This is the ancient city of Jericho.
Excavations have revealed information and evidence that support habitation here
off and on making this city the oldest city in the world.
Beautiful fertile grounds and gushing springs have earned this city the distinction as
"The City of Palm Trees."
It's here at this site that God chose to destroy one of the most fortified cities known in this land.
But also He chose to demonstrate His power and His mercy through the
faith and courage of a young Canaanite woman named Rahab.
The ancient city of Jericho lies about 6 miles from the Jordan River
and about 7.5 miles northwest of the Dead Sea
and about 3,000 feet below Jerusalem, fourteen miles away.
A large gushing spring and the fertile plains surrounding the city
earned it the distinction "The City of Palm Trees."
A major east-west road ran next to the city intersecting with the Jordan at a
ford nearby making Jericho a strategic cross grounds.
The ancient city of Jericho had already been occupied for
many centuries before the Israelites arrived in 1400 BC.
It had an inner wall and an outer fortified wall of several feet thick
enclosing about nine acres of land.
To the Israelites entering the Promised Land, Jericho presented an major obstacle.
I've been to Jericho on several occasions and I've crawled all over that ancient tel
and I've seen for myself the remains of this huge fortification system
with a revetment wall that's still intact and what then was on top this huge a massive wall.
And from outside down below it must
have been sort of a daunting sight to look up and see those massive walls.
The Israelites weren't going to conquer Jericho without God's help.
It was an important city-- a walled city--
and the Israelites had no military advantages to speak of.
They didn't have a trained soldiery. They didn't have any siege machinery.
Apart from God's command, they had no business even attempting to conquer the city.
The city of Jericho was surrounded by this massive wall that you see here.
This embankment or this retaining wall that you see was made of these massive stones
that are 10 to 12 feet high. Up above this retaining wall another wall stood
made of mud brick and that massive wall was 20 to 25 feet tall.
At the crest of the embankment was another mud brick wall
that stood 50 feet above the ground layer.
I can only imagine the pride and the arrogance of the Canaanite people as they looked out
in the valley wondering how the Israelites circling their city could breech their walls.
The book of Joshua tells us that when the citizens of Jericho heard about the
Israelites coming into their land that their hearts did melt and their spirit left them.
Now, that's really a way of saying that they were just plain scared.
But as the citizens of Jericho took refuge inside the massive walls of this fortified city,
I can't help but wonder how many of them began to develop a false sense of security,
especially when the children of Israel-- for several days--just simply walked
around their city walls and never attacked.
For seven days, the Israelites marched around the city.
On the seventh day after their seventh circuit around the city,
the priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted,
and the walls of the city fell.
Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him
and they took the city and they utterly destroyed all
that was in the city with the edge of the sword.
Excavations have shown that the mud brick wall that stood above
the retaining wall some 20 feet fell outwards forming a ramp up into the city.
The Bible describes the event very precisely in Joshua 6:20.
It says that the children of Israel went up into the city every man straight before him.
In addition, archaeologists found several key features,
one of which was the remains of burnt brick, as you see here.
Joshua tells us that Israel burned the city of Jericho and everything in it.
And once again the discoveries of archaeology have verified the truth of this record.
Noted archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon-- despite being an unbeliever--
described the massive destruction she saw in Jericho as follows:
"The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened
by fire and every room was filled with fallen bricks, timbers, and household utensils.
In most rooms, the fallen debris was heavily burnt,
but the collapse of the walls of the eastern rooms seemed
to have taken place before they were affected by the fire."
There had been no less than four major excavations at Jericho by individuals like
Selin and Watzinger, John Garstang, Kathleen Kenyon, and others,
but they're not all in agreement with regard to the date of city level four--
the proposed city that Joshua conquered.
But while there is debate about the dates that are associated with Jericho,
what is not in question is what they found at city level four.
There were plentiful amounts of charred grain in large storage jars; a highly fortified city;
the destruction of the upper city walls before the city was burned;
and most interesting of all, the way that the upper red mud brick wall
fell down flat to the base of the revetment wall.
