Chapter 34: Jericho
The Israelites did not just assault this legendary city of old, with its mythical walls of extraordinary height and strength. No, the Israelites, led by Joshua and the Ark of the Covenant, were instructed to march around that great, fortified city of old with all of their armed personnel once a day for six consecutive days, with only seven priests permitted to blow loudly on their trumpets. The army of Israel was instructed not to say a word during this weeklong drama.
The ritual of the seven trumpets was an ancient, symbolic gesture of destruction, symbolizing the renewal of all things. 2 The conquest, then, represented the start to the renewal of the Promised Land bequeathed in Deuteronomy. Jericho was considered the first fruits of the Covenant Land, offered to God in a holy ritual, as part of the Holy Covenant with Israel.
The battle of Jericho commenced during the Feasts and Sabbaths of Passover and the Feasts and Sabbaths of Unleavened Bread. In fact, the ritual of the trumpets began on the first day of Passover, while Passover was celebrated just before the attack. 3 If Jericho was not selected for special significance and religious meaning, then why was the peculiar preparatory, religious, and ritualistic ceremony performed throughout the seven- day Passover and Unleavened Bread Feast to the Lord? Why not wait until after the Holy Feast of God? What was the rush in or importance of waging war during the Holy Festival? Remember, 1,500 years later, another holy spectacle took place on the day after Passover and the start to the Feast of Unleavened Bread; it was the holy first offering of the first fruits of salvation, the crucifixion of Christ.
Note, too, that on Preparation Day of this week- long holy festival, all leavened bread and all yeast were removed from every home and dwelling of the Israelites. 4 The puffing action of the yeast on the bread was symbolic of pride, haughtiness, and sin. 5 Pride symbolically represented Nephilim as the cause of the violence and corruption of the antediluvian epoch. All this symbolism cannot be a simple coincidence, for the Bible does not work through coincidences.
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