Without Speaking

Joshua 6:6-14
6So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” 7And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.” 8And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. 9The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. 10But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” 11So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. 12Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. 14And the second day they marched around the city once and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.

The drama created by this week of slowly marching around Jericho is intense. Allow your imagination to see the action (or lack thereof). The city of Jericho was probably somewhere around a mile wide. That’s not very big, but then imagine several thousand people making a slow circuit around the city. We don’t know how many joined in the march, but it was most likely a very large group. My mind sees the Hebrews completely encircling Jericho at some point along the way because there were so many of them. Some of those just starting out around the city would have been met by those who had finished their circuit.

I am most intrigued by the command to remain completely silent. The trumpets were sounding, but the people were told not to speak a word. Think of the tension that verbal silence must have created within Jericho, and the sense of awe among the Israelites. As I think about that silence, I wonder how that would be accomplished today. For reasons I don’t entirely understand, we seem to have a difficult time with the cessation of words. I’ve been a speaker at events more times than I can remember, and whenever I ask the people to remain silent for a time of personal reflection, there are inevitably people who are simply unable or unwilling to do that. To them, it just means that they need to speak quietly to their neighbor rather than not at all. Of course, because I’m generally dealing with adults, there’s not much you can do about that. But it is always a mystery to me. Why can’t we just be quiet for a time?

When I was a kid, speaking in church was completely forbidden. Once you crossed the threshold into the sanctuary, it was about God, not about what you were going to have for lunch or who won the game last night. Those times are gone. Now, the worship time can seem more like cocktail party than a time of reverence before the Lord. For the Hebrews, this was apparently not a problem. And since it was a command from God, I most definitely wouldn’t want to be the one to speak out of turn. God does not care for disobedience. The punishment might have been severe! It must have been quite an experience, to see several thousand people walking silently around the city in obedience to God’s command. I have to admit, I would enjoy that same awe and respect being shown today.

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