Josue 10 - A Total Destruction?, Part II

I'll continue the theme here, that Canaan was not wholly obliterated, that the reality of Israel's destruction of the Canaanites was more nuanced than Biblical detractors would let on.  Was Israel's victory decisive?  Yes.  Were God's dealings with the Canaanites severe?  Yes.  Was every man, woman, and child slaughtered?  No.

And herein lies the simple point.  The Israelites entered the Promised Land as a unique group of people.  They entered a world of polytheistic idol worship.  They had a divine decree with them, that the land was to be a Holy Land, set aside for them.  How else might this situation work out?  The Enlightenment had crossed over the Jordan to extinguish the darkness.  The pagan Canaanites lived lives opposed to Almighty God (and to the nature He created).  If His enlightened chosen ones were to dwell in this land, why would such evils be allowed to endure?  And it was the evils that needed to be slaughtered wholesale, not necessarily the people.  Rahab is the best illustration so far in the Book of Josue of how God deals with one who renounces the evil.  Had only their hearts and minds not been so hardened towards God, the Canaanites would have been spared.  Yet, some were.  We are able to infer throughout these chapters that some Canaanites remained, and there are various interpretations as to why that is.  Some say that a remnant of Canaanites continued on as before, living their pagan lives, so that the Israelites "must suffer tribulation, to prevent the growth of vice" (Haydock commentary).  To eradicate all evil would have been to return the people to the Garden of Eden, which was not to be.  Free will still existed in the Promised Land, and God allowed some Canaanites to continue exercising their free will to act against Him.  This would also provide a constant reminder to the Israelites of how they are not to act, and for some it would be a constant temptation to slip into idol worship, as they had always been prone to do.  Leaving a remnant of Canaanites, in short, would keep the Israelites on their toes.

At any rate, for the rest of Josue 10 we see the rapid annihilation of a large segment of Canaan, mainly to the south and even west towards the Mediterranean Sea.  The kings are executed and the cities laid waste or occupied.  Joshua's army, equipped with divine decree, is quickly setting the stage for a massive takeover.  A pagan land is swiftly becoming a Holy Land.

Josue 9 - A Total Destruction?

The story of the Gabaonites (or Gibeonites) in Josue 9 is an interesting one.  Much is made of the polarizing account of the Israelites' destruction of Canaan by divine command.  It is by all accounts a unique event in Biblical history in terms of the ruthlessness and harshness by which the Israelites are instructed to deal with Canaan.  There is no denying that.  Some see it as necessary for God's promise to be fulfilled and to set an example of the sinfulness of idol worship.  Some see it as unnecessarily cruel.  But upon closer inspection, the "destruction" of Canaan is not so total and absolute.  It is a more nuanced thing.  Certain key victories, such as that at Jericho, were necessary for Israel to be in a secure position and to begin to accumulate power in the region (thus fulfilling Moses' prophecy).  But even though they are instructed to destroy all inhabitants of Canaan, the reality is different.  We've already seen the salvation of Rahab (and others, it is implied as well) because of her help and submission to the One True God.  And now in Josue 9 we see the salvation of the Gabaonites because of their submission to the One God.  And even though the Gabaonites secured their safety through deception, and the Israelites didn't follow exactly God's commands in this matter, the fact remains that God allowed this to happen and saw fit a purpose in it. 

The lesson is that mercy is shown upon those who find the humility to submit.  The other pagan people of Canaan do not wish to submit and do not believe in the omnipotence of the One True God, and therefore their destruction is effected.  They've essentially chosen their own fate, as we all must do.  Amidst the violence and massacre of the Canaanites, God still shows us that a simple act of faith can save the smallest soul.

