The Walls of Jericho

The Bible tells us that the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land in the Spring of 1406BC, just after the harvest. After the Israelites entered the Promised Land, their first order of business was to destroy the Canaanite city of Jericho. I know that sounds harsh, but please remember that the inhabitants of this land were evil, pagan worshippers who sacrificed their own children to their “god” moloch. Much of their blood was tainted with Nephilim (fallen angels/human hybrids).

The global flood of Noah had been sent to kill off the hybrid beings; however, scripture makes it clear that many survived. Notice the size comparison between the Nephilim and the human Israelites.

Numbers 13:33:  There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

There are many Scriptures that describe the giants inhabiting the land of Canaan. Even the much later account of David and Goliath shows that there were still literal giants in the land.

One of the most conflicting issues for Christians today is “marrying up” the God of the Old Testament (YHWH) with the God of the New Testament (YAHUSHUA/JESUS), who is the SON of YHWH. Many people think that the God of the Old Testament was angry and wrathful, but really, most of us LACK understanding. The truth is the God of the Old Testament is actually quite merciful. YHWH is Gracious, slow to anger and steadfast in abounding Love. But the Israelites were a “stubborn and stiff-necked people” and the inhabitants of the land of Canaan (Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites were extremely evil.

Deuteronomy 7:1: “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, ² and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 

³ Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. ⁴ For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. ⁵ But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

⁶ “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

The GIANTS were clearly NOT human. 😲 This is why the Israelites were told to utterly destroy them because they were a mixture of fallen angel and human beings (Genesis 6) and were therefore completely evil. 😈 YHWH KNEW that their “gods” would be a SNARE to the Israelites. Honestly, the “gods of this world” are still a snare to God’s people.

Although David eventually killed all of the giants, these evil spirits continue to inhabit this world as disembodied, demonic spiritual entities. These are the seven EVIL UNHOLY SPIRITS that OPPOSE😈 the SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD (YHWH).

Now that we have a better idea of what Israel was up against in the land of Canaan, let us get back to their first assignment received upon entering the land.

After Israel crossed the Jordan River via a supernatural miracle similar to the Red Sea, a very mysterious “man” showed up to instruct Joshua on HOW to defeat the stronghold of Jericho. This mysterious man is described as “The Captain of the Lord of Hosts”. This means that this mysterious man was the commander of God’s angels. One of YHWH’s (God) titles is the “Lord of Hosts”, and He is the God of the angelic armies in Heaven.

Joshua 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

¹⁴ So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?

¹⁵ Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

What we witnessed in Joshua 5:13-15 above is known as a “Christophany”. A Christophany is the visible manifestation of the PREincarnate Christ (before Jesus was born). We may wonder how it is that Jesus could manifest Himself PRIOR to His birth (incarnation) when He took on the likeness of human flesh as a man, but we must remember that God is outside of time and space.

The preincarnate Christ (Commander of the army of the Lord) then began to instruct Joshua on how to take down Jericho.

Joshua 6: 1: Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. ² And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. ³ You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 

⁴ And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 🎺⁵ It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

Lest we begin to feel sorry for the people of Jericho, let us recall these words……

This plan that was shown to Joshua was going to take some FAITH, which is perhaps why Christ manifested Himself visibly to Joshua. Jericho had nearly impenetrable walls. The retaining wall was some 4-5 meters (12-15 feet) high. On top of that was a mudbrick wall, two meters (6 feet) thick and about 6-8 meters (20-26 feet) high. At the crest of the embankment was a similar mudbrick wall, whose base was roughly 14 meters (46 feet) above the ground level outside the retaining wall.

This is what loomed high above the Israelites as they marched around the city each day for seven days.

“The remains of children have been found by archeologists in the walls of Canaanite homes. Some believe that they were put there while still alive as a means of appeasing Baal. Others think that they may have been strangled first, and then their bodies placed inside the walls as an offering to Baal. In this way the Canaanites believed that they could appease Baal’s wrath and bring prosperity on those who lived in that home.”

The traditional way of taking down the walls of an impenetrable city would be to lay siege, basically camping outside, waiting for the city’s inhabitants to get so hungry that they would be willing to let down their guard to seek food. This could often take months or even longer, especially since the Canaanites had just completed the harvest. But God had another plan to take down these walls in seven days!

The Israelites army was instructed to march around the walls of the city for six days. Along with the army, seven priests were to march carrying the Ark of the Covenant (the box holding the ten commandments) and rams’ horns (trumpets). On the SEVENTH DAY, the army and the priests were to march around the city of Jericho SEVEN TIMES, and the priests would BLOW the TRUMPETS. At this point, all the Israelites would shout out loud, and the walls of the city would fall down flat. This was the PLAN.

What do you think? Do you think that the army agreed with Joshua that this was a GOOD PLAN? Can you imagine marching around a city for SIX DAYS (in silence) and seeing NOTHING HAPPENING, but EXPECTING something to happen on the SEVENTH DAY? This took FAITH. This took TRUSTING in GOD. It was easier for Joshua to trust God because he had just SEEN the preincarnate Christ with his own eyes 👀 and had believed that God could do anything. It was harder for the Israelite army who had not SEEN or spoken with the preincarnate Christ. God chose Joshua to be the leader of the Israelites. The Israelites TRUSTED that God was WITH Joshua, so they went along with this seemingly impossible plan. The Israelites had enough FAITH to follow Joshua’s lead.

And their FAITH paid off! They did exactly as commanded, and the walls of Jericho fell down on the SEVENTH DAY! The people had the faith of a mustard seed. With that small amount of faith, they were obedient to God even when it did not look like anything was going to happen (for the first six days). Do you think that the Israelites GRUMBLED during the first six days? They certainly would have; however, Joshua had commanded them to march around in SILENCE until the seventh day when they were to SHOUT. The Israelites were afraid of the Canaanites, so they followed this instruction to the letter. This kept the people from GRUMBLING and COMPLAINING.

Joshua 6:10:  But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed from your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!” 

What does this mean for us? When God gives us instructions on HOW to take down walls of sin, of pain or depression we need to TRUST Him. God gave me a very significant Word in 2018 – TRUST. I audibly heard God’s voice as the sound of “many waters” on that day (Rev. 1:15, Ez. 43:2). Admittedly, it is hard to press through the quiet times, the times when God is silent, and it is tempting to think that Jesus has abandoned us. Sometimes it may feel like the Lord is not hearing our prayers. 🙏🏻 After all, we cannot SEE the big picture like Jesus can (Joshua was a “type” of YAHSHUA/JESUS). We do not know God’s timing. But the LORD will BLESS those who put their TRUST in HIM, ESPECIALLY when they have not SEEN (John 20:26-29). Faith is believing even when you can’t SEE👀 God working. The truth is that God does hear our prayers, He even collects our tears in a bottle and knows HOW and WHEN to give GOOD GIFTS to His children.

As it is in the forestry industry where they use the “controlled burn”🔥 to burn away the tinder to allow for new growth, so it is with our lives. God allows trials in our lives so that we lack no good thing. He burns away the dross, making room for NEW GROWTH. 🌱