Joshua 6. Concluded
AT the close of chapter 5 we saw Joshua inquiring for orders from the heavenly Commander in Chief, and the directions he gets are brief and simple: “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.”
It was God’s work, and God’s way that brought the destruction of this solid walled obstruction to the progress of God’s people. The ark was the token of God’s presence; and the power of Satan falls, without the use of any means that could account for it.
There could, we must notice also, be no fellowship with what was under judgment. Holiness, entire separation from evil, are required for victory in this war with Satan. God may use what we cannot, by consecrating them to Himself, if He chooses (verse 19); but the believer must not meddle with the world, or what is its strength.
Jericho is put under a curse (verse 26), and sentence is passed in advance upon whoever should rebuild it. This sentence was carried out about 540 years afterward when Hiel, in the days of the wicked king Ahab built the city again. (1 Kings 10:34).