{"id":300,"date":"2021-05-12T17:17:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/angelobiblestudy.com\/?page_id=300"},"modified":"2021-05-12T17:18:28","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:18:28","slug":"the-principle-of-authority-at-jericho","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/angelobiblestudy.com\/?page_id=300","title":{"rendered":"The Principle of Authority at Jericho"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Principle of Authority at Jericho <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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by Dave Miller, Ph.D.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The principle of authority is a well-established doctrine of the Bible. Stated briefly, the Bible teaches that no human being has the right to do anything without prior permission from God (see Miller, 2003). This principle applies to human conduct in every area of life\u2014from the foods we eat to the clothes we wear (e.g., 1 Timothy 2:9; 4:3-5). We are to be governed by God\u2019s will in every aspect of life. For example, no human has the right to engage in illegal drug trafficking\u2014since God\u2019s Word gives no such permission. No human being has the right to set himself up as the head of Christ\u2019s church\u2014since God\u2019s Word gives no such permission. No human being has the right to worship God incorporating humanly devised means (e.g., mechanical musical instruments, choirs, \u201cpraise teams\u201d)\u2014since God\u2019s Word gives no such permission.<\/p>

Among the myriad of passages that expound this principle is Joshua chapter six, in which God instructed Joshua to have the people march around the city of Jericho once a day for six days, seven times on the seventh day, and then to shout when the priests blew their trumpets. When Joshua conveyed these instructions to the population, he added this clarification: \u201cYou shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, \u2018Shout!\u2019 Then you shall shout\u201d (Joshua 6:10, NKJV). Though God did not specifically tell the people\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0to shout on days one through six, Joshua drew that very inference and correctly clarified the point for the people. In doing so, he was simply articulating the familiar biblical principle of authority: \u201cthat you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, \u2018Do not go beyond what is written\u2019\u201d (1 Corinthians 4:6, NIV).<\/p>

However, some critics have objected to the biblical principle of authority as illustrated in Joshua chapter six. They allege that because the priests blew on the rams\u2019 horns on days\u00a0other\u00a0<\/strong>than the seventh day (vss. 8,13), the priests were not required to have divine authority to do so. Critics insist that God\u2019s silence on blowing trumpets on days other than the seventh day meant that the priests were free to exercise their own discretion and blow their trumpets on those days. They then draw the conclusion that, in like manner, since God has not spoken one way or the other on such matters as instrumental music in worship, handclapping, baby dedications, and praise teams, then worshippers are free to include or omit such actions as they choose.<\/p>

Consider the following refutation of this line of thinking. In the first place, the objection fails to come to grips with Joshua\u2019s own logic on the matter. It was\u00a0Joshua<\/strong>\u00a0who understood God\u2019s instructions to forbid shouting on days one through six, though God did not\u00a0explicitly<\/strong>\u00a0forbid it. So to discount the biblical principle of authority, one would have to demonstrate that Joshua was mistaken in the conclusion that he, himself, drew regarding the lack of authority to shout on days one through six.<\/p>

In the second place, the text gives several contextual indicators to show that the authority principle applies consistently to both the matter of blowing the trumpets and the matter of shouting. Notice the English grammar of the text in verse four: \u201cAnd seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams\u2019 horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets\u201d (NKJV). Observe the \u201cAnd\u201d (a\u00a0waw<\/em>\u00a0in Hebrew) that begins the sentence and the period after \u201cark\u201d followed by \u201cBut\u201d (also a\u00a0waw<\/em>). The \u201cAnd\u201d links back up with verse three, indicating that the trumpets accompanied the priests for the first six days. The period places closure on that point, and the \u201cBut\u201d shows that the thought regarding blowing the trumpets on the seventh day is in addition to the use of the trumpets prior to that time. These observations are borne out by the way various translators have handled the Hebrew text of Joshua 6:3-4:<\/p>