Unashamed (13 page)

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Salmon entered his tent, dismayed at how tired he was. Surely marching a few miles shouldn’t deplete him so much. He knelt and prayed silently, thanking God he hadn’t needed to fight today. He doubted he would have had the strength to raise a sword. He winced as he lay down. The scar of his circumcision was not fully healed. Or was he merely weary from the inactive days of the Passover celebration?

The camp was silent.

Stretching out on his bed, Salmon frowned as he crossed his arms beneath his head. He wondered what Rahab was doing right now. Had she convinced all her relatives to enter her house and stay there? What if someone had seen her lowering two men from her window? The king could have had her executed by now. Salmon’s stomach tightened at the thought, but he forced himself to relax. Surely God would protect a woman who had not only professed, but had also proven, her faith in Him. Salmon had been shaken by her physical beauty when she’d hung boldly out her window and called down to him, but even that did not compare with the courage and conviction she displayed when she put her life at risk to save him and Ephraim. Faith
and
courage.

He had to get his mind off Rahab.

The silence surrounded him, pressing in upon him until it rang in his ears. What better way to end grumbling, questioning, and discussion than by imposing a fast of silence? The Lord God knew the tendencies of His people. It seemed the inclination of all men and women to question and argue and rebel against any command. The rumble of it had begun before the words of command were fully out of Joshua’s mouth.

His father and mother were dead in the wilderness because their generation had rebelled against the Lord. Joshua was wise. Keep the people silent. They became impatient too quickly, thinking they could march in and take the land by themselves. Once before, they’d made that devastating mistake.

Drowsy with exhaustion, he closed his eyes. He could still hear the echoes of marching feet in his head. Hour upon hour, mile upon mile. As they had turned away from Jericho, he’d heard taunts and smarted at the insults shouted from the wall. But he’d clenched his teeth and kept marching back to Gilgal.

No answer came.

When Salmon arose the next morning, he fell in among the armed men of Judah as they took their position among the tribes of Israel. The day’s order had been passed down from Joshua and disclosed by the captains of hundreds.

The armed warriors of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh led the phalanx across the plains of Jericho, followed by the tribes of war-ready men, some priests blowing the rams’ horns and others carrying the Ark of the Covenant. They marched around Jericho once and returned to Gilgal, just as they had done the day before.

The orders stood on the third day . . . and the fourth.

Each day the taunts from the soldiers and people on the walls of Jericho grew worse, as they mocked God and laughed and shouted insults. With each circumference, Salmon glanced at the wall and saw the crimson cord hanging from a window in the wall—Rahab’s house. Twice he saw someone framed in the window, but the person didn’t lean out so that he could see if it was Rahab or one of her relatives. But he knew she was there. The crimson cord told him she was safe.
God, protect her when the battle begins.

Salmon knew wrath was being stored up in the hearts of his countrymen marching around the city with their shoulders back and their heads held high. His own heart burned within him.

With increasing determination, the people obeyed. They kept silent. They picked up their feet and set them down firmly upon the earth, waiting for the Lord’s day of retribution. When it came, they’d be unleashed with swords in hand.

By the fifth day, Salmon was in full strength. The army of Israel was fully healed, rested, conditioned . . . and ready to annihilate those who were blaspheming the Lord God.

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“I can still hear them marching,” Basemath said after the Israelite army had marched around the city, then left, for the sixth time. “My head is pounding with the sound of it. All those thousands of men and their pounding feet.”

“It seemed louder today than yesterday,” Gerah said.

“Every time the Israelites march around the city, the earth seems to tremble a little more. Can you feel it?” Zebach said. “Or am I imagining things?”

Rahab watched Mizraim run his hand over a wooden cabinet that was covered with dust that hadn’t been there at dawn, when the Israelites began marching around the city. He rubbed his fingers together and then brushed his hands off. Frowning, he looked around at the ceiling and the walls. “There’s a crack in the wall by the door.” He glanced at her.

She smiled tightly. “Perhaps tomorrow will be the day of our deliverance, Mizraim. Maybe tomorrow we’ll be free, with no walls around us.” Not even those of their old way of thinking.

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At dawn on the seventh day, the Sabbath day that belonged to the Lord, the marching orders changed. Salmon breathed hard, for it took all his strength to keep still and silent and not raise his fists in the air in exultation. His heart pounded a battle beat as he and the multitude of his brethren maintained discipline.

Today, the battle would begin. Today, he would fight his way into the city, find Rahab, and get her and her family to safety before destruction came upon them.

For today,
Jericho would fall!

THEY’RE
not leaving this time,” Mizraim said, standing at the window. “They’re going around the city again!”

Jobab joined him, leaning past Mizraim to see for himself. “It’s true!”

Rahab checked the water supply. Satisfied there was plenty, she filled a bowl and motioned for Awbeeb. “We must get ready.” She soaked a piece of linen and wrung it out. “We want to look our best when they come for us.” She washed Awbeeb’s dusty face.

