Day 63. Joshua 5-7

As we said yesterday, the Book of Joshua represents a new act in the story of the People of the Promise. The conquest begins with a ceremony of dedication. Apparently, none of the males of Israel had been circumcised during the years of wilderness wandering (Joshua 5:5). So now, at the beginning of the conquest of Canaan, this rite is performed on the second generation, the first generation with exception of Joshua and Caleb having now died because of their disobedience and cowardice.
In chapter 5, verse 3 we are told that "flint knives" were fashioned for the operation. Remember that we read in Exodus that iron tools were not used in the construction of the tabernacle, now flint, not iron, is used for this mass circumcision not only because it keeps a sharper edge, but because iron—a relatively new metal in that period--was regarded as a source of ritual pollution.
The celebration of Passover began Israel's exodus from Egypt; now the celebration of Passover launches the conquest of the Promised Land (5:10-12). We are told that the day after that Passover, the manna the people had eaten in the wilderness ceased and the people began to eat "the produce of the land" (5:11). Now they were residents and no longer nomads.
The conquest begins with a vision that appears to Joshua, a heavenly being who identifies himself as "the commander of the army of the LORD" (5:14). Later sources would identify this as the archangel Michael, always protecting the chosen people and defeating the powers of evil. He is the patron saint of Israel. The clear implication is that the visible host of Israel is accompanied in the conquest of the Promised Land by the invisible army of the LORD.
The story of the siege and conquest of Jericho in chapter 6 is probably familiar to many of us from childhood. The rams' horns mentioned in verse 4 are the "shofars," used ever since in Jewish ceremonies, symbolic of the power of God. The Ark of the Covenant that goes before the army of Israel is the visible sign of the presence of the Divine Champion who goes before them. It is carried a distance ahead to show that it is the LORD alone who assaults the city. There is no actual siege. The power of the LORD causes the walls of the city to collapse. And because it is the LORD alone who gives the victory, all that is in the city is devoted to him for destruction. The population, apart from Rahab the prostitute and her household, is massacred—even their livestock. (The author notes that Rahab's "family has lived in Israel ever since" (6:25) becoming the ancestors of Israel's royal house.
Joshua curses the spot where the city had stood and speaks a malediction upon "anyone who tries to build this city—this Jericho!" (6:26) (The city was in fact rebuilt in later times—see I Kings 16:34—but with terrible consequences for the one who did so.)
The plunder of Jericho belongs entirely to the LORD, who alone has given the victory. But God is cheated by Achan, who steals some rich plunder which had been devoted to the LORD for the treasury of the tabernacle (7:12). As a result of this outrage, the army of Israel is defeated in its first assault of the town called Ai. Joshua and the people are cast into despair. But the culprit is discovered (7:1-15). Achan confesses and is condemned to share the fate of the city. Burning with fire is an unusual punishment in Israel. But Achan, the stolen goods, his sons and daughters, his oxen, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he has are destroyed --stoned and burned with fire and buried under a heap of stones. This heap "remains to this day" to remind future generations of the terrible consequences of trying to cheat the LORD of what belongs to him.
The sacrifice is made. The LORD is appeased, and the conquest continues. . . . .