The Bible In Paintings, #60: GOD FLATTENS JERICHO

Bing Images ^ | c. 2200 BC -- c. 95 AD | Father, Son & Holy Spirit

[Hebrews 11:6]

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By FAITH the walls of Jericho fell, after the army
had marched around them for seven days.

By FAITH the prostitute Rahab, because she
welcomed the spies, was not killed with
those who were disobedient.

Hebrews 11:30-31

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GOD FLATTENS
JERICHO

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J O S H U A . . 6
New International Version, emphases added
Abrdgd – the complete text is in your Bible, OR:
TO READ JOSHUA 5-6 IN FULL, Click Here
TO HEAR MAX McLEAN READING IT, Click Here
TO HEAR A DRAMATIZATION OF IT, Click Here

1 4 0 6 . . B. C.

6 So Joshua called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” 7 And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”

8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. 10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” 11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.

14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

15 On the seventh day, they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.

20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. 22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.” 23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her.

24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

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by JOHN MARTIN
“Fall of the Walls of Jericho” -- Mezzotint

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by JOSEPH VAN BREDAEL
“The Fall of the Walls of Jericho”

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by HENRY HUGH ARMSTEAD
“The Fall of the Walls of Jericho”

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Illuminated Bible, 1507
“Joshua in Silver Armor Leads the Assault on Jericho”

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by JAMES TISSOT
“The Taking of Jericho”

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by GUSTAVE DORÉ
“Joshua Spares Rahab”

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SNEAK PEEK: Next time,

ILLUMINATED INTERLUDE,
IN THREE SPARKLES

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R E S O U R C E S

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If you'd like to see for yourself the Bing page
which yielded most of the works above, here is the link:

"Jericho’s Fall"

Where no attribution appears below a work, the artist's name is unknown

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Links to three masters who painted Biblical scenes prolifically:

REMBRANDT HARMENSZOON van RIJN

GUSTAV DORÉ
241 wood engravings for
La Grande Bible de Tours

JAMES TISSOT
180 watercolors depicting Bible scenes

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This series keeps moving from one Bible passage to another,
so here is a fascinating and enjoyable link to assist in following along:
BIBLE TIMELINE

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Finally, here are links to the
PREVIOUS 59 POSTS IN THIS SERIES
with descriptive titles, to assist you in finding those which interest you

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SPECIAL THANKS
to FReeper left that other site,
who allowed God to make her His conduit
for incomparable enthusiasm, encouragement,
education, advice and technical assistance!

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NOTES ON MY SELECTION CRITERIA

Quality
The Bible is my focus, not the art. This is The Bible in Paintings, not “Great Paintings” nor even “Good Paintings.” So, works need not be masterpieces to qualify for inclusion here—they don’t need to be housed at the Louvre nor auctioned by Sotheby’s. They only need to illustrate successfully some aspect of the Biblical text or, frankly, just tickle my fancy, which I'm asking the Holy Spirit to guide. So, with such forgiving filters, it means that you're seeing practically everything I'm finding.

Pacing
The pace may seem glacial to those eager to see their favorite events. My commission is to search for art on each Bible passage in sequence; if I find enough, then it becomes the next installment, even if undramatic. But where there is no art, that Bible passage goes untold here. The Bible is a thick book, as you know; but we'll get there eventually, Lord willing. Always remember:
love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is a fruit of the Spirit!

I’m just having fun—and I hope you are, too!
Thank you for your understanding.

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[Hebrews 11:6]

At the Holy Spirit's prompting, I am surveying "Bible art" to give God glory, as many of these artists have done, and for my own amusement and learning; and I thought others might enjoy it and be blessed by it, too. My plan is to proceed methodically from left-to right, Genesis to Revelation, as the Lord wills. Back soon with another.

The Bible encourages us to meditate on it (Ps. 1:1-3, 119:11-16, etc.); these artists have done so, and their works can assist us and enrich our own thoughts about biblical characters, incidents and concepts, and increase our faith in He who is behind it all. As you encounter and consider these images and the related Scriptures and the Spirit enlightens your understanding, please share it with us!

But it is not only oil-on-canvas that can so help us; I refer to the astonishing video series The Chosen, which strolls through the four Gospels at the most leisurely pace. The eight episodes of Season 1 are finished, and the second of a planned seven seasons is coming soon. I say "leisurely" because after an entire year’s viewing Jesus still has only seven of the apostles (although He's preparing to call up Thomas from the minor leagues--but Thomas is skeptical, of course). Anticipating a canvas of fifty-plus hours instead of a movie's paltry two hours, The Chosen turns the characters (especially including Jesus!) into three-dimensional humans and brings the Gospels alive--you have never seen anything even remotely like it! Here is the Official Trailer.

Here is a link for free viewing of The Chosen: “Works with your phone, tablet, and you can cast to your Roku or Chromecast.” Last fall I paid $34.98 for DVDs and ongoing internet access—best 35 bucks I’ve ever spent (I don’t recall how much our marriage license cost, but then it was 42 years ago).

[Hebrews 11:6]

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F o r . . y o u r

CONSIDERATION

ENJOYMENT

& BLESSING

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[Hebrews 11:6]

Ping List for the series
"THE BIBLE IN PAINTINGS"

To receive an alert for each new posting
in this series, either reply here or FRmail me.

[bk1000]

I have seen this thread, but today was the first time I’ve opened it.
Very nice! Thanks for posting.

[subterfuge]

Awesome, thanks for posting!

[left that other site]

Imagine being a Jericho resident and watching the mishegas every day for a week. It must have been a sight!

PS. I’ve been there. Got food poisoning.

[Hebrews 11:6]

So, what was it about God famously knocking a city flat that induced you finally to take the plunge? Just had to see the carnage, eh? I imagine that, if I were not the creator, the same process would occur for me: notice, notice, notice, notice--oh, that sounds interesting, might as well take a peek.

Now that you've sampled, there's a link near the bottom to all previous posts (although the first few are rudimentary and rough, as I was climbing the ol' learning curve). But they all have descriptive titles, so you can pick whatever interests you. If flattened cities are compelling, try #13: it's Sodom and Gomorrah, but I forgot the title!

[Hebrews 11:6]

There was certainly no subterfuge about the Israelites’ intention: “We have you zeroed in!” God gave PLENTY of warning, yet apparently only Rahab and kin took Him up on it. Glad you liked it.

[Hebrews 11:6]

See my post #8, please.

[bk1000]

Really I don’t think the destruction of Jericho was not a factor, although Joshua did not play around. I had seen the thread every day and just decided to take a look. I wasn’t expecting so many images, but back in those days that was about all you could paint without being accused of blasphemy of some sort.

[Hebrews 11:6]

I was just messin' with ya--very glad you took a look.

Your observation about the limited safe topics for artists back then rings true--that had not occurred to me, so thanks for contributing it. Of course, it enriches these threads now!

Another limitation for them was the nearly total lack of visual information available to them: no photographs and no internet to display them, so they were pretty much flying blind about foreign lands and ancient times. We had a chuckle at Tintoretto's expense when he portrayed Egyptian women as pale-skinned curly-haired blondes in ball-gowns.

[Maudeen]

And the walls came a tumblin’ down . . .

[Maudeen]

And the walls came a tumblin’ down . . .

[Hebrews 11:6]

God promised.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

Not too many pictures depict the walls falling outward, nor were there many pictures showing iron age, Middle Eastern construction.

I had the privilege of standing on Tel Jericho in the West Bank in October 2019. There was on an excavation that showed the walls falling outward. Very satisfying to see archeological evidence for God’s word.

[Hebrews 11:6]

One of this series' chief lessons for me has been my now rather entrenched cynicism about artists' feeble imaginations and limited technical understanding--with but a few exceptions, notably and reliably Tissot and Doré.

Were I a better chronicler I'd have tracked down and included aerial photos of the site. I'll have to imagine what you felt, standing there, other than your stated satisfaction. I'll never get there, but my travel itinerary during the Millennial Reign is extensive and certainly will include Jericho.