Joshua sent two men across the Jordan River to infiltrate Jericho and discover its weaknesses. The spies found an accomplice in Rahab, a Jericho prostitute. She hid them from the king of the city-state of Jericho and in return extracted a pledge of protection from them: When they attacked Jericho, she and her family would be spared
The priests picked up the ark and left Shittim, heading for the Jordan River. When their feet touched the waters of the Jordan, it stopped flowing, and the people crossed over on dry ground. This miracle of the crossing parallels the miracle of crossing the Reed Sea (see Exodus 14), and by association with Moses and this miracle, Joshua’s leadership is again validated
Once the entire group had crossed over, a representative from each tribe picked up a stone from the river bottom and carried it to Gilgal
The events to be remembered include this miraculous crossing that Yhwh engineered, the victory over Jericho, and especially the making of the covenant
Also at Gilgal, Joshua had all the male Israelites circumcised.
Those who were circumcised were of course the second generation of Israelites since the departure from Egypt. That they were uncircumcised implies that the first generation had been unfaithful in yet another way. They had failed to perpetuate the essential sign of the covenant
Jericho’s Walls Fall Down
The story of the famous fight against Jericho does not detail the military side of things. It does not describe the armor of the Israelites or any siege devices. Rather, the account describes the battle as a sacred event.
The instruction to totally eliminate the Canaanite enemy was commanded to effect a complete separation between the incoming Israelites and the indigenous Canaanites. As the account of the book of Joshua goes on to describe, this instruction was not carried out to the letter. The result was that many Canaanites remained in the land, and the eventual spiritual problems of the Israelites were traced to this shortcoming: The Canaanites lured the Israelites into following after foreign gods.
After the victory at Jericho the Israelites attacked Ai. Expecting only minimal resistance, Joshua sent a small raiding party against the city, yet the Israelite fighters were soundly defeated. This defeat was a sign that God was displeased with the Israelites. By casting lots—small objects that are made of clay, wood, or stone that function like dice—an Israelite named Achan was identified as the culprit. Casting lots was the mechanical means whereby God revealed his decisions. After being thrown, their configuration provided answers. Because Achan had stolen goods from Jericho,
Second Campaign: Five City-States
Most of the indigenous Canaanites viewed the presence of the Israelites in Canaan as a threat. But some isolated villages decided it would be to their advantage to make peace with the Israelites. One such village was Gibeon. The problem, however, was that the Gibeonites knew that the Israelites were not in the practice of making peace but were under divine orders to exterminate everyone. But the Gibeonites were clever in avoiding this. Although they lived only a short distance from Gilgal where the Israelites were encamped, they disguised themselves as travelers from afar. They figured that if they were perceived to be foreigners, who presumably held no claim to Canaan, then the Israelites might make a treaty with them
Third Campaign: Hazor
A coalition of city-states in the region of the Sea of Galilee was organized by Jabin, king of Hazor, and they fought against the Israelites at Merom. Joshua and the Israelites won a great victory and finished by burning Hazor to the ground. This was a tremendous victory because Hazor was the dominant urban center in northern Canaan in the Middle Bronze Age. Though smaller in the late Bronze Age, Yadin (1972), its principal investigator, called it “the New York City of Canaan.” Hazor contains unmistakable evidence of destruction by fire in the second half of the thirteenth century BCE and was resettled by a less sophisticated people, judging by the material remains, who lived in tents and huts. Archaeologists and historians have credited the destruction and subsequent resettlement to
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