Walls of jericho megaupload
We need God in our friendships, our careers, our marriages, and our families. We need God. When we are tempted to think otherwise, let us find wisdom from this biblical story that we do indeed need God in all areas of our lives. If the Israelites had resisted the instructions given by God to Joshua, the walls of Jericho would not have come down.
The Israelites would have lost and been forced out of the Promised Land. Their obedience to God mattered. This is still true for believers today. We find encouragement from this narrative to be obedient to God and the assurance that obedience will result in blessing see Luke God promised the Israelites this land.
The fall of the walls of Jericho is a grand reminder that God fulfills what He promises. A huge amount of time passed between when God initially promised the land to the Israelites, and when they actually came to enter and claim that land.
Regardless of how much time passes, God will always make good on His promises. We can trust that God is faithful to His promises and be at peace while we wait for a promise to come to pass. This incredible passage in the Book of Joshua holds many valuable lessons that we as Christians can learn from and apply to our lives and understanding of God.
Pamela Palmer is a writer, chaplain, and the founder of upheldlife. She lives and thrives on Jesus, coffee, and music. She is in pastoral ministry and gets to share in the emotional and spiritual lives of many people, being a small piece of each journey.
Pamela married the perfect man for her and they have two beautiful kiddos. She has been published on herviewfromhome. Plus Toggle navigation. Password Assistance. Email address. Pamela Palmer. Share Tweet Save. Ed Jarrett. Britt Mooney. It's entirely plausible, they argue, that the walls of Jericho did collapse and a pastoral Israelite migration transpired that was embellished and mythologized over time to serve as an analogy of the Israelites' perseverance or good fortune via National Geographic.
If the walls of Jericho fell during a siege, the siege was mostly likely one by the Egyptians, some scholars say. However, competing theories abound. Until the s, the prevailing theory was that the biblical account of the Battle of Jericho couldn't have possibly happened— considering archaeological findings date Bronze Age Jericho's fall to years prior to the Israelites' presence.
However, findings in the s by Dr. Bryant G. Wood, a University of Toronto archaeologist, offered a countering explanation that may indicate the biblical and archaeological timelines could be in sync. A fairly intensive study involving seismic activity in the region, carbon dating, and ceramic remnants makes the case that the walls of Jericho may have fallen around the time of the Israelite invasion of Canaan via The New York Times. When it comes to reconciling ancient mythological accounts and archaeological evidence, there's always interpretation involved, especially when these two tell differing stories of history.
Archaeology, too, is an evolving discipline with discoveries that continue to be made, often transforming earlier findings. Yet the role of the Bible is scarcely regarded in academia as one of concrete historical narrative, and, while it bears significance, the weight of interpreting each sphere in context of the other is an ongoing matter of academic debate.
Even after the s, this debate about Jericho carries on. And some elements, logic dictates, will forever fall in the sphere of individual hypotheses.
Consequently, Jericho's population would have swelled to several thousand. Jericho was well prepared for a siege. The harvest had just been gathered Josh. The Ein Al-Sultan spring was located within the walls of Jericho. This spring alone provided more than enough water for the entire population. Thus the battle of Jericho appeared strategically in their full advantage. The fortifications were plenty strong to withstand any attack by invaders.
Jericho was an impregnable fortress, with plenty of resources and supplies within the city walls. Joshua, however, was not deterred. The city of Jericho loomed like a mountain in the distance. The Israelites had been on the move, and had a tremendous amount of momentum after the miraculous river crossing. Joshua had been affirmed by God in front of the people. The local villages had been abandoned, and the "The City of Palms" had been locked up airtight.
The Israelites were poised to strike. God had other plans. He instructs Joshua to make flint knives, and circumcise the men of Israel Joshua In a similar fashion, Israel had been circumcised as they left Egypt. However, circumcision had been neglected as the Israelites wandered the desert. This must have seemed like a strange time for God to command this.
Yet, as this was a sign of man's commitment to God, and part of God's covenant with Abraham , it was vitally important that Israel be sanctified before going into battle and entering a new phase of their existence as a nation. Without hesitation, or argument, Joshua obeyed, and the nation of Israel was circumcised on the banks of the Jordan River.
God had tested them, and their obedience led God to "roll away the reproach of Egypt" , a consequence of the previous generation's disobedience in the desert. The place became known as, "Gibeath-haaraloth" , or, "the hill of foreskins". God's people were now in full compliance with His decrees.
After their circumcision, the Israelites celebrated the Passover The Bible tells us on the fourteenth day of the month they celebrated the Passover. Their celebration must have seemed eerily strange from on top the towering walls of Jericho. On the fifteenth day, they ate ate from the land of Canaan. On the sixteenth day, for the first time in forty years, the manna did not appear.
God had cut off the provision of manna, for now they ate "of the produce of the land of Canaan". As God had delivered them out of the land of Egypt, He was now going to deliver them into the land of Canaan. Joshua went up to him and asked, 'Are you for us, or for our enemies? The Bible doesn't say what Joshua was doing. We are told he was "near Jericho", and nothing more.
Perhaps he had finished walking through camp, checking on the people and supplies. Maybe he had been scouting the land around Jericho, looking for any potential ambush sites.
More than likely, Joshua had been in prayer with the Lord. The appearance of this visitor was sudden. Apparently Joshua did not recognize the man's uniform, only that he had a drawn sword in his hand. It is interesting that Joshua's reaction was not one of alarm, but rather curiosity.
He asked him which side was he for. The soldier answered, "Neither.. He was the commander of the army of the Lord, perhaps suggestive of the archangel Michael. Jude 9 mentions that the archangel Michael had disputed with the devil himself over the body of Moses. Michael is also associated with Christ's second coming in 1 Thess.
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