Shabbat Shalom!

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Thought for Today: Shabbat February 04:

Prejudice or hatred of any person because of their racial, ethnic or religious background is wrong. YHVH labels it sin. After-all, Elohiym Created every one of us and when we hate someone or have ill feelings toward someone, we hate the very person Elohiym has made and who is valuable in His Sight. We are all created in YHVH’s image and although sin has blurred that image, every single one of us still bears the mark of our Creator. Yeshua did not die just to save one race or one group of people, He gave His Life for all of us.

SERIES G --- THE PROMISED LAND --- LESSON 06

JERICHO FALLS

THE SILENT MARCH AROUND A CITY

From Joshua 6

The people of Jericho had become so afraid of the people of Israel that they kept their city gates closed day and night. No one was allowed to leave the city and no one was allowed to enter. At this same time, Adonai gave His marching orders to Joshua. [I am placing the city into your hands,] He said, [along with its king and brave warriors.] Adonai then gave Joshua these specific Instructions. [You will march around the city with your warriors once each day for six days. Behind the warriors will come seven priests, each carrying a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. The Ark of Adonai will follow them. On the seventh day, you will march around Jericho seven times, with the priests blowing their trumpets. At the end of the march, the priests will give a resounding blast on the trumpets and the people will shout as a mighty chorus. Then the walls of Jericho will come tumbling down and your people will move from every direction upon the city to possess it.] Joshua called his priests together to relay these orders to them. He told them about the procession and what Adonai expected them to do. Then Joshua gave these orders to the people: [Forward! March around Jericho, with the men of arms marching before the Ark of Adonai.] When Joshua had finished giving orders, the seven priests marched forward with their trumpets made of rams’ horns. They fell in line before the Ark of Adonai, blowing their trumpets as they went. Then the warriors fell in line before the priests. Keep silence, except for the trumpets, Joshua commanded. Speak no word, make no noise, utter no shout, until the time when you are commanded to do it. Then you will give a mighty shout! The people of Israel carried the Ark of Adonai around the city once that day and then returned to their camp for the night. Early the next morning, they marched around the city again, with the seven priests blowing upon their seven trumpets. After marching once around Jericho, they returned again to their camp. For six days, the people of Israel followed this same pattern. At dawn on the seventh day, they arose and began their march around the city. But this time they marched around and around Jericho; seven times! As the Israelites circled the city for the seventh time, the priests gave a mighty blast on their trumpets and Joshua cried out to the people, [Shout! For Adonai has given you the city!] Here are the orders that Joshua had given to his people when they conquered Jericho: [Destroy everyone and everything except Rahab and her family, because she cared for our spies. Take no loot, lest you bring a curse upon us all. But the silver and gold, as well as the things of bronze and iron, will go to the treasury of Adonai, to be dedicated to Him.] When the trumpets of the priests sounded, the people shouted a great shout and the walls of Jericho tumbled down before them. From every direction, the warriors of Israel rushed into the city to capture it. Everything and everyone were destroyed including the men and women, the young and old and the oxen, sheep and donkeys. The two spies who had gone to Jericho earlier were sent to Rahab’s house. [Go,] said Joshua. [Bring Rahab and her family and possessions here, as you promised her.] The spies brought Rahab and her family and her possessions to a safe place outside the camp of Israel. Then the army of Israel burned the city and all that was in it. The silver and gold and the bronze and iron were saved for the treasury of Adonai’s House. Rahab and her family were safe and continued to live among the people of Israel, for she had kept the spies of Israel safe when they had come to spy on Jericho. Joshua also put a curse on Jericho, saying, [let a curse come upon anyone who tries to rebuild this city. When the foundation is laid, his oldest son shall die. When the gates are hung, his youngest son will die.] Adonai was with Joshua and he became famous throughout the land.

COMMENTARY

JERICHO

YHVH’s order to Joshua was to march the troops in utter silence around the walled city of Jericho. When the trumpets finally sounded, the walls of Jericho fell! Israel again learned a vital truth. Unquestioning obedience to YHVH brought victory. The story of Jericho’s walls does not begin and end with Joshua bringing them tumbling down. The first wall went up thousands of years before the Israelites entered Canaan. It was often rebuilt and improved. At one time, a huge ditch, similar to a medieval water-filled moat, circled the wall. Later, a sloping bill was added to both sides, making Jericho’s defences sixty-five feet wide. The wall changed many times throughout those many hundreds of years. Erosion wore away the early mud brick during the periods when the city was abandoned. The first stone walls around the city were often destroyed by earthquakes and fire. Jericho itself was rebuilt so many times that the layers of rubble from past foundations rose fifty feet above the ground around it. Joshua put a curse on Jericho when he conquered it so that no one would ever rebuild it. For over three hundred and fifty years, no one dared try. But in 860 B.C., a nearby king hired someone to re-find the city. Joshua’s grim curse came true. The man’s two sons died, just as Joshua had said. Yet Jericho was rebuilt, some distance away from the original site. The city stands today, the oldest in the world