涩里番

Joshua/Judges Week 1

Introduction to Joshua: Eden Lost, Canaan Found

A Book 涩里番 Land

Mark Twain once wrote, facetiously, that a 鈥渃lassic鈥� could be defined as a book that 涩里番 praise but don鈥檛 actually read. I鈥檓 afraid, then, the Bible has become a 鈥渃lassic鈥�! No doubt the Bible can be intimidating 鈥� my study Bible is more than 2,000 pages of text with very tiny font.

I suspect the problem is more with the content, though, than with the length. Christians naturally cherish the great faith of the patriarchs in Genesis, the beauty of the Psalms, the wisdom of the Proverbs, the hopeful prophecies of Isaiah, the inspirational stories of Jesus in the Gospels, and the richly complex discourses by St. Paul.

Books like Joshua 鈥� well, they may be the reason why the Bible has become a 鈥渃lassic.鈥� Joshua is not about 鈥渟alvation鈥� or 鈥渉eaven鈥� or 鈥減eace with God鈥� in the ways we expect of a religious book. Joshua is about land. It is about land for Israel. Aren鈥檛 Christians supposed to be citizens of heaven ()? No wonder Joshua seems antiquated and irrelevant. When viewed all by itself, as an isolated story, Israel鈥檚 taking of the land of Canaan might seem dull and irrelevant. However, the book of Joshua is not the beginning of a story, but the middle of a story that goes all the way back to Genesis. And everyone likes sequels, right?

Episode One: Paradise Lost

The Bible begins (鈥淕enesis鈥� literally means 鈥渂eginning鈥�) with humans in a garden, a paradise. God does not 鈥減lant鈥� these creatures to relax and vacation in the garden, but to rule. Adam and Eve are vice regents, governors over the earth by the authority of God. They are commissioned to see the garden of Eden flourish. When we read about God walking around in Eden (can you imagine that!?) in , we get the sense that, while he owns the whole world, he has made Eden his special residence, the capital of the earth 鈥� his temple-garden [see Author鈥檚 Note 1].

When Adam and Eve sin and betray their God, they are expelled from Eden (). Not only is Eden shut down (with an armed cherubim guard at the east entrance), but narrates the grim tale of the reverberations of this act of rebellion, traveling outward across the earth until God is forced to send the mighty, destructive waters to cover the whole land, as if to 鈥渦ndo鈥� creation and start over.

Episode Two: The Hope of Promise

The first part of the story is sour indeed, but offers a new beginning. The LORD calls out to a man from Ur and says, 鈥淕o from your country and your kindred and your father鈥檚 house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing 鈥�. [I]n you all the families of the earth shall be blessed鈥� (). Abram, who is later dubbed by God 鈥淎braham鈥� (鈥淔ather of many nations鈥�), is given a promise of being blessed by God. This blessing is not just to inflate his self-esteem, but to bless all families 鈥� to begin the process of restoration, reconciliation, and healing for all 鈥� beginning with this one man.

A big part of that plan and promise is land. The 鈥淧romised Land.鈥� While many of us are familiar with this terminology, it should probably be kept in mind that this is short for something like 鈥淭he Promised-by-God-to-Abraham-for-the-Blessing-of-the-Whole-World Land.鈥� (The two-word version is catchier and a bit easier to say, I admit.)

A few chapters later in Genesis, the LORD makes known, in more detail, which land He has promised: 鈥渇rom the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites鈥� ().

Another important description used of the land is its fertility, abundance, and luxury 鈥� a land 鈥渇lowing with milk and honey鈥� (see ; ), another paradise. This would be the New Eden, that garden-like land where God will pitch his tabernacle (temple-tent) and 鈥渨alk around鈥� with his 涩里番, just as he used to do in Eden ().

However, like any good story, the protagonists (the 涩里番 of Israel) face many obstacles and hardships in the pursuit of this divine promise of land, national strength, and blessing. The fulfillment lies dormant for many years as Israel lies trapped in Egypt under the thumb of Pharaoh. Through the destiny of a Jewish baby riding on the waves of the Nile (Moses), the LORD is setting the next phase of his redemptive and restorative plan in motion.

The story of Moses鈥� awakening comes to a climax in his encounter with the God of the burning bush: 鈥淚 have observed the misery of my 涩里番 鈥� and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites 鈥�.鈥� ().

The God of the fiery bush becomes the God of the fiery pillar who guided his 涩里番 out of Egypt, to Mount Sinai to receive the covenantal law (Torah), and to the border of the Promised Land ().

Episode Three: Receiving the Land of Promise

The book of Joshua is that climactic journey in which Israel takes hold of God鈥檚 promise and gains control of the land of Canaan. I am reminded of the final book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy when Frodo and Sam are finally at the land of Mordor, where they were sent to destroy the evil 鈥淥ne Ring.鈥� All of the journeys and battles of the previous stories led up to this one moment. While success in the prior trials and tribulations was necessary, this last test is most difficult of all.

