The mere fact of “having faith” or saying that “you believe” is not as important as in what or in whom your faith rests.
The fall of Jericho is one of those Bible stories that are so familiar that it borders on “pedestrian.” We know all the beats of the narrative so well that it doesn’t surprise us when the walls come falling down. It’s like a movie you’ve seen way too many times, so much so that the plot twists no longer shock you. “Of course, Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s dad!” “Of course, Bruce Willis can see ghosts because he’s already dead!” Be that as it may, Israel’s conquest of Jericho is a story that is supposed to leave us stunned and stupefied, especially at the manner in which God chooses to intervene for his people — namely, by having them walk in circles! This is just to say that the account of Jericho’s fall confronts us, once again, with what it means to be “victorious.” We get it wrong, though, if we give all the attention to Joshua or the Israelites.
While harping on the bad theology of children’s church songs might seem like low-hanging fruit, the words to those songs do not do anyone any favors. Perhaps you still have those tunes stuck in your head about how Joshua fought at Jericho and “the walls came tumblin’ down.” But is this really the point? Is this just another in the list of victories Joshua and Company have on their résumé? Is Joshua the hero? Of course not. Jericho’s walls didn’t come crashing down because of anything that Joshua or Israel did; this story is not about them. Jericho fell because of faith. “By faith,” the writer of Hebrews says, “the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days” (Heb. 11:30). Faith alone turned those ramparts into rubble. Indeed, this entire story is a window into what it means to live by faith.
In many ways, the conquest of Jericho gives us a tangible way in which to understand the abstract reality of putting your faith in something or someone. After all, the point of faith is not faith itself but the object of faith. That’s what matters. “Faith,” John R. W. Stott asserts, “is laying hold of Jesus Christ personally. There is no merit in it. It is not another ‘work’. Its value is not in itself, but entirely in its object, Jesus Christ” (82). The mere fact of “having faith” or saying that “you believe” is not as important as in what or in whom your faith rests. The story of Jericho’s walls crashing down is a visceral proclamation that unless your faith rests in the words of God alone, your faith is misplaced.
The idea of overthrowing Jericho would have seemed preposterous to every single Israelite. Jericho, a massive fortress-like city that dominated the ancient terrain, was one of the oldest — if not the oldest — cities in the history of civilization. Most archaeologists agree that the site known as “Tell es-Sultan,” which underwent systematic excavation in 1907, is the biblical metropolis of Jericho, with the more digs that are conducted revealing more of Jericho’s grandeur. Its greatest feature, of course, was its walls that stretched nearly thirty feet tall and over twelve feet thick — and that was just the outer wall! Both the inner and outer walls provided levels of defense that made it a nightmare objective for any potential invaders. The notion of conquering Jericho would have been like invading Fort Knox; it couldn’t be done.
Consequently, not only was Jericho impenetrable but it was also teeming with life and prosperity. Inside its ramparts was a commercial and agricultural hub, which made Jericho a center of culture, pleasure, and luxury. Moses describes it as “the city of palms” (Deut. 34:3), a fitting description since it was known for its massive balsam groves, staggering palms, and fertile surroundings. In many ways, Jericho was the “unsinkable ship” of the ancient world; it was the Bible’s Titanic, emblazoning Canaan’s profuse blessing of “milk and honey” in brick and mortar and stone. But despite everything Jericho had going for it, it was no match for the Lord. “See,” the Lord says to Joshua, “I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor” (Josh. 6:2).
Just like an iceberg sunk a ship that was supposedly unsinkable, God was set to turn those supposedly impenetrable walls into rubble. “The wall of the city will fall down flat” (Josh. 6:5). As impressive as the citadel of Jericho was, it would be made to collapse in on itself. Why? Because of the wickedness of those on the inside. God is a God of justice and righteousness, and the people of Jericho, natives of Canaan, had long been in rebellion against the Lord (Gen. 15:15–16). The residents of Canaan were a wicked bunch who had turned away from Yahweh. But, as the Lord says, their wickedness had not yet reached full term. They were still under his divine umbrella of patience. Even still, because of their rebellion and resistance to his word and ways, God had marked them for judgment (Deut. 9:4–5). Israel’s conquest of Jericho is actually God’s judgment of Jericho.
