Joshua 9-11
Today’s reading covers the bulk of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land. With Jericho and Ai in hand, Joshua moves on to further territory. But the people of Gibeon (and neighboring towns — a bit north-northwest of Jerusalem) recognize the coming destruction and preemptively undertake a deceptive plan to make peace, claiming to have traveled from a far country. Without consulting the LORD, Joshua and the other leaders of Israel agree to let the Gibeonites live. Even when the deception is uncovered, Joshua decides to let the covenant stand.
The other cities in the area, perceiving that they cannot each stand alone, form an alliance against Israel (and Gibeon), but the LORD gives them into Joshua’s hand, raining down hail on the enemy and making the sun and moon stand still for about a day. Joshua then moves on to conquer first the southern portions of the land and then the northern areas, annihilating everyone along the way. And the land had rest from war. (Joshua 11:23)
One reason this post is a bit late today is that I’m having a hard time choosing which of three points to focus on. (Given how much ground we cover each day, that is not particularly unusual!) I can’t decide, so today you’re getting all three…
First, the treaty with the Gibeonites. Even though Israel’s covenant with Gibeon is based on Gibeon’s deceit and made without seeking the LORD’s counsel, that does not create a loophole for Joshua to jump through. A promise is a promise, especially one made in the name of the LORD. Joshua is not free to break that promise. We might think that the LORD would rebuke Joshua here for failing to wipe out Gibeon, but He does not. Aside from noting the failure to seek the LORD’s counsel, our reading today is silent on what the LORD thinks of the covenant, except that He clearly lets it stand. In fact, the LORD later ratifies the covenant, showing His displeasure with Saul for violating it. (See II Samuel 21:1-14.) We should learn at least two things from this: 1) seek the LORD’s counsel before making any substantive decisions and especially before making promises; and 2) keep your promises.
Second, the miracle of the sun standing still. If you find the idea of stopping the earth’s rotation for a day to be ludicrous, let me refer you back to Genesis 1:1 and this year’s very first post. God can do whatever He pleases with His creation. Making the sun stand still is certainly extraordinary (as Joshua 10:14 clearly states), but we should not therefore find it unbelievable. In speaking of this miracle (and miracles in general), Saint Augustine says much the same thing:
In regard then to human knowledge of the nature of things, the unbelievers have no right to becloud the issue by their assumption that nothing, even by the power of God, can happen to nature beyond what is known already by human experience. And remember too that there are qualities and powers in the natures of the commonest things that are nothing less than stupendous and would in fact be reckoned portents by anyone who examined them, except that humans have accustomed themselves to have no wonder to spare save for things that are unusual.
Augustine of Hippo, City of God 21.8
Though written in the early fifth century, Augustine might just as well be speaking to the 21st-century physicist.
Third, the annihilation of the enemies of Israel. Although this is an account of real history and real events, we can also take this book somewhat allegorically. Consider again the idea of Joshua as a type of Christ. And consider Joshua’s conquest of the peoples of the land as a portrayal of Christ’s conquest of sin in our lives. The people of Israel can no more conquer the inhabitants of the land on their own any more than we can conquer sin on our own. In both cases, it is the LORD Who gives the victory. But just as the people of Israel must themselves take up the sword and participate in the battles, so we must cooperate with the LORD and actively engage in annihilating sin. I have said it before, and I will say it again, and I will keep on saying it: Christ died so that we might be free from sin, not just sin’s penalty. He died to annihilate sin in us, not to enable us to keep on sinning without consequence.