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STORIES OF PEOPLE OF GREAT FAITH
JOSHUA - MILITARY STRATEGIST

Israel Crosses the Jordan River
Early the next morning, Joshua and the Israelites packed up and left Acacia.  They went to the Jordan River and camped there that night.  Two days later their leaders went through the camp, shouting, "When you see some of the priests carrying the sacred chest, you'll know it is time to cross to the other side.  You've never been there before, and you won't know the way, unless you follow the chest.  But don't get too close! Stay about half a mile back."
Joshua told the people, "Make yourselves acceptable to worship the LORD, because he is going to do some amazing things for us."
Then Joshua turned to the priests and said, "Take the chest and cross the Jordan River ahead of us."
So the priests picked up the chest by its carrying poles and went on ahead.  The LORD told Joshua, "Beginning today I will show the people that you are their leader, and they will know that I am helping you as I helped Moses.  Now, tell the priests who are carrying the chest to go a little way into the river and stand there."

Joshua spoke to the people:
Come here and listen to what the LORD our God said he will do!  10The Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites control the land on the other side of the river.  But the living God will be with you and will force them out of the land when you attack.  And now, God is going to prove that he's powerful enough to force them out.  Just watch the sacred chest that belongs to the LORD, the ruler of the whole earth.  As soon as the priests carrying the chest step into the Jordan, the water will stop flowing and pile up as if someone had built a dam across the river.

the LORD has also said that each of the twelve tribes should choose one man to represent it.

The Israelites packed up and left camp.  The priests carrying the chest walked in front, until they came to the Jordan River.  The water in the river had risen over its banks, as it often does in springtime.  But as soon as the feet of the priests touched the water, the river stopped flowing, and the water started piling up at the town of Adam near Zarethan.  No water flowed toward the Dead Sea, and the priests stood in the middle of the dry riverbed near Jericho while everyone else crossed over.

Meanwhile, the people of Jericho had been locking the gates in their town wall because they were afraid of the Israelites. No one could go out or come in.

The LORD said to Joshua:
with my help, you and your army will defeat the king of Jericho and his army, and you will capture the town.  Here is how to do it: March slowly around Jericho once a day for six days.  Take along the sacred chest and have seven priests walk in front of it, carrying trumpets.  But on the seventh day, march slowly around the town seven times while the priests blow their trumpets.  Then the priests will blast on their trumpets, and everyone else will shout.  The wall will fall down, and your soldiers can go straight in from every side. 

Joshua called the priests together and said, "Take the chest and have seven priests carry trumpets and march ahead of it." 

Next, he gave the army their orders: " March slowly around Jericho.  A few of you will go ahead of the chest to guard it, but most of you will follow it.  Don't shout the battle cry or yell or even talk until the day I tell you to.  Then let out a shout!"

As soon as Joshua finished giving the orders, the army started marching.  One group of soldiers led the way, with seven priests marching behind them and blowing trumpets.  Then came the priests carrying the chest, followed by the rest of the soldiers.  They obeyed Joshua's orders and carried the chest once around the town before returning to camp for the night.

Early the next morning, Joshua and everyone else started marching around Jericho in the same order as the day before.  One group of soldiers was in front, followed by the seven priests with trumpets and the priests who carried the chest.  The rest of the army came next.  The seven priests blew their trumpets while everyone marched slowly around Jericho and back to camp. They did this once a day for six days.

On the seventh day, the army got up at daybreak.  They marched slowly around Jericho the same as they had done for the past six days, except on this day they went around seven times.  Then the priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua yelled:
Get ready to shout!  The LORD will let you capture this town.  But you must destroy it and everything in it, to show that it now belongs to the LORD.  The woman Rahab helped the spies we sent, so protect her and the others who are inside her house.  But kill everyone else in the town.  The silver and gold and everything made of bronze and iron belong to the LORD and must be put in his treasury.  Be careful to follow these instructions, because if you see something you want and take it, the LORD will destroy Israel.  And it will be all your fault.  The priests blew their trumpets again, and the soldiers shouted as loud as they could. The walls of Jericho fell flat.  Then the soldiers rushed up the hill, went straight into the town, and captured it.  They killed everyone, men and women, young and old, everyone except Rahab and the others in her house. They even killed every cow, sheep, and donkey.

Joshua said to the two men who had been spies, "Rahab kept you safe when I sent you to Jericho.  We promised to protect her and her family, and we will keep that promise. Now go into her house and bring them out."

The two men went into Rahab's house and brought her out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and her other relatives.  Rahab and her family had to stay in a place just outside the Israelite army camp.  But later they were allowed to live among the Israelites, and her descendants still do.  The Israelites took the silver and gold and the things made of bronze and iron and put them with the rest of the treasure that was kept at the LORD's house.  Finally, they set fire to Jericho and everything in it. 26After Jericho was destroyed, Joshua warned the people, "Someday a man will rebuild Jericho, but the LORD will put a curse on him, and the man's oldest son will die when he starts to build the town wall.  And by the time he finishes the wall and puts gates in it, all his children will be dead."

The LORD helped Joshua in everything he did, and Joshua was famous everywhere in Canaan.

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