Trumpets of Jericho

In the Old Testament, the Bible shows is the many battles that the people of Israel took part in. The battles with the most extraordinary victories were those during which the people followed the instructions given by the Lord. That’s what happened at the battle of Jericho. In the book of Joshua, we learn how, through faith, God’s people managed to topple the wall of Jericho!

The Wall of Jericho

Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” [...]

Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times.  The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.” When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. (Joshua 6:1-2, 6:12-20)

The Battle of Jericho: A Biblical Symbol

For us today, Jericho can represent the promise that God made to us that we can sometimes find hard to realize. In his Word, God promises us security, joy, peace, wealth, and success, but sometimes reality can be to the contrary. What can we do to reach the city promised by our Lord? Like Israel, let us worship God and rejoice! Let us show the Lord that we trust Him by acting as Lord Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Mark: “(...) “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” (Mark 11:23)