The Trumpet of the Lord: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho By Evelyn Pointer

God commanded Moses to make to silver

trumpets. The trumpets were to be used for the calling of the assembly,

for the journeying of the camp, to sound the

alarm for battle and also to blow over the

offerings of the Lord.

The trumpet represents the voice of God. The

bible speaks often of the sound of the trumpet

from heaven. The trumpet was blown when

the children of Israel received the law from Mt.

Sinai. “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there

were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount,

and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud;

so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses

brought forth the people out of the camp to meet

with God; and they stood at the nether part of the

mount.

GOD ON THE MOUNTAINAnd Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And

when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.” Exodus 19:16-19.

The trumpet was used to warn the people that an enemy was coming. Watchmen on the walls and in the towers would blow the trumpet if they saw an enemy. Today we are like watchmen blowing the trumpet when we warn people to obey God because judgment is coming. Ezekiel chapter 33 explains how God has set watchmen over the people who are required to warn them to obey the Lord. If the watchman does not warn the people, their blood is on his head. If he does warn the people and they do not take heed then the people’s blood are on their own head and not the watchman’s. The trumpet will be blown during the second coming of Christ. It will be blown at the deliverance of God’s children, Isaiah 27:13, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.”

Trumpet and JudgmentThe trumpet will be blown in sequence at the execution of judgment on the world when the Lord begins to systematically destroy this earth. Revelations chapters 8-11

tell us about the terrible judgments at the sound of each of the seven trumpets. The seventh or last trump will be blown at the resurrection.

When we study our history in the bible, we

find that the blowing of the trumpet figured prominently in the

battles of ancient Israel. One of the greatest of

these battles was when Joshua led the children of

Israel at the battle of Jericho. Let us talk about

Joshua one of the greatest leaders in the

bible. We will also discuss the history of

that battle as well as the lesson it teaches us

today. We all have walls that must come down.

There are barriers to righteousness, barriers

to obedience that the voice of God, like the trumpet can remove.

When God enters into us, and when his word

knocks down those walls and enter in, then we

also, as the ancient Israelites, can enter into

the Promised Land. We can enter into our rest.

The final and great wall is the knowledge of evil, sin and death in the flesh. Christ has overcome the world but we must continue to resist sin until this final great wall is removed.

Who was Joshua? Joshua was Moses’ minister, which means he was his assistant. He worked under Moses to help him with anything he needed him to do. Joshua was with Moses when he went up on Mt Sinai, though he did not go into the cloud to meet with God. After the people made the golden calf Moses met with them, but Joshua remained in the tabernacle. When God commanded the children of Israel to go into the Promised Land they sent out twelve spies to view the land. All of the spies except

Joshua and Caleb discouraged the people causing them to refuse to go in. They rebelled against God. Because of that, Joshua and Caleb were the only men of that generation that lived to cross over Jordan into the Promised Land. “Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.” Numbers 32:11-12.

God chose Joshua to succeed Moses and fight the battles of the Lord in the land of Canaan. Moses could not take the children of Israel into the Promised Land because he hit the rock in anger and frustration with the people when God told him to speak to the rock. “Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.” Deuteronomy 1:38. “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord

commanded Moses.” Deuteronomy 34:9. God spoke to Joshua and strengthened him after the death of Moses and commanded him to bring the people into the land. Joshua 1:1-8, “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ Minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them even to the children of Israel.

The

Prom

ise L

and

Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread

upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

From the wilderness and

this Lebanon even unto the great

river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto

the great sea toward the going down of the sun,

shall be your coast.

A promise There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

There were two major obstacles to enter into the land. The first one was the river Jordan. Remember

there were not just soldiers to cross over; there were women,

children, cattle and wagons with all kinds of goods including the

tabernacle. There was no bridge. Secondly, the point of our story, there was the city of Jericho that

had a wall so large that someone’s house could fit on the top of it. It was an impenetrable defense, or so they thought. Joshua sent two

spies over Jordan to view the land. They entered into Jericho and came to the house of Rahab a

harlot. Rahab’s house was on the top of the wall of Jericho. Rahab

had heard of all that the Lord had done on behalf of Israel and what happened to Egypt and also what happened to the two kings on the east of Jordan that were defeated

under the hand of Moses before he died. She believed that God was going to overthrow Jericho and

was afraid for her life. She hid the spies, and they promised that if she did not tell anyone that they

had come in that they would protect her and her family. She

would not die when they came into the land. A scarlet cord in the window would let the soldiers

know who she was.

