The Christian soldier stands in a position of guaranteed victory because Jesus Christ has already defeated every spiritual enemy (John 12:31). Jesus defeated Satan not only in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1–11), but also during His earthly ministry (12:22–29), on the cross (Col. 2:13–15), and in His resurrection and ascension (Eph. 1:19–23). As He intercedes for His people in heaven, He helps us mature and accomplish His will (Heb. 13:20–21), and “if God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
Consider the factors involved in Joshua’s victory:
The fear of the Lord (v. 1). The land of Canaan was divided up among a number of “city states,” each ruled by a king (see 12:9–34). These cities were not large; Ai, which was smaller than Jericho (7:2–3), had about 12,000 people (8:25). Excavations at Jericho indicate that the city covered perhaps eight acres and was protected by two high parallel walls, which stood about fifteen feet apart and surrounded the city. It was the sight of cities like Jericho that convinced ten of the Jewish spies that Israel could never conquer the land (Num. 13:28).
But the news of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt and their recent victories east of the Jordan had already spread to Canaan and put the people in panic (Josh. 2:9–11; see Deut. 2:25; 7:23; 11:25; 32:30). “I will send My fear before you,” God had promised; “I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you” (Ex. 23: nkjv).
It was said that Mary Queen of Scots feared John Knox’s prayers more than she feared an enemy army. But is society today afraid of what God’s people may do? Probably not, and it’s mainly because the church hasn’t done very much to display the power of God to a skeptical world. The church is no longer “terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:4, 10). In fact, the church is so much like the world that the world takes little notice of what we do. We imitate the world’s methods; we cater to the world’s appetites; we solicit the world’s approval; and we measure what we do according to the world’s standards. Is it any wonder that we don’t gain the world’s respect?
But not so with Joshua and Israel! They were a conquering people who made no compromise with the enemy but trusted God to give them the victory. Theirs was a march of triumph that put the fear of God into the hearts of the enemy.
The promise of the Lord (v. 2). It’s possible that the Lord spoke these words to Joshua when He confronted him at Jericho (5:13–15). The tense of the verb is important: “I have given Jericho into your hand” (6: nkjv, italics added). The victory had already been won! All Joshua and his people had to do was claim the promise and obey the Lord.
Victorious Christians are people who know the promises of God, because they spend time meditating on God’s Word (1:8); they believe the promises of God because the Word of God generates faith in their hearts (Rom. 10:17); and they reckon on these promises and obey what God tells them to do. To “reckon” means to count as true in your life what God says about you in His Word.
“Be of good cheer,” Jesus told His disciples; “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). Christ has conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil; and if we reckon on this truth, we can conquer through Him. It’s possible to believe a promise and still not reckon on it and obey the Lord. Believing a promise is like accepting a check, but reckoning is like endorsing the check and cashing it.
The instructions of the Lord (vv. 3–5). “Joshua did not take the city merely by a clever, human military tactic,” wrote Francis A. Schaeffer. “The strategy was the Lord’s.”
No situation is too great for the Lord to handle, and no problem is too much for Him to solve. When He saw more than 5,000 hungry people before Him, Jesus asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Then John adds, “But this He said to test him; for He Himself knew what He would do” (John 6:5–6 nkjv). God always knows what He will do. Our responsibility is to wait for Him to tell us all that we need to know and then obey it.
At the close of the last chapter, I quoted J. Hudson Taylor’s words about three different ways to serve the Lord: (1) to make the best plans we can and hope they succeed; (2) to make our own plans and ask God to bless them; or (3) to ask God for His plans and then do what He tells us to do. Joshua received his orders from the Lord, and that’s why Israel succeeded.
God’s plan for the conquest of Jericho was seemingly foolish, but it worked. God’s wisdom is far above ours (Isa. 55:8–9), and He delights in using people and plans that seem foolish to the world (1 Cor. 1:26–29). Whether it’s Joshua with trumpets, Gideon with torches and pitchers (Judg. 7), or David with his sling (1 Sam. 17), God delights in using weakness and seeming foolishness to defeat His enemies and glorify His name. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” (2 Chron. 16:9).
God’s instructions were that the armed men march around Jericho once a day for six days, followed by seven priests each blowing a trumpet. The priests carrying the ark of the Lord would come next, and the rear guard would complete the procession. The only noise permitted was the sound of the trumpets. On the seventh day the procession would march around the city seven times, the priests would give a long blast on the trumpets, and then the marchers would all shout. God would then cause the walls to fall down flat so that the soldiers could easily enter the city. In this plan the emphasis is on the number seven: seven priests, seven trumpets, seven days of marching, and seven circuits of the city on the seventh day. The number seven is written clearly into the life of Israel: The Sabbath celebrated on the seventh day of the week; seven weeks from Passover is Pentecost; the seventh year is the Sabbatical Year; and after forty-nine years (seven times seven) comes the Year of Jubilee. Three of Israel’s feasts fall in the seventh month: the Feast of Trumpets, the day of Atonement (Lev. 16), and the Feast of Tabernacles. (For details about this remarkable calendar, see Lev. 23.)
In biblical numerology the number seven represents completeness or perfection. The Hebrew word translated “seven” (shevah) comes from a root that means “to be full, to be satisfied.” When God finished His work of creation, He rested on the seventh day and sanctified it (Gen. 2:3), and this helped give the number seven its sacred significance. The Jews noted that there were seven promises in God’s covenant with Abraham (12:1–3) and seven branches on the candlestick in the tabernacle (Ex. 37:17–24). Anything involving the number seven was especially sacred to them. It spoke of God’s ability to finish whatever He started.
The Jews used two different kinds of trumpets, those made of silver and those made of ram’s horns. The silver trumpets were used especially by the priests to signal the camp when something important was happening (Num. 10). The ram’s horns were used primarily for celebrations. The common Hebrew word for “trumpet” is shofar; for “ram’s horn,” it is jobel, which is the root of the word jubilee. The “Year of Jubilee” was the fiftieth year after seven Sabbaticals, and was a special time of celebration in Israel (Lev. 25; 27:17–14). The priests blew the ram’s horns to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land” (25:10).
The priests didn’t use the silver trumpets in this event because Israel was not declaring war on Jericho, for there was no war! The Jews were announcing the arrival of the “Year of Jubilee” for Israel in their new land. God’s people today can march in triumphal procession because of the victory of Jesus Christ over all the enemies of God (Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor. 2:14; Col. 2:15). We should be living like victors, not victims.
“The wall of the city shall fall down!” (Josh. 6:5) was God’s promise, and His promises never fail (21:45; 23:14). God’s people don’t simply fight for victory but from victory, because the Lord has already won the battle. Reckon on His promises and obey what He tells you to do, and you shall have the victory.
During the challenge: Remember that you over-