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| 1 (And Jericho shutteth itself up, and is shut up, because of the presence of the sons of Israel none going out, and none coming in;) |
Jericho – A walled city about five miles from the Jordan. R5343:2
Typifying, for the Royal Priesthood, the weaknesses and shortcomings of the flesh. R4070:3
None went out – The salvation of the Lord cannot go out and come into the world with haste. C284*; R751:1*
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| 2 And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'See, I have given into thy hand Jericho and its king mighty ones of valour, |
I have given – Our power over our natural desires (represented by the Jerichoites) must come from God. R1857:3
Into thine hand – The "old man" of our fallen nature is to be utterly destroyed by us as "New Creatures" under the lead of the real Joshua--Jesus. R1857:3
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| 3 and ye have compassed the city all the men of battle going round the city once; thus thou dost six days; |
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| 4 and seven priests do bear seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark, and on the seventh day ye compass the city seven times, and the priests blow with the trumpets, |
Seven times – Showing completeness. R1857:6
With the trumpets – Typifying the proclamation of God's Word against sin and showing that he is able and willing to give the New Creatures victory over their carnal propensities. R1858:4
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| 5 and it hath been, in the prolongation of the horn of the jubilee, in your hearing the voice of the trumpet, all the people shout a great shout, and the wall of the city hath fallen under it, and the people have gone up, each over-against him.' |
The wall – A necessity owing to frequent incursions from Syria and Egypt, being on a main line of travel. R5343:2
Showing that the natural appetites are protected by the will of the flesh, which must be broken down. R1857:3
Fall down flat – Possibly, though very unlikely, caused by vibrations of the musical chord, or by the march-step of the Israelites. R3087:6
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| 6 And Joshua son of Nun calleth unto the priests, and saith unto them, 'Bear ye the ark of the covenant, and seven priests do bear seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark of Jehovah;' |
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| 7 and He said unto the people, 'Pass over, and compass the city, and he who is armed doth pass over before the ark of Jehovah.' |
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| 8 And it cometh to pass, when Joshua speaketh unto the people, that the seven priests bearing seven trumpets of the jubilee before Jehovah have passed over and blown with the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is going after them; |
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| 9 and he who is armed is going before the priests blowing the trumpets, and he who is gathering up is going after the ark, going on and blowing with the trumpets; |
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| 10 and the people hath Joshua commanded, saying, 'Ye do not shout, nor cause your voice to be heard, nor doth there go out from your mouth a word, till the day of my saying unto you, Shout ye then ye have shouted.' |
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| 11 And the ark of Jehovah doth compass the city, going round once, and they come into the camp, and lodge in the camp. |
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| 12 And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and the priests bear the ark of Jehovah, |
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| 13 and seven priests bearing seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark of Jehovah are walking, going on, and they have blown with the trumpets and he who is armed is going before them, and he who is gathering up is going behind the ark of Jehovah going on and blowing with the trumpets. |
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| 14 And they compass the city on the second day once, and turn back to the camp; thus they have done six days. |
Six days – Nothing accomplished except the witnessing. Represents 6000 years in which sin has been entrenched and impregnable, and God's people have merely witnessed against it. R5344:1
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| 15 And it cometh to pass, on the seventh day, that they rise early, at the ascending of the dawn, and compass the city, according to this manner, seven times; (only, on that day they have compassed the city seven times); |
Seventh day – Represents the great seventh day, 1000 years of Messiah's reign. R5344:1
Seven times – The citadel of evil will be surrounded completely. R5344:1
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| 16 and it cometh to pass, at the seventh time, the priests have blown with the trumpets, and Joshua saith unto the people, 'Shout ye, for Jehovah hath given to you the city; |
Joshua – Type of Christ. A79
Shout – Not until we have faith in God's Word can we blend the shout of victory with the shout of the trumpet and see the obstacles fall. R4071:4
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| 17 and the city hath been devoted, it and all that [is] in it, to Jehovah; only Rahab the harlot doth live, she and all who [are] with her in the house, for she hid the messengers whom we sent; |
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| 18 and surely ye have kept from the devoted thing, lest ye devote [yourselves], and have taken from the devoted thing, and have made the camp of Israel become a devoted thing, and have troubled it; |
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| 19 and all the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, holy they [are] to Jehovah; into the treasury of Jehovah they come.' |
Silver, and gold – Consecrated in advance for the furnishment and adornment of the Tabernacle and Temple. R5343:2
Of brass and Iron – Picturing true Israel's ordinary possessions. R4071:1
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| 20 And the people shout, and blow with the trumpets, and it cometh to pass when the people hear the voice of the trumpet, that the people shout a great shout, and the wall falleth under it, and the people goeth up into the city, each over-against him, and they capture the city; |
With the trumpets – Typifying the trumpet notes of the Royal Priesthood; of obedience to God and opposition to sin. R3087:4
Giving forth the Bible message that ultimately sin shall be destroyed. R5344:1
That the wall – Representing the strong walls of sin and error. R5344:1
Possibly weakened by vibrations of the trumpets and shouts. R3087:6
Fell down – Typifying the utter overthrow of the power of sin. R3087:4
Probably the tremor of an earthquake, under divine direction, caused the fall. R5343:6
Flat – Seems too strong a translation to represent properly the original. The wall crumbled in front of the Ark. The section of the wall where Rahab's house was did not fall. R5343:5
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| 21 and they devote all that [is] in the city, from man even unto woman, from young even unto aged, even unto ox, and sheep, and ass, by the mouth of the sword. |
Utterly destroyed – Typifying the complete extermination of sin in its every form. R3087:4
Showing how the "old man," our fallen nature, is to be utterly destroyed by us as New Creatures, under the lead of the real Joshua, Jesus. R1857:3, R4070:3
This was no injustice as they were all under the death sentence anyway. F174
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| 22 And to the two men who are spying the land Joshua said, 'Go into the house of the woman, the harlot, and bring out thence the woman, and all whom she hath, as ye have sworn to her.' |
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| 23 And the young man, the spies, go in and bring out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all whom she hath; yea, all her families they have brought out, and place them at the outside of the camp of Israel. |
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| 24 And the city they have burnt with fire, and all that [is] in it; only, the silver and the gold, and the vessels of brass, and of iron, they have given [to] the treasury of the house of Jehovah; |
And the gold – Representing our treasures. R4071:1
And of iron – Representing our ordinary possessions. R4071:1
Into the treasury – All the spiritual Israelite possesses is to be consecrated to the Lord's service. R1858:1
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| 25 and Rahab the harlot, and the house of her father, and all whom she hath, hath Joshua kept alive; and she dwelleth in the midst of Israel unto this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. |
Saved Rahab – Typifying the rescue, at the time of Babylon's fall, of the Great Company. R4054:2
Shows that some of our members once enemies of the new nature may be so transformed as to become servants of righteousness, through full consecration. R1857:6, R4070:6
Dwelleth in Israel – She afterward married into the tribe of Judah; and has the honor of being one of the ancestors of our Lord. R4070:6
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| 26 And Joshua adjureth [them] at that time, saying, 'Cursed [is] the man before Jehovah who raiseth up and hath built this city, [even] Jericho; in his first-born he doth lay its foundation, and in his youngest he doth set up its doors;' |
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| 27 and Jehovah is with Joshua, and his fame is in all the land. |
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