The River Jordan

The Lord commanded Joshua to instruct the people to cross over the river Jordan. The water was high. Jordan overflowed its banks at that time of the year. God commanded Joshua to have the priests that carried the ark of the Lord enter into the river. The river parted. All of the people were able to cross over on dry land. They took twelve stones from the river, where the priests had stood and placed it as a monument of the power of God.

Jericho was shut up. No one could enter or leave. High up on the top of the wall was a house. There was a scarlet cord in the window. It was Rahab’s house. All that were inside of that house would be spared. God commanded Joshua and the children of Israel to compass or march around Jericho for six days. The armed men would go first, and then seven priests were to walk before the ark of the Lord carrying seven trumpets, then the ark of the Lord, and last the rereward would follow.

The people were not to speak a word or make any noise. Only the priests would blow the trumpets. Each day

they walked around the wall of Jericho one time blowing the trumpet with the ark of God but not saying a word. The

people in Jericho were very afraid. What could this strange thing mean?

They weren’t trying to break down the gate or climb over the wall. On the

seventh day God told them to do something different. They compassed

the city seven times. On the seventh time when the priests blew with the

trumpets Joshua commanded everyone to shout. “And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the

priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the

Lord hath given you the city.” Joshua 6:16. “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard

the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout,

that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every

man straight before him and took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and

woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the

sword.” Joshua 6:20-22.

They brought Rahab and her family out to the camp of Israel and then they burned everything in the city except for the gold, silver, brass and iron which they put in the treasury of the house of the Lord.

The story of Jericho is a strong lesson for us on the power of God to overcome all things. The sound of the trumpet is the voice of God. It shows the power in his word and in all things that he says. The seven days are a completeness of time. Six days we labor and on the seventh we rest. This earth suffers and labors for six days, the seventh day we enter into eternity. All things that are evil are destroyed. God does not destroy his children.

Everyone in that city except for Rahab and her household were children of the devil and we all know the types of sins that the Canaanites did. They were sodomites, they practiced human sacrifice and all manner of the worst sin they committed, which is why God destroyed them. For all of us, whether we live to see the coming of the Lord or we die in Christ, our time period, and the life that we live is six days. Six days is the time of our pilgrimage, whether we live a long or a short life. It is the time of our labor and our sorrow. The seventh day is the time of our deliverance and our rest. It is the time of our redemption. The ark of God is the word of God and the trumpets, made of ram’s horn is the power of God and of his voice. Each of those six days the word of God remains with us. His word speaks to us to convince us of righteousness through the power of his Spirit. Yet the forces of Satan remain and continue to resist us. The knowledge of evil and the conscience of sin remain while we are bound to this world at this time. In this example the wall is the knowledge of sin. We can only resist evil. We cannot remove that wall. On the seventh day with the power of the Holy Spirit the wall comes down, everything evil is destroyed and we enter into the rest of the Lord.

Let us also consider that the trumpets

were made of ram’s horn. A horn is the

strength and power of a ram and his chief

means of protection and defense. There

were four horns, one on each of the

corners of the altars. On the Day of

Atonement the blood would be placed on the horns to make atonement for the

people. In the book of Habbakuk it

describes the coming of the Lord. “God

came from Teman, and the Holy One

from mount Paran. Selah. His glory

covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the

light; he had horns coming out of his

hand: and there was the hiding of his

power.” Habakkuk 3:3-4

As we mentioned earlier the book of Revelations shows us specifically the power of seven trumpets in the destruction of this world. The word seven means something is complete or full. There are seven Spirits of God before the throne. It is the Seven Spirits, and the power of God that will overcome the forces of evil. Revelations 4:5, “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thundering and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” Revelations 5:6. “And I beheld, and lo in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and

seven, eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” Christ was shown here as a lamb slain, being a male lamb which is a ram, because it is the time of the atonement and the time that sin and death will be overcome. The seven horns are his power and the seven eyes are his spirit that is sent out in the earth.

On the seventh day, the day of our redemption, we will hear his glorious voice. Nothing can resist him. All that is unclean will be destroyed. We will be free from sin and death. Until that time we must continue to resist evil. The ark of God, his word remains with us. We hear the sound of the trumpet through the spirit warning us to resist evil

and to come out of darkness. We continue to recognize the day of Trumpets to remember our past, because it is the lessons and examples of our fathers, and to strengthen us today as we look forward to our future and our sure and unfailing hope.