Joshua 6 - Siege Of Jericho, Rescue Of Rahab

Write an exegetical paper using the narrative approach to interpret Joshua chapter 6 David Chong Wui Howe

The conquest of Canaan took place within the larger inter-textual setting of God’s covenantal commitment to bless Abraham and through his descendants, make him a blessing to all nations on earth. The redemptive purpose of God would weave through the nation of Israel and its land to ultimately embrace all nations and the whole renewed creation. Having been liberated from Egyptian oppression, the theocratic state of Israel would now be established in the land once promised to the patriarch. Therefore, the book of Joshua stood as a fulfillment of covenantal promise to Abraham and Moses regarding the possession of the land (Genesis 12:7; Deuteronomy 1:6-8). It also set the stage for the rest of redemptive history including the establishment of Davidic dynasty, Babylonian exile, eventual restoration and the coming of the Messiah.

Historical Context

By this time, Joshua had already taken up the mantle of Moses as the leader of a new generation. Jericho would be the first Canaanite city to be taken in his military campaign as recorded in the book of Joshua chapter 6. Modern day readers often come to the account of Israel’s conquest in Canaan with the historical question, “Did the siege of Jericho actually take place in ancient history?” Since the seminal work of Gerhard von Rad, some scholars have followed him in positing such war accounts as later theological writings or part of the sacral-cultic institution in ancient Israel. Other scholars would contend that these accounts also reflect historical events which took place earlier.1 It would be appropriate to explore briefly the inner-textual setting of

1

Daniel Gard, Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide, Counterpoints, edited by Stanley N. Gundry (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), page 118 – 19

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the battle for Jericho.2 However, the difficulty of arriving at a precise date was compounded by unclear evidences regarding the dating of the Exodus in Old Testament chronology.

According to David Howard, the biblical evidence has tended to support an early date for the Exodus (c.a. 1400 BC), while the archeological evidence has been interpreted to support a late date (c.a. 1279 – 1207 BC).3 Jericho’s early excavator John Garstang had found a large ruined wall and dated it to 1400 BC, attributing its destruction to the Israelites. However, it is now known that the wall dates almost 1000 years earlier. His successor Kathleen Kenyon used improved methods of stratigraphy to date the destruction of Jericho around 1550 BC followed by a period of non-occupation until around 1100 BC. This presents difficulties to relate the biblical records with archeological data since there was no standing city around for Joshua to conquer. When Kenyon’s final reports were published posthumously in the 1980s, it fell to Bryant Wood to review her findings. In a surprising turnabout, Wood reaffirmed Garstang’s dating of the fall of City IV and a different set of walls to be correct and as a pottery expert, called into question Kenyon’s methodology of dating the pottery found at Jericho.4 His persuasive findings fit well with the biblical records and could potentially overturn the prevailing mood of skepticism amongst minimalist scholars.

If the Israelites entered Canaan about 1400 BC (Late Bronze Age), it was a time of economic prosperity for Canaan and struggles between the northern kingdoms of Hittite and Mitannian Empires left a power vacuum for the emergence of Israel.5 From the Ugaritic literature, we learn that Canaanite religious cults were steeped in a debased form of polytheism that practices 2

For a caveat regarding the limitations and possibilities of archaeology, see Robert G. Boling, Joshua: Anchor Bible, A New Translation with Notes and Commentary, (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1988), pages 72 – 80 3 David M. Howard, Jr., Joshua, The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), pages 31- 50. 4 David M. Howard, Jr., Joshua, page 177 – 178 5 Ibid., page 46- 47

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licentiousness, temple prostitution, child sacrifice and barbarous violence. For example, the patron goddess of war Anath was described to be slaughtering mankind, dismembering body parts and wading sadistically in human blood up to her thighs.6 If the principle of ‘like gods, like priest; like priest, like people’ applies, then the Canaanite society in general would have reflected the kind of morally depraved and bloodthirsty deities they worshiped.7 The archeological data appears to support the biblical description of a violent and degenerated culture that would pose a clear and present danger for the survival of Israel.

The Plot Outline

A narrative approach would be helpful to analyze four elements found in the plot shape of Joshua chapter 6 as follows:

Exposition: God has promised to hand Jericho over to the Israelites along with its king and soldiers (6:2). The spies whom Rahab the prostitute hid in safety earlier in Joshua 2 had pledged by oath to protect her and family when the invasion took place.

Crisis: However the city of Jericho was tightly shut because of the Israelites. No one comes in or goes out (6:1). Rahab and her family were still trapped inside. How would the Israelites break down Jericho’s fortified defenses? And could Rahab be rescued from the impending destruction?

