The Wall of Jericho Let it Fall
The Wall of Jericho shout and march around it and watch it fall, walls of discourage, wall of anger, wall of depression, walls of discontent, walls of fear, walls of lust,
Let us Shout Praise to the Most High
Shout
6:3 you will do so for six days The Israelites’ behavior is essentially a spiritual exercise—a ritual act of obedience to Yahweh. There is no apparent military strategy behind the activity. See v. 4.
6:4 On the seventh day you will march around The role of the priests, the use of the ark of the covenant, and the number of days (seven) indicate these instructions are ritual in nature.
seven times The number seven is used symbolically in Scripture to denote completeness or totality (for example, the Sabbath week). The number appears frequently in the account.
the trumpets Chapter 6 uses three different Hebrew terms for horns or trumpets: qeren, shophar, yovel. All three are animal horns. The qeren is described as an instrument of sound in v. 5. The shophar was often used in warfare for signals. The yovel was also used to signal, though apparently not in war (Exod 19:13). Shophar is used 14 times in Josh 6, which focuses on warfare.
6:16 Yahweh has given you the city The biblical account is clear that Israel’s invasion of Canaan was authorized by Yahweh (compare Josh 10:29–30; 11:6) and that Yahweh would be assisting them to ensure success (see Exod 23:27–28). While the idea of divinely sanctioned warfare involving the wholesale destruction of towns and cities appears troublesome, Yahweh authorizes the invasion as judgment on the Canaanites for their wickedness (Dt 9:4–6; Ge 15:16). The wickedness of the Canaanite nations is partly rooted in the idea that all of these nations had rejected Yahweh and were under the authority of other divine beings—so-called “sons of god” who rule unjustly (compare Deut 32:8; Psa 82:1–2, 6–7). Israel is under the authority of Yahweh alone (Deut 4:19–20). Over and against these other divine beings, Yahweh is laying claim to what is rightfully His (Deut 32:9). This is a war against the people and the nations that worship other gods (compare Num 13:32–33).
cherem. (KHER-em) Devoted to the LORD, usually to be destroyed.
The Hebrew verb charam (used in v. 18) always designates a special action of setting something or someone apart permanently as the property of God. The noun cherem sometimes indicates something or someone that has been set apart for service or use in the sanctuary (Lev 27:28; Mic 4:13). These items were devoted to sacred use and not necessarily destroyed (Josh 6:19). The priests took possession of these items as the ones in charge of Yahweh’s sanctuary (Num 18:14; Ezek 44:29)
However, the act of placing entire cities or populations under cherem often entailed the complete annihilation of a place and its people. The word is used when God instructs Moses to devote to destruction certain cities and populations in the land of Canaan (Num 21:2–3; Deut 7:2; 9:5; 13:15; 20:17). Joshua was charged with carrying out these instructions as well, and he did so (Josh 6:18–21; 8:26; 10:28–40; 11:11–21). The practice of cherem was not unique to ancient Israel. In the Mesha Stele, King Mesha of Moab describes how he captured Israelite cities and killed all the people because he had designated them as cherem for the Moabite god Chemosh. However, Yahweh is not like other gods. Yahweh demands rules of engagement—including that this action can only happen by His command (Deut 20)—and goes so far as to provide provisions for female captives (Deut 21:10–14; compare Exod 23:9).