These findings are incredibly consistent with the biblical description of the fall of Jericho.
We can assume that there were thousands of people inside
the wall when the Israelites came against the city.
Joshua tells us that Rahab's house was incorporated into the fortification system
begging the question of how God would save her house when the walls fell.
In the Book of Joshua, we're introduced to a woman named Rahab.
She lives in Jericho and plays a vital part in the story.
She's identified as a prostitute and her house may have been
some kind of weigh station or a tavern.
She's also engaged in drying flax, which is used to make rope and it's interesting
that a rope will figure into the story of Rahab's salvation.
At the north end of the tel of Jericho, archaeologists made some
astounding discoveries that seemed to relate to Rahab.
The German excavation of 1907 to 1909 found that along the North short stretch
of the Lower City wall, destruction was limited,
leaving remnants of the mud brick wall standing to a height of over eight feet.
What is more, there were houses built against the wall
and it's quite possible that this is where Rahab's house was.
Today at Jericho, the houses on that north end of the tel
where Selin and Watzinger had once excavated, they're no longer in existence.
And the reason for that is is that once those houses were exposed
then rain and simple erosion eradicated those buildings.
But there are photographs and records from that dig that do still survive.
And what they reveal is that this was in the northern part--a poor part of the city.
And yet how is it that those buildings survived to some extent?
Whereas, in the stronger part of the city they were completely destroyed.
Again, there's a lot of debate associated with the findings of Selin and Watzinger
and what date should be given to what they found on the northern end of the tel.
But we still have to come away with some very compelling information here
and really be fascinated by the fact
that what they did find was consistent with what we read about in the Bible.
Since the city wall formed the back wall of the houses,
the spies could have readily escaped.
And from this location on the north side of the city,
it was only a short distance to the hills of the Judean wilderness
where the a spies hid for three days.
Considering Rahab's occupation, real estate values must not
have been too high here since the houses were positioned
on the embankment between the upper and lower city walls,
likely serving as the poor part of town, perhaps even a slum district.
The fact that the German excavators actually
found a city area in a slum part of a neighborhood that hadn't fallen is remarkable.
But what is actually even more remarkable is the courage and the faith of this woman
who risked everything for what she came to believe.
And how then God took her, introduced her into the lineage of Christ
by allowing her to be the great-grandmother of King David.
Then in James chapter 2 in the New Testament, God used her as an exemplar of faith
alongside this great patriarch named Abraham.
Rahab--the great-grandmother of David-- was a truly amazing woman,
not just because of what she did, but who she was inside.
In Hebrews chapter 11, she is one of only two women
mentioned of those who exemplified godly faith.
In James chapter two, it says that she was justified
by her works by saving the spies and sending them out a different way.
This Canaanite woman not only saved the lives of those spies,
but she saved her entire family from the wrath of God.
The Bible says that once the children of Israel left Egypt,
they ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years
and then eventually came to encamp near Shittim.
That's just east or across from Jericho on the eastern side of the Jordan River.
And from there, Joshua 2 tells us that Joshua sent two spies over to Jericho
to no doubt assess the strength and the resolve of the citizens there.
And the Bible then says that they came to lodge at the house of Rehab.
And while they're there, somebody found out that the spies are there.
They told the king and then the King sent soldiers to her house to detain those spies.
By God's providence, word somehow gets to Rahab in advance of the king's men coming
and so she hides the spies under the drying flax on her rooftop.
There, she makes a covenant with them.
She would help them to safety, if they in turn spared her and her family.
The spies then negotiated their side of the agreement.
She had to keep their location a secret. But furthermore, she would also
have to help them escape from the most fortified city in the ancient world.
Rahab stated confidently, "I know that the Lord has given you the land,
that the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land
are faint-hearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord
dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt,
and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan--
Sihon and Og--whom you utterly destroyed." Then the Bible gives us a fascinating detail that
most certainly must have seemed hard to believe.
During the ensuing attack, Rahab would have to gather
all of her family under her roof and identify her house by hanging a scarlet cord from a window.