Resolution: The Lord instructed Joshua to send seven trumpet-blowing priests to circle the walls of Jericho followed by the Ark of the Covenant. They did it once for six days and seven times on

6

Cyrus H. Gordon, Ugaritic Literature: A Comprehensive Translation of the Poetic and Prose Texts (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1949); pages 17 – 18. 7 Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1954), page 174 – 175

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the seventh day.8 With a final shout and trumpet blast, the walls fell down and the city was easily overrun. A series of repetitions emphasized Yahweh’s intervention and cultic dimensions of the battle rather than the military strength of Israel in the victory. The two spies were able to rescue Rahab and those who belonged to her from the total annihilation of the city and all who live in it.

Conclusion: The events demonstrated that God’s presence was with Joshua just as he had been with Moses (3:7) and his fame spread throughout the land just as God had promised to exalt him in the eyes of the people (4:14). As an outworking of Abrahamic blessing, Rahab and her family were saved from destruction and incorporated into the people of God.

The Ethical Dilemma

As mentioned earlier, several religious elements of Yahweh war could be found in the battle for Jericho like the procession of priests with the ark of the covenant (6:4), sounding of the trumpet (6:20), initiation of war by God himself (6:2) and the utter destruction (herem) of all living inhabitants and beasts.9 The narrative made it clear that it was Yahweh’s intervention that made the siege of Jericho stronghold a decisive success rather than the strength of soldiers involved. The term herem denotes both destruction of life and devotion of spoils to Yahweh.10 Inflammable spoils were to be burned and noncombustible metals were to be deposited in the treasury of His sanctuary (Joshua 6:24). Both archeologists Garstang and Kenyon had found jars full of grain that had been burnt. Normally, a barter commodity and food source would have been looted but why were they destroyed instead? Could these jars be part of ‘devoted’ items of Joshua’s conquest? 8

The repetitions of the perfect number seven highlight the sacred nature of the ceremonial proceedings. Gerhard von Rad, Holy War in Ancient Israel, ed. and trans. Marva J. Dawn (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), pages 41-51 7 Chris Wright provides an alternative explanation of the term as “an absolute and irrevocable renouncing of things or persons, a refusal to take any gain or profit from them”. Christopher Wright, Deuteronomy, New International Biblical Commentary, (Peabody, Mass. Hendrikson: Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 1996), page 109 9

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Modern readers also come to the war narratives in Joshua with the ethical question: “How can a good God command the genocide of inhabitants in the city of Jericho?” Firstly, we need to allow for possible hyperbolic language or rhetorical generalizations of warfare narratives. For example, Joshua 6:21 claimed that the Israelites “destroyed every living thing in it—men and women,

young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys." But later in the same book, we would read of warnings against intermarriage, which presuppose the survival of some Canaanite inhabitants (Joshua 23:12-13). As Chris Wright put it, “This is not to accuse the biblical writers of falsehood, but to recognize the literary conventions of writing about warfare”.11

Secondly God’s eschatological purpose to bless all nations does not exclude His holy judgment on particular nations within history. It is significant to note that only Yahweh has the prerogative to authorize and initiate such wars. No other human could do so. Walter Brueggemann described such Old Testament accounts of divine judgment on the Canaanites as an ideological attempt to ‘establish the legitimacy of Israel’s claim to the land’ and further its own political agenda.12 But Deuteronomy 9 would insist that Israel does not deserve the land since it was not because of Israel’s moral superiority that the Lord helped them to take possession of the land. Rather, it was on account of the great wickedness of these nations (Deuteronomy 9:4). Their repulsive practices left no alternative but destruction.13 Therefore, Yahweh wars cannot be separated from its ethical context of executing judgment and protecting the fledgling nation of Israel from idolatrous practices (Joshua 24:19). Israel was given precisely the same warning against breaking the Decalogue by worshipping other gods. Otherwise, the same judgment would befall them too as

11

Christopher Wright, Old Testament Ethics For The People of God, (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2004), page 475 12 Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997), pages 496 –97. 13 Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, (TOTC; Leicester: Inter-Varsity press, 1996), page 218

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was well-attested in its history (Leviticus 18:28). Without preferentiality, Yahweh would even fight against His own people if they became idolatrous and sinful as well (Deuteronomy 28:25). Even a pagan nation like Babylon can be used as an agent of divine wrath to punish Israel so divine support in war is not driven by ideological motivations per se.14

