GOD SAID, "SEE, I HAVE DELIVERED JERICHO INTO YOUR HANDS"

Joshua 6:1-27
Key Verse: 6:2

   "Then the Lord said to Joshua, `See, I have delivered Jericho
    into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men'."

    In the previous passage we studied how God commanded his people
to prepare for the war and how to destroy the invincible Jericho
fortress. Commonly speaking, war preparation requires boot camp training
and full-fledged army training to destroy the enemy. To our surprise,
God commanded General Joshua to circumcise all his people again with
sharp flint knives. What circumcision meant was well explained in the
previous chapter. It was to cut off the foreskin of the child-producing
organ around seven inches under the belly button.  What a spectacle it
was to see all the men of Israel after having been circumcised, lying
down here and there, groaning. It was a very painful part because it was
the center of the human body. Circumcision meant to have a right heart in
the sight of God. And it was to have an identity of being his people. In
this way God made the army of God. In today's passage, we learn how God
enabled his people to destroy the Jericho fortress. In this passage we
learn not only the victory of the Israelite soldiers, but also how to
win personal victory in our lifetime. Do you want victory in Jesus? If
you want victory in Jesus say "Amen." God wants us to be his victorious
people. Whatever the reason, those who are defeated are not accepted.

First, God commanded General Joshua, "Go and get them" (1-5). At that
time it was impossible for the Israelite army to destroy the Jericho
Fortress. The Jericho Fortress was located to the west of the Israelite
camp, between the desert and the Promised Land. The Jericho Fortress
was around ten miles square. The area between the desert and the Jericho
fortress was well-fortified with all kinds of defense equipment, such as
innumerable sharped wooden logs slanting at a 40-degree angle toward the
enemy. This log defense was all over the territory. In addition there
were many barbed wires and fox holes from which they could attack the
enemy. The Jericho fortress stood behind the defense obstacles. The
fortress was built of granite stones, with many archery holes and hot
water tanks and fire hoses to throw fiery brimstone on the invaders. It
looked invincible.

    But before conquering the Jericho Fortress, Israel could not advance
into the Promised Land. Moreover, circumcision pain was lingering after
the circumcision. When they looked up at the Jericho fortress they lost
their spirit. At this time, the thunderous command of God Almighty came
to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its
king and its fighting men." The soldiers of Israel might have thought,
"It's impossible to conquer the Jericho Fortress," but the power and
dignity of God's thunderous command subsided their fear and filled them
with confidence in their hearts.

    Then, what was God's command for the battle plan? It was as follows:
"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" (3-5).
What a battle plan! It looked like a children's soldier game. However,
it was God's battle plan. In awesome fear, General Joshua and the people
of Israel first armed themselves with the word of God. They believed
that although they had no military power, God would help them destroy the
Jericho Fortress. Here, when we carefully read several verses, we see that
victory or defeat was determined when God's fear came upon the people in
the Jericho Fortress. So they escaped into the fortress and shut up all
the doors of the fortress (1).  They had no strength in their fingers to
adopt an attack strategy, they adopted a negative strategy, that is, "Wait
until the fear in our hearts subsides."  They did not have an aggressive
strategy. Rather they were too fearful to prepare for war against the
Israelites. What was worse, the soldiers of Jericho were very complacent
and depended on the fortress. Let's see what was the result of the war.

    One's entire life is like a war and one's daily life is like a battle.
There are a minority of people who win the war and win battles throughout
their lives. In view of history, the absolute majority of people in
history lost the war and lost so many battles in their daily lives and
became war prisoners. When we have the realization that life is war or
a battle we are more wise than those who read two hundred books about
war. Especially, those armies or people who only depend on their power
and on their well-fortified fortresses are not guaranteed to win the
war or the battle.

    There is a good example about this. Before WWII, French people ruled
and overruled the Vietnamese. As a result, Vietnamese people had to say,
"Your honor" before speaking to any Frenchman, and they had to bow down
before any French people. In this way, the Vietnamese natural resources
were stolen and they were greatly humiliated by the French people. During
WWII France could not control Vietnam, but after WWII was over the
French again came down and wanted to oppress the Vietnamese. This time
was different. The Vietnamese were fully armed with patriotism by the
influence of their leader, Ho Chi Minh, and indirectly, by Castro, who
was a man of thought among weak nations.  The French army established an
air base on the flat plain of Dien Bien Phu.  In the past the Vietnamese
were subordinate. But this time they were strong soldiers. They were full
of challenging spirit. And they were like aggressive lions toward the
prey. Finally, they surrounded the French air base, which was established
on Dien Bien Phu. The Vietnamese army forces were too weak to fight the
French force. But the Vietnamese were armed with patriotism and with
their motto, "Truth will win in the end." It is unbelievable that such
feeble Vietnamese soldiers killed 70,000 French soldiers at Dien Bien Phu
and won the great victory. So many wounded soldiers were allowed to go
back to France.  Here we learn that the Vietnamese's cause of victory
was because they were armed with their motto, "Truth will win in the
end." And their patriotism gave them a do or die spirit. The Vietnamese
thought that French people were false because they invaded their country
without any reason and squeezed them for a long time before WWII and
then they came back again to do evil to their people. The entire nation
firmly decided to defeat them with the motto, "Truth will win in the
end." In this war, the unofficially five-star general Ho Chi Minh's
leadership was indeed great. Because of his influence and leadership
their people became strong and finally defeated the French and won
the victory over French soldiers who were proud, so proud saying, "To
the glory of France."  This one illustration fully explains that money,
power or size of the nation and size of the soldiers of a nation without
moral armament cannot win over weak soldiers of a nation with a clear
reason why they are fighting. The French lost a war to Ho Chi Minh,
who was 4'7" tall and weighed 109 pounds, and at that time was over 60
years old. Many believe that Ho Chi Minh is the man of the century.

