The Fall of Jericho

    I am Belshazar, Rahab’s brother.  Here I will chronicle the fall of my city, Jericho.  I consider it to be the most important event in my entire life.  It even surpasses my marriage and the marriages of my children.
    I was a merchant, in that time, enjoying all the comforts that my profession called for.  I had a large house, many servants, extreme success—not only in Jericho, but also in the surrounding area—and 6 sons.  Basically, I was at the top of Jericho’s society, just under the king.
    One ordinary day, I heard that a large camp had been seen by scouts beyond the Jordan River.  At first I did not think this was bad; in fact, I believed it would be good for my business.  Most groups of travelers needed a merchant’s services.  I immediately began to plan for the upcoming days.
    The next day, as I was sitting in my stall in the marketplace without a worry in the world, I saw a platoon of soldiers headed towards the east part of town.  I didn’t think much of it and continued to daydream about profits from the group of travelers.  Suddenly, one of my companions—and fellow merchant—yelled, “Hey, Belshazar!”
    “What?” I responded
    “I heard those soldiers talking as they went by.  They said that there were spies in the city!”
    “No kidding?”
    “No kidding.  They also mentioned that they were being harbored at your sister Rahab’s house.”
    “What!?!”
    “You heard me!  Your ears aren’t as deaf as all that!”
    “Well, thanks for the tip.” I said, quietly seething.  How could my sister harbor spies in her own house?  I decided to ask her about them the next day.
    The truth is that I wasn’t able to talk to her until the next week.  My business had hit a big decline because the city was in a complete state of lockdown.  No one could come in and no one could leave.  This meant I couldn’t move my wares to the neighboring areas, and I couldn’t get new wares from anywhere else.  Since I had been so stressed, I decided to take a walk on the east wall and, in the process, try to talk to my sister about the spies.
    As soon as I got onto the wall, I saw a seemingly endless camp a long way away.  Now I could see why the city had been locked down.  As I stood there gaping at the endless camp, my sister ran me over.
    “I’m so sorry.” She said, “Oh! Hi, Belshazar.”
    “Yeah, it’s me.” I answered.  “Where are you going in such a hurry?”  I was going to ask her about the spies, but there were soldiers watching and listening.  I didn’t want to become involved with harboring spies.
    “Well, I was going to look for you, dad, and the rest of the family.”
    “What’s the occasion?”
    “I need you and the rest of your family to move in with me for the next week or two.”
    “Why should I listen to you?  You were harboring spies!”  I hissed.
    “Because I have to try to keep you safe.  The camp you see over there will attack very soon.  The alleged ‘spies’ I harbored swore that no one that was in my house when they attacked would be hurt.”
    “So you actually did keep men in your house that were spying on Jericho.” I said with some finality.
    “Yes, and they are not the bad sort.  They are actually nice people.  They have this God they worship…”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever.  I guess I’ll believe you now.  But if something happens to me or my family, it’ll be on your conscience.”
    Later that same day I moved in.  I brought my wife and my six sons along with a special servant.  The next day I went out early and saw a line of soldiers, divided in two groups, coming from the camp.  You can bet I didn’t stay and watch.  I ran back inside the house and watched from the window which had a strange red chord tied to it, but I didn’t worry about it.  I watched them as they marched around the city once with a golden box-like thing in the middle guided by strangely-attired trumpet players.
    I didn’t leave the house the next day or the rest of the week.  I only watched from the window for the next day.  After that I got bored.  They seemed to walk around the city only once for six days.  The seventh day one of my sons decided to watch the procession.  He said that they began going around more than once.  They went around seven times that day.  All of a sudden, I heard a loud noise, as if the entire group was yelling along with the trumpets and making the ground shake.  Just as it began, it stopped. Immediately a loud rumbling noise was heard, though for a short time.
    Shortly after, two men came to the door looking for my sister.  She told us to follow her and the two men.  As soon as we left the house my jaw dropped.  The supposedly impregnable walls of Jericho were on the ground destroyed.  We weren’t allowed to stare at the crumbling remains long because we were taken to the leader of the attackers.  I think his name was Joshua.  He accepted us as part of his people and gave us everything we needed to feel right at home.
    Here ends the chronicle of the fall of Jericho.  My family and I lived on, mixing into the Israeli culture—that’s what they called themselves.  My sons married nice Israeli girls and expanded my family.  I have always wondered how they destroyed the walls of my home town with just a yell, but I guess it could have been their all-powerful God.  They actually refuse to speak his name.  Maybe I should try to get to know him.  He may a pretty good guy.