Your Bible Questions Answered
May 1, 2024
We continue our study of the subject of the Ark of the Covenant. As we have indicated, all the material from these videos comes from our book, In Search of the Lost Ark: The Quest For The Ark of the Covenant.
It is a free download from our website, educatingourworld and can be found under the heading of Bible prophecy.
We now come to Chapter 8, Conquering A City God's Way: Jericho...
The God who reveals Himself in Scripture does things His own way. His ideas and thoughts are not the same as we human beings. The prophet Isaiah records the Lord as saying:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8,9 NKJV).
This statement was never truer, than when Joshua received the battle plan from the Lord to take the city of Jericho.
Once the children of Israel entered the land God had promised, they practiced the neglected rite of circumcision. Then they were ready to fulfill the promises of God and conquer the land. The first battle would be against the city of Jericho.
The Battle Plan Against Jericho
The battle fought against Jericho employed one of the oddest strategies ever used to fight a battle. Joshua told the men of war:
Your entire army is to march around the city once a day for six days (Joshua 6:3 NLT).
The seventh day the strategy would be different:
Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the horns, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the walls of the city will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the city (Joshua 6:4,5 NLT).
As predicted, the walls did indeed come tumbling down at the seventh day after they had circled the city seven times.
How did it happen? Simply put, it was a miracle.
The Evidence Says This Actually Happened
Recent archaeological evidence has substantiated the biblical account of the destruction of the city of Jericho by Joshua.
After evaluating all the facts, archaeologist/scholar, Bryant Wood, writes:
Was there a destruction at the hands of the Israelites? The correlation between the archaeological evidence and the Biblical narrative is substantial.
The city was strongly fortified (Joshua 2:5,7,15,6:5,20).
The attack occurred just after harvest time in the spring (Joshua 2:6, 3:15, 5:10).
The inhabitants had no opportunity to flee with their foodstuffs (Joshua 6:1).
The siege was short (Joshua 6:15).
The walls were leveled, possibly by an earthquake (Joshua 6:20).
The city was not plundered (Joshua 6:17,18).
The city was burned (Joshua 6:24).
For further documentation on the evidence from Jericho, see our book Ancient Mysteries of the Bible Solved, Volume 1, pages 54-55... It can be found under the heading of "The Bible."
God’s Power Is What Brought Down The Walls
Jericho, the fortified city of Canaan, was conquered by the miraculous power of God. Led by the Ark of the Covenant, the city was taken with a battle plan that clearly showed the superiority of the God of Israel. The conquest of the Promised Land had begun.