Second, General Joshua went and got them (6-16). After hearing God's
command, General Joshua called his people and commanded them to advance
and fight and destroy them all. But General Joshua's command was not
like General Patton's to his tank battalion. It was very quiet, similar
to a Catholic Mass. General Joshua called the priests and said to them,
"Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests
carry trumpets in front of it." He ordered the people to "Advance and
march around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of
the Lord." Going around the city quietly one time a day didn't look
like destroying the fortress of Jericho. But the army of Israel had
fully prepared themselves through circumcision. Their hearts were full
of strength and a sense of victory (6-7). This was the strategy of
paralyzing the enemies in fear.

    General Joshua spoke to the people. Then, the seven priests carrying
the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward blowing the trumpets and
the ark of the Lord's covenant followed them. The armed guard marched
ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets and the rear guard followed
the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. But General Joshua had
commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices,
do not say a word until the day l tell you to shout.  Then shout!" The
army of Israel under General Joshua's command absolutely obeyed the
command Joshua had given them. They felt like the Jericho Fortress
looked too quiet. They also felt soldiers in the fortress had cut their
stomachs and were bleeding and some had died.  So it would have been
easy for the army of Israel to shout the victory, and say many things,
making many funny gestures, instead of marching silently. The other day,
an American Shepherd wrote me a letter. It said, "At the Friday leaders'
meeting, Korean missionary women talk or whisper all the way during
the meeting. I have been annoyed by them.  Please help to make them be
quiet." Even at such a Friday leaders' meeting, when several women gather
together they cannot control their mouths because God gave them mouths
to speak. A woman thinks, "I will speak just one time." Then, after a
few minutes many women forget not to speak and speak again and again. So
the back side of the Friday meeting is not quiet because of many women's
whispering and talking to each other. Our UBF women are very educated and
well trained not to speak during the meeting, but they could not but speak
to one another. Let's see about the Israelite army. As General Joshua
commanded, they advanced, softly stepping around the city of Jericho.
And then the army of Israel returned to the camp and spent the night
there. I don't know whether they took a shower or not, but one thing is
very clear, they won the victory in going around the city of Jericho in
silence. One time an electrician came to our center. He grieved over his
only son. In his anger he said, "He has diarrhea of the mouth." We didn't
know what it meant at first. After a few minutes, we understood that his
son only talked and never studied at home. Here we learn that one who
controls his tongue is a saint. By the same token, the army of Israel
was almost saintly. The army of Israel's obedience to their commander
and controlling their mouths imply that they had already won the war.

    General Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up
the ark of the Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went
forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The
armed men went ahead of them with the rhythm of the trumpet sound. In
this way, once more they marched around the city and returned to the
camp. They did this for six days. Practically speaking "they did this
for six days" sounds just funny. They looked foolish and by contemporary
words they were very stupid. Nobody can do this kind of circus-like war
strategy, going around in silence. But according to today's passage,
they were obeying God's command.  They believed God was with them and
God was on their side. Usually, those who obey God's word as it is look
so funny. Dr. Joseph Chung's obedience to God's word looks very funny
to many coworkers. One MD is very reasonable and pragmatic. Moreover,
his obedience is habitual like habitual animals. He does not look funny,
but he looks clever. It is good to be funny in the sight of man. Those
who look funny to obey God's word are indeed victorious persons and at the
same time, winners over themselves. But those who believe they are smart
and obey God's word superficially, go nowhere except maybe to purgatory
in the "Divine Comedy." In other words, their final destination is not
sure, whether they go to the kingdom of God or to hell.

