If you were traveling north from the Sinai wilderness, Jericho was the gateway to the promised land. Before our story opens, Joshua had sent spies to reconnoiter the city, and they had promised to save Rahab and her family for trusting God and helping them.

Now the time had come to overthrow the city. One day as Joshua was walking along, he looked up and saw a man with a drawn sword blocking his way. Startled, Joshua asked if he came as friend or foe. Strangely, the man said, "Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come" (5:14). Joshua, sensing that this was no mere man, fell on his face. Like Moses before him, and as evidence that he now carried the authority of Moses, Joshua was instructed to take off his sandals, for he was standing on holy ground. Then the commander told Joshua that victory was assured, and proceeded to give Joshua a battle plan utterly unique in the annals of human warfare.

Instead of launching a direct attack, the Israelite armed men were to march around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day they were to march around it seven times. Each day the people were to march around while the priests would blow their horns, but the people on the march were to maintain strict silence until Joshua gave the order to shout with all their might.

So Joshua did as he was told, leading the Israelites in making one circuit of Jericho each day and then returning to camp. And according to God's orders, Joshua instructed the priests to carry the ark of the covenant in front of the marching throng.

One can imagine the curiosity, perhaps even the ridicule of the residents of Jericho, seemingly safe behind their thick walls. This silent throng marching, marching, while the eerie sound of the horns echoed against the walls--- what were they up to?

Then, on the seventh day, they marched again, but this time, they circled the city seven times. The bewildered citizens of Jericho gawked at the strange sight. Then the Israelites all stood silently, the trumpets blasted one more time, and at Joshua's command the Israelites shouted, yelled, and screamed at the top of their lungs. The walls cracked and began to fall apart, and finally came tumbling down with a roar and a huge cloud of dust. The Israelites marched into the city unopposed.

Joshua had told the people not to plunder the city---everything was devoted to the Lord--- but to destroy every living thing: men, women, children, and all the beasts and cattle. When it was all destroyed the Israelites burned the city to the ground.

Undoubtedly, this dramatic victory was calculated to do two things. First, it served to convince the Israelites that God was with them and would give them the land. Second, it was intended to strike fear into the hearts of all the inhabitants of Canaan and make them realize that an invading army with extraordinary powers was marching into their land.

But a scarlet rope dangled from a window in one section of the wall that remained. God remembered his promise to Rahab the prostitute, and she was spared along with her family. She was not only spared, but she married into the Israelite community, and became part of that long line of women and men from whom the Messiah would one day be born.