The breathtaking sight of Jericho’s walls undoubtedly gave every Israelite a knot in their stomach. They were likely all thinking the same thing as they fearfully approached the ramparts of that imposing fortress: “How in the world is this gonna work?!” The sheer size and scale of Jericho would have made conquering it seem like a categorical impossibility, especially for a nation like Israel which was essentially composed of nomads. They had no home to speak of nor did they have an abundance of military resources at their disposal. They had numbers but no cavalry, artillery, or siege engines with which to launch any sort of tactical campaign. Israel, after all, was still only four decades removed from Egyptian tyranny.
Heightening the tension, though, was the God-given strategy for this conquest: “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him’” (Josh. 6:2–5).
God’s plan involved a lot of walking. Is there anything less imposing than walking in circles? I wonder what was racing through Joshua’s mind as scrambled for a way to spin this plan to his elders. Yahweh’s timeworn promise that Israel would one day occupy Canaan, the land flowing with “milk and honey,” had been their rallying cry for generations. At any rate, the “grand plan” to conquer Jericho and enter the Promised Land was nothing but a week of marching in circles. “Do you mean to tell me,” I can hear one fume, “that after forty years of walking around in the desert, all you came up with to take this city was more walking?” This proposed plan of action was less than impressive.
Nevertheless, Joshua receives these instructions and meticulously implements them (Josh. 6:6–11). He leads Israel in careful obedience to the words of the Lord, as they follow the same routine every day “for six days” (Josh. 6:12–14). Imagine doing the same thing for a full week with zero signs that you are actually doing anything. You get up, get in line, march in a circle around the city, and then return to camp — and you do that for the better part of a week without even so much as a pebble falling from Jericho’s walls. But just when they might have started to give up since nothing seemed to be working, the seventh day came, which required not one but seven circles around the ramparts of Jericho (Josh. 6:15–16).
The walls didn’t fall because Israel shouted, because they marched in circles, or even because they were obedient. The walls crumbled because Israel put their faith in God alone.
After the seventh parade around the city, the people of Israel were instructed to “shout with a great shout” (Josh. 6:5). Only then would the walls of Jericho “fall down flat,” which is exactly what happened. Once the seventh procession was complete, all of Israel belted and hollered at the top of their lungs. As those shrieks rang out across the Canaanite countryside, suddenly those unshakeable walls began to quake, causing every warrior of Jericho to gasp in horror as the walls of their beloved citadel fell out from underneath them. Jericho was breached and the way was clear for Israel to capture the city without much effort (Josh 6:20).
By every conceivable measure, Israel won the day. They were the unquestionable victors. But no one in their right mind would have given them the credit for it. This wasn’t Israel’s triumph. The walls didn’t fall because Israel shouted, because they marched in circles, or even because they were obedient. The walls crumbled because Israel put their faith in God alone. Those ramparts were turned into rubble precisely because the object of their faith was none other than Yahweh himself. Their faith was in the one who spoke all things into being, who rescued them from Egypt, and who led them through the Red Sea. By his miraculous word of power, God caused the walls of Jericho to collapse into ruins. Israel only “won the day” because they put their faith in God’s word of promise. “See,” he told them, “I have given Jericho into your hand” (Josh. 6:2).
Before a single Israelite infantryman had lifted a pinky finger to grab a sword or a spear, the victory had already been given to them. “Before the army took the first step around Jericho,” Michael P. V. Barrett notes, “they had the assurance of victory” (12). Before even the tiniest battle plan had been drawn up, the Lord declared Israel to be “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37). The conquest of Jericho was God’s gift to his people — and like any other gift, the only thing Israel could do was receive it. Indeed, whereas we might think of Israel as active participants in the conquest of Jericho, they’re actually passive recipients of a conquest already won for them.
The good news that Jesus Christ has died for your sins and risen from the dead is a proclamation of guaranteed triumph over sin and death. It is an announcement that your victory is sure not because of you, but because of Christ. He is the victor. He gets all the credit since he is the one responsible for defeating death and darkness. We are the ones who are invited to share in his victory, which is given to us by Christ alone through faith alone. While it remains true, according to God’s words of the law, that no sin will go unpunished, there is a truer word that Christ himself came to give us. It is the word of the gospel, which says that those who’ve been marked for judgment are invited to put their faith in God’s own Son who endures the brunt of their punishment in their stead. The extent of sin’s punishment was exacted on Christ so that we might be rescued and redeemed; so that we might win the day. By faith, sinner, the victory is yours.
