This chapter is based on Joshua 5:13-15; 6; 7.
(EP 346)
The Hebrews had entered Canaan, but they had not subdued it. It was inhabited by a powerful race, who stood ready to oppose the invasion of their territory. Their horses and iron battle chariots, their knowledge of the country, and their training in war would give them great advantage. Further, the country was guarded by “cities great and fenced up to heaven.” Deuteronomy 9:1. Only in the assurance of a strength not their own could the Israelites hope for success in the impending conflict.
(EP 346.1)
The large and wealthy city of Jericho lay just a little distance from their camp at Gilgal. This proud city, behind its massive battlements, offered defiance to the God of Israel. Jericho was especially devoted to Ashtaroth, the goddess of the moon. Here centered all that was vilest and most degrading in the religion of the Canaanites. The people of Israel, in whose minds were fresh the fearful results of their sin at Beth-peor, could look upon this heathen city only with disgust and horror.
(EP 346.2)
To reduce Jericho was seen by Joshua to be the first step in the conquest of Canaan. Withdrawing from the encampment to meditate and to pray, he beheld an armed warrior of commanding presence “with his sword drawn in his hand.” To Joshua’s challenge, “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?” the answer was given, “As Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.” The mysterious stranger was Christ, the Exalted One. Awe-stricken, Joshua fell upon his face and worshiped, and heard the assurance, “I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor,” and he received instruction for the capture of the city.
(EP 346.3)
In obedience to the divine command, Joshua marshaled the armies of Israel. No assault was to be made. They were simply to make the circuit of the city, bearing the ark of God and blowing trumpets. The ark of God, surrounded by a halo of divine glory, was borne by priests clad in the dress denoting their sacred office. The army of Israel followed. Such was the procession that compassed the doomed city.
(EP 347.1)
No sound was heard but the tread of that mighty host and the solemn peal of the trumpets, echoing among the hills and resounding through the streets of Jericho.
(EP 347.2)
With wonder and alarm the watchmen of the city reported to those in authority. When they beheld that mighty host marching around their city once each day, with the sacred ark and the attendant priests, the mystery of the scene struck terror to the hearts of priest and people. Again they would inspect their strong defenses, feeling certain they could successfully resist the most powerful attack. Many ridiculed the thought that any harm would come to them through these singular demonstrations. Others were awed as they beheld the procession each day. They remembered that the Red Sea had once parted before this people and that a passage had just been opened for them through the river Jordan.
(EP 347.3)
For six days Israel made the circuit of the city. The seventh day came, and with the first dawn of light, Joshua marshaled the armies of the Lord. Now they were to march seven times around Jericho, and at a mighty peal from the trumpets to shout with a loud voice, for God had given them the city.
(EP 347.4)
The vast army marched solemnly around the walls. All was silent, save the measured tread of many feet. The watchers on the walls looked on with rising fear as, the first circuit ended, there followed a second, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth. What could be the object of these mysterious movements?
(EP 347.5)
They had not long to wait. As the seventh circuit was completed, the long procession paused. The trumpets, which for an interval had been silent, now broke forth in a blast that shook the very earth. The walls of solid stone, with their massive towers and battlements, tottered and heaved from their foundations, and with a crash fell to the earth. The inhabitants of Jericho were paralyzed with terror, and the hosts of Israel marched in and took possession of the city.
(EP 348.1)
The Israelites had not gained the victory by their own power; and as the firstfruits of the land, the city, with all that it contained, was to be devoted as a sacrifice to God. In the conquest of Canaan the Israelites were not to fight for themselves, not to seek for riches or self-exaltation, but for the glory of Jehovah their king. The command had been given, “Keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed ... and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.”
(EP 348.2)
All the inhabitants, with every living thing, were put to the sword. Only faithful Rahab with her household was spared in fulfillment of the promise of the spies. The city palaces and temples, its magnificent dwellings with all their luxurious appointments, the rich draperies and the costly garments, were given to the flames. That which could not be destroyed by fire, “the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron,” was to be devoted to the service of the tabernacle. Jericho was never to be rebuilt as a stronghold; judgments were threatened on anyone who should presume to restore the walls that divine power had cast down.
