Just as they did in the south, the Israelites defeat the northern kingdoms. God tells them not to be afraid, that He will hand them over to Israel - which he does. Joshua kills the leaders and people but doesn't burn the towns as the Lord commaded.
16 - 23 Summary of Joshua's Conquests
Basically, Joshua annihilated the North as he did the South. "For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts so that they would come against Israel in battle, in order that they might be utterly destroyed, and might receive no mercy, but be exterminated, just as the Lord commanded Moses. (20)
Question: What do you think of the following passage? (I got it off of wikipedia - it seemed to relieve me from being uncomfortable with the genocide going on in Joshua.)
Christian theologians have tended to emphasise what they see as the progressive nature of revelation in the Bible. As the Bible progresses, God is seen to reveal himself in ways that are fuller, clearer and more accurate, culminating in the ultimate revelation of God in Jesus Christ. God's command through Joshua to take possession of the land by force of arms is viewed in the context of God's command through the second Joshua, Jesus Christ, to bring about his kingdom through the peaceful application of his teaching.
1 comment:
As you said, Joshua led the Israelites to destroy all the kings and nations in the "northern country".
My Bible has some interesting notes:
15 "Joshua's success should be measured in the light of the specific orders given by God, which he carried out fully, rahter than by the total area that eventually would have to be occupied." Joshua followed God's orders only. He never made a battle plan or goal on his own. He never said, "We need to take this town or go in this direction next, God help us." God gave him all orders and directions which would have been impossible to achieve without obedience.
18 I was thinking while reading this that it seems like all this conquest was relatively quick compared to our situation in Iraq right now. Notes indicate that all this took about 7 years. I guess after we've been in Iraq 7 years we'll know that it may not have been God's plan for us to "help".
20 "God has sovereign control of history, yet his will never denies our personal and moral freedom."
Answer: I agree. God couldn't have sent Jesus at the time of Joshua (for example) and given people "free choice" to turn to Him. People are so sinful, selfish, and greedy. Today's society has trouble admitting that there is a God and that He's more powerful than they are.
God had to show his power through military might as this is the only source of power the people of this time understood. The king with the best army had the most power. Even the Israelites had to be convinced that God could conquer many of these "powerful" kings.
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