Josue 8 - Tradition, Part II

In Josue 8 we see the beginnings of the established Jewish religion to come.  A decisive victory over Hai gives Joshua and the Israelites some peace and security for the time being; and they mark the occasion with a ceremony that harkens back to Moses' day.  The pronouncement of blessings and curses from the tops of Mounts Garizim and Hebal is referenced in Deuteronomy 27, and Joshua here fulfills Moses' instructions.  We see the first moments of the Law's permanent establishment.  From here it will be Joshua's duty not only to continue to solidify the Israelites' hold on Canaan militarily, but to establish altars and monuments and the infrastructure necessary for the Mosaic Law to become a national religion, with the goal eventually being the construction of an everlasting Temple to house the Ark and therefore the Law.  Josue 8 makes this eventuality evident.  In their Promised Land, the Israelites can now openly follow the commands of God, quite literally, by shouting blessings and curses from the tops of mountains!  They've come a long way from their days of wandering miserably through the desert.  Traditions can now begin to be established, and these traditions would go on to become powerfully entrenched in this Holy Land.  Moses had words, and he gave those words to Joshua.  Now Joshua turns those words to actions. 

Today is Good Friday.  This and the next three posts will be in honor of the Lenten season, which is quickly drawing to a close. 

Josue 7 - Know Thy Place

This won't be a lengthy post.  I just wanted to mention how important it seemed to me that immediately after telling of the dramatic and powerful victory over Jericho, it is told of the Israelites' humiliating loss to the citizens of Hai.  The timing of all of these events is profoundly significant.  The defeat of Jericho was clearly meant to exhibit God's power and the fact that the Israelites were not your average fighting force.  They were an army led by God, as the appearance of the "prince of the host of the Lord" in Josue 5 made clear.  And the defeat of Jericho was no ordinary defeat.  The city fell in a monumentally breathtaking way.  This was again all to show that the Israelites ought to not fear what was ahead.  They were to proceed with confidence in the Lord's power.  And then in the very next chapter, Josue 7, we see the weakness of man yet again prevail.  Avarice consumed the heart of Achan, and he hoarded plunder from the defeated city.  To show His displeasure, God allowed the Israelites to attack the next city in Canaan without His divine aid.  They set upon the city of Hai (or Ai) and were soundly defeated.  It was a lesson in humility.  The Israelites learned quickly that their success in this military endeavor would not be of their own doing, lest they be tempted to think so.  Each victory would be an act of God, and due thanks must be given.  So the might and power exhibited at Jericho was important, but the defeat at Hai was equally important to show the necessity of God's aid and the dire consequences of sinful deeds done in the face of a God Who had promised to protect this people.

Josue 6 - The Fall of Iniquity

Josue 6 tells of the incredible destruction of Jericho.  How the walls crumbled, fell to the earth in dramatic fashion, as the trumpets of the priests blared and shrieked, and the people shouted.  What an extraordinary scene.  The magnitude of it, the awe-inspiring scale and scope, illustrates God's magnificence so profoundly.  The Israelites don't enter Canaan quietly, in the night.  They enter with thunder and vivacity.  The walls of Jericho fall so dramatically to warn the other cities of Canaan of God's power and might.  The land is to be swept clean of sin and Godlessness.  The land of Israel, through promise made, is to be authoritatively and staunchly established.  That much is made clear in Josue 6.  And there is a beautiful, figurative sense to be had of this chapter, amid all the destruction.  For the walls of Jericho are like iniquity, and they are built up over generations, and they go deep, and are hard to move.  Such is sin.  Human power, as frail as it is, cannot bring down Jericho's walls.  Sin is too great a barrier to us.  But lo, what happens when God's Word is proclaimed?!  The priests' trumpets are sounded and the Ark of the Covenant presented before the walls, and like sand they are brought low to the ground, turned to dust.  And so sin is obliterated by the powerful and divine Word!

Of last mention in Josue 6 is the beauty of Rahab's fate.  Rahab's tale is found in Josue 2, when she so charitably saved some of the Israelite spies and declared her faith in God.  She was afforded God's mercy for her acts, and spared when the city was destroyed.  She went on to marry into the tribe of Juda, and thus became a human ancestor of David and even Jesus Himself!  And there is a passage in Paul's epistle to the Romans that speaks to Rahab's tale so beautifully:  "...thou wert cut out of the wild olive-tree, which is natural to thee, and, contrary to nature, wert ingrafted into the good olive-tree" (Romans 11:24).  So Rahab the pagan, taken from the wilds that exist outside of God, was "ingrafted" into the chosen ones, just as, eventually, all the wild Gentiles will be "ingrafted" into the heavenly Church of Christ.

