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| 1 Now Jericho was shut up and was barred, because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came 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 said to Joshua, See, I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the valiant men. |
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 shall go round the city, all the men of war, encompassing the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. |
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| 4 And seven priests shall carry before the ark seven blast-trumpets; and on the seventh day ye shall go round the city seven times, and the priests shall 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 shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the blast-horn, that all the people on hearing the sound of the trumpet shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall flat, and the people shall go up, each one straight before 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 the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, Carry the ark of the covenant, and seven priests shall carry seven blast-trumpets before the ark of Jehovah. |
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| 7 And he said to the people, Pass on, go round the city, and they that are armed shall pass on before the ark of Jehovah. |
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| 8 And it came to pass when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests carrying the seven blast-trumpets before Jehovah passed on and blew with the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah went after them. |
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| 9 And the armed men went before the priests who blew with the trumpets, and the rearguard came after the ark; they blew with the trumpets in marching. |
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| 10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, Shout; then shall ye shout. |
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| 11 And the ark of Jehovah went round the city, encompassing it 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 carried the ark of Jehovah. |
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| 13 And the seven priests carrying the seven blast-trumpets before the ark of Jehovah went on and blew continually with the trumpets; and the armed men went before them, and the rearguard went after the ark of Jehovah; they blew with the trumpets in marching. |
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| 14 And on the second day they went round the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did 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 was so that on the seventh day they rose early, about the morning-dawn, and went round the city after the same manner seven times; only on that day they went round 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 came to pass the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people, Shout; for Jehovah has given 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 shall be accursed, it and all that is in it, to Jehovah; only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. |
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| 18 But in any wise keep from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed in taking of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. |
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| 19 And all the silver, and gold, and vessels of copper and iron, shall be holy to Jehovah; they shall come into the treasury of Jehovah. |
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 shouted, and they blew with the trumpets. And it came to pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpets, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat; and the people went up into the city, each one straight before him, and they took 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 utterly destroyed all that was in the city; both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge 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 Joshua said to 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 has, as ye swore unto her. |
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| 23 And the young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had: all her kindred did they bring out, and they left them outside the camp of Israel. |
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| 24 And they burned the city with fire, and all that was therein; only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of copper and of iron, they put into 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 Joshua saved alive Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and all that she had, and she dwelt in the midst of Israel to this day; because she hid the messengers whom Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho.
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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 swore at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before Jehovah who shall rise up and build this city Jericho! In his first-born shall he lay its foundation, and in his youngest son shall he set up its gates. |
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| 27 And Jehovah was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land. |
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