He winced as she cleaned his ears. “Will they come soon?”

“We will be ready and hope this is the day the Lord has chosen.”

“How will the soldiers get into the city?”

“The Lord their God will let them in. Now go and ask your mother if she has a fresh tunic for you. Bosem, come and wash your face and hands.” She glanced at her mother and sisters, who sat staring at her. She couldn’t suppress the excitement and joy she felt bubbling up inside her. “Get up! Wash yourselves! Brush your hair. Let’s dress in the best we have! Should we greet those who deliver us with dour, dusty faces and dirty clothing?” She laughed. “We will dress as though we are attending a wedding!” She opened her cabinets and took out robes she had purchased over the years. “Today all Canaan will see that walls cannot prevail against the Lord our God. Today is the day of our deliverance!”

Someone moaned. “That’s what you said yesterday.”

“And the day before,” another added.

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Three times the Israelites marched around the city. Then a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth. It seemed each time Salmon rounded the city, his strength grew, for it was the day of the Lord, and the Lord would take the day. The red cord hung from a window not far from the east gate. Salmon fixed his eyes upon it as he headed around the city for the seventh time, Ephraim marching beside him.

Then the command came. Joshua called out, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies. Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on all Israel. Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the Lord and must be brought into His treasury.”

As the seventh round began, Salmon’s heart beat harder and faster. His feet came down more firmly, joining the thousands of others so that the sound of Israel marching seemed to reverberate against the mountains to the west.

Then the massive army stopped and faced the city. The horns sounded their blast, joined by a million voices in a ferocious battle cry.

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Rahab’s heart trembled at the horrifying sound. As a low rumble sounded, she heard screaming from the men in the gate tower, and she clutched the windowsill as everything around her shook. Screams of terror followed from her mother and sisters, and even her father and brothers were shouting, “The walls!”

Dust billowed up as stones broke loose and tumbled down. An entire section of the wall between her house and the gate was collapsing, stones pouring in an avalanche onto the roadway. Men and women spilled out and were crushed beneath the crumbling fortress.

Then the Israelites broke ranks and came running, their battle cry raising the hair on the back of her neck. Thousands raced toward her, swords drawn and raised. Some who had fallen from the walls were wounded and tried to rise. They were cut down by the first line of Israelites.

Rahab jumped down from the step by the window. “Gather your possessions. We must be ready when our rescuers get here! Quickly, Basemath! Children, stand behind me!” She stepped forward as the screaming of the Israelites grew louder. The outer wall of her house cracked, one section breaking free. “All of you, stand behind me. Quickly!” she cried out above the din. “Don’t be afraid! Stand firm!”

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“Keep your promise!” Joshua shouted to Salmon and Ephraim as they all ran. “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, along with all her family!”

Zeal for the Lord swelled in Salmon until his blood was a fire within him, retribution in his hand. Screaming the battle cry, he ran with all the pent-up rage from days of listening to insults and blasphemies shouted from the battlements. He looked neither to the right nor the left, but ran straight toward the fallen gate, leaping onto it. Swinging his sword, Salmon cut down a Jerichoan soldier who was clamoring to get out of the path of the avenging army of God.

“This way!” Salmon shouted above the din of enraged soldiers and terrified foes. “This way, Ephraim!”

They turned to the right, running along the street down which Rahab had taken them the day they first entered the city. Israelite soldiers by the thousands were pouring over the collapsed walls while Jerichoans fought in confusion, their voices a babel of terror and chaos. Salmon parried a blow and brought his sword down and around, so that the attacker’s weapon flew out of his hand. Slicing through him, Salmon freed his sword and ran on.

There were screams all around him as the vanquished fell before the swords of the victors. “Rahab!” he shouted, racing past the crumbled houses containing their crushed inhabitants. Where was she? One portion of the wall of her house was still standing, though parts of it were crumbling into the street.
“Rahab!”

“We’re here!”

His heart did a strange flip at the sound of her voice. The door of her house lay split in two in the stone-strewn street. Salmon entered the open section of her wall and found her standing in the middle of the house, more than a dozen others behind her. Her arms were outstretched, as if to shield her family. Her lovely face was pale, but her eyes were bright. Ephraim ran in behind him.

Rahab inclined her head in greeting and respect. “Welcome!”

Lowering his sword, Salmon stepped forward and extended his hand. “Come with me.” Her fingers were cool when she took his hand. Studying her, he saw the pulse beating wildly in her throat. She was not as calm as she appeared. “You are safe now, Rahab. We’ll get you out of here.” He drew her toward the gaping doorway.

“If you want to live, follow us!” Ephraim said to the others behind them.

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Rahab felt the heat rush into her face as the young man separated her from her family. She looked back and extended her hand toward them, then saw that her father, mother, brothers and sisters, and their children were obeying Ephraim’s command, and he was taking up a protective position behind them.