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Context No. 4001 of 4322 · Joshua

Context · Reflection

Joshua 10:34-43: in context

34Joshua passed from Lachish, and all Israel with him, to Eglon; and they encamped against it and fought against it. 35They took it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish. 36Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, to Hebron; and they fought against it. 37They took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king and all its cities, and all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls who were in it. 38Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir, and fought against it. 39He took it, with its king and all its cities. They struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it. He left no one remaining. As he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to its king; as he had done also to Libnah, and to its king. 40So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country, the South, the lowland, the slopes, and all their kings. He left no one remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded. 41Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea even to Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even to Gibeon. 42Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. 43Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal.

This is one of the hard passages of the conquest, recording in stark terms the destruction of the Canaanite cities as Israel took the land. We read it soberly, across a great distance of time and understanding, and we do not glory in its violence.

Two things help us read it honestly. First, this was an act of divine judgment on peoples whose wickedness, Scripture elsewhere makes clear, had reached its full measure, cultures given over to practices including child sacrifice; it was not random conquest but a judgment long delayed and finally executed, a solemn and terrible thing. And second, the passage keeps pointing beyond the human armies to God: the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. The real actor is God. These are difficult texts, and we do not pretend otherwise. But we can hold onto two truths. God's judgment on entrenched evil is real; he is not indifferent to wickedness. And we now live on the other side of the cross, where the judgment we all deserved fell on Christ, who bore it in himself so that mercy might be extended even to enemies.

Do I take seriously both the reality of God's judgment on entrenched evil and the mercy of the cross, where the judgment I deserved fell on Christ so that peace might be extended even to God's enemies?

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