THE WESTERN PART OF ASIA HAD BEEN SETTLED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND THE JEWS WERE FORCED TO FIGHT MANY WARS BEFORE THEY GOT HOLD OF A PIECE OF LAND WHERE THEY COULD FOUND A NATIONAL STATE AND LIVE UNDER THE LAWS OF THEIR OWN CHOICE AND WORSHIP THEIR OWN GOD AS THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT TO DO BY MOSES
And now began the great war for the conquest of a new homeland.The handful of frightened Jewish house-holders who a generation before had fled from the bondage of Egypt were now united into one formidable army of forty thousand men.
Far and wide,the red glow of their watchfires could be seen against the sky of the night.No wonder that the people who lived on the other side of the Jordan became frightened and began to put their country into a state of defence.
But Joshua,the former lieutenant of Moses,who had succeeded his master as commander-in-chief,was a careful leader.He did not mean to leave anything to chance,and before he crossed the river and entered the territory of the enemy he laid his plans with great deliberation.
He had established his headquarters in the village of Shittim.From there he sent two men to Canaan that they might report upon the general lay of the land.
The spies left the Jewish camp and made for the city of Jericho.This was the most important stronghold in that part of the country.It had to be taken before any further progress could be made.
The two Jewish soldiers slipped through the gates and entered Jericho.They spent the entire day talking to people and studying the strength of the walls and listening to stories about the conduct and the spirit of the soldiers.When night came,they went to the home of a woman called Rahab.Rahab was not very particular in the choice of her friends.She gave the strangers a room and asked no questions.
But in one way or another,the presence of the two foreign-looking men had become known to the authorities.Soon the police were on the trail of the intruders.At once suspicion turned against Rahab.She did not enjoy a good reputation,and whenever there was trouble,her house was searched before all others.
Rahab,however,proved more reliable than any one had a reason to expect.When she heard a knock on her door,she hastily took the Jews to the flat roof of her home and there she hid them underneath a pile of flax.As the roofs of all the houses were used for the purpose of drying flax,the policemen noticed nothing out of the ordinary.They left and went to another part of the town.But they did not find a single suspicious character anywhere and they decided that they had been misinformed (as happened quite often).They returned to their barracks,and soon the whole city was peacefully asleep.
Then Rahab returned to the roof.She carried a rope made of fresh hemp.It looked a bright red.
“With this rope,”so she told her involuntary prisoners,“I will let you down to the street.You can easily make your escape,for the walls are no longer guarded.Once outside,make for the hills,and there await an opportunity to cross the river.But remember one thing.This day I have saved your lives.When your people take Jericho (as they probably will)I expect safety for myself and for my family and for all my friends.That is a bargain.”
Of course,the spies were willing to promise anything.
They told Rahab to fasten the same red rope to the windowsill of her house when the troops of Joshua should enter the city.That would be a token to the soldiers that this was the house of a friend,and that the inhabitants must be spared.
This seemed fair to Rahab.She fastened the rope to one of the beams of the roof and the spies slipped down to the deserted street.How they managed to get outside the city,that I do not know.But as soon as they were in the open,they were once more detected.They ran as fast as they could and reached the hills.Three days later they had a chance to swim across the Jordan.
The rest of their trip offered no difficulties.
Soon they were back among their own people and told their general of their experiences.
When Joshua heard that the people of Jericho were in a state of fear,he decided to make his attack as soon as he could move his men across the river.
This proved unexpectedly easy.For when the priests,who as usual carried the Ark at the head of the troops,had reached the banks of the Jordan,the waters ceased to flow.The priests and their holy burden then took up a position in the middle of the river-bed and there they stood until all the soldiers had safely reached the other side.A few minutes later the waters of the flood returned and everything was as it had been before.At last the Jews were back in the land that had been the home of their ancestors.
After a short march,the army came to a halt near the village of Gilgal.It was the day of Passover.
Much had happened in those thirty years since first they had kept the holy feast amidst the sandy wastes of the great desert of Sinai.There was cause for gratitude and thanks-giving.
But much remained to be done.Beyond those pleasant fields where the soldiers enjoyed their holiday lay Jericho.To capture such a town without a prolonged siege seemed well-nigh impossible.
Joshua,the ever careful,knew that he could not rely upon his own strength.He prayed.
He asked Jehovah to help him.And Jehovah sent an angel,who told the Jewish general what to do.
Thereafter,every morning for six days in succession,the army of the invaders marched slowly and solemnly around the walls of Jericho.
At the head of the procession went seven priests.High upon their shoulders they carried the Ark and all the while they blew upon trumpets,made out of the curved horns of the ram.
On the seventh day,they walked around the town seven times.
Suddenly they all stopped.
The priests blew their trumpets until the veins of their brows threatened to burst and all the soldiers shouted words in praise of their God.
At that moment,Jehovah fulfilled his promise.
The walls of Jericho crumbled down like snow melting before the first hot sun of spring.
The mighty city was at the mercy of the Jews.