    The Israelites marched around the city one time a day for six days.
Then, those in Jericho were paralyzed by the power of God and the "silence
strategy" of Israel. They could not move their mouths and so many had
diarrhea. So their bodies were completely drained. On the seventh day
the Israelites got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times
in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven
times. For the last six day's time they had only circled around one time
a day. But on the seventh day they got up earlier and they circled the
city seven times. It was the strategy of victory without fighting. For
the last six days the fear inside the fortress grew and grew until they
could not eat or drink. In this situation, the army of Israel circled
around on the seventh day seven times. Now the wall of Jericho began to
wobble. In this story we are reminded of General  Patton. He was leading
the Third army in a sweep that began in southern France. News came that
the 101st Airborne with some 70,000 American soldiers were trapped by
the German army in Bastogne. The weather was bitterly cold and it was
snowing.  There were around twelve generals to fight with the German
tank battalions.  But no general wanted to fight the German tanks. They
said that it was impossible. But General Patton volunteered that he would
fight. He ordered the chaplain to pray for good weather. On the way he had
to be a policeman for a traffic jam caused by tanks and muddy weather,
even though he was already a three-star general.  Actually, General
Patton's tank battalion did not have enough supplies, so on the way, they
had to stop because they could not move. The German tanks were coming.
One of his lieutenants began to fire all the fire power in the tanks. By
God's help, the lieutenant's last resort smashed all the German tank
forces. The eastern sky beamed the light. General Patton commanded,
"Advance." In this way,  Patton's tank forces smashed the German tank
battalion, rescued the trapped American army and captured an important
place. Likewise, the army of Israel finished circling around the fortress
of Jericho seven times. The Jericho Fortress was even more wobbly. Finally
the Jericho fortress completely collapsed to the ground.  On the other
hand, the soldiers of Israel were empowered by the Spirit of God. The
victory came when they obeyed God's command through Joshua. Therefore
we can say that victory came only from God.

Third, Joshua's two warnings (17-27). The first warning was to spare Rahab
the prostitute and all who were with her in her house, because she hid
the spies. Here we see the attitude of God's army. General Joshua kept the
promise as he had heard from the two spies to spare Rahab the prostitute
and her family. The army of God should keep the promise. Many young men
come to America as missionaries by God's calling. At the beginning they
pray that God will establish America as a Kingdom of Priests and a holy
nation. Ten months later they gradually worry about life security and
they don't read the Bible which is the word of life. Instead, they begin
to memorize computer languages. Soon they make a reasonable amount of
money. When they came first, they gave tithes to God according to their
promise to God. When they make a good deal of money they reduce the tithe
little by little until they forget about the concept of tithing. This is
not the way the people of God should do. They must remember the promise
they made to God as missionaries. Otherwise they cannot win the victory
over their entire lives. And their descendants will be under the bitter
defeat and will pant for life.

    The second warning was not to take any devoted things when they
invaded Jericho. Here, "devoted things," means spoils of war or some
expensive material that the enemy possesses. But these are dedicated to
God primarily because God gave them victory. Not only should the army of
Israel not take the devoted things at the fall of Jericho, they should not
take any devoted things while living in the Promised Land in the future.

    Why did Joshua give this kind of warning to the Israelites and to
us? When we are poor and desperate, we are eager to get God's blessings
so we obey God's command which is written in the Ten Commandments. We
never take anything that belongs to God. But when we are blessed by God
we value the good things of the world more than God's command. In this
way, we become idol worshipers.  We should not be like garbage collectors
in the junk car yard. We must be clear that we keep our promise to God
which we made. Then he will bless us forever. We must remember why
Joshua warned them not to get God's things, that is devoted things,
to take for themselves.

    As we studied, on the seventh day the army of Israel circled around
seven times. When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted. 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.  They devoted
the city to the Lord God Almighty and destroyed with the sword every
living thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and
donkeys (20-21). Then they burned the whole city and everything in it,
but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron
into the treasury of the Lord's house (19).

    General Joshua commanded to protect Rahab the prostitute and her
family three times in this passage (17,22,25). Rahab the prostitute was
precious in the sight of God. But human beings can ignore such people
after the victory. Even after the victory, General Joshua wanted to
spare Rahab the prostitute. It is important to honor a woman of God in
the midst of war.

    At last Joshua pronounced this solemn oath, "Cursed before the Lord
is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho"(26). The people
of Israel in the desert knew how precious an oasis was and how fertile
the land of Jericho was. There were many people of Israel who wanted
to rebuild something there. But Joshua wanted to destroy completely and
never build anything according to God's command.

    We are God's soldiers; some, generals, some, lieutenant generals.
We are very precious people in the sight of God. Therefore, we must think
of ourselves that we are soldiers of God's army. If we forget that we
must render victory to God, we render defeat to God. May God bless us
when we render victory to God in the daily battle and frequent wars as
God's people.


STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Read verses 1-2. What was the situation of Jericho? What did the Lord
   promise Joshua?

2. Read verses 3-5. What did the Lord command Joshua to do? Who would
   lead the way? What would be done differently on the seventh day?
   What would be the signal for the people to shout? What would happen?

3. Read verses 6-7. What did Joshua command the people to do? Read verses
   8-11. What did they do on the first day? What was the only sound to
   be heard? Why did he caution them not to shout or even talk while
   going around?

4. Read verses 12-14. What did they do on the second day? On each day
   for six days? Read verses 15-19. What did they do on the seventh day?
   What commands did Joshua give them regarding the conquered city?

5. Read verses 20-27. What happened to Rahab and her family? How many
   times did Joshua mention her? What happened to everything else in
   the city? What curse did Joshua pronounce on the destroyed city?

6. What can we learn about the Lord and about how to fight his battles
   and win? What can we learn about keeping promises?