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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O S H U A</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Joshua opened the campaign with the siege of Jericho, a city which
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could not trust so much to the courage of its people as to act
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offensively, and to send out its forces to oppose Israel's landing and
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encamping, but trusted so much to the strength of its walls as to stand
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upon its defence, and not to surrender, or desire conditions of peace.
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Now here we have the story of the taking of it,
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I. The directions and assurances which the captain of the Lord's host
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gave concerning it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. The trial of the people's patient obedience in walking round the
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city six days,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:6-14">ver. 6-14</A>.
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III. The wonderful delivery of it into their hands the seventh day,
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with a solemn charge to them to use it as a devoted thing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:15-21,24">ver. 15-21 and 24</A>.
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IV. The preservation of Rahab and her relations,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:22,23,25">ver. 22, 23, 25</A>.
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V. A curse pronounced upon the man that should dare to rebuild this
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city,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:26,27">ver. 26, 27</A>.
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An abstract of this story we find among the trophies of faith,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:30">Heb. xi. 30</A>.
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"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed
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about seven days."</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jos6_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Siege of Jericho.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of
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Israel: none went out, and none came in.
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2 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine
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hand Jericho, and the king thereof, <I>and</I> the mighty men of
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valour.
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3 And ye shall compass the city, all <I>ye</I> men of war, <I>and</I> go
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round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
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4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of
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rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven
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times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
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5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long <I>blast</I>
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with the ram's horn, <I>and</I> when ye hear the sound of the trumpet,
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all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of
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the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up
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every man straight before him.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a contest between God and the men of Jericho, and their
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different resolutions, upon which it is easy to say whose word shall
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prevail.</P>
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<P>
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I. Jericho resolves Israel shall <I>not</I> be its master,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It was <I>straitly shut up, because of the children of Israel.</I> It
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<I>did shut up, and it was shut up</I> (so it is in the margin); it
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<I>did shut up</I> itself, being strongly fortified both by art and
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nature, and it <I>was shut up</I> by the obstinacy and resolution of
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the inhabitants, who agreed never to surrender nor so much as sound a
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parley; none went out as deserters or to treat of peace, nor were any
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admitted in to offer peace. Thus were they infatuated, and their
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hearts hardened to their own destruction--the miserable case and
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character of all those that <I>strengthen themselves against the
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Almighty,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:25">Job xv. 25</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. God resolves Israel <I>shall</I> be its master, and that quickly,
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The captain of the Lord's host, here called <I>Jehovah,</I> taking
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notice how strongly Jericho was fortified and how strictly guarded, and
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knowing Joshua's thoughts and cares about reducing it, and perhaps his
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fears of a disgrace there and of stumbling at the threshold, gave him
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here all the assurance he could desire of success
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>See, I have given into thy hand Jericho.</I> Not, "<I>I will do
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it,</I> but, <I>I have done it;</I> it is all thy own, as sure as if it
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were already in thy possession." It was designed that this city, being
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the first-fruits of Canaan, should be entirely devoted to God, and that
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neither Joshua nor Israel should ever be one mite the richer for it,
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and yet it is here said to be <I>given into their hand;</I> for we must
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reckon that most our own which we have an opportunity of honouring God
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with and employing in his service. Now.
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1. The captain of the Lord's host gives directions how the city should
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be besieged. No trenches are to be opened, no batteries erected, nor
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battering rams drawn up, nor any military preparations made; but the
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ark of God must be carried by the priests round the city once a day for
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six days together, and seven times the seventh day, attended by the men
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of war in silence, the priests all the while blowing with trumpets of
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rams' horns,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.
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This was all they were to do.
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2. He assures them that on the seventh day before night they should,
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without fail, be masters of the town. Up on a signal given, they must
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all shout, and immediately the wall should fall down, which would not
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only expose the inhabitants, but so dispirit them that they would not
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be able to make any resistance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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God appointed this way,
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(1.) To magnify his own power, that he might be <I>exalted in his own
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strength</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+21:13">Ps. xxi. 13</A>),
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not in the strength of instruments. God would hereby yet further make
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bare his own almighty arm for the encouragement of Israel and the
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terror and confusion of the Canaanites.
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(2.) To put an honour upon his ark, the instituted token of his
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presence, and to give a reason for the laws by which the people were
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obliged to look upon it with the most profound veneration and respect.
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When, long after this, the ark was brought into the camp without orders
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from God, it was looked upon as a profanation of it, and the people
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paid dearly for their presumption,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+4:3">1 Sam. iv. 3</A>,
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&c. But now that it was done by the divine appointment it was an honour
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to the ark of God, and a great encouragement to the faith of Israel.
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(3.) It was likewise to put honour upon the priests, who were appointed
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upon this occasion to carry the ark and sound the trumpets. Ordinarily
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the priests were excused from war, but that this privilege, with other
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honours and powers that the law had given them, might not be grudged
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them, in this service they are principally employed, and so the people
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are made sensible what blessings they were to the public and how well
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worthy of all the advantages conferred upon them.
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(4.) It was to try the faith, obedience, and patience, of the people,
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to try whether they would observe a precept which to human policy
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seemed foolish to obey and believe a promise which in human probability
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seemed impossible to be performed. They were also proved whether they
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could patiently bear the reproaches of their enemies and patiently wait
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for the salvation of the Lord. Thus by faith, not by force, the walls
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of Jericho fell down.
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(5.) It was to encourage the hope of Israel with reference to the
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remaining difficulties that were before them. That suggestion of the
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evil spies that Canaan could never be conquered because the cities were
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<I>walled up to heaven</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+1:28">Deut. i. 28</A>)
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would by this be for ever silenced. The strongest and highest walls
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cannot hold out against Omnipotence; they needed not to fight, and
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therefore needed not to fear, because God fought for them.</P>
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<A NAME="Jos6_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos6_16"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto
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them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear
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seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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7 And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city,
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and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people,
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that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns
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passed on before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and blew with the trumpets: and the
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ark of the covenant of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> followed them.
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9 And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the
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trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, <I>the priests</I>
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going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
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10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not
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shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall <I>any</I>
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word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout;
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then shall ye shout.
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11 So the ark of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> compassed the city, going about <I>it</I>
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once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
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12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took
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up the ark of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns
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before the ark of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> went on continually, and blew with the
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trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward
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came after the ark of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>the priests</I> going on, and
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blowing with the trumpets.
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14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and
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returned into the camp: so they did six days.
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15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early
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about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the
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same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city
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seven times.
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16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests
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blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath given you the city.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an account of the cavalcade which Israel made about
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Jericho, the orders Joshua gave concerning it, as he had received them
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from the Lord and their punctual observance of these orders. We do not
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find that he gave the people the express assurances God had given him
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that he would deliver the city into their hands; but he tried whether
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they would obey orders with a general confidence that it would end
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well, and we find them very observant both of God and Joshua.</P>
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<P>
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I. Wherever the ark went the people attended it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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The armed men went before it to clear the way, not thinking it any
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disparagement to them, though they were men of war, to be pioneers to
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the ark of God. If any obstacle should be found in crossing the roads
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that led to the city (which they must do in walking round it) they
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would remove it; if any opposition should be made by the enemy, they
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would encounter it, that the priests' march with the ark might be easy
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and safe. It is an honour to the greatest men to do any good office to
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the ark and to serve the interests of religion in their country. The
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<I>rereward,</I> either another body of armed men, or Dan's squadron,
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which marched last through the wilderness, or, as some think, the
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multitude of the people who were not armed or disciplined for war (as
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many of them as would) followed the ark, to testify their respect to
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it, to grace the solemnity, and to be witnesses of what was done. Every
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faithful zealous Israelite would be willing to undergo the same
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fatigues and run the same hazard with the priests that bore the
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ark.</P>
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<P>
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II. Seven priests went immediately before the ark, having trumpets in
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their hands, with which they were continually sounding,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:4,5,9,13"><I>v.</I> 4, 5, 9, 13</A>.
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The priests were God's ministers, and thus in his name,
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1. They proclaimed war with the Canaanites, and so stuck a terror upon
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them; for by terrors upon their spirits they were to be conquered and
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subdued. Thus God's ministers, by the solemn declarations of his wrath
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against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, must blow the
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trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in the holy mountain, that the
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sinners in Zion may be afraid. They are God's heralds to denounce war
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against all those that go on still in their trespasses, but say, "We
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shall have peace, though we go on."
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2. They proclaimed God's gracious presence with Israel, and so put life
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and courage into them. It was appointed that when they went to war the
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priests should encourage them with the assurance of God's presence with
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them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+20:2-4">Deut. xx. 2-4</A>.
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And particularly their blowing with trumpets was to be a sign to the
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people that they should be remembered before the Lord Their God in the
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day of battle,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+10:9">Num. x. 9</A>.
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It encouraged Abijah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+13:12">2 Chron. xiii. 12</A>.
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Thus God's ministers, by sounding the Jubilee trumpet of the
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everlasting gospel, which proclaims liberty and victory, must encourage
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the good soldiers of Jesus Christ in their spiritual warfare.</P>
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<P>
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III. The trumpets they used were not those silver trumpets which were
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appointed to be made for their ordinary service, but trumpets of rams'
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horns, bored hollow for the purpose, as some think. These trumpets were
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of the basest matter, dullest sound, and least show, that the
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excellency of the power might be of God. Thus by the foolishness of
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preaching, fitly compared to the sounding of these rams' horns, the
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devil's kingdom is thrown down; and the <I>weapons of our warfare,</I>
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though they are not carnal nor seem to a carnal eye likely to bring any
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thing to pass, are yet <I>mighty through God to the pulling down of
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strong-holds,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+10:4,5">2 Cor. x. 4, 5</A>.
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The word here is <I>trumpets of Jobel,</I> that is, such trumpets as
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they used to blow withal in the year of jubilee; so many interpreters
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understand it, as signifying the complete liberty to which Israel was
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now brought, and the bringing of the land of Canaan into the hands of
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its just and rightful owners.</P>
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<P>
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IV. All the people were commanded to be silent, not to speak a word,
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nor make any noise
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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that they might the more carefully attend to the sound of the sacred
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trumpets, which they were now to look upon as the voice of God among
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them; and it does not become us to speak when God is speaking. It
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likewise intimates their reverent expectation of the event.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+2:13">Zech. ii. 13</A>,
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<I>Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord.</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+14:14">Exod. xiv. 14</A>,
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<I>God shall fight, and you shall hold your peace.</I></P>
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<P>
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V. They were to do this once a day for six days together and seven
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times the seventh day, and they did so,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
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God could have caused the walls of Jericho to fall upon the first
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surrounding of them, but they must go round them thirteen times before
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they fall, that they might be kept waiting patiently for the Lord.
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Though they had lately come into Canaan, and their time was very
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precious (for they had a great deal of work before them), yet they must
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linger so many days about Jericho, seeming to do nothing, nor to make
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|
any progress in their business. As promised deliverances must be
|
|
expected in God's way, so they must be expected in his time. <I>He that
|
|
believes does not make haste,</I> not more haste than God would have
|
|
him make. <I>Go yet seven times,</I> before any thing hopeful appears,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+18:43">1 Kings xviii. 43</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. One of these days must needs be a sabbath day, and the Jews say
|
|
that it was the last, but this is not certain; however, if he that
|
|
appointed them to rest on the other sabbath days appointed them to walk
|
|
on this, that was sufficient to justify them in it; he never intended
|
|
to bind himself by his own laws, but that when he pleased he might
|
|
dispense with them. The impotent man went upon this principle when he
|
|
argued
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:11">John v. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>He that made me whole</I> (and therefore has a divine power) <I>said
|
|
unto me, Take up thy bed.</I> And, in this case here, it was an honour
|
|
to the sabbath day, by which our time is divided into weeks, that just
|
|
seven days were to be spent in this work, and seven priests were
|
|
employed to sound seven trumpets, this number being, on this occasion,
|
|
as well as many others, made remarkable, in remembrance of the six
|
|
day's work of creation and the seventh day's rest from it. And,
|
|
besides, the law of the sabbath forbids our own work, which is servile
|
|
and secular, but this which they did was a religious act. It is
|
|
certainly no breach of the sabbath rest to do the sabbath work, for the
|
|
sake of which the rest was instituted; and what is the sabbath work but
|
|
to attend the ark in all its motions?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VII. They continued to do this during the time appointed, and seven
|
|
times the seventh day, though they saw not any effect of it, believing
|
|
that <I>at the end the vision would speak and not lie,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:3">Hab. ii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
If we persevere in the way of duty, we shall lose nothing by it in the
|
|
long run. It is probable they walked at such a distance from the walls
|
|
as to be out of the reach of the enemies' arrows and out of the hearing
|
|
of their scoffs. We may suppose the oddness of the thing did at first
|
|
amuse the besieged, but by the seventh day they had grown secure,
|
|
feeling no harm from that which perhaps they looked upon as an
|
|
enchantment. Probably they bantered the besiegers, as those mentioned
|
|
in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+4:2">Neh. iv. 2</A>,
|
|
|
|
"<I>What do these feeble Jews?</I> Is this the people we thought so
|
|
formidable? Are these their methods of attack?" Thus they cried peace
|
|
and safety, that the destruction might be the more terrible when it
|
|
came. <I>Wicked men</I> (says bishop Hall) <I>think God in jest when he
|
|
is preparing for their judgment;</I> but they will be convinced of
|
|
their mistake when it is too late.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VIII. At last they were to give a shout, and did so, and immediately
|
|
the walls fell,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was a shout for mastery, a triumphant shout; the <I>shout of a
|
|
king is among them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+23:21">Num. xxiii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was a shout of faith; they believed that the walls of Jericho
|
|
would fall, and by this faith the walls were thrown down. It was a shot
|
|
of prayer, an echo to the sound of the trumpets which proclaimed the
|
|
promise that God would remember them; with one accord, as one man, they
|
|
cry to heaven for help, and help comes in. Some allude to this to show
|
|
that we must never expect a complete victory over our own corruptions
|
|
till the very evening of our last day, and then we shall shout in
|
|
triumph over them, <I>when we come to the number and measure of our
|
|
perfection,</I> as bishop Hall expresses it. <I>A good heart</I> (says
|
|
he) <I>groans under the sense of his infirmities, fain would be rid of
|
|
them, and strives and prays, but, when all is done, until the end of
|
|
the seventh day it cannot be;</I> then judgment shall be brought forth
|
|
unto victory. And at the end of time, when our Lord shall descend from
|
|
heaven with a shout, and the sound of a trumpet, Satan's kingdom shall
|
|
be completely ruined, and not till then, when all opposing rule,
|
|
principality, and power, shall be effectually and eternally put
|
|
down.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Jos6_27"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jericho Destroyed; Preservation of Rahab.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1451.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 And the city shall be accursed, <I>even</I> it, and all that
|
|
<I>are</I> therein, to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she
|
|
and all that <I>are</I> with her in the house, because she hid the
|
|
messengers that we sent.
|
|
18 And ye, in any wise keep <I>yourselves</I> from the accursed
|
|
thing, lest ye make <I>yourselves</I> accursed, when ye take of the
|
|
accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble
|
|
it.
|
|
19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron,
|
|
<I>are</I> consecrated unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: they shall come into the
|
|
treasury of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
20 So the people shouted when <I>the priests</I> blew with the
|
|
trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of
|
|
the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the
|
|
wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city,
|
|
every man straight before him, and they took the city.
|
|
21 And they utterly destroyed all that <I>was</I> in the city, both
|
|
man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with
|
|
the edge of the sword.
|
|
22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the
|
|
country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the
|
|
woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.
|
|
23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out
|
|
Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all
|
|
that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them
|
|
without the camp of Israel.
|
|
24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that <I>was</I>
|
|
therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass
|
|
and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's
|
|
household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel
|
|
<I>even</I> unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which
|
|
Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
|
|
26 And Joshua adjured <I>them</I> at that time, saying, Cursed <I>be</I>
|
|
the man before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that riseth up and buildeth this city
|
|
Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn,
|
|
and in his youngest <I>son</I> shall he set up the gates of it.
|
|
27 So the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was with Joshua; and his fame was <I>noised</I>
|
|
throughout all the country.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The people had religiously observed the orders given them concerning
|
|
the besieging of Jericho, and now at length Joshua had told them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>The Lord hath given you the city,</I> enter and take possession."
|
|
Accordingly in these verses we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The rules they were to observe in taking possession. God gives it to
|
|
them, and therefore may direct it to what uses and intents, and clog it
|
|
with what provisos and limitations he thinks fit. It is given to them
|
|
to be devoted to God, as the first and perhaps the worst of all the
|
|
cities of Canaan.
|
|
|
|
1. The city must be burnt, and all the lives in it sacrificed without
|
|
mercy to the justice of God. All this they knew was included in those
|
|
words,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
The city shall be a <I>cherem,</I> a devoted thing, at and all therein,
|
|
to the Lord. No life in it might be ransomed upon any terms; they must
|
|
all be surely <I>put to death,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+27:29">Lev. xxvii. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
So he appoints from whom as creatures they had received their lives,
|
|
and to whom as sinners they had forfeited them; and who may dispute his
|
|
sentence? <I>Is God unrighteous, who</I> thus <I>taketh vengeance?</I>
|
|
God forbid we should entertain such a thought! There was more of God
|
|
seen in the taking of Jericho than of any other of the cities of
|
|
Canaan, and therefore that must be more than any other devoted to him.
|
|
And the severe usage of this city would strike a terror upon all the
|
|
rest and melt their hearts yet more before Israel. Only, when this
|
|
severity is ordered, Rahab and her family are excepted: <I>She shall
|
|
live and all that are with her.</I> She had distinguished herself from
|
|
her neighbours by the kindness she showed to Israel, and therefore
|
|
shall be distinguished from them by the speedy return of that kindness.
|
|
|
|
2. All the treasure of it, the money and plate and valuable goods, must
|
|
be consecrated to the service of the tabernacle, and brought into the
|
|
stock of dedicated things, the Jews say because the city was taken on
|
|
the sabbath day. Thus God would be honoured by the beautifying and
|
|
enriching of his tabernacle; thus preparation was made for the
|
|
extraordinary expenses of his service; and thus the Israelites were
|
|
taught not to set their hearts upon worldly wealth nor to aim at
|
|
heaping up abundance of it for themselves. God had promised them a land
|
|
<I>flowing with milk and honey,</I> not a land abounding with silver
|
|
and gold; for he would have them live comfortably in it, that they
|
|
might serve him cheerfully, but not covet either to trade with distant
|
|
countries or to hoard for after times. He would likewise have them to
|
|
reckon themselves enriched in the enriching of the tabernacle, and to
|
|
think that which was laid up in God's house as truly their honour and
|
|
wealth as if it had been laid up in their own.
|
|
|
|
3. A particular caution is given them to take heed of meddling with the
|
|
forbidden spoil; for what was devoted to God, if they offered to
|
|
appropriate it to their own use, would prove accursed to them;
|
|
therefore
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
"<I>In any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing;</I> you will
|
|
find yourselves inclined to reach towards it, but check yourselves, and
|
|
frighten yourselves from having any thing to do with it." He speaks as
|
|
if he foresaw the sin of Achan, which we have an account of in the next
|
|
chapter, when he gives this reason for the caution, <I>lest you make
|
|
the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it,</I> as it proved that Achan
|
|
did.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The entrance that was opened to them into the city by the sudden
|
|
fall of the walls, or at least that part of the wall over against which
|
|
they then were when they gave the shout
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The wall fell down flat,</I> and probably killed abundance of
|
|
people, the guards that stood sentinel upon it, or others that crowded
|
|
about it, to look at the Israelites that were walking round. We read of
|
|
thousands killed by the fall of a wall,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+20:30">1 Kings xx. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
That which they trusted to for defence proved their destruction. The
|
|
sudden fall of the wall, no doubt, put the inhabitants into such a
|
|
consternation that they had no strength nor spirit to make any
|
|
resistance, but they became an easy prey to the sword of Israel, and
|
|
saw to how little purpose it was to shut their gates against a people
|
|
that had <I>the Lord on the head of them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+2:13">Mic. ii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, The God of heaven easily can, and certainly will, break down all
|
|
the opposing power of his and his church's enemies. Gates of brass and
|
|
bars of iron are, before him, but as straw and rotten wood,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:1,2">Isa. xlv. 1, 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Who will bring me into the strong city? Wilt not thou, O God?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+60:9,10">Ps. lx. 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus shall Satan's kingdom fall, nor shall any prosper that harden
|
|
themselves against God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The execution of the orders given concerning this devoted city.
|
|
All that breathed were put to the sword; not only the men that were
|
|
found in arms, but the women, and children, and old people. Though they
|
|
cried for quarter, and begged ever so earnestly for their lives, there
|
|
was no room for compassion, pity must be forgotten: they <I>utterly
|
|
destroyed all,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
If they had not had a divine warrant under the seal of miracles for
|
|
this execution, it could not have been justified, nor can it justify
|
|
the like now, when we are sure no such warrant can be produced. But,
|
|
being appointed by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth to do it,
|
|
who is not unrighteous in taking vengeance, they are to be applauded in
|
|
doing it as the faithful ministers of his justice. Work for God was
|
|
then bloody work; and <I>cursed was he that did it deceitfully, keeping
|
|
back his sword from blood,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+48:10">Jer. xlviii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
But the spirit of the gospel is very different, for Christ came not to
|
|
destroy men's lives but to save them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:56">Luke ix. 56</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ's victories were of another nature. The cattle were put to death
|
|
with the owners, as additional sacrifices to the divine justice. The
|
|
cattle of the Israelites, when slain at the altar, were accepted as
|
|
sacrifices <I>for</I> them, but the cattle of these Canaanites were
|
|
required to be slain as sacrifices <I>with</I> them, for their iniquity
|
|
was not to be purged with sacrifice and offering: both were for the
|
|
glory of God.
|
|
|
|
2. The city was <I>burnt with fire, and all that was in it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Israelites, perhaps, when they had taken Jericho, a large and
|
|
well-built city, hoped they should have that for their head-quarters;
|
|
but God will have them yet to dwell in tents, and therefore fires this
|
|
nest, lest they should nestle in it.
|
|
|
|
3. All the silver and gold, and all those vessels which were capable of
|
|
being purified by fire, were brought into the treasury of the house of
|
|
the Lord; not that he needed it but that he would be honoured by it, as
|
|
the Lord of hosts, of their hosts in particular, the God that gave the
|
|
victory and therefore might demand the spoil, either the whole, as
|
|
here, or, as sometimes, a tenth,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:4">Heb. vii. 4</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The preservation of Rahab the harlot, or inn-keeper, who
|
|
<I>perished not with those that believed not,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:31">Heb. xi. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
The public faith was engaged for her safety by the two spies, who acted
|
|
therein as public persons; and therefore, though the hurry they were in
|
|
at the taking of the town was no doubt very great, yet Joshua took
|
|
effectual care for her preservation. The same persons that she had
|
|
secured were employed to secure her,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:22,23"><I>v.</I> 22, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were best able to do it who knew her and her house, and they were
|
|
fittest to do it, that it might appear it was for the sake of her
|
|
kindness to them that she was thus distinguished and had her life given
|
|
her for a prey. All her kindred were saved with her; like Noah she
|
|
<I>believed to the saving of her house;</I> and thus faith in Christ
|
|
<I>brings salvation to the house,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+16:31">Acts xvi. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some ask how her house, which is said to have been <I>upon the wall</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+2:15"><I>ch.</I> ii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
escaped falling with the wall; we are sure it did escape, for she and
|
|
her relations were safe in it, either though it joined so near to the
|
|
wall as to be said to be <I>upon it,</I> yet it was so far off as not
|
|
to fall either with the wall or under it; or, rather, that part of the
|
|
wall on which her house stood fell not. Now being preserved alive,
|
|
|
|
1. She was left for some time without the camp to be purified from the
|
|
Gentile superstition, which she was to renounce, and to be prepared for
|
|
her admission as a proselyte.
|
|
|
|
2. She was in due time incorporated with the church of Israel, and she
|
|
and her posterity dwelt in Israel, and her family was remarkable long
|
|
after. We find her the wife of Salmon, prince of Judah, mother of Boaz,
|
|
and named among the ancestors of our Saviour,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:5">Matt. i. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Having received Israelites in the name of Israelites, she had an
|
|
Israelite's reward. Bishop Pierson observes that Joshua's saving Rahab
|
|
the harlot, and admitting her into Israel, were a figure of Christ's
|
|
receiving into his kingdom, and entertaining there, the publicans and
|
|
the harlots,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+21:31">Matt. xxi. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or it may be applied to the conversion of the Gentiles.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. Jericho is condemned to a perpetual desolation, and a curse
|
|
pronounced upon the man that at any time hereafter should offer to
|
|
rebuild it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Joshua adjured them,</I> that is, the elders and people of Israel,
|
|
not only by their own consent, obliging themselves and their posterity
|
|
never to rebuild this city, but by the divine appointment, God himself
|
|
having forbidden it under the sever penalty here annexed.
|
|
|
|
1. God would hereby show the weight of a divine curse; where it rests
|
|
there is no contending with it nor getting from under it; it brings
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ruin without remedy or repair.
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2. He would have it to remain in its ruins a standing monument of his
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wrath against the Canaanites when the measure of their iniquity was
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full, and of his mercy to his people when the time had come for their
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settlement in Canaan. The desolations of their enemies were witnesses
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of his favour to them, and would upbraid them with their ingratitude to
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that God who had done so much for them. The situation of the city was
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very pleasant, and probably its nearness to Jordan was an advantage to
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it, which would tempt men to build upon the same spot; but they are
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here told it is at their peril if they do it. Men build for their
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posterity, but he that builds Jericho shall have no posterity to enjoy
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what he builds; his eldest son shall die when he begins the work, and
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if he take not warning by that stroke to desist, but will go on
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presumptuously, the finishing of his work shall be attended with the
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funeral of his youngest, and we must suppose all the rest cut off
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between. This curse, not being a <I>curse causeless,</I> did come upon
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that man who long after rebuilded Jericho
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:34">1 Kings xvi. 34</A>),
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but we are not to think it made the place ever the worse when it was
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built, or brought any hurt to those that inhabited it. We find Jericho
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afterwards graced with the presence, not only of those two great
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prophets Elijah and Elisha, but of our blessed Saviour himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+18:35,19:1,Mt+20:29">Luke xviii. 35; xix. 1;
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Matt. xx. 29</A>.
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Note, It is a dangerous thing to attempt the building up of that which
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God will have to be destroyed. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+1:4">Mal. i. 4</A>.</P>
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<P>
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<I>Lastly,</I> All this magnified Joshua and raised his reputation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>);
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it made him not only acceptable to Israel, but formidable to the
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Canaanites, because it appeared that God was with him of a truth: the
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Word of the Lord was with him, so the Chaldee, even Christ himself, the
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same that was with Moses. Nothing can more raise a man's reputation,
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|
nor make him appear more truly great, than to have the evidences of
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God's presence with him.</P>
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