Theological Implications

What theological insights can we glean from the Joshua 6 narrative? The conquest of Jericho anticipated the eschatological judgment of God on the wicked. While the notion of divine wrath may sound archaic to an insulated comfortable and consumerist subculture, it is actually like a reassuring comfort for people who have experienced injustice and cruelty. There will be ultimate reckoning to set things right by a perfect Judge. From the Christian perspective, Yahweh the Warrior has become incarnate as the Crucified God who disarmed the principalities and powers through His own sacrificial death for sinful humanity. Yet there is an eschatological continuity of ‘Yahweh war’ when Christ finally returns as the righteous Judge who will completely destroy and punish all who persist in sin and rebellion.15 In Revelation 19:11-21, Jesus was also depicted as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings who will finally destroy the rebellious followers of Satan. Again, the prerogative over life and death belongs to the Creator alone. Since vengeance belongs to the Lord alone, followers of Jesus should refuse to employ violence to perpetuate a vicious cycle of destruction. For Christians, it would be a gross misapplication of Scripture to claim practice of herem to warfare today. Perhaps one of the reasons why we have extreme difficulty in understanding God’s radical judgment on the Canaanites is due to our own cultural immersion in

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Christopher Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative, (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2006), page 459 15 Meredith Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 1997), page 158. Kline suggests that the judgment on the Canaanites is an invasion of eschatological ethics into the era of common grace, anticipating the cosmic judgment when God will finally bring about justice over all the earth.

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much violence and sexual depravity that we are no longer scandalized by the sins they have committed.

Although utter destruction was limited to the Canaanite nations as instructed in Deuteronomy 20, it would appear that mercy is still an open possibility with the implicit condition of repentance and faith. Rahab’s action of protecting the two spies was not merely expedient. It was reflective of her simple faith affirmation in Yahweh’s exclusive sovereignty in contrast with the polytheism of her culture (2:9-11). We would also find her being mentioned in the honor roll of faithful heroes listed in Hebrews 11:31 and upheld as a model of someone whose faith is worked out in tangible action in James 2:25. Last but not least, her name appeared as a trophy of grace in the genealogy of the Messiah, Jesus Christ Himself in the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. From the status of a sinner and foreigner “outside the camp”, she and family could now live as part of Yahweh’s covenant community (6:25). The beginnings of Abrahamic blessing to all nations have begun and would culminate in the universal gospel of grace offered in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20).

If all of Old Testament Scripture ultimately points to Jesus Christ, how do we make a hermeneutical connection of this narrative to New Testament realities? Sidney Greidanus proposed a helpful interpretive principle for using typology which eliminates common abuses of finding all sorts of meanings in incidental details of the Old Testament: “If it has no symbolic meaning in the Old Testament times, it cannot be a type”.16 For example, since the scarlet cord outside Rahab’s window did not function in the narrative as a symbol of atonement, it cannot function as a type of the blood of Christ as practiced by Bishop Clement of Rome since the first

16

Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ From The Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), pages 257-58

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century A.D. In contrast, the blood of the Passover sacrificial lamb could function as an appropriate type due to its symbolic meaning as God’s protection from the angel of death.

However, we could find other ways to linking the Joshua 6 narrative to the New Testament by way of redemptive-historical progression of Abraham’s blessing to all nations with its climax in the gospel of Christ. A recurring NT theme can be found in Rahab’s faith and her gracious inclusion in the covenant community. The commander of Israel Joshua who conquered the Canaanite kings and possessed the land could also serve as a type of Christ who defeated Satan’s powers and would establish His kingdom in a restored heaven and earth. The destruction of Jericho has eschatological continuity in the final judgment of the wicked and presents continuing relevance in its warning against the consequences of idolatry and depraved civilization.

Lastly, there is an element of discontinuity to be emphasized since the multiracial community called the church is not a political entity like ancient theocratic Israel so it should never claim divine sanction to execute holy war or the herem. When some zealous disciples tried to resist His arrest, Jesus commanded them to put back their swords, saying, “For all who live by the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52-54) In light of His teachings on non-violence and forgiving our enemies in the Sermon on the Mount, we could see that these Old Testament legislations do not constitute the climax of God’s ideals. Rather they served as stepping stones that lead us progressively higher until it culminates in Christ’s coming.17 Therefore, no justification exists for any follower of Christ to invoke holy war in the name of God. Jesus explicitly told Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting" (John 18:36). 17

As Tom Wright aptly put it, "the Torah is given for a specific period of time, and is then set aside-not because it was a bad thing now happily abolished, but because it was a good thing whose purpose had now been accomplished." N. T. Wright, Climax of the Covenant, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), page 181.

