The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1907-10-18
The Capture
of Jericho
Sunday School Lesson for Oct. 20. 1907
Specially Prepared for This Paper
Specially Prepared for This Paper

DRY verse 90
GOLDEN TEXT-"By faith the walls
OF Jericho fell down after they were com.
passed about seven days."-Heb. IL: 30.
TIME.-April. about b. c. 1851, accord
Ing TO the margins of our Bibles. Schol-
ars are divided as to the period, whether
II be in the vicinity of the Tel-el-Amarna
letters before Il. c. 400, or in the century
following Rameses II. between b. G. 200
and 1900.
PLACE.-Gilgal and Jericho in the
plain on the west side of the Jordan.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
The Right of Israel to the Land
The representation Of the books OK
Joshua, Judges (2:2), and of Deuter-
onomy is that the conquest of Canaan
was in accordance with the plan and
the command of God. And God al
ways does and always commands only
what is right. But how could it be
right for one nation to drive another
from their homes and destroy them?
Distinguish between a command OF
God TO do a thing and the way some
people execute the command. History
abounds in good things done in
| wicked way. We can approve OF the
doing, while condemning the way 1t
was done.
The Fall of Jericho. And it
came to pass" etc. Better, And i4
was according as Joshua said in the
previous verses of the chapter.
The plan of the attack was for all
the men of war ". 81 to march around
the city once a day for six days, and
on the seventh day to march around
| it seven times, the last time with a
long blast of the trumpets and great
! shout from all the men when the
walls were to fall.
From the whole account we learn
the order of procession. From what
ever different sources the present ac-
count may have been drawn, the story
is one harmonious statement OF the
facts. The order Of march seems TO
have been as follows:
First. A vanguard of armed men
who marched in silence at the head
of the procession Tvs. 9, 10). They
were to utter no vainglorious speeches
such as Goliath did when he met
David, and De Bohun at Bannockburn
|
which the men on the walls may have
thrown at them. 1t was an ominous,
portentous silence las deep as eter-
nifty" silence that Expresses with too
great a weight" the silence in the
center Of the cyclone before it bursts
forth in its career of devastation.
Second. VS.. s, IS. Then followed
| Of
less in their rich, priestly garments.
showing to the Jericho people on tho
walls that what they were doing was
in the service and with the power or
Jehovah, who had made path for the
Israelites through Jordan. These
were blowing "trumpets OF rams
horns" the jubilee trumpets, the kind
that ushered in the new year LEV.
1920 and announced the year OF
Jubilee Oev. $3.50. These were like
the bands which lead professions in
our day with marching music to which
the people keep step.
Third. After these came the Ark
of the Covenant borne by priests, the
Ark which stood in the river-bed while
|
which showed that the Lord God was
leading and defending them, but on
condition that the Israelites kept their
part of the covenant.
Fourth. After these came the ".
49, Reward" /. e., rear guard, con-
sisting of the rest of the men Of Is
rael marching in silence around the
city. No sign of triumph was to be
raised, no words of rejoicing over the
foe. nor of conscious strength. But
in solemn, reverent silence, as IL God
alone was speaking to them, in medi-
tation and silent prayer they were to
move around the city.
For Six Successive Days.-V. IA.
This was trying to their faith, and
may have seemed to some to be a
| hopeless waste of time. Some one or
the seven days must have been Sab
bath. and the action a breaking of the
Sabbath; but it was a solemn, re-
ligious service, and no more broke
the Sabbath than does the marching
of the Salvation Army to draw men
to their meetings.
The Seventh Day-Vs. Is, 16, 20.
On this day the circuit was made
seven times in succession. At the
seventh time, while the men were
still somewhere around the city walls,
but probably not wholly surrounding
the city, the signal was given as an
nounced ". 81 by long blast of the
trumpets. different from the march
ing music, and all the men ". 2O)
shouted with a great shout"
The orientals take peculiar delight
In noise. when our people are In
dead earnest, they are generally ST.
lent: but the more in earnest an ORR
entail is. the louder he shouts. Even
Arab boatmen. when in great danger.
and every man is doing his utmost In
struggling with the waves, will waste
a lot Of strength and breath In shout
ing."-Hon. Selah Merrill.
Practical Points.
The capture of Jericho illustrates
the means by which the victory can