(EP 348.3)
The utter destruction of the people of Jericho was a fulfillment of commands previously given concerning the inhabitants of Canaan: “Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them.”“Of the cities of these people, ... thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.” Deuteronomy 7:2; 20:16.
(EP 348.4)
To many these commands seem contrary to the spirit of love and mercy enjoined in other portions of the Bible. But they were in truth the dictates of infinite wisdom and goodness. God was about to establish Israel in Canaan. They were not only to be inheritors of the true religion, but to disseminate its principles throughout the world. The Canaanites had abandoned themselves to debasing heathenism, and it was necessary that the land be cleared of what would surely prevent the fulfillment of God’s gracious purposes.
(EP 349.1)
The inhabitants had been granted ample opportunity for repentance. Forty years before, the judgments on Egypt had testified to the power of the God of Israel. The overthrow of Midian, of Gilead and Bashan, had further shown that He was above all gods. His abhorrence of impurity had been demonstrated in the judgments on Israel for their participation in the abominable rites of Baal-peor. All these events were known to the inhabitants of Jericho. Many shared Rahab’s conviction, though they refused to obey it, that the God of Israel “is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath.” Like the men before the Flood, the Canaanites lived only to blaspheme Heaven and defile the earth. Both love and justice demanded the execution of these rebels against God and foes to man.
(EP 349.2)
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down.” Hebrews 11:30. The Captain of the Lord’s host communicated only with Joshua. He did not reveal Himself to all the congregation, and it rested with them to believe or doubt the words of Joshua. They could not see the host of angels who attended them under the leadership of the Son of God. They might have reasoned: “How ridiculous, marching daily around the walls of the city, blowing trumpets of rams’ horns. This can have no effect upon those towering fortifications.” But it was to be impressed upon their minds that their strength was not in the wisdom of man, nor in his might, but only in the God of their salvation. God will do great things for those who trust in Him. He will help His believing children in every emergency, if they will place their entire confidence in Him and faithfully obey Him.
(EP 349.3)
Soon after the fall of Jericho, Joshua determined to attack Ai, a small town among the ravines a few miles west of the Jordan Valley. Spies brought the report that the inhabitants were few, and only a small force would be needed to overthrow it.
(EP 350.1)
The great victory that God had gained for them had made the Israelites self-confident. They failed to realize that divine help alone could give them success. Even Joshua laid his plans for the conquest of Ai without seeking counsel from God.
(EP 350.2)
The Israelites had begun to look with contempt upon their foes. An easy victory was expected, and three thousand men were thought sufficient to take the place. These advanced nearly to the gate of the city, only to encounter determined resistence. Panic-stricken at the numbers and thorough preparation of their enemies, they fled in confusion down the steep descent. The Canaanites “chased them from before the gate, ... and smote them in the going down.” Though the loss was small as to numbers—thirty-six men slain—the defeat was disheartening. “The hearts of the people melted, and became as water.”
(EP 350.3)
Joshua looked upon their ill success as an expression of God’s displeasure. In distress and apprehension he “rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.”
(EP 350.4)
“Alas, O Lord God,” he cried, “wherefore hast Thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? ... O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?”
(EP 350.5)
The answer was, “Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath ... transgressed My covenant which I commanded them.” It was a time for prompt and decided action, not for despair and lamentation. There was secret sin in the camp, and it must be searched out and put away. “Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.”
(EP 351.1)
God’s command had been disregarded by one of those appointed to execute His judgments. And the nation was held accountable for the guilt of the transgressor: “They have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also.” The lot was to be employed for the detection of the guilty, the matter being left in doubt for a time that the people might feel their responsibility and thus be led to searching of heart and humiliation before God.
(EP 351.2)
Early in the morning, Joshua gathered the people together, and the solemn and impressive ceremony began. Step by step the investigation went on. Closer and closer came the fearful test. First the tribe, then the family, then the household, then the man was taken, and Achan the son of Carmi, of the tribe of Judah, was pointed out by the finger of God as the troubler of Israel.
(EP 351.3)
Joshua solemnly adjured Achan to acknowledge the truth. The wretched man made full confession of his crime: “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel... . When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent.” Messengers removed the earth at the place specified, and “it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they ... brought them unto Joshua, ... and laid them out before the Lord.”