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Write a sermon on Joshua chapter 6 using the exegetical conclusions in the earlier paper.

The Big Idea: God destroys the wicked city of Jericho but rescues Rahab and her family out of it.

Good morning, church! Let us turn to the passage of Scripture today taken from Joshua 6:1-27 and read it together. Most of us who have been to church or Sunday school for some time would be quite familiar with this story of Joshua’s conquest of Jericho and the Promised Land. But it would be really helpful to put this narrative within the big picture of the flow God’s redemption. So let us do a quick recap: God has created the human race in a world of beauty, peace and unbroken relationship with Himself. But Adam and Eve chose to rebel and live their own way apart from God. Sin entered the universe – driving a huge chasm between holy God and depraved humanity, alienating us against each other and the natural environment. In His love, God began to set in motion a plan of salvation for humanity. He chose to reveal Himself to a man and made him a promise: “Your name will be Abraham for you will be the father of many nations. I will

bless you and make you a blessing to all nations. Believe in My promise.” (Genesis 17:5).

This redemptive purpose of God weaves its way through the descendants of Abraham until they grew to become the nation of Israel. After being liberated from Egyptian oppression, Israel entered into a covenant relationship with God and became His chosen instrument through which the Abrahamic blessing would flow to all nations. But first, the nation needs to be established in the land once promised to the patriarch Abraham. Therefore, the book of Joshua stood as a fulfillment of God’s covenant promise to Abraham and Moses regarding the possession of the land (Genesis 12:7; Deuteronomy 1:6-8). It sets the stage for the rest of redemptive history until the coming of the Messiah – our Lord Jesus Christ. The story before us in Joshua 6 recorded the first battle fought in the conquest of Canaan – the siege of Jericho and the salvation of Rahab.

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As modern day readers, we often come to the account of Israel’s conquest in Canaan with the question, “Did the siege of Jericho actually take place in ancient history? Is there archeological evidence to confirm that or is it a myth created much later? What was Canaan like during those days?” Well, a word of caution is needed: Only a fragment of ancient events left its mark in writings or artifacts, only a fragment of these evidences survived the ravages of time, only a fragment of these remaining data were found by archeologists and only a fragment of these findings were published. Therefore we cannot too quickly rule out the historicity of an ancient event just because archaeology, as a helpful and humble science, has its many limitations.

Yet the ancient history of Jericho remains a widely discussed topic amongst scholars. When John Garstang found a destroyed wall dated around 1400 BC, many evangelical Christians hailed it as a confirming evidence for the biblical conquest of Jericho. But when another archeologist Kathleen Kenyon dated the same wall 1000 years earlier, skeptics jumped with joy and claimed that there was no city for Joshua to conquer at all during that time. But in a surprising turnaround, recent findings by pottery expert Bryant Wood has reaffirmed the earlier dating of the fall of Jericho. So while our faith does not stand or fall with the changing theories of archaeology, we also affirm that God works within history and so we are open to see where the evidence leads us. Suffice to say, we do not need to commit intellectual suicide to affirm a historical core to the conquest of Jericho.

If the Israelites entered Canaan about 1400 BC, it was a time of economic prosperity in Canaan and wars between the northern Hittite and Mitannian Empires left a power vacuum for the emergence of Israel.18 From ancient writings of that time, we also learn that Canaanite religious cults were steeped in a debased form of polytheism that practices temple prostitution, child sacrifice and extreme violence. For example, the patron goddess of war Anath was described to

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be slaughtering mankind, dismembering body parts like heads and hands of her enemies and wading sadistically in human blood up to her thighs.19 Like it or not, people become like the gods they worship. If money is your god, then you would become stingy, calculative, greedy or all of the above. In the same way, the Canaanite nations would have reflected the kind of morally depraved and bloodthirsty deities they worshiped as well. As a result, they would pose a clear and present danger for the survival of Israel with their idolatry, sinfulness and military superiority. If Israel were to exist alongside these nations, it would remain at serious risk of being led into wickedness or being destroyed in battle. It is important to understand why the severe justice of God would be visited upon them.

