In Joshua, chapter six, verse seventeen, begins with to be accursed means “to destroy or devote.” The object or person was devoted to God for judgment or His service. All the people of Jericho receive a sentence to utter destruction. The principle accursed teaches that our God, the Creator, may justly destroy those who give in to committing evil and unrighteousness. Jericho was the first fruit of the conquest, while other cities were not treated the same way as Jericho.
The city and its inhabitants should be devoted to destruction, and the riches and spoils of it dedicated to sacred uses. However, it should not become the property of the Israelites. Jericho was the first city in the land of Canaan that fell to defeat. The victory was only fitting that the first fruits of the conquest should be the Lord’s as an acknowledgment of his gift of the land unto them. The conquest of Jericho is due to the Mighty God.
Though it might be some mortification to the Israelites and a trial of their faith and obedience, the city should not become their habitation but be utterly destroyed and not built. All the riches of it should be consumed or converted to other uses, not their own. This Joshua thought to declare to the Israelites, before taking the city, that they might know what they had to do. The successor of Moses remembers what his former leader had done, which is to follow the will of the Lord and not his own.
Today, the difference between people and believers who are blessed and prosper is they follow God’s way and not their selfish desires. Rahab and her family God spare because of her faithful participation in helping the spies. God ensures that Joshua rescues her and her household.