So it is with Canaan. At the end of Deuteronomy, Israel stares at this land of inheritance from the LORD, a land they possess, and yet they must be single-minded in their claiming of this promise despite intimidating opposition and the seductive temptations of greed and idolatry. This 鈥渆pisode鈥� divides into four parts.

1. Entry Into the Land ()
2. Possession of the Land ()
3. Division of the Land ()
4. Worship of the LORD in the Land ()

While the story of the claiming of Canaan has its high points and low points, as all good stories do, the end of the book of Joshua recounts the (short-lived) fulfillment of the renewed commitment of Israel to obey their one Lord:

So Joshua sent the 涩里番 away to their inheritances 鈥� Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel (, ).

Required Accessories: Shovel or Popcorn?

I have described the book of Joshua above as a drama, a narrative, a tale 鈥� as if it were a good novel or movie. That raises the question: what kind of book is the book of Joshua? This is an important question because the way we approach a book often determines what we want out of it and what kinds of things we seek to learn from it. My wife likes documentaries, but they are 鈥渆ntertaining鈥� in an entirely different way from a good Martin Scorsese film. Should we approach Joshua as a history book, shovel in hand, hoping to learn about the ancient cities of Jericho or the Negev? Or do we just sit back (popcorn in hand) and learn from the themes of the story, without really taking any interest in whether any of this really 鈥渉appened鈥�?

Scholars have battled over this very question, arguing over whether books like Joshua are 鈥渕yth鈥� or 鈥渉istory.鈥� This is an extremely complex discussion that goes far beyond what we can treat here, but I will argue briefly for a third option that avoids the either-or approach.

On the one hand, Israel undoubtedly believed that what they were recording in books like Joshua was the real deeds of their saving God. On the other hand, the Israelites were not setting out to write a neutral, 鈥渙bjective鈥� report of 鈥渢he facts鈥� 鈥� their record was not part of their 鈥渁nnals of history鈥� that was to be deposited in a library and consulted in history class and used for game show questions. The recording and retelling of these stories was supposed to be theologically instructive and inspirational.

To give a modern example, we have the movie genre of the 鈥渂iopic鈥� 鈥� an artistic movie that focuses on the life of a real, historical person. It is built into the DNA of the genre to present as much historically accurate information as possible, whether of President Kennedy (JFK), Nelson Mandela (Invictus), or Mark Zuckerberg (The Social Network).

These are not documentaries, though. They are plot-driven, inspiring stories where a writer and director collaborate to inform, move, and persuade an audience. Characters, events, and crises are highlighted towards these ends. Sometimes, artistic license is necessary to convey the central message. However, an abuse of this license would naturally detract from the importance of telling a story about a real person, their real experiences, and the real failures and victories that made that story famous.

Readers of Joshua, accepting this analogy, should be cautioned against treating it as a simplistic fable to warm the heart. The writer(s) take great care in giving details that set this story in real places at real times with real 涩里番.

At the same time, due attention should be given to the story and its plot, characterization, themes, and lessons. One scholar refers to this kind of genre as 鈥渓eaning history鈥� 鈥� the placing of an audience before a series of historical events on a theological trajectory. We set forth this theological direction of Joshua below as a mixture of 鈥渢he Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.鈥�

The Good 鈥�

The book of Joshua is about land, but it is most importantly about the fulfillment of God鈥檚 promise to make things right through Israel. Set before the Israelites is the daunting task of successfully taking the land of the Canaanites. They must trust in their God 鈥� that he knows what he is doing, and that he will guide them and protect them in this impossible mission. Regularly throughout the text, they must lean on the divine promise: 鈥淚 will be with you鈥� (; ; ).

鈥� The Bad 鈥�

While Israel eventually enters the land and claims it as their inheritance, there are clearly points where they failed to fix their eyes on their God. Woven through the story are moments of greed, infidelity, and vacillation. One of the key themes expressed in many Old Testament books, including Joshua, is the idea that the Most High God graciously includes his human creatures as agents in his plan of redemption and restoration. Not everyone lives up to this great privilege.

鈥� And the Ugly

For modern readers of Joshua, the way that Israel wages war and ostensibly annihilates whole groups of 涩里番 is inexplicable at best. Why would God choose a land for Israel to possess that requires them to kill the inhabitants? If he is God, why wouldn鈥檛 he convince the Canaanites to leave? Or drive them out by famine or storm?听 Why not spare the women? I would not dare to offer a simple answer as a panacea for this problem, though we will address it in due course.

Remembering the God of Promise

It is helpful to take the perspective that, though the book is called 鈥淛oshua鈥� and Joshua is the primary leader from beginning to end, the focus remains on the God of Joshua, the God of promise. When Israel obeys and succeeds, it underscores the LORD鈥檚 going ahead and providential care. When Israel sins and fails, the LORD disciplines according to his covenant, but he is always ready to forgive and restore. While the biblical book is named after a man, Joshua, his name means 鈥淵ahweh saves (or rescues).鈥� The divine name Yahweh is explained in , where the LORD tells Moses his personal name, which means 鈥淚 AM WHO I AM鈥� 鈥� and who is he?

As 鈥淛oshua鈥� attests, he is the God who saves.

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