Day 63: Joshua 4-6

(The previous post covered God's instructions to Joshua prior to crossing the Jordan and God's miraculous damming of the Jordan so that all the Israelites passed over on dry ground.)

Joshua 4

(This chapter covered the setting up of a memorial of the crossing.)

¹ And it came to pass, when all the nation were clean passed over the Jordan, that Jehovah spake unto Joshua, saying,
² Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
³ and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place, where ye shall lodge this night.

(God told Joshua to take twelve stones out of the Jordan.)

⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
⁵ and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;
⁶ that this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

(The stones were a sign to the future generations, memorializing the crossing of the Jordan on dry ground. God wanted future generations to ask about the stones, and He wanted the answer to build their faith.)

⁷ then ye shall say unto them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
⁸ And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Jehovah spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
⁹ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests that bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.

(The stones were placed back in the middle of the Jordan. It was emphasized that their would be twelve stones, one for each tribe. This would make sure that the future generations knew that all of Israel took part in this miraculous event.)

¹⁰ For the priests that bare the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Jehovah commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
¹¹ And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of Jehovah passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.
¹² And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:
¹³ about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before Jehovah unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

(Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh sent their men of war over the Jordan River. The women and children stayed on the eastern side of the river. About 40,000 men armed for battle that crossed the plains towards Jericho.)

¹⁴ On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
¹⁵ And Jehovah spake unto Joshua, saying,
¹⁶ Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan.
¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of the Jordan.
¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah were come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned unto their place, and went over all its banks, as aforetime.

(After the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant got out of the Jordan, the water went back to its place. This would have made it clear that God caused this miracle to happen.)

¹⁹ And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.
²⁰ And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, did Joshua set up in Gilgal.
²¹ And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
²² Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
²³ For Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were passed over;

(Joshua compared the crossing of the Jordan to the crossing of the Red Sea.)

²⁴ that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Jehovah, that it is mighty; that ye may fear Jehovah your God for ever.




Joshua 5
¹ And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard how that Jehovah had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

(All the kings of the Amorites heard about the crossing of the Jordan and it made their hearts melt and their spirits leave them. Notice, they still had a soul. The spirit and soul of a person were different. The spirit of a person is their connection to God. The soul of a person is who God created them to be, their unique purpose.)

² At that time Jehovah said unto Joshua, Make thee knives of flint, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.

(God told Joshua to circumcise the children of Israel. Why were the males not circumcised on their eighth day?)

³ And Joshua made him knives of flint, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
⁴ And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: all the people that came forth out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came forth out of Egypt.
⁵ For all the people that came out were circumcised; but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, they had not circumcised.

(The cause for this circumcision: during the wilderness journeys, no males were circumcised. This would have been objective proof of who had been born in the wilderness.)

⁶ For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the nation, even the men of war that came forth out of Egypt, were consumed, because they hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah: unto whom Jehovah sware that he would not let them see the land which Jehovah sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
⁷ And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them did Joshua circumcise: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.
⁸ And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the nation, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.
⁹ And Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of that place was called Gilgal, unto this day.
¹⁰ And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal; and they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

(Gilgal meant "a wheel, rolling." They were officially free and clear of any connection to Egypt. They kept the Passover.)

¹¹ And they did eat of the produce of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched grain, in the selfsame day.
¹² And the manna ceased on the morrow, after they had eaten of the produce of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

(The manna ceased. Imagine the excitement their must have been to eat "the fruit of the land." Many of this generation had never tasted anything but manna!)

¹³ And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

(Joshua saw a "man" with a sword drawn in his hand.)

¹⁴ And he said, Nay; but as prince of the host of Jehovah am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

(The "man" with the sword said he was the Prince of Jehovah’s Host. Also called the Captain of the Host of the Lord. Host meant "army; those who go forth to war." This "man" was the General of God's Army!)

¹⁵ And the prince of Jehovah's host said unto Joshua, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

(The Prince of Jehovah's Host told Joshua to take his shoes off because the place he stood was holy. This was very similar to Exodus 3:5 when Moses, while he saw the burning bush, was told to put off his shoes because the place where he stood was holy ground.)




Joshua 6
¹ Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

(Jericho was closed up. The people in Jericho must have seen the soldiers of Israel coming. The following story was referenced in Hebrews 11:30 as proof that Joshua was an example of faith to us. James 2:25 also referenced this story.)

² And Jehovah said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.
³ And ye shall compass the city, all the men of war, going about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

(The soldiers were told to go around the city once a day for six days.)

⁴ And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

(The seventh day they were told to go around the city seven times.)

⁵ And it shall be, 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 go up every man straight before him.

(On that seventh day, all the people would shout and the walls would fall down. These instructions were quite odd to the average military commander. For this very reason, it took great faith from Joshua to follow through with this strategy.)

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 Jehovah.
⁷ And they said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Jehovah.
⁸ And it was so, that, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before Jehovah passed on, and blew the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah followed them.
⁹ And the armed men went before the priests that blew the trumpets, and the rearward went after the ark, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went.
¹⁰ And Joshua commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

(They were commanded to be silent until the day (seventh) that Joshua commanded them to shout. This must have brought confusion to the people in Jericho. Imagine the tens of thousands of Israelite soldiers marching around the city, silent but for the sound of their feet hitting the ground.)

¹¹ So he caused the ark of Jehovah to compass 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 Jehovah.
¹³ And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Jehovah went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of Jehovah, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went.
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 at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on the day they compassed the city seven times.
¹⁶ And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for Jehovah hath given you the city.

(The people did as Joshua commanded. On the seventh day, after they went around the city seven times, Joshua told them all to shout.)

¹⁷ And the city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Jehovah: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

(They remembered Rahab the harlot and the deal they made with her.)

¹⁸ But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing; so would ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.
¹⁹ But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy unto Jehovah: they shall come into the treasury of Jehovah.
²⁰ So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

(The wall fell down flat. Perhaps Rahab lived in a part of the wall that did not fall.)

²¹ And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
²² And Joshua said unto the two men that had spied out the land, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

(Joshua sent the same two spies to get Rahab and her household.)

²³ And the young men the spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; all her kindred also they brought out; and they set them without the camp of Israel.

(Rahab and her household were alive and well. Sidenote: Archaeologists, in the early 1900's, reported finding the site of Jericho and confirmed the destruction of Jericho as a historical fact. The only portion of the wall that had not fallen was on the north side of the city, where Rahab lived!)

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 Jehovah.
²⁵ But Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and all that she had, did Joshua save alive; and she dwelt in the midst of Israel unto this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

(Rahab ended up living with the Israelites. Furthermore, she ended up being in the lineage of Christ: Matthew 1:5.)

²⁶ And Joshua charged them with an oath at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before Jehovah, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: with the loss of his first-born shall he lay the foundation thereof, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

(1 Kings 16:34 documented that during Ahab's reign Hiel the Beth-elite attempted to rebuild Jericho and lost his first son when he laid the foundation, and lost his second son when he built the gates.)

²⁷ So Jehovah was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.

(This post covered the children of Israel crossing the Jordan, defeating Jericho, and saving Rahab.)

Day 64