I was a bit wrong-footed yesterday, when I read about Gibeon doing a deal with Israel. I was steeling myself for nothing but annihilation from the Israelites, and to find them having mercy on a people who tricked them was a little strange. The whole business of conquering the Promised Land has of course caused many people huge problems, and ages ago I promised I would do a post on these issues. I still intend to, when I find the time.
The angel of the Lord rebukes the people
Judges 2:1-5
Five kings attack Gibeon
Joshua 10:1-6
Joshua aids Gibeon
Joshua 10:7-15
The kings’ armies are defeated
Joshua 10:16-27
Other victories
Joshua 10:28-43
The kings at Merom
Joshua 11:1-9
Hazor is burned
Joshua 11:10-14
The country is subdued
Joshua 11:15-23
An alliance of local rulers decide to attack Israel’s new friends, the Gibeonites. But Joshua and his army are triumphant, wiping them out. Chapters 10 & 11 are a long catalogue of victories, their pages dripping with blood. No mercy.
At last, at the end of chapter 11, we are told “the land had rest from war.” (11:23) It’s all over rather quickly. After 40 years of dallying, Joshua has conquered all Israel’s enemies in 11 chapters!
Just a word about the strange happening in chapter 10 - where it seems to say that on a day of battle, the sun stood still, so that the day lasted longer than it should. Is this some kind of bizarre miracle, whereby God slowed the rotation of the earth in order to give Joshua time to finish a battle? I think not . For two reasons. Firstly, the description is rather more poetic than factual, suggesting that it is not meant to be taken literally. Secondly, the whole thing is so physically impossible it seems very bizarre to suggest. More likely, if there was a miracle, that God interfered with the local subjective sense of time that the Israelites experienced, so that the day seemed to last much longer, as if the sun stood still. I know there will be some people who say, “If the Bible says it happened, I’m going to believe it happened, no matter what it is. My belief in God trumps everything else, including common sense.”
For me, there are times when I put my faith ahead of my reason, but they are rare. I don’t think God wants credulous idiots for followers, I think he wants us with out intelligence intact. Make of that what you will.
This conquering and annihilation is something I expect from men. After all,this is what the UN are trying to stop Colonel Gaddafi from doing in Benghazi right now. History is littered with mankind performing genocide. Its when the bible states it is commanded by God. This opens the floodgates to justify every 'holy war' ever committed, from the crusades to the Arab-Isreal conflict from 1948 onwards. This leads me like you to conclude either God DID command genocide, or the Jews did this and,in error,claimed God told them to do it. And if that's in error than what else? I look forward to you dealing with this issue in more depth as it is still causing me a great deal of problems.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, are the U.N wrong and Gaddafi right?
Hi James - I'll be touching on this in a day or two, when we're talking more about the division of the land, and the fact that not everyone was driven out of Canaan. Watch this space!
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