Upon first thought, you may conclude that this will be either a curiosity or a complete waste of time. It will be a curiosity, but I hope that it won’t be a waste. Because I am going to allegorize the city of Jericho for you. If we look at Jericho as an illustration of a common ordinary man, there could be a lesson or two for the common ordinary men and women of the 21st century. Jericho was a city touched by grace.
But let’s begin with the city BEFORE God’s grace.
For centuries there has been a city not far from the western bank of Jordan River, called “Jericho.” The Jordan River is one of the natural divisions in that part of the world, and this made Jericho a important community. It was the bottleneck for travelers from the east and west, and in some ways from the north as well. Particularly during the spring run-off there were relatively few places to cross the Jordan, but about five miles from Jericho the river slowed and broadened, creating a nice, passable ford. Not only has Jericho had this strategic importance, but has also been flooded a few times, making the soil in the area very good for crops. After about a dozen irrigation ditches were dug, that part of the Jordan valley became extremely valuable. Jericho has been variously called, “the city of the plain,” “the city of Palm Trees,” and a couple of other picturesque names for the tourists and travelers.
We don’t hear of the city during the days of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. Its first Biblical mention is in Numbers 26 when the Lord ordered the second census of Israel. Eventually the city and valley were designated as property of the tribe of Benjamin. But at that time Israel was encamped on the eastern side of the river across from Jericho. They were not far from Mount Nebo where Moses’ earthly life came to an end – “over against Jericho.” Perhaps one of the last things which Moses saw in this world was the valley of the Jordan and the city of Jericho.
At that time, the city, its king and its inhabitants were Canaanites – they were idolaters. And this is sermonic point #1 – we all come into this world heathen – sinners – aliens from God. We are born this way, just as the people of that city had been born idolaters and spiritually dead for centuries. As such, they and we, are cursed – doomed to destruction. And this brings us up to Joshua and the battle of Jericho.
Before the battle for the highly protected frontier city of Jericho, Joshua sent two spies across the river to reconnoiter. I hope that you remember the wonderful story. They were able to get access to the city, and made their military assessment, even though it had nothing to do with the Israel’s victory. The divine purpose for risking their lives, like the ministry of a couple of missionaries, was to make contact with a woman there “who had found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Rahab was one of the wicked of that community – a sinner, an idolater, an harlot. But she was one whom the Lord had chosen to salvation, and Jehovah brought His missionaries and the elect lady together. She protected them and then helped to them to escape the city, instructing them to flee west before returning across the river.
Generally speaking, most unbelievers have various defenses to protect them from the truth of God. They have their walls, and their soldiers; they have their spies and their intellects. But at the same time there is that still small voice of conscience – like Rahab. She said, “we have heard about your God, and all that He has done; we are all terrified.” “The Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” Jehovah granted that woman a tiny spark of faith, and He saved her – body, soul and spirit – from the destruction which her sins deserved. She was saved out from a city – a people – doomed to eternal destruction.
When the missionary spies eventually returned to camp, a very unique battle commenced. It lasted for seven days without a shot being fired until the city walls crumbled and the soldiers of Israel marched right in. As it will be during the Lord’s final judgment, there was not a single person spared, except for the one person and her family upon whom the Lord showered His grace. Rahab’s salvation was not because she spared the spies, but rather she spared the spies because the Lord’s mercy and grace had already been given to her.
But there was no mercy or grace given to the Israelite named “Achan.” The entire city belonged to God, and there was not supposed to be anything taken from it. Achan, overcome with lust, chose to disregard God’s command to destroy the city and all within it. He stole the property of God, and he died as a result. He had a greater love for the world – for the things of Jericho – than he had for Jehovah.
The thing which I’d like you to understand is that God’s judgment was upon this city. There was nothing righteous in that city – nothing. There was none who fully understood the Lord; there was none who sought after Jehovah. Except for one – whom the Lord had touched – Rahab the sinner. The population of the city was all gone out of the way, they were together become unprofitable; there was none that did any good before the Lord, but one (by grace). Their feet were swift to shed Israelite blood, destruction and misery were in their ways. And of the way of peace they had no idea. And now listen carefully to Joshua 6:26 – “And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, cursed be the man before the Lord, that raiseth up and buildeth this city Jericho. He shall lay the foundation therefore in his first born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.” The Canaanite city of Jericho is a figure of the idolater, the sinner, the man lost without Christ. But praise be to God, Who reaches down to rescue a few unworthy people like me, and like Rahab.
