Archaeologists doubt the battle happened as sung by Mahalia Jackson. There is no evidence on the site that Jericho was destroyed at the time Joshua was around. Biblical scholars say the message of the Book of Joshua is what's important, not strict historical accuracy. The message: God will keep his word so we should be faithful too.
Joshua lived in the 13th century BC. The Book of Joshua in the Bible was written in the sixth century BC when the kings of Israel needed a heroic past to justify their claim to rule the people. Jericho has been destroyed twenty times since its foundation 12,000 years ago, and some archaeologists say Joshua may have been the one who was behind one of them.
Figuring out which of the twenty levelings of Jericho took place when is like trying to discern which pancake in a gigantic stack of cakes was cooked when. Getting the dates straight is tedious but rewarding if you like that kind of work. Old Jericho is located 16 miles east of Jerusalem and a half mile west of the spot where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. The Dead Sea is 8.5 miles to the south. That Jericho features prominently in the Old and New Testaments gives credibility to its claim to be the oldest city in the world. The archaeologists say "one of the oldest".
For thousands of years there had been alternating periods of cold and drought in the Jordan valley and nobody settled in the area permanently. When the climate stabilized people started farming there. The original name of Jericho meant "fragrant ". UNESCO has named Jericho a World Heritage Site and describes it as the oldest fortified city in the world. Once the ancient people had something of value, they needed a fort to protect it.
When Joshua arrived, if he did arrive, Jericho was held by a Canaanite people. The Hebrews had once been a Canaanite people too but had committed to Yahweh while wandering around in the desert for forty years. When they finally arrived in the Promised Land the heavily fortified city of Jericho blocked their way. The Hebrews were nervous, but God said, trust me. Joshua sent two spies to scout out the city. The spies ended up with a prostitute, as men often do. The king heard of the spies and planned to kill them, but the prostitute, her name was Rahab, had converted to the god of the spies and told the king the spies had left.
Joshua felt more confident when he talked to the spies, but Yahweh's instructions for taking the city must have puzzled him. The Hebrews were to march around the city for six days and then seven times on the seventh day. When they finished marching, their priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted and the walls came tumbling down. If only all wars went so swimmingly. Rahab was saved from the mayhem and married a Hebrew, becoming an ancestor of King David and ultimately of Jesus. All are truly welcome in this religion.
In the New Testament, Jesus healed a blind man (or two blind men) in Jericho and had dinner there with Zaccheus, the repentant tax collector. The Samaritan performed his good deed on the road to Jericho. The modern city of Jericho sits a mile from the original site. That will not protect it from being flattened in the future, KFC and all. The city is in the West Bank and is administered by the Palestinian Authority.
The U.S. State Department says the security environment in the West Bank is complex and can change quickly. The State Department says don't even think of going to Gaza, but the West Bank might be ok; same for Israel. Elsewhere on the internet, most sites say stay home or only go to Jericho with a local guide.
 |
| What more proof do you need? |
Comments
Post a Comment