Joshua 6:17-7:9. Yesterday after all that marching and waiting the time finally came.  The long blast of the trumpet was blown, the people shouted (well technically Joshua told them to shout but they hadn’t shouted yet) and…….. the action stopped.  Why?

Today’s reading starts with the rest of what Joshua said.  The city is under a ban.  In those times when a place was invaded all of the stuff was up for grabs.  The invaders took whatever they wanted, including slaves, wives, what ever, sort of like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride on steroids.  But the Israelites were told to kill everyone and every thing, put all of the gold, silver, etc. in a pile for God, and then burn the city to the ground.  Can you imagine the complaints, “Hey I haven’t had a new pair of sandels in 40 year.”

So the people shout and the walls fall down.  The Hebrew words here mean the walls fell down on themselves.  Archeologists know where the city of Jericho’s remains are.  They have been excavated and explored.  Several times.  In ancient times when a city was destroyed it was common to rebuild a new city right on top of the rubble of the old.  It was too much work to move it all away so they would fill it in and build on top of it.  Because the place the city had been built was a good place for a city they usually would not move it.  Cities were located so they would be easy to defend, had good access to things like water, harbors, roads, and good farm land.  Jericho was located on a small hill (Easier to defend).  There were two walls around the city about 12 feet apart.  There were rooms (like apartments) between the walls.  The outer wall was on the very edge of the hill.  The archaeologists have discovered remains of a city that existed at the time that Joshua invaded.  The outer wall fell over down the hill and the inner wall fell into the space between the walls.  There is also evidence that the city was burned.  Cool, just like the story.

Joshua also told the men who had been spies to go get Rahab and bring here and her family out to safety.  Which they did.  Joshua also cursed the city (See “What’s in a Name”).  This invasion made quite an impression on the people of the land.  According to what Rahab had said the people were already afraid of the Israelites, now they could see just how powerful their God was.

Next in line was a city called Ai.  Again spies.  “Easy city, no problem.”  Not for God of course but there was a problem. Someone had not obeyed the command to put all the gold into a pile for God.  God was mad.  Not that He needed the gold, but that they had disobeyed.  The Israelites attacked Ai and got chased out.  Joshua and the elders cried and mourned until evening by the Ark of the Promise.  Ok, good move.  When things go wrong talk to God.  But then Joshua complained to God and accused Him of abandoning the Israelites.  “Hey God what will the Canaanites think of You now”, he wanted to know.  We already know what went wrong, disobedience.  What good would God’s name be if God could be what ever you wanted Him to be?  Any God would do.  God’s name is only as good as His character and His character is holy (pure and separate).  If the Israelites were going to show God to the world they needed to get the picture right.

Tomorrow Joshua will find out what went wrong and we will see what God does about it.  It’s too bad that Joshua accused God of abandoning the Israelites, He was really looking out for them.  But it is cool that God didn’t strike him with a lightning bolt right then and there.  God allowed Joshua to vent.  One of my favorite books in the Bible is Job.  In that book Job suffers some pretty bad things.  And Job did plenty of complaining  but he also always trusted God.  And God told Job’s friends that Job was right with Him.  I suppose Joshua was still trusting God but didn’t get it and was frustrated.  When we get frustrated and don’t get it we need to talk to God too.  And be honest.  God already knows what we are thinking so it’s not like you are hiding anything from Him.  But like Adam and Even in the Garden, God wants us to admit what we have done (Genesis 3:6-13).  John told some early followers of Jesus that if we confess to God that God will be faithful and will apply Jesus’ sacrifice to us.  He will forgive and clean us up (1 John 1:9).  So be honest with God, come clean, and let Him help you live for Him each day.  Lord thank you that I can be honest with you.  I don’t always see what you see and I don’t always get what is going on.  I also know that the world is full of death and destruction.  Decay brought on by sin.  And sometimes I think you aren’t looking out for me, pretty stupid and pretty selfish.  You died for me, of course you will take care of me (Romans 8:32).  Please help me trust you in the mean time.  And if you don’t mind help me understand sometimes what is going on.  But let me trust no matter what.