14 Aug A Jericho Wall that Didn’t Fall
Hopefully nobody assumes what this post is about without actually reading the whole way through.
I most definitely do believe that the walls of Jericho fell down. The reality is undisputed, a fact proven by archeology that the walls did in fact collapse.
It was Kathleen Kenyon who did the first notable archaeological dig at Jericho. (Tell es-Sultan, West Bank) Kathleen by no means was a believer that the wall of Jericho fell down by supernatural means, but she did discover that they had collapsed and the city destroyed.
An earthquake perhaps?
The idea of an earthquake is the popular suggestion for those who don’t believe that God had anything to do with what happened.
However there was a small section of the wall that didn’t collapse. That part is shown in the main image at the top of this post. It is this part of the wall that didn’t fall, that demonstrates the love and kindness of the Lord.
Here is what the scripture says concerning a woman called Rahab who sheltered two spies who had come to Jericho.
‘Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death. “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.” So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.’ (Joshua 2:12-15)
Rahab’s house was built into the wall of Jericho, and the Lord through the two spies promised to spare her life. When the walls of the city collapsed, there was one section of the wall that didn’t collapse… the part that held Rahab and her family.
Remarkable!!
While some people deny the Bible completely, and others like Kathleen Kenyon are minimalist in their approach to it, there is in fact a stream of God’s grace that flows through the entire Bible, to all of God’s people.
We can trust His word. He was very involved in what happened and how it happened. If an earthquake is what caused the walls the collapse, it was He who caused the earthquake. And it was He who put his hand on a section of the wall containing Rahab and her family.
And may His hand be upon you.
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Images in this article
Kathleen Kenyon: By UCL Institute of Archaeology – Pye, Elizabeth. “From the Archives: Women of the Early Institute”. Archaeology International 18: 131–133. DOI:10.5334/ai.1817., CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90485463
Jericho Wall: Tamar Hayardeni / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0
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