With that context clearly in mind, let us look at the plot of Jericho’s conquest: God has promised to hand Jericho over to the Israelites along with its king and soldiers (6:2). Earlier in Joshua 2, we read that two spies were sent to the city and were hidden in safety by Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute. Although her knowledge was limited, Rahab showed faith in the supreme sovereignty of Yahweh against the many gods worshiped in her culture. In return for her kindness, the spies promised by oath to protect her and family when the invasion took place. But the city of Jericho was tightly shut because of the Israelites. No one comes in or goes out (6:1). Their fortified walls prevented Joshua from launching a frontal attack while Rahab and her family were still trapped inside. So how could the Israelites break down this stronghold’s defenses? And could Rahab be rescued from the impending destruction? So what’s the solution?

The Lord instructed Joshua to send seven trumpet-blowing priests to circle the walls of Jericho followed by the Ark of the Covenant which symbolizes the Presence of God Himself. They did it once for six days and seven times on the seventh day. With a final shout and trumpet blast, the

19

Cyrus H. Gordon, Ugaritic Literature: A Comprehensive Translation of the Poetic and Prose Texts (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1949); pages 17 – 18.

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walls fell down and the city was easily overrun. Throughout the story, we see repetitions made on the ceremonial procedures and a series of perfect number seven emphasized the sacredness of this proceeding in which the Lord Himself will go forth into battle. Divine intervention was stressed rather than the military prowess of the army. It was not by human strength, nor by human wisdom; but by the power of the Lord. The victory demonstrated that God’s presence was with Joshua just as he had been with Moses (3:7) and his fame spread throughout the land just as God had promised to exalt him in the eyes of the people (4:14).

We are also told that the Israelites utterly destroyed all living inhabitants and beasts in the city. The term herem carries the notion of both destruction of life and devotion of valuable items to God. Inflammable items were to be burned and noncombustible metals were to be deposited in the treasury (Joshua 6:24). Archeologists have found in Jericho jars full of grain that had been burnt. This is unique because grain is a valuable barter commodity and food source which would be normally carried away instead of being destroyed. Could these jars be part of ‘devoted’ items of Joshua’s conquest?

For sensitive Christians and non-Christians, we are troubled by the ethical question: “How can a good and loving God command the total destruction of inhabitants in the city of Jericho? Isn’t it genocide?” Firstly, we need to allow for possible hyperbolic language in the warfare narratives. For example, Joshua 6:21 claimed that the Israelites “destroyed every living thing in it—men

and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys." But later in the same book, we would read of warnings against intermarriage (Joshua 23:12-13). This presupposes the survival of Canaanite inhabitants who pose a continual threat to Israel’s existence. As OT scholar Chris

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Wright put it, “This is not to accuse the biblical writers of falsehood, but to recognize the literary conventions of writing about warfare”.20

Secondly God’s purpose to bless all nations through Israel does not exclude His holy judgment on particular nations within history. Unlike the modern day genocide we see in Rwanda or Bosnia, these battles were never based on racial superiority or political agenda. It was always in the context of divine judgment of a holy God upon the extreme wickedness amongst the Canaanites. Their repulsive practices left no alternative but destruction. It is significant to note that only God has the prerogative to authorize and initiate such wars. No other human could do so. The Bible insists that Israel does not deserve the land since it was not because of Israel’s moral superiority that the Lord helped them to take possession of the land. Rather, it was on account of the great wickedness of these nations (Deuteronomy 9:4). Therefore, the practice of ‘herem’ cannot be separated from its ethical context of executing judgment and protecting the young nation of Israel from idolatrous practices (Joshua 24:19). There is no preferential treatment for Israel the chosen nation. They were given the same warning against idolatry and moral depravity. Otherwise, the same judgment would befall them and this has indeed tragically happened in Israel’s own history (Leviticus 18:28). Without partiality, Yahweh would even fight against His own people if they became idolatrous and sinful as well (Deuteronomy 28:25). Even a pagan nation like Babylon can be used as an agent of divine wrath to punish Israel. So God’s support in Israel’s war is not driven by ideological or racial agenda.

Today we live in a culture that resembles the violence, idolatry and sexual degradation of the Canaanites. Look at the movie themes at the nearest DVD store. It’s mainly about sex, violence and occults. Could it be that the reason we find it difficult to comprehend God’s wrath against the

20

Christopher Wright, Old Testament Ethics For The People of God, (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2004), page 475

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Canaanites is partly because we ourselves are immersed in a similar culture? We have lost out capacity to be scandalized by such evils. If so, we have cause to be concerned. We have been warned against the consequences of idolatry in a fallen civilization. Just as Joshua defeated the Canaanite kings, Jesus the Messiah would totally defeat Satan’s powers and establish His kingdom in a restored heaven and earth. The destruction of Jericho points forward to the final judgment of the wicked when Christ shall return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