Rahab hides the spies and helps them escape in an act of faith.
It doesn't seem to be a matter of simple self-preservation.
She says that she has heard of everything God had done.
And yet, she trusts in Him.
The Bible often praises the faith of women and Gentiles
and we are most familiar with the examples we find in the Gospels.
But here is an example in the Hebrew Bible of a Canaanite woman of faith.
Rahab didn't just believe in the existence of God. She literally believed in what He revealed.
That is, she believed it was He who was bringing Israel into the Promised Land.
Risking her very life, she had no more evidence to go on
than the reports that had spread among the people and Jericho.
Whatever rumors or stories made their way through the city,
they must have been powerful.
Out of Rahab's weakness, she was made strong in the faith through the power of God.
Rahab is one of the most interesting people in all of Scripture.
There may be some disagreement about the Old Testament word,
but the book of James uses a word for harlot for Rahab
that is really unmistakable as to what it means.
But she's also a person who sees the mighty works of God.
and responds to those works. She's a person of great inner strength
apparently because she's able to reach out to God through His people to align herself
with those people and to receive the blessings that God has for her.
Do you like Rahab live your life by faith and not by sight?
Rahab's faith and conviction gave her the courage to look death in the face and live.
Nothing really has changed for us in this respect.
Courage is born from unwavering faith, but more importantly her example
reveals to us a remarkable characteristic of God.
He is forgiving and merciful to those who demonstrate faith and courage.
and those who humble themselves unto obedience even when it doesn't make sense.
Even if it isn't the safe thing to do.
This woman--Rahab--had a saving faith that will be remembered for all of time.
God saw so much in this woman that He saw fit to allow this Canaanite woman
to become a mother in the line of the Messiah.
And even though she was a harlot, God only saw her as a sinner--
someone in need of salvation, someone who wanted to be saved
and someone who was willing to step out in faith
and do exactly as she was commanded to do.
A transformed life like that experienced by Rahab is possible for us.
As she was adopted into God's family after being saved from Jericho,
we too will be adopted into God's family with an opportunity to see glory.
God asks of us the same as He did Rahab: "Have faith in Me. Give up everything.
Forget your past. Reside under My protection and I will give you rest unto your soul."
Let us never forget the story of Rahab, a common woman that certainly lived
a hard life inside these walls.
But because of her conviction, because of her courage,
she became an uncommon hero of faith.
If God can transform her life into what He did and if He can take down these great walls,
think about what He can do in your life. He can transform your life in an amazing way
and He can reduce the walls around your heart to rubble if you let Him.
Jericho is one of the oldest cities of the ancient world
and the first city to be taken by the Israelites
on the west side of the Jordan River.
Prized for its natural springs and trade location--
Jericho was a highly fortified city that met its demise when the Israelites
had entered into the Promised Land. A great battle took place here,
but the Bible revealing that the walls fell down flat
and the children of Israel marching up into that city and destroying it by fire.
However, within the last 100 years or more, another great battle has been going on in Jericho.
And it's the battle over whether or not archaeologists have actually discovered
the city destroyed by Joshua as revealed in the Bible.
While there's still a lot of debate, the evidence it's compelling and it's fascinating.
The archaeology of Jericho, coupled with the biblical account
have captured the imagination of many.
But just as compelling is the story of a woman by the name of Rahab,
whom God saved from that destruction. She is a prostitute, but as revealed in James 2,
becomes an exemplar faith.
Her story is one of the rare jewels to truly be examined
in this treasure trove of facts and information.
In the days of the Israelite conquest of Canaan, Jericho was considered an impregnable city,
able to resist the best that armies could throw at it.
With its thick and high walls, the inhabitants should have felt safe and secure.
But they didn't.
God's victories over Israelites enemies had signaled a new day was coming.
As Rahab told the Israelite spies, the inhabitants of Jericho were afraid,
and they were right to be.
For us to stand amidst the remains of this ancient and fortified city
impressed upon us all of the power that God brought to bear in destroying
these walls and in securing victory for His people.