Victory and Defeat

God wanted to instill fear in the inhabitants of Canaan by having the Israelites supernaturally take the city of Jericho with its massive walls. God’s unorthodox strategy involved silently marching around Jericho once each day for six days and returning back to camp.

On the seventh day they marched silently around the city seven times, and when Joshua gave the command to shout, the walls fell down flat. The only section that survived was where Rahab the harlot had her house. The city was wide open for the taking and the inhabitants were killed except for Rahab and her family.

The victory at Jericho was dramatic as the Israelites easily conquered one of the strongest fortified cities in Canaan but Achan secretly took plunder from Jericho despite God’s ban on looting. As a result, the Israelites suffered an embarrassing defeat in the next battle against the second class fighting force from the small town of Ai.

The invasion was put on hold while Joshua sought the Lord. A supernatural investigation revealed Achan was the culprit. There was no mercy as he and his family were stoned to death and burnt with fire.