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Chapter Five
C
ONQUEST AND
J
UDGES
Green (the green hills of Canaan)
Following the Story
The Conquest and Judges period follows the continuing story of Scripture in the books of Joshua
and Judges. In addition to these
narrative books, the supplemental book of Ruth will also be
discussed briefly.
T
he period of the Conquest and Judges opens with Israel on the threshold of the
Promised Land. A mixture of excitement and fear fills the people: excitement at entering
this land flowing with milk and honey, fear at what will be the cost to take possession of
the land from its current inhabitants. This story of new beginnings and new ordeals can
be divided into two acts, the first
covering the book of Joshua, and the second covering
the book of Judges.
As the book of Joshua opens, Israel is armed with the covenant laws of Deuteronomy,
ready to cross the Jordan River and take possession of her new home, but
two questions
remain: “Who will lead God’s people from this point forward?” and “Will Israel (and the
pagan nations in the land) choose faithfulness to Yahweh?” In the book of Judges, Israel
enters the Promised Land with a series of great victories, but follows them with a
repeating cycle of sin that causes Israel to spiral downward into darkness. However, a hint
of light shines as two foreigners
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place
their trust in the Lord, entering into the
people of God and becoming part of the line that will lead to a king and future messiah.
A
CT
1:
J
OSHUA
A New Leader
Moses led Israel out of Egypt and through the desert these forty years, but he will not
lead them into the Promised Land. Moses’ mantle passes to Joshua, whom Moses chose,
mentored, disciplined, and ordained to leadership. Joshua, along with Caleb, remained
faithful to God when the first generation refused to enter Canaan; now he
will lead the
second generation into the Promised Land of the patriarchs.
As the book of Joshua opens, Joshua’s position is confirmed by God’s call and promise
that “I will be with you” (Jos 1:5). This is the first of many recurring parallels between
these two great leaders. Just as Moses had led Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea on
dry land, Joshua leads Israel out of the wilderness across the Jordan River dry-shod. Joshua
is instructed to “put off your shoes from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy”
(Jos 5:15), just as Moses had been commanded to remove his shoes at the burning bush
(Ex 3:5). Joshua’s contact
with the holy enables him, as it had Moses, to represent God
to Israel, as well as Israel to God. These parallels serve to remind the reader that although
the human leadership changes from generation to generation, it
is the same Lord who
rules from age to age.
The Moral Problem of the Conquest
While the time of the conquest contains many marvelous events, it also casts a
shadow that cannot be ignored. What are we to make of the command for the utter
destruction of the Canaanite tribes in Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land (Dt 20:16–
17)? How can such a mandate, located at the heart of Israel’s Scriptures, be the will of
God? Can the God of the Old Testament who commanded “thou shalt not kill”—the
God made manifest in Jesus in the New Testament—mandate genocide?
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If one is to sort
out these difficult questions, it is instructive to recall how Jesus
himself interpreted other difficult instructions of the Deuteronomic law. For example,
although Moses permits divorce, Jesus condemns it in no uncertