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JOSHUA CONQUERS THE LAND

Joshua  7-12 (and beyond)

He said they could, and he showed they could. Back in the Book of Numbers, Joshua and Caleb said the Israelites could conquer the Promised Land. Forty years later Josh led the people to do exactly that. The last two weeks we saw Joshua succeed Moses, lead the people across the Jordan, and bring down the walls of Jericho.

Now imagine a map of Israel. Starting at Jericho, draw a big figure 8 from south to north. If you carefully follow the individual battles you will find they will roughly follow that 8-track!

Some general things to remember about the conquest. They never completed it. Here and there verses seem to say this, but at the end of the book, Joshua himself tells the people there is land yet to be won. And the whole book of Judges shows enemies from outside and within the land. In some cases, like Gilead, Israel made treaties instead of conquering the city. Later those cities became sources of idol worship that constantly troubled Israel and tempted its people.

We recognize the word “harem” as a separate area of women who serve as wives and mistresses of kings and other important people. The word itself means “dedicated,” as if for some purpose. When the Lord sent Israel into the wars of conquest, He declared each city harem, or dedicated to Him. Israel was not to plunder, take slaves, or in any way benefit from the conquest. The whole shebang was dedicated to the Lord and was to be burned to the ground. That included all of its citizens.

Increasingly, opponents of the church criticize this practice as amounting to ethnic cleansing. How can a God of Love justify the killing of innocent people, especially women and children who were not warriors. We react negatively when we read of modern day fighters in the Middle East and elsewhere doing the same thing. There are several considerations we need to consider if we explore this seriously.

First, one possibility I heard often in my youth, although not very often today, is the concept of progressive revelation. This view states that God revealed to Israel as much as they could understand at the time, and this was how they understood the Lord’s demands in their day. This approach finds the latter Old Testament more advanced in mercy and theological understanding, paving the way for Christ.

Another important concept that I keep bringing in is that of “corporate personality.” The Hebrew mindset, like that of Arabs today, was not individualistic. Rather each considered themselves part of a group, a family or tribe. Thus, it’s a little easier to see why eliminating a person would require eliminating his group. Besides, when you do that, you leave no one to brood and seek revenge.

This last concept helps explain the story of Aachan. When the men at Ai defeated the detachment Joshua sent to conquer them, he was at a loss to explain why. The Lord told him that someone had broken harem, had taken stuff dedicated to the Lord. So they went through a sorting process, and the finger pointed to a man named Aachan, who confessed. He had stolen a rug and money, hiding it in his tent. Soldiers found it there, and Joshua led Israel to execute him and his family and bury the remains along with the stolen property.

The next story where the printed lesson focuses (remember I deliberately use these notes to cover background and not the written material so much) Involves the citizens of a town called Gibeah. Remember Israel is new to the land and does not know where all the villages are. These people had heard of the viciousness of the Israelite army and wanted no part of them. So they came up with a Plan. A delegation came to Israel in old clothes and moldy food as though after a long journey. They flattered Joshua about the prowess of his army and their fear of him.  They sought a treaty that would protect them from military attack. Israel believed them and made that treaty.

The area was a pretty gossipy place and everyone found out what everyone else was doing. So the king of Jerusalem collected an army of other peoples to take out Gibeah, since they would not oppose Israel with them. That army surrounded Gibeah and threatened its destruction. Somehow they send runners to Joshua to let Israel know they were under attack and to remind them they had a mutual assistance treaty.

Whoa! They’re just a few miles away? They lied! They deceived us! Nevertheless, our word must be our bond, and we will do what we promised to do. Israel proceeded to muster its army and with the Lord’s approval, they won the day, winning another victory and saving the Gibeanites. Not to let them off scot-free for their deception, they required them to be “hewers of wood and drawers of water” forever – whatever that meant.

The quarterly focuses on the importance of a Christian keeping their word. So does Psalms 15:4: who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind. I’ve sometimes got caught in situations where my previous promise doesn’t look as easy or desirable as it did when I made it. It’s very tempting to change your mind. But when Jesus warned us about swearing, He was not griping about dirty words, but about our having no need to say such things as “By heaven I will do what I said.” Rather people should know if we said it, they can count on it.