Commentary - Joshua 6:6-11

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we see the divine instructions for the conquest of Jericho put into motion. This is not a military strategy session in any conventional sense. It is a liturgical procession, a worship service conducted on the battlefield. God is teaching Israel from the outset that the conquest of the land is not ultimately about their strength, their military prowess, or their tactical genius. It is about His presence, His power, and His faithfulness to His covenant promises. The entire affair is designed to look foolish to the world, but it is the wisdom of God. The central elements are the Ark of the Covenant, the priests, and the trumpets, all instruments of worship. The people are commanded to be silent, which is a posture of faith. They are to trust God to fight for them. This is a picture of how God always brings down the strongholds of sin and unbelief, not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit.

The structure is simple: Joshua receives the word from the Lord and faithfully transmits it to the priests and the people. The order of the procession is established, with the armed men leading, followed by the priests with the trumpets, then the Ark of the Covenant, and finally a rear guard. This is organized, disciplined, worshipful warfare. They circle the city once and return to camp. This is a lesson in patient obedience. God will give the victory, but He will do it on His timetable and according to His methods. The whole event is a living parable of justification by faith alone. The walls will fall, not because Israel knocked them down, but because they believed God and did what He said, as peculiar as it seemed.

Outline

Context In Joshua

This passage immediately follows God's direct communication to Joshua, laying out the plan for taking Jericho. The context is crucial. Israel has just crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, a miracle that echoed the Red Sea crossing and struck fear into the hearts of the Canaanites. They have renewed the covenant through circumcision at Gilgal and celebrated the Passover in the Promised Land for the first time. Joshua has had a personal encounter with the "commander of the army of Yahweh," who is a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. This encounter established that the central question is not whether God is on Israel's side, but whether Israel is on God's side. So, the "battle" for Jericho begins from a position of covenant renewal, worship, and submission to divine authority. It is the first test of this renewed generation's faith. Will they trust God's bizarre instructions, or will they lean on their own understanding? The fall of Jericho will be the firstfruits of the conquest, a clear demonstration that the land is a gift from God, received by faith.

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Carry the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of Yahweh.”

Joshua's first action is one of simple obedience. He doesn't question the plan, he doesn't convene a council of war to debate its merits. He simply calls the priests. Notice the chain of command: Yahweh to Joshua, Joshua to the priests, and then to the people. This is how God's authority is rightly ordered. The central instruction revolves around the ark of the covenant. This is not a good luck charm. It is the visible symbol of God's throne, His presence with His people. To put the ark at the center of the "attack" is to say that God Himself is the one leading this charge. The battle is His. The priests, not the generals, are given the primary instruments of war: seven trumpets of rams' horns. These are jubilee trumpets, instruments of proclamation and celebration, not of military signaling. This is a declaration of liberation, a proclamation that the rightful king has come to reclaim His land. The number seven, repeated here, signifies divine perfection and completeness. This will be a perfect work of God.

v. 7 Then he said to the people, “Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of Yahweh.”

After instructing the priests, Joshua turns to the people. The command is straightforward: "Go forward." This is a call to active faith. They are not to sit in the camp and wait for the walls to fall. They must participate in the work God is doing, even if their participation looks absurd. The armed men are to go before the ark. This is significant. The military strength of Israel is placed in submission to the presence of God. They are an honor guard for the King, not the primary means of victory. Their weapons are, in a sense, sanctified and subordinated to the liturgical action. They are there to protect the procession and to be ready for the final charge, but the power that will bring down the walls comes from the ark they are following, not the swords they are carrying.

v. 8 And so it happened that, when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh passed on forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came after them.

The obedience is immediate. As soon as Joshua speaks, the priests move. This is the mark of a healthy, covenantal community. The Word is given, and the Word is obeyed. The priests are described as being "before Yahweh," emphasizing that this entire action is an act of worship performed in God's immediate presence. And as they march, they blow the trumpets. This is not a silent, stealthy operation. It is a loud, public, theological declaration. The sound of these trumpets is a sermon preached to the inhabitants of Jericho. It is a proclamation of God's holiness, His judgment against the sin of the Canaanites, and His faithfulness to His people. Behind this vanguard of sound and worship comes the ark, the very heart of the procession, the moving throne room of the King of kings.

v. 9 And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets.

Here the order of the procession is clarified. You have the armed men, then the trumpet-blowing priests, then the ark, and finally a rear guard. The entire assembly of Israel is represented in this moving sanctuary. It is a picture of the church militant. The people of God are on the move, protected front and back, with the presence of God at their center and the proclamation of His truth going out before them. The detail that "they continued to blow the trumpets" is important. This was not a single blast, but a continuous, relentless announcement. Day after day, the people of Jericho would hear nothing but the sound of God's claim upon their city. It was a psychological and, more importantly, a spiritual assault.

v. 10 But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!”

This is perhaps the most difficult command of all. The priests are to blow their trumpets, but the people are to be utterly silent. Imagine the discipline required. They are marching in enemy territory, a spectacle of apparent weakness, and they are forbidden from uttering a war cry, a taunt, or even a whisper of encouragement. This enforced silence serves two purposes. First, it prevents any vainglory. The victory would be so obviously God's that no man could boast. They were not to trust in the intimidating power of their own voices. Second, it cultivates faith. Their silence was an act of focused trust, a quiet reliance on the promises of God. They were to listen to the trumpets and look to the ark. Their strength was to be in quietness and trust. When the time for shouting came, it would not be the cause of the victory, but the celebration of a victory already accomplished by God.

v. 11 So he had the ark of Yahweh taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

The day's work is completed. They circle the city just once. This is a lesson in patience and methodical obedience. God could have flattened the walls on the first day, with the first trumpet blast. But He is teaching His people to walk by faith over the long haul, to follow a process that doesn't provide instant gratification. After their strange parade, they simply go back to camp and go to bed. They are to live a normal life in the midst of this spiritual warfare. They march, and then they rest. This rhythm of obedience and rest is fundamental to the Christian life. We do what God commands for the day, and then we trust Him with the results and with the coming night. The victory is not won by frantic, sleepless effort, but by faithful, day-by-day, step-by-step obedience.

Application

The story of Jericho is the story of the gospel in miniature. The world, like Jericho, is a city "tightly shut" in its rebellion against God. Its walls of unbelief and sin seem impenetrable. And what is God's strategy for its defeat? Not worldly power, not political maneuvering, not clever marketing, but the foolishness of the cross proclaimed. The church is to be a marching procession, with the presence of Christ (our Ark) at its center. Our weapons are not carnal; they are the trumpets of gospel proclamation, declaring the kingship of Jesus Christ and the jubilee He brings.

We are called to this same kind of peculiar, patient, and silent faith. We are to be silent in the sense that we do not trust in our own shouting, our own clever arguments, or our own strength. We trust the power of the proclaimed Word. We march, we proclaim, and we wait for God to act. We do our daily work, circling the strongholds of sin in our own lives, in our families, and in our culture, and then we rest in Him. We must not grow discouraged when the walls don't fall on the first day. God is training us in faithfulness. The day is coming when the Lord will give the command to shout, and every wall of opposition will crumble, and the King will get all the glory.