One more post before dealing specifically with Joshua and the charge of genocide. The exodus from Egypt provides the immediate context for the conquest of Canaan. In this story we may find clues to help us better understand the book of Joshua.
God sent Moses on a mission. It sounds simple. I, God, will deliver my people from their misery in Egypt. You, Moses, will go down to Egypt and lead them to ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ There is no mention at this point how God, or for that fact Moses, will deal with the people already living there.
‘Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:7-10)
Could the Hebrews be excused for doubting this promise of a rich and fertile land, one that flowed with ‘milk and honey’? Their history gave them reason to do so. In Genesis 12:10 we see that Abram and Sarai are forced to leave Canaan for Egypt because of a ‘severe famine.’ Again, in Isaac’s time the land experiences a famine like that experienced by Abraham Genesis 26:1). Later, when Jacob was an old man the family moved to Egypt because there was no food in Canaan (Genesis 42). If God had been unable to provide for them in the past, why should he be trusted now, especially when the move to Egypt had caused them so much misery?
On top of this God commanded that when they were settled in the Land all men were to appear before Him three times each year. To enable this He would drive out the nations already there so that none would covet or conquer their land while they did this. This would mean leaving their borders and families unprotected (Gen. 34: 23,24). Then there was the requirement that the land had a complete rest every seventh year. This meant no sowing or pruning. They could eat what the land produced but not store it. Although it is a traditional farming practice to let fields lie fallow for a year to allow them to rejuvenate that was clearly not the intent here. In the sixth year, the year when the soil would be at its most depleted, God promised them a harvest that would see them through to the end of the harvest three years later (Leviticus 25: 1-22).
Remember, all this was a promise. Could God be trusted to deliver, to guarantee the prosperity of a land with a history of severe famine, to provide for them over the period when the fields were not planted, and to protect their borders and families from their enemies on those three annual occasions? Where was the evidence? The fulfillment of these promises would require supernatural intervention.
Another relevant question is ‘how well did the people know God?’ Take a little time to read through the story from the call of Abram (Abraham) in Genesis 12 to the end of the book. Joshua 24:2 states ‘ "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.’ Rebekah, who married Abraham’s son Isaac, was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Later, Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, married two daughters of Rebekah’s brother Laban. Each of his wives later also gave them one of their servants as wives. When Jacob left the employ of his father-in-law after 20 years Rachel stole her father’s gods (Gen.31).
The family record from the call of Abram to the end of Genesis is one of doubt, deceit, favouritism, family rivalry, jealousy and more. This was a family that sold one of their brothers as a slave and then lied to their father to cover it up. While the Bible does not say the family worshipped idols, it is clear there is a strong family connection with those who did. It follows that this practice would have helped shaped the values and practices of the family. So we can ask did they understand God as the only true God, as one God among many?
Throughout the Old Testament we see the people continually attracted to other gods. While it is true that at times idols are said to be nothing other than objects made by human hands, God is often presented as one god, albeit above all others, among the gods of the different nations. For example:
- Exodus 12:12. ‘ On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord!’
- Exodus 15:11. ‘Who is like You among the gods, O Lord?’
- Exodus 20:3. ‘You must not have any other god but me.’
- Deuteronomy 10:17. ‘For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.’
- Psalm 95:3. ‘For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods’
It seems to me that the language of Scripture reflects the understanding of the people at the time and God communicating with them in a way they readily understood. Rather than give Bible studies on monotheism He chose to demonstrate in a real way His power and the impotency of the other Gods.
Hence the language of the blessings and curses associated with the covenant. Remember the Canaanites worshipped fertility gods. ‘If you are unfaithful to me by worshipping these other gods, we’ll see who really controls the weather and the womb’. This is probably best demonstrated by the clash of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. In 1 Kings 17: 1 Elijah, the prophet of God, appeared to Ahab, king of Israel and worshipper of Baal, and announces there will be no more rain for the next few years unless God says otherwise. This leads some three and a half years later to a showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Here Baal is shown to be totally powerless while God’s power is shown by the way of fire coming down from heaven and consuming a water logged sacrifice, followed by the breaking of the drought (1 Kings 18).
We begin to understand God's purpose for Israel in Exodus 15. This nation of slaves had been rescued by God so that they could live with Him. ‘You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain -- the place you have made as your home, O LORD, the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have made.’ (Ex. 15:17). This is the first use of the word ‘sanctuary’ in Scripture, the home, or dwelling place of God. Just as God met with Adam and Eve in Eden, He would once again dwell among His people.There is a difference however. In Eden Adam and Eve were sinless. God described the Israelites as ‘stubborn and rebellious’ (Exodus 32:9). The Exodus was a practical outworking of God’s willingness to give people who do not deserve it a new start.
God’s main objective is perhaps seen in Deuteronomy 4:5-8.
5 “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 6 Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ 7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? 8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
If the nation remained faithful to God by living out His laws and decrees they would be a shining example to the surrounding nations of His goodness and the blessings that would come from serving Him in place of their other gods. This was to be the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham more than 400 years earlier; ‘ I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.’ (Genesis 12:2-3). Did this promised blessing include the Canaanite nations, or were they not included in the ‘all’?
My next post on this subject will begin looking more closely at the conquest of Palestine to see if there is any evidence that the Canaanites were meant to be included or excluded from the promised blessings.
Bible quotes from the New Living Translation
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