After the razing of the city, Israel encamped in that valley and from there fought for the occupation of the Promised land. For the next four hundred years, the Jordan valley where Jericho had been was occupied by beduins, soldiers, farmers and travelers. In II Samuel 10 when David was king of Israel, he sent some ambassadors to the family of the king of the Ammonites. When they were shamefully treated by having half their beards shaved, David ordered them to remain down by the Jordan, until their hair was sufficiently grown out again. David said, “Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return (to Jerusalem).” That area was still called “Jericho” but there was no city there at the time. It wasn’t for another century – until the days of Ahab, king of Samaria, that a new city of Jericho was built. I Kings 16:34 says, “In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.” The city of Jericho was rebuilt about five hundred years after its destruction, but it was at a terrible cost. Hiel, from the idolatrous community of Bethel, lost two of his sons as the work progressed. As an apostate Israelite, he probably had no idea that there had been a curse laid upon Jericho. The Word of God was crystal clear on the subject, but as an unbeliever, Hiel had never read it.
Jericho is an illustration of wicked humanity. The city was filled with sin and sinners, just as we find in the people of the world today. And the city was condemned with an unavoidable curse. But for the most part, those condemned sinners knew nothing about the curse.
But Jericho, like humanity, has been TOUCHED BY THE GRACE OF GOD on several occasions.
Despite the curse against the man who would dare to rebuild, the city was rebuilt and re-occupied. And God began to send more missionaries into its midst, just as He had sent the spies to Rahab. The next few times that we read the name of that city, we also read the names of Elijah and Elisha. There was one of their famous “schools of the prophets” in or near Jericho. There were young preachers, and Godly musicians, and young Christian families, studying for the ministry. While there were other school as in Bethel, I have never heard of one in Jerusalem. The Lord put sons of the prophets in some of the smaller, wicked places, in order to be a blessing and a witness to those communities – including accursed Jericho. And where was it that you heard the gospel?
There are three or four other incidental references to Jericho in the Old Testament. For example, in Jeremiah we read that the last king of Judah was captured by the Babylonians as he tried to escape through Jericho. And in Ezra and Nehemiah it is said that some of the people whose families had originally come from Jericho worked as teams in rebuilding Jerusalem after the captivity.
And then we come to the New Testament where we have our first reference here in Matthew 20. The Lord graciously reached down and blessed a handful of blind beggars. And as I tried to express this morning, we are all blind beggars – in desperate need of the Lord. Jericho is a type, or picture, of the place you and I live.
As far as I can tell there are only two other references to Jericho in the rest of the Bible. One was incidental – a part of Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan. “And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.”
The last reference came to me as a bit of a surprise. The surprise is that it is NOT to be found in the Book of Matthew. If Matthew had recorded it, it would have been found right here in chapter 20 next to the blind beggars. Luke says, “And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”
I have preached from this scripture before. As I looked up my notes from eighteen years ago, I couldn’t help but notice that the main points were very similar to those of this morning’s message. For Bartemaeus, it was blindness which made him seek the Saviour; but with Zacchaeus it was curiosity. Out of that blindness and out of that curiosity, there arose an opportunity. After running ahead of the crowd and climbing into that sycamore, Christ heard his plaintive cry, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.” On that beautiful early Spring day, Zacchaeus became a child of God. He who was a descendent of Abraham, by faith became a true son of Abraham. And where was it that this transformation took place? Like that of Rahab, and like that of Bartemaeus, it was just outside the accursed city of Jericho.
We still live in an accursed community, and we come from an accursed race – the sinners of humanity. We are spiritual harlots, spiritual blindmen, and servants of the wicked government of the world. But the Lord is so full of grace. Praise God from whom all blessing flow.