But running through the narrative of holy wrath upon the wicked, we see a parallel plot of divine mercy and grace shown on those who repent. Rahab tied a scarlet cord from her window as a sign that all within her household would be spared. So when the invasion took place, the two spies were able to find and rescue Rahab and her family from the total annihilation of the city. In this early outpouring of Abrahamic blessing, they were saved from sin and death and incorporated into the people of God. Even in the midst of holy judgment, there is an open door for any Canaanite who would stop their resistance and trust in the mercy of God. This means that if the inhabitants of Jericho genuinely repented like Rahab, they would have been spared as well. Her risky action of hiding the two spies was not just pragmatic. It reflects her simple faith in the God of heaven and the earth (2:9-11). That’s why Rahab was mentioned in the honor roll of faithful heroes in Hebrews 11:31. She was upheld as a model of someone whose faith is worked out in tangible action in James 2:25. Last but not least, her name appeared as an ancestress of the Messiah, Jesus Christ Himself in the genealogy of Matthew’s Gospel. From the status of a sinner and foreigner “outside the camp”, she and her family could now live as part of God’s covenant community (6:25). The progression of Abraham’s blessing to all nations has begun and would climax in the universal gospel of grace offered in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20).

Some people find it difficult to accept that a former prostitute may be a foremother to our Lord and Savior. In response, Francis Schaeffer said, “Is Rahab any worse than we? If it is not fitting

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that she should be the ancestress of Christ, is it fitting that we should be the bride of Christ? We all stand in Rahab’s place in the sight of the holy God. Probably we are even worse, for she had little knowledge… We are all sinners. Each one of us is like this woman living up there on the wall. Each of us deserves only one thing – the flaming judgment of God. If it were not for the spiritual portion of the covenant of grace and Christ’s death on Calvary’s cross, we would all be lost.”21 Do you see yourself in need of grace and forgiveness like Rahab? Would you respond like her in faith and repentance?

We have time for one final application of this Scriptural passage. Through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, we are now incorporated into this multiracial, multinational community called the church. It is not a political state like ancient Israel so we can never claim divine sanction to execute holy war. When some zealous disciples tried to resist His arrest, Jesus commanded them to put back their swords, saying, “For all who live by the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52-54) Instead of grabbing power by force, the Son of God laid down His life as a servant to give life to others. In light of His teachings on nonviolence, turning the other cheek and forgiving our enemies in the Sermon on the Mount, we could see that such Old Testament laws do not constitute the climax of God’s ideals. Rather they served as stepping stones that lead us progressively higher until it culminates in Christ’s coming. Therefore, no justification exists for any follower of Christ to invoke holy war in the name of God. Jesus explicitly told Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting" (John 18:36). In a world that has seen too much hatred and bloodshed, will you be part of a culture of peacemakers like our Lord Jesus? Will our lives be signposts of another Kingdom that does not fight with violence but with love?

21

Francis Schaeffer, Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1975), pages 74-75

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Bibliography

1. Archaeology and the Old Testament, Merrill F. Unger, Zondervan, 1954 2. Deuteronomy, New International Biblical Commentary, Christopher Wright, Paternoster, 1996 3. Holy War in Ancient Israel, Gerhard von Rad, edited and translated by Marva J. Dawn, Eerdmans, 1991 4. Is Yahweh A Moral Monster? The New Atheists And Old Testament Ethics, Paul Copan, Philosophia Christi, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2008 5. Joshua: A New Translation with Notes and Commentary, Robert G. Boling, Doubleday and Company, 1988 6. Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary, Richard S. Hess, Inter-Varsity Press, 1996 7. Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History, Francis Schaeffer, Hodder and Stoughton, 1975 8. Joshua, The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, David M. Howard, Jr., Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998 9. Old Testament Ethics For The People of God, Christopher Wright, Inter-Varsity Press, 2004 10. Preaching Christ From The Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method, Sidney Greidanus, Eerdmans, 1999 11. Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide, Counterpoints, edited by Stanley N. Gundry, Zondervan, 2003 12. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative, Christopher Wright, InterVarsity Press, 2006 13. The Problem of War in the Old Testament, Peter C. Craigie, Eerdmans, 1978 14. The Structure of Biblical Authority, Meredith Kline, Wipf and Stock, 1997

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15. Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, Walter Brueggemann, Fortress Press, 1997 16. Ugaritic Literature: A Comprehensive Translation of the Poetic and Prose Texts, Cyrus H. Gordon, Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1949

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