Joshua 6:15

"And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for Jehovah hath given you the city. And the city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Jehovah: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing, so would ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy unto Jehovah: they shall come into the treasury of Jehovah. So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets: and it came to pass when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword."

Note the "we" in Joshua 6:17. Thus, there is another indication that we have here the account of an eye-witness and participant in this event. And who could that be if not Joshua himself? It is a reflection on many writers that they PRETEND not even to see this pronoun.

Adam Clarke pointed out that the very fact of Israel's being able to compass Jericho seven times in a single day, "is proof that the city was not very extensive."[26] According to the size of the city given above, as 600 meters in circumference, we would have in a sevenfold encompassing of the city a total of 4,200 meters, a distance considerably less than three miles. Lilley pointed out that the statement about the walls falling down flat does not mean, necessarily, that, "the entire circuit of the wall collapsed."[27] This comment should be accepted as true because Rahab's house was on the wall of the city, and God's sparing her probably meant that her house was spared, at least until sufficient opportunity for the rescue of Rahab was provided.

Joshua 6:17 here mentions the "ban," or the [@anathema] or the [~cherem], or the "devoted" status of Jericho. This aspect of the Holy War in which Israel was engaged required the total destruction of all life and property, with some specific exemptions, such as silver and gold, which went into the treasury of the Lord. For fuller teaching on this and for explanation of the various DEGREES of its enforcement, see Leviticus 17:21ff. In the case of Jericho, probably because it was the first of the Canaanite cities, there were not to be any exceptions, except the gold, silver, and bronze. Sizoo, speaking of this, said, "It is not merely a sacrifice to the deity, but rather a taboo ... In a wider sense, it refers to anything or any person irrevocably condemned to destruction (Leviticus 17:28,29; Exodus 22:20)."[28]

"And they took the city ..." (Joshua 6:20). Mercifully, we are not given the description of all that this blunt word means. The terror and the tragedy of the doomed city were of no avail. The vast hordes of the Israelites, outnumbering Jericho in double digit multiples, showed no mercy or hesitancy whatever in putting to the sword every living thing in the city. Joshua 6:21 simply designated the slaughter as complete: "every man, every woman, every child, every animal." Modern man, as a general thing, has declared himself ABOVE such a destruction as this, but humanity's arrogant conceit in doing so is a woeful misunderstanding of WHY God Himself commanded this destruction to be executed upon Jericho. The MORAL CANCER of Canaan was, at that point in time, out of control, and there was no other recourse available to terminate the wicked debaucheries and immoralities of a people running wild, unrestrained, in utter rebellion against the Creator! Modern men would do well to learn the lesson in this instead of preening themselves as being SUPERIOR to God Almighty Himself in their self-imputed morality, which they have the gall to offer as "the NEW morality"!