What sacred memories cling to that section of the river Jor'dan! Five hundred and fifty years after the parting of the waters for the passage of Is'ra-el they were again divided. The waters parted for E-li'jah and E-li'sha just before E-li'jah was carried to Heaven in a fiery chariot, and again for E-li'sha as he journeyed back to his work on the west side of the river. Then, many hundreds of years later, the Sav'ior was Baptized somewhere within this vicinity.
After the two stone memorials had been erected, the Is'ra-el-ites moved to a place called Gil'gal, about six miles west of the river, and within a mile of the city of Jer'i-cho. Here the Tabernacle was erected, and the tents of Is'ra-el were set up in the usual order. Gil'gal was to be the camping place of Is'ra-el for many months.
On the fourteenth day of the month, just four days after the crossing of the Jor'dan, the Pass'o-ver was celebrated in all the camps of Is'ra-el. This was the third time that Is'ra-el engaged in the Pass'o-ver feast, the first time in E'gypt, and the second at Si'nai. It had been neglected for thirty-nine years in the wilderness while Is'ra-el was living in disobedience to the Covenant which they violated by not entering Ca'naan when at Ka'desh-Bar'ne-a the first time.
The harvest season was at hand when Is'ra-el began the conquest of Ca'naan. The people went into the fields, and vineyards, and orchards to gather food, and this marked the end of the manna. For thirty-nine years this food had fallen from Heaven, but now it was no longer needed.
In the course of his preparations for an attack upon Jer'i-cho, Josh'u-a walked around the walls of the city on a tour of inspection. He was met by a Heavenly Messenger who appeared to be an Angel, but who in reality was the Son of God, who many centuries later came into the world as a Sa'vior for all mankind. The same Divine Personage had appeared to Ja'cob hundreds of years before at the ford of Jab'bok, and to Mo'ses in the burning bush in the wilderness. He came to strengthen the faith of Josh'u-a, and to give him courage for the battles which lay just ahead.
In His appearance to Josh'u-a He called Himself "Captain of the Host of the LORD," suggesting that His presence made Holy the ground on which they stood, and advising him that Jer'i-cho would be conquered through the power of the LORD. Josh'u-a bowed before Him with great reverence, and humbly accepted the solemn charge placed upon him.
All the Ca'naan-ites and Am'o-rites living west of the Jor'dan had been smitten with terror by the sight of the great Host of the Is'ra-el-ites. They had heard of the conquest east of the Jor'dan, and their hearts melted with fear and cowardice as they thought of the power which God gave to His chosen people. The gates of Jer'i-cho had been closed, and no one was permitted to go out. There seemed to be no thought of attacking the Is'ra-el-ites, who were encamped just one mile away.
Is'ra-el's plan of attack against this walled and strongly fortified city was very strange, yet its results were truly miraculous. More than five hundred thousand soldiers marched silently around the outer walls of the city once a day for six days in succession. The Ark of the Cov'e-nant was carried by the priests in the front section of this great army. In the vanguard were picked soldiers, probably the forty thousand men of the tribes of Reu'ben, Gad, and Ma-nas'seh. They marched ahead of the priests who bore the Ark, while the rest of the army marched behind it. Seven priests marched before the Ark, each of them carrying a trumpet, and they all blew upon the trumpets as a signal for the march.
