnitude of their sins there was no other way but their punishment.
God had given Moses commandments prohibiting intercourse or mating with animals and homosexuality. It tells us that there were such corrupted things at that time (Deuteronomy 27:21, 1 Kings 15:12). If the sons of Israel had let them live and dwelled among them, they would have been stained with sins and finally they would have fallen into death. For this reason God had no other choice but to allow the killing of all the people in Jericho.
The sons of Israel did not personally take any money or valuables in the city. They burned some things and offered other things to God. Because it was something that they gained for the first time in the Promised Land, they gave it to God. God commanded the Israelites to kill every person and every animal in Jericho. Only Rahab, who had saved the two Israelite spies, and her family survived.
God did not punish Jericho unconditionally. He waited patiently and gave them many chances to repent as written in Genesis 15:13-16. Nevertheless, the Canaanites didn't turn away but kept committing sins. That's why they had to be destroyed.
* The Lesson Given in the Process of the Conquering of Ai
The messengers who spied out the city of Ai told Joshua to send only about two or three thousand men up to Ai because the city of Ai looked so small. Without trying to know the will of God, Joshua just made a decision after hearing only the report of the messengers. They hurriedly went up to fight, but Israel was brutally defeated (Joshua chapter 7).
God told Joshua the reason for Israel's defeat when Joshua repented with the elders of Israel before God. Jericho was the first city they conquered in Canaan. God told the Israelites to offer everything they gained to Him. But there was one from among the sons of Israel who disobeyed. It was Achan. Achan took a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight. Joshua told them to take Achan with what he had taken along with his family, animals, and all his possessions to the valley of Achor. All Israel stoned him and all his possessions, burned them, and raised over him a great heap of stones. The name of that place has since been called the 'valley of Achor'.
Achan's sin was not just simple stealing. He stole what was exclusively set apart for God. He did not believe in what had been spoken by God and he took the name of God in vain. Only after Israel solved the problem of the sin did God tell them in detail how to attack the city of Ai. Then, they finally conquered Ai by the help of God (Joshua chapter 8).
As we see, for the Israelites at that time, they thought the important thing was to quickly attack the city of Ai and conquer it. But what was the most important to God was that the people of Israel had to depart from sins and keep their holiness.
Another lesson given in the conquering of Ai is that we have to know the will of God in everything. We have to ask for God's power with humble hearts and minds, whether the matter is big or small. By doing so, we can discern the will of God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Only when we obey His guidance can we bear abundant fruit.
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