Israel’s crossing of the Jordan in Lesson 3 was a miraculous success: We have tried to imagine the logistics of getting thousands of people of all ages, across a swollen river, together with their animals But, in last week’s lesson, God accomplished all of that. And this miracle had another effect: It turned out to be psychological warfare, highly successful.

Text:

Joshua 5


1 “When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.”


2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise this second generation of Israelites.”

Questions:

When, just a few weeks out from Egypt, Moses had appointed Joshua to form and lead an army for Israel, how much military training had Joshua received?


God now asks Joshua to perform skillful medical procedures.


Adult circumcision is a painful process, now usually controlled by anesthesia and post-operative pain medication. Following the procedure, discomfort and risk of bleeding may last for a week or more.


If you were among Joshua’s prospective patients, might you have questions?


All those in the wilderness, who were previously circumcised, had there died?
And now we, who survived the wilderness, will also be circumcised?
How much surgical instruction has Joshua received?
How many thousands of circumcisions will Joshua perform each day?
And Joshua will operate for how many hours, on each of how many days?
Will Joshua employ skilled surgical assistants?
If so, how many will they be, and what has been their training?

Text:

Joshua 5:3-6


3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. [footnote: Gibeath-haaraloth means “hill of foreskins.”]


4 Joshua had to circumcise them because all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died in the wilderness.


5 Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born after the Exodus, during the years in the wilderness, had been circumcised.


6 The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the Lord, and the Lord vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.


7 So Joshua circumcised their sons—those who had grown up to take their fathers’ places—for they had not been circumcised on the way to the Promised Land.

Question:

And what postoperative care did Joshua provide for his many patients?

Text:

8 After all the males had been circumcised, they rested in the camp until they were healed.

Question:

Would it seem wise for a general to incapacitate all his fighting men, all at the same time?


Has Joshua’s encounter recorded in verse 13 happened yet?

Text:

9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.


10 While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month.


11 The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land.


12 No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So, from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan.

Next, we find Joshua within enemy territory, away from his camp, and apparently alone. Under these dangerous circumstances, he looks up, to discover an armed man whose sword is already drawn.

Text:

13 When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”

Questions:

Was it risky for Joshua to thus challenge the mysterious stranger?
Did Joshua feel quite prepared to fight?
Did he consider himself to be the “fastest sword in the East?”


Should Joshua draw his own sword before challenging an unknown warrior whose sword was already drawn?

Text:

14 “Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”

Question:

Joshua had asked an either-or question. And the stranger’s response was “Neither.”
Should we be careful about asking, or answering, either-or, true-false questions?

Text:

14 At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”

Question:

In Matthew 4 and Luke 4, God’s adversary would claim power and worship appropriate only to God himself. Was it safe for Joshua to immediately submit to the claims of this unknown stranger?


Did Joshua remember previous encounters with God, together with Moses on the mountain, or in the tent of meeting?

Text:

15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.

Question:

Was it at this interview that God gave Joshua the specific instructions of chapter 6?


Were God’s battle plans clear to Joshua and his officers?

Text:

Joshua chapter 6


2 But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors.


3 You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days.


4 Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns.


5 When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”


6 So Joshua called together the priests and said, “Take up the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and assign seven priests to walk in front of it, each carrying a ram’s horn.“


7 Then he gave orders to the people: “March around the town, and the armed men will lead the way in front of the Ark of the Lord.”


8 After Joshua spoke to the people, the seven priests with the rams’ horns started marching in the presence of the Lord, blowing the horns as they marched. And the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant followed behind them.


9 Some of the armed men marched in front of the priests with the horns and some behind the Ark, with the priests continually blowing the horns.


10 “Do not shout; do not even talk,” Joshua commanded. “Not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout. Then shout!”


11 So the Ark of the Lord was carried around the town once that day, and then everyone returned to spend the night in the camp.


17 Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies.


18 “Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on the camp of Israel.


19 Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the Lord and must be brought into his treasury.”


22 Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, “Keep your promise. Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, along with all her family.”

Text:

Joshua chapter 6

1 Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in.

Questions:

What must have been the thoughts and fears of observers from the walls of Jericho?


Have you ever heard a ram’s horn blown?
Would you rate the sound as pleasant?


If you were not already used to hearing the ram’s horn as a part of sacred worship, how might you respond to this loud and strange noise?


If you were peering down from the battlements of Jericho, what might you think of this large and obviously disciplined army, staying out of range of your arrows, marching silently around your seven-acre town?


You have heard frightening stories about Israelite battles against Heshbon and Bashan. How could you make sense of the parade that you now witness?

Text:

Joshua chapter 6


12 Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests again carried the Ark of the Lord.


13 The seven priests with the rams’ horns marched in front of the Ark of the Lord, blowing their horns.

Again, the armed men marched both in front of the priests with the horns and behind the Ark of the Lord. All this time the priests were blowing their horns.


14 On the second day they again marched around the town once and returned to the camp. They followed this pattern for six days.

Questions:

During the seven days of marching described in this story, when and how was Israel’s “Thou shalt not do any work” Sabbath observed?


And when the same not-so-silent drama was performed day after day, without deviation or explanation, might Jericho’s curiosity and suspense become mounting anxiety? Or perhaps terror?


Now what would be different about the pattern on the seventh day of marching?

Text:

15 On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times.

Question:

Can we imagine how the mystery deepens on each of the six days? And what do the people of Jericho feel when, on the seventh day of marching, the march doesn’t stop at the end of one circuit?


What were the conversations on the walls of Jericho as the Israelites did NOT leave. They just kept marching, silently, round and around. Dramas catch our attention by raising unresolved questions, which get more complex with time.


With each new unexpected circuit, what happens to the anxiety of Jericho’s people?

Text:

16 The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the town!

20 When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it.

21 They completely destroyed everything in it with their swords—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys.

23 The men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all the other relatives who were with her. They moved her whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel.

24 Then the Israelites burned the town and everything in it. Only the things made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron were kept for the treasury of the Lord’s house.

25 So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.

26 At that time Joshua invoked this curse: “May the curse of the Lord fall on anyone who tries to rebuild the town of Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn son, he will lay its foundation. At the cost of his youngest son, he will set up its gates.”

27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and his reputation spread throughout the land.

Question:

So, is this the end of the story? To find out, we will next week read chapter 7.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.