The Siege of Jericho

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Chapter 6 verse 1 in the King James renders the Hebrew this way, "Now Jericho was 'straightly' shut up." Much is implied in the original Hebrew. Actually the people of Jericho had already made up their minds about Israel. They had chosen death rather than servitude to Israel. As a result of this, they had closed the gates and would not allow anyone to go in or out.
Chapter 6 tells of the siege of Jericho, a city that trusted in the walls that surrounded it for its salvation. The defiance of Jericho was symbolized by its walls. No one from within went out to ask for mercy or to seek a peaceful settlement with Israel nor was anyone from Israel allowed inside the walls to offer any plan of peace, so God gave Joshua instructions for the destruction of the city.

Forty thousand armed men, probably the same group from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh that led the Israelites across the Jordan, began their march around the city of Jericho.
They were followed by 7 Priests with 7 trumpets. The Priests were to blow their trumpets continuously.
The Priests were followed by the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant.
The Levites were followed by another group of armed men.
Finally, there came the people of Israel, all 2 million of them.
This prestigious assemblage was to march around Jericho, once a day, for 6 days.
On the seventh day, they were to march around 7 times. On the seventh time around, they were to sound the trumpets and all the people were to shout and God would deliver the city to them.

Why didn't God just knock down the walls? Why did He use this elaborate 7-day march to do what He could have done by the power of His word? Five reasons are suggested:

To magnify His own power. No bombs, no battering rams, no catapults, only His will.
To put honor upon the Ark, the instituted token of God's presence.
To put honor upon the Priests, upon whose shoulders the Ark was carried.
To test the peoples faith, obedience and patience. (I Kings 20, Naaman's seven ducks in muddy water.)
To encourage the Israelites as they faced what must have seemed like insurmountable odds.

Well, they did all that the Lord had commanded them. The trumpets sounded, the people shouted and the walls came a tumbling down. The army and the people went into the city and all of the city, all of the men women and children, were destroyed, all but a harlot and her family. According to Luke, Rahab, the harlot, married Sala. According to Matthew, she married Salmon. Either way, she had a son named Boaz, who married Ruth. Their son was Obed whose son was Jesse whose son was David.
Jericho is now an 8-acre mound called Tell es-Sultan and lies beside a spring known as Elisha's Fountain. At the time of its destruction, it was a walled oasis surrounded by two 30-foot high walls. The inner wall was 12 foot thick. The outer wall was 6 foot thick. The space between them varied from 12 to 27 feet. The two walls were tied together at regular intervals by other walls. All the walls were made of "sun dried" brick, 4 inches thick by 1 to 2 feet long.
These walls were built over a period of 3000 years. (3500 B.C. to 500 B.C.) There were 19 stages of building. There were at least 4 levels of occupation within the walls. The third level is believed to be the time of Joshua.
(See a detain drawing of a cross section of the walls of Jericho in the illustrations)

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