436
Patriarchs and Prophets
The vast army marched solemnly around the devoted walls. All was
silent, save the measured tread of many feet, and the occasional sound
of the trumpet, breaking the stillness of the early morning. The massive
walls of solid stone seemed to defy the siege of men. The watchers on
the walls looked on with rising fear, as, the first circuit ended, there
followed a second, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth. What could
be the object of these mysterious movements? What mighty event
was impending? They had not long to wait. As the seventh circuit
was completed, the long procession paused, The trumpets, which for
an interval had been silent, now broke forth in a blast that shook the
very earth. The walls of solid stone, with their massive towers and
battlements, tottered and heaved from their foundations, and with a
crash fell in ruin to the earth. The inhabitants of Jericho were paralyzed
with terror, and the hosts of Israel marched in and took possession of
the city.
The Israelites had not gained the victory by their own power; the
conquest had been wholly the Lord’s; and as the first fruits of the land,
the city, with all that it contained, was to be devoted as a sacrifice to
God. It was to be impressed upon Israel that in the conquest of Canaan
they were not to fight for themselves, but simply as instruments to
execute the will of God; not to seek for riches or self-exaltation, but the
glory of Jehovah their King. Before the capture the command had been
given, “The city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein.”
“Keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves
accursed ... and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.”
All the inhabitants of the city, with every living thing that it con-
tained, “both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and
ass,” were put to the sword. Only faithful Rahab, with her household,
was spared, in fulfillment of the promise of the spies. The city itself
was burned; its palaces and temples, its magnificent dwellings with
all their luxurious appointments, the rich draperies and the costly gar-
ments, were given to the flames. That which could not be destroyed by
fire, “the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron,” was
to be devoted to the service of the tabernacle. The very site of the city
was accursed; Jericho was never to be rebuilt as a stronghold; judg-
[492]
ments were threatened upon anyone who should presume to restore the
walls that divine power had cast down. The solemn declaration was
made in the presence of all Israel, “Cursed be the man before the Lord,