17 "The city shall be under the ban , it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord ; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live , because she hid the messengers whom we sent . 18 "But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban , so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban , and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. 19 " But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord ; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Joshua 6:17-19
Commentary on Joshua 6:17-27
(Read Joshua 6:17-27)
Jericho was to be a solemn and awful sacrifice to the justice of God, upon those who had filled up the measure of their sins. So He appoints, from whom, as creatures, they received their lives, and to whom, as sinners, they had forfeited them. Rahab perished not with them that believed not, Acts 14:31. She, and they with her, were plucked as brands from the burning. With Rahab, or with the men of Jericho; our portion must be assigned, as we posses or disregard the sign of salvation; even faith in Christ, which worketh by love. Let us remember what depends upon our choice, and let us choose accordingly. God shows the weight of a Divine curse; where it rests there is no getting from under it; for it brings ruin without remedy.