Josue 3-5: Divine Dispensations

My last post was almost exactly one year ago.  I've gone stretches without making much progress with my reading of the Word, sometimes several months at a time, but never a whole year.  To be fair, this last year has been unlike any other.  Our son Nathaniel is now just over a year old, and watching him grow over this past year has been my priority.  It still will be, but I also need to be mindful of my spiritual growth as I journey through Scripture.  I made an effort last March to begin the Book of Josue, but I made it only two chapters in.  It's now March again, and the beginning of Lent, and I must press on.  I must resume my reading, as challenging as it can sometimes be.  I was able yesterday to read the next three chapters of Josue, and here's what I observed:

First off, Josue 3 is a powerful chapter, with the parting of the Jordan River.  This event is often overshadowed by Exodus' account of the parting of the Red Sea.  But I don't believe it's entirely fair to glorify one and forget the other.  The parting of the Jordan is obviously a direct parallel to what happened 40 years before at the Red Sea, and it bookends the Israelites' journey perfectly.  In fact, throughout these early chapters of Josue there are many parallels to the Mosaic events captured in the Torah.  In Josue 5 there is an encounter with God that is very much like Moses and the burning bush.  And I suppose I'll start there.  It is written in Josue 5:13, "And when Josue was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a man standing over-against him, holding a drawn sword."  This "man" is described as a "prince of the host of the Lord" in Josue 5:14.  And Joshua is instructed, just as Moses had been, to remove his shoes, "for the place whereon thou standest is holy" (Josue 5:16).  It's a dramatic moment, especially given that the following chapter will tell of the battle against Jericho and the beginning of the wars against the Canaanites.  I also found it interesting the differing views of who the "man" was in Josue 5:13.  I happen to be reading at the moment Eusebius' The History of the Church, and the great Church historian happens to believe that the man Joshua encounters is none other than the Second Person of the Trinity, Christ Himself!  This is an extremely fascinating idea, and it isn't new or uncommon at all.  There are many instances throughout the Old Testament wherein Christ Himself is often speculated to have appeared in his human shape, to shape events, going all the way back to Genesis' account of the time before the Fall.  But the other common view is that the "prince of the host of the Lord" was in fact St. Michael the Archangel, relaying the words of God.  St. Michael does make perfect sense.  Angels are often described as appearing as men in the Bible, we know they act as messengers for God.  And we know St. Michael is often depicted with sword as the head of God's heavenly army.  On the eve of battle it would seem fitting that Michael, as God's commander-in-chief, would appear to Joshua to inspire him with confidence, to assure him that God was on his side.

One other interesting development in these chapters was the re-institution of circumcision coupled with the ending of the heavenly manna as food.  These were huge developments that signaled loudly the coming change: the ending of the desert wanderings and the beginning of life in the Promised Land.  It also brought up some interesting ideas about the nature of God.  Often in Scripture there appear to be periods of time wherein God dispenses with certain precepts or conditions.  The Sacrament of Marriage comes to mind: God permitted polygamy and divorce, to an extent, in the Old Testament, even though in the very beginning it was clearly laid out that marriage was an indissoluble joining of one man and one woman.  And it wasn't until Christ established the New Law that the original intention was again fully realized.  We see this again with circumcision.  Circumcision was established with Abraham as a clear-cut sign of a person's status as chosen by God.  But it was abandoned beginning in Egypt and throughout the 40 years in the desert.  There are reasons for this, and only God fully knows them, but we can speculate.  The 40 years of wandering represent a period of darkness for the Israelites, a period of sin, separation from God.  It would make sense that a sign such as circumcision, which was supposed to signify a closeness with God, would not be fit for such a time.  And it would also make sense that once the period of wandering ended, and the people were given God's Promised Land, that the pleasing sign would return.  Just as the more perfect form of Marriage returned with Christ and the New Law.  It goes the same for the manna.  If manna was a prefiguring of the Eucharist and the divine sacraments instituted by Christ, then it was intended as a nourishment, a merciful gift from God to get the Israelites through a difficult time of sojourning through a wilderness.  Once the journey ended at the gates of the Promised Land, the nourishment wasn't needed, the manna ceased.  Just as the sacraments will be unnecessary once heaven is attained.