Morning Light – Joshua 6

[Joshua 6] Bringing Down the Walls of Your Jericho. In this chapter we learn of the walls of Jericho being brought down by God. The people were to march around for six days. Six is a number that represents man. When you do what you can do God will do what he can do. Our obedience expresses our connection to God and He responds by bringing breakthrough to our lives.

[Jos 6:1-3 KJV] 1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. 2 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, [and] the mighty men of valour. 3 And ye shall compass the city, all [ye] men of war, [and] go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

The fall of Jericho is a picture of what happens when you move from your problem to your potential. The children of Israel yielded to the Jordan experience. They set up the twelve stones of memorial. They addressed areas of neglectful obedience in the issue of not circumcising their children. They were humbled, sore and vulnerable. They needed context to understand what God was doing in their midst. God speaks to Joshua:

“See I have given into thine hand [the city] of Jericho…”

What is your Jericho? Jericho is one of the oldest known cities in human history and by some accounts was the oldest known occupied city of its day. The strength of Jericho was in its ability to withstand a siege. The walls of Jericho were impregnable. If you want to identify your Jericho look for walls of exclusion. Exclusion from blessing. Exclusion from favor. Exclusion from long standing estranged relationships. Fixtures of denial in your life and mountains of adversity that have been so long in your experience that they are simply part of the landscape. These are your Jericho and those things don’t look like they can change you cannot rule out what God can do when you obey Him. If you will do what you can do God will do what He can do.

The people were to walk around the walls of Jericho once a day for six days. Six is the number of man. The number six in Hebrew is “vav” and is also the Hebrew word for “and”. It only has meaning in its connection to something else. What was the meaning of going round the city of Jericho six days? It means nothing outside the connection of the Hebrew children to God and what God will consequently do because they obey. Obedience is nothing in itself. Obedience is only meaningful in connection with who God is in your life.

The glyph in Hebrew for six is that of a tent peg. In Hebrew the tent represents the canopy or the firmament that God places over the heavens to declare His glory. As human beings we are tent pegs for God’s glory. We are anchor points where heaven and earth come together – when we serve our purpose. In nature the number six speaks of containment. Bee hive cells are six sided. In particle physics there are six types of quarks and six types of leptons – the subatomic particles that man up atoms. We only find meaning in our connection to God and our connection to one another. The Israelites in their obedience did not constitute their connection to God but they expressed their connection to God and God’s response is what happened next. Likewise our obedience does not constitute our connection to God but rather expresses our connection to God and He responds by intervening in our lives.

4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long [blast] with the ram’s horn, [and] when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD. 7 And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD. 8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. 9 And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, [the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

The seventh day is the day that God gives rest. Jericho represents that part of your life that takes away your rest. The thing that wears you out and saps your strength. On the seventh day – the day that God gives rest the walls will come down. On the seventh day not only were the priests to sound but the people were to be quiet. They were to be quiet until God told them otherwise. There is a sound that precedes what God is going to do and it is not a sound of complaining or false bravado. Remember these trumpets were made of ram’s horns. Jesus is the ram caught in the thicket. The blowing of the ram’s horns is the sounding forth of the gospel. They were not yet saved from Jericho but they were to sound the sound of the gospel before the manifestation of the answer. They were in effect to speak their faith before they saw the manifestation.

10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall [any] word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout. 11 So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about [it] once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. 12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, [the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets. 14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. 15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. 16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city. 17 And the city shall be accursed, [even] it, and all that [are] therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that [are] with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

You need to know when to be quiet and when to shout. There is a time to make noise and a time when to get quiet and simply walk in obedience. The point was not that the people circled the city but that the ARK OF GOD’S PRESENCE compassed the city. Again the significance of your life (signified by the number six) is that you are God’s containment for His glory. Where you go the glory goes. The acts of the people didn’t bring the walls down – the glory brought the walls down. Our role is to walk in obedience, be silent when instructed and shout when instructed. Notice that all the city was accursed but Rahab the harlot because of what SHE DID was saved and her entire household. God will save your family based on your compliance and doing what the Father calls on you to do. Your obedience has implications for yourself and for those you love even if they don’t love you back.

18 And ye, in any wise keep [yourselves] from the accursed thing, lest ye make [yourselves] accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, [are] consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD. 20 So the people shouted when [the priests] blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21 And they utterly destroyed all that [was] in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. 22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. 23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. 24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that [was] therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. 25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel [even] unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. 26 And Joshua adjured [them] at that time, saying, Cursed [be] the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest [son] shall he set up the gates of it. 27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was [noised] throughout all the country.

Joshua cursed the city and years later when Jericho was rebuilt the man who built it lost both his first born and his youngest son in the construction of it. Remember the angel that Joshua encountered in chapter five? It was the angel that pushed down the walls of Jericho. Not only did the angels push down the walls of Jericho but they stood guard over the ruins of the city till years later it was rebuilt and they brought the words of Joshua to pass. The angel who came to Daniel said “I am come for your words …” Your words are so much more powerful than you will ever know – even to the angels. They come for your words. They stand guard over your words to bring them to pass. They watched over Joshua all the days of his life to secure his fame and his testimony that the Lord was with him.