• Jericho: Joshua 4-6

    Upon hearing that the children of Israel crossed the Jordan, the people of the land were disheartened. They knew they could not stand up to the God of Israel. The first place the Israelites would take was the city of Jericho.

    Before taking Jericho, Joshua was confronted by a “man” standing with a drawn sword. Joshua asked, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” This was the “captain of the host of the LORD,” who told Joshua to remove his sandals. Then God told Joshua that He had given Jericho into their hands on the condition that they march around the city once a day for six days. Seven priests were to carry trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day the people were march around the city seven times. Then the priests would blow the trumpets, and all the people would shout. When they did this, the walls of the city would fall, and the Israelites could go in and take the city.

    Israel followed God’s instructions exactly, under Joshua’s leadership. They were further instructed that they were to take nothing from the city as spoil, and that they were to spare Rahab and her family because of what she had done for the spies. They all did what God said, the priests blew the horns, they shouted, and the walls fell flat, “so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.”

    This took faith for them to act as they did. One can only imagine what the people of Jericho were thinking, but God’s way worked just as He planned. These are great lessons even for us today who are trying to please God.

    Discussion
    1. Why were the hearts of the people in Canaan melting?

    2. What feast did the Israelites observe while they were camped at Gilgal? What food ceased on that day?

    3. Who appeared to Joshua? What was the message?

    4. Be able to tell what the Israelites had to do in order to conquer Jericho. How did it go with faith? What can we learn from the account regarding our faith today?

    5. What were they told that they could not do in Jericho? Why is this significant?