(EP 351.4)
“Why hast thou troubled us?” said Joshua. “The Lord shall trouble thee this day.” As the people had been held responsible for Achan’s sin and had suffered from its consequences, they were to take part in its punishment. “All Israel stoned him with stones.” In the book of Chronicles his memorial is written—“Achar, the troubler of Israel.” 1 Chronicles 2:7.
(EP 352.1)
Achan’s sin was committed in defiance of direct, solemn warnings and mighty manifestations of God’s power. The fact that divine power alone had given victory to Israel, that they had not come into possession of Jericho by their own strength, gave solemn weight to the command prohibiting them from partaking of the spoils. God had overthown this stronghold, and to Him alone the city with all that it contained was to be devoted.
(EP 352.2)
Of the millions of Israel there was but one man who had dared to transgress the command of God. Achan’s covetousness was excited by that costly robe of Shinar; even when it had brought him face to face with death he called it “a goodly Babylonish garment.” And he appropriated the gold and silver devoted to the treasury of the Lord; he robbed God of the first fruits of the land of Canaan. How rarely does the violation of the tenth commandment so much as call forth censure. The enormity of this sin, and its terrible results, are the lessons of Achan’s history.
(EP 352.3)
Achan had cherished greed of gain until it became a habit, binding him in fetters well-nigh impossible to break. He would have been filled with horror at the thought of bringing disaster upon Israel; but his perceptions were deadened by sin, and when temptation came, he fell an easy prey.
(EP 352.4)
We are as directly forbidden to indulge coveteousness as was Achan to appropriate the spoils of Jericho. We are warned, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”“Take heed, and beware of coveteousness.”“Let it not be once named among you.” Matthew 6:24; Luke 12:15; Ephesians 5:3. We have before us the fearful doom of Achan, of Judas, of Ananias and Sapphira. Back of all these we have Lucifer. Yet, notwithstanding all these warnings, covetousness abounds.
(EP 352.5)
Everywhere its slimy track is seen. It creates dissension in families; it excites envy and hatred in the poor against the rich; it prompts the grinding oppression of the rich toward the poor. And this evil exists not in the world alone, but in the church. How common even here to find selfishness, avarice, neglect of charities, and robbery of God “in tithes and offerings.” Many a man comes to church and sits at the table of the Lord, while among his possessions are hidden unlawful gains, things that God has cursed. For a “goodly Babylonish garment” multitudes sacrifice their hope of heaven. The cries of the suffering and poor are unheeded; the gospel light is hindered in its course; practices give the lie to the Christian profession; yet the covetous professor continues to heap up treasures. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me” (Malachi 3:8), saith the Lord.
(EP 353.1)
For one man’s sin the displeasure of God will rest upon His church till the transgression is searched out and put away. The influence most to be feared by the church is not that of open opposers, infidels, and blasphemers, but of inconsistent ones that keep back the blessing of the God of Israel and bring weakness upon His people. With humiliation and searching of heart, let each seek to discover the hidden sins that shut out God’s presence.
(EP 353.2)
Achan had seen the armies of Israel return from Ai defeated and disheartened, yet he did not come forward and confess his sin. He had seen Joshua and the elders bowed to the earth in grief too great for words. But he still kept silence. He had listened to the proclamation that a great crime had been committed, and had even heard its character definitely stated. But his lips were sealed. His soul thrilled with terror as he saw his tribe pointed out, then his family and his household! But still he uttered no confession, until the finger of God was placed upon him. Then, when his sin could no longer be concealed, he admitted the truth.
(EP 353.3)
There is a vast difference between admitting facts after they have been proved, and confessing sins known only to ourselves and to God. Achan’s confession only served to show that his punishment was just. There was no genuine repentance, no contrition, no change of purpose, no abhorrence of evil.
(EP 354.1)
So confessions will be made by the guilty when they stand before the bar of God, after every case has been decided for life or death. An acknowledgment of sin will be forced from the soul by an awful sense of condemnation and a fearful looking for of judgment. But such confessions cannot save the sinner.
(EP 354.2)
When the records of heaven shall be opened, the Judge will not declare to man his guilt, but will cast one penetrating, convicting glance, and every deed, every transaction of life, will be vividly impressed upon the memory of the wrongdoer. The sins hidden from men will then be proclaimed to the whole world.
(EP 354.3)