(a) Give an account of the capture of Jericho. (b) What three lessons can be drawn from the incident?

Answer Details

(a) An account of the capture of Jericho (Joshua 6:1-27).

1. Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.
2. The Lord said to Joshua that He had given Jericho, its king and its mighty men of valour into his hand.
3. God gave detailed instructions: the armed men were to march around the city once a day for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark.
4. On the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.
5. When they made a long blast with the ram's horn and the people heard the sound of the trumpet, all the people were to shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city would fall down flat, so that the people could go up, every man straight before him.
6. Joshua carried out the instructions. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant followed; the rearguard came after the ark, while the trumpets sounded continually.
7. Joshua commanded the people not to shout or let their voices be heard until the day he told them to shout.
8. For six days they marched around the city once each day and returned to the camp.
9. On the seventh day they rose early at the dawn of day and marched around the city seven times in the same manner.
10. The seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua commanded the people to shout, for the Lord had given them the city. He declared that the city and all in it should be devoted to destruction, but Rahab the harlot and all with her in her house should live because she had hidden the messengers; and the people were warned to keep away from the devoted things.
11. So the people shouted when the trumpets sounded, 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.
12. They utterly destroyed all in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox, sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword. They burned the city with fire, but the silver, gold, bronze and iron were put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. Rahab and her household were spared, and Joshua's fame spread throughout the land.

(b) Three lessons that can be drawn from the incident.

1. Obedience to God brings victory: Israel triumphed by following God's instructions exactly.
2. Faith in God overcomes impossible obstacles: the walls fell not by human might but by God's power.
3. God rewards those who help His people: Rahab and her family were spared for hiding the spies.
4. Patience and discipline are essential: the people had to march quietly for seven days before the victory came.