Joshua 6:24-27
Summary for Josh 6:24-27: 6:24-27 a Jericho’s citizens had already been executed (6:21 b). Now Joshua destroyed the town and its contents. The firstfruits of the spoils of war, as with all else, belonged to God. 6:24 c The fire melted and purified the silver, gold, bronze, and iron. These metals had probably been used for the figures of pagan gods. As these images melted, the metals were purified and made fit for dedication to God.6:25 d The statement that Rahab lives among the Israelites to this day affirms the breadth and depth of God’s grace. Rahab was not only accepted into Israel; she ultimately was an ancestor of the Messiah (see Matt 1:5 e).
6:26 f Joshua placed a curse upon the site because Jericho was the first Canaanite town to resist God’s purposes in bringing Israel into the land. Jericho was also the first town to experience God’s judgment upon Canaan’s great wickedness. As the firstfruits of Israel’s conquest of Canaan, it belonged to God (Exod 13:2 g; 23:19 h). God executed Joshua’s curse on the first man to defy it (1 Kgs 16:34 i; cp. Josh 7 j).
6:27 k As the first chapter in Israel’s conquest of Canaan closed, both the Israelites and the Canaanites could see that the Lord was with Joshua, as he had promised (1:5 l, 9 m; cp. 4:14 n). Crossing the Jordan and taking Jericho established Israel’s presence in the land, causing the people of Canaan to fear Israel and Israel’s God.
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