Joshua

Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan. He gave the people instructions on what they were to do once they entered the land. After the LORD dried up the Jordan River in order for God’s people to cross into Canaan, Joshua gave the people the instructions on how they were to take Jericho. The Israelites were to march around Jericho one time each day for six days. Seven priests were to carry seven trumpets before the ark of the covenant. The seventh day they were to march around the city seven times. The seventh time around, the priests would blow their trumpets and everyone would shout, and the city would then be devoted to the LORD. They were not supposed to take anything other than things that were sacred to the LORD.

This event is an example of what scholars would call Holy War. The army had to be pure and holy before they could take Jericho. Each man was circumcised before they were allowed to march around the city. They had to be religiously prepared for battle. The Israelites, in this Holy War, were mostly passive. They did not actually do much fighting, at least in bringing the wall down. The LORD was the one who fought and won the battle. If they had not obeyed God’s instructions, and just tried to take the city on their own, they probably would have lost badly.

The people were instructed that the whole city was to be devoted to God. This meant that everything, “men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys”, were to be “devoted to destruction” (Joshua 6.21). They burned the whole city, but then kept silver, gold, bronze, and iron and gave it to the LORD. Since God fought this battle and won, the whole city belonged to God. The people did not get anything, since they did not help defeat Jericho.