Joshua 6,8: Conquest

The Israelites can almost taste it. After 40 years, all of their hopes and dreams are about to come true. The covenant that they have trusted in for all of these years is on the brink of fulfillment. The battle-tested men of war must have been chomping at the bit to engage the enemy.

"See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 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 wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."

"What?! Are you kidding me?!"

"I thought we were supposed to destroy them, not blow some horns while marching around like idiots! What will they think when they see us on our daily nature hike around their wall? They'll probably just come out and kill us..." - every Israelite soldier

I couldn't find a Bible commentary that gave a definitive explanation of the theological significance of the seemingly ridiculous orders that were given to the Israelites, probably because there isn't. It seems as though the Lord was simply testing the faith of the Israelites while removing any doubt in their mind of the true source of their strength. If they had been commanded to go into battle and slay the people of Jericho with super human strength, they would be tempted to have confidence in the flesh. Who wouldn't. But carrying a divine law around the walls while blowing trumpets and then giving a nice strong yell? How could they possibly attribute the collapse of the wall to anything but their God? "Man, we sure are good yellers!"

"...and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city."

 I have to believe that there were at least a few eyerollers in the group that thought their leader was out of his mind. I imagine their jaws probably hit the floor when the walls crumbled.

"They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys."

This utter destruction is very similar to the commands carried out in Deuteronomy 7-8. There was no room for coexistence - the pagan inhabitants of the land could not be allowed to pollute the nation of Israel. See that day's blog for discussion on the slaughtering of the people of Canaan: Deuteronomy 7-8

Joshua 8

In Joshua 7, the Israelites attempted to take the people of Ai in a foolish and arrogant way, and found themselves forcefully driven back. It turns out that God knows a thing or two about The Art of War, and hatches a plan for them that will lure the enemy out of the city and into an ambush.

"The men of the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives."

Once again, no mercy is shown to the wicked people. They are abolished in totality, with no trace of their idols or pagan rituals left to contaminate God's nation.

After the astounding victory, Joshua builds an altar for the people to offer burnt offerings to the Lord.

"Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law--the blessings and the curses--just as it is written in the Book of the Law."

The enemy has been defeated, and there is great thanks among the people. They read the law and its blessings and curses, because it is part of their identity. The law was given to them after they were set apart as His people, and is what makes them different from all the other peoples of the world. In the law lies their mission, their standard, and their fate. Stay true to it, and abundant blessings shall come. Go your own way, and you shall surely perish.

They didn't see it at the time, but the day would come when the law would be fulfilled, and fellowship with God would be opened to all the peoples of the earth. The day when Jews and Gentiles would be adopted into the family, and would share in the blessing of life purchased by the blood of a Savior.

Extra credit: A historically accurate reenactment of the events leading to the collapse of the walls of Jericho can be found here: video