More Hardpan [Joshua ch.6]

Vintage Sunday School -- one of the all-time classics. Joshua fit the battle of Jericho... The sixth chapter is where the story is recorded, trumpets and all.

Here’s the thing: Isn’t it hard to read this drama as anything other than either a) a flannel-graph classic, or b) an R-rated screenplay filled with psyche-blistering violence? Ugh... talk about hardpan! I’m afraid I can’t dig very deeply into this one.

But a question has haunted me for a couple of weeks now since the last time I read it. In verse 2 the Lord is reported to have said,
“I am putting into your hands Jericho, with its king and all its brave soldiers.”

My question is this: If Jericho was in Israel’s hands, could Israel have interceded on their behalf? Instead of obliterating them, could they have negotiated their redemption?