Siege at Jericho

OT Action News follows the Israelites as they prepare to enter Canaan and take the fortified city of Jericho. Reporter Lucy Cunningham-Schultz is stationed near the Israelite camp, where Joshua waits for two spies to return. He explains that God promised the land to Abraham’s descendants long ago and now commands Israel to possess it. Until the spies report, Joshua calls the people to prayer.

Three days earlier, reporter Lawrence Hodges had been inside Jericho at Rahab’s inn when the king’s soldiers arrived hunting the spies. Rahab hid the two men, Matthias and Salmon, beneath stalks of flax on her roof. She sent the soldiers racing toward the countryside by claiming that the strangers had already left the city, even though the commander threatened to return and search her house.

Rahab tells the spies that Jericho has heard of the Lord’s mighty deeds and is melting with fear. She believes their God is the true God and that Israel will conquer the land. In exchange for sheltering them, she asks that her family be spared. The men pledge their lives for hers on three conditions: she must keep their mission secret, gather her family inside her house, and hang a scarlet rope from her window. Anyone who leaves the house will lose their protection.

Because Rahab’s home is built into the city wall, she lowers the spies by the rope and sends them into the hills. Lawrence starts to follow, but at the last moment remains inside Jericho so he can continue reporting. The spies return to Joshua and declare that God has surely given them the land. Joshua orders Israel to prepare to cross the Jordan within three days.

The swollen river appears to be an impossible barrier. As the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant step forward, however, the water stops flowing and the nation crosses on dry ground. Inside Jericho, the king’s advisors urge him to seek peace after hearing of the miracle. He dismisses the reports as fear and orders the city sealed for a siege.

The manna that has fed Israel throughout its years in the wilderness stops after the crossing. The people must now depend on the land before them. Joshua announces God’s unusual battle instructions: priests and trumpeters will lead the Ark around Jericho, and the army must remain silent until he gives the order to shout.

The Israelites march once around the city and return to camp without attacking. Rahab’s family begins to doubt the danger, but she refuses to remove the scarlet rope. She trusts both the spies’ promise and their God. For six days, Israel repeats the same silent circuit while the people inside Jericho grow bored and begin laughing at them.

On the seventh day, Joshua commands the army to circle Jericho seven times. Even Lawrence wonders whether Rahab’s faith is pointless as the people around him mock the marchers. At the end of the final circuit, the trumpets sound and Joshua orders Israel to shout because the Lord has given them the city.

The walls collapse. Rahab’s house remains standing even though it is joined to the wall, and Matthias and Salmon identify everyone inside as being under Israel’s protection. Joshua keeps the spies’ promise and welcomes Rahab and her family to safety. Surrounded by destruction, Rahab praises the God of Israel whose word she trusted before she could see how He would save her.