The Walls of Jericho

The Israelites have been wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Moses has died, and Joshua is now in charge. They've crossed the Jordan River and are standing at the edge of the Promised Land. The first obstacle: Jericho, a heavily fortified city with massive walls. It's locked up tight — no one going in, no one coming out — because the people inside have heard what God did to the Egyptians and they're afraid.

The Instructions

God gives Joshua the most unconventional battle plan imaginable. Here's the order: march around the city once a day for six days. Seven priests carrying trumpets made of rams' horns walk in front of the Ark of the Covenant. The armed guard goes ahead of the priests, and a rear guard follows the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times while the priests blow the trumpets. Then give a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army shout, and the walls will collapse.

That's it. No battering rams. No siege towers. No conventional military strategy. Just marching, trumpets, and a shout. To follow this plan requires either blind foolishness or extraordinary faith. The people of Jericho watching from the walls must have been confused — and then increasingly unsettled as the routine continued day after day.

"By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days." — Hebrews 11:30

The Fall

Joshua tells the people: "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" For six days, the only sounds are footsteps, the ark being carried, and the trumpets. The silence of the army would have been eerie.

On the seventh day, they rise at dawn and march around the city seven times. On the seventh circuit, the priests give a long blast on the trumpets. Joshua commands: "Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!" The people shout, and the walls of Jericho collapse. The army charges straight in and takes the city.

Rahab

There's an important subplot. Before the siege, Joshua had sent two spies into Jericho. A woman named Rahab — described as a prostitute — hid them on her roof and helped them escape. She told them she believed in their God because she'd heard what He'd done. In return, the spies promised to spare her and her family when the city fell. When the walls came down, Rahab's section of the wall, where she had tied a scarlet cord in her window as a sign, remained standing. She and her family were rescued. Rahab later married into Israel and appears in the genealogy of Jesus.

The Point

Jericho is a story about obedience that looks ridiculous by worldly standards. If you described this battle plan to any military strategist, they'd dismiss it immediately. But God wasn't teaching the Israelites military tactics — He was teaching them dependence. The victory had to be clearly His, not theirs. The method ensured that no one could claim the walls fell because of superior engineering or clever strategy. They fell because God said they would, and His people trusted Him enough to walk in circles for a week.