Jericho's Curse

Passage: Joshua 6:26-27; 1 Kings 16:34

When the dust settles on the ruins of Jericho, it seems as though the drama is over. The mighty walls of Jericho have fallen not to a great army or some revolutionary military technology, but to a tiny parade of Israelites. This story draws out the steady theme of the Old Testament: when the nations of the world encounter the Israelites, they encounter the God of the Israelites. Anything the Israelites accomplish they accomplish not by their power and ingenuity but by the mighty hand of God.

Following the fall of Jericho, an intriguing pronouncement is made over the ruins:

At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:
"At the cost of his firstborn son
will he lay its foundations;
at the cost of his youngest
will he set up its gates."

At first glance it seems that this is the end of the story. Joshua and the Israelites move on, and Jericho is left as a heap of rubble forever.

Not so. If you read through the Book of 1 Kings, you come across this brief reference – little more than a footnote – at the end of chapter 16:

In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

We don’t know exactly why this verse is included in 1 Kings 16. Chronologically it coincides with the reign of Ahab, the real focus of the passage. Nothing more is said about Hiel of Bethel, his unfortunate sons, and his motivation for rebuilding the cursed city. What this passage does make clear is that God makes good his commitments – whether those commitments are blessings or curses. If God says something is so, so it will be.
I wonder if Hiel knew about the curse. If so, I wonder if he thought he’d just take his chances. We’ll never know. What we do know is that the Old Testament is full of warnings about betting against the Word of God.