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God wanted to instill fear in the inhabitants of
Canaan by having the Israelites supernaturally take the city of
Jericho with its massive walls. God's unorthodox strategy involved
silently marching around Jericho once each day for six days and
returning back to camp. On the seventh day they marched silently
around the city seven times, and when Joshua gave the command to
shout, the walls fell down flat. The only section that survived was
where Rahab the harlot had her house. The city was wide open for the
taking and the inhabitants were killed except for Rahab and her
family. The victory at Jericho was dramatic as the Israelites easily
conquered one of the strongest fortified cities in Canaan but Achan
secretly took plunder from Jericho despite God's ban on looting. As
a result, the Israelites suffered an embarrassing defeat in the next
battle against the second class fighting force from the small town
of Ai. The invasion was put on hold while Joshua sought the Lord. A
supernatural investigation revealed Achan was the culprit. There was
no mercy as he and his family were stoned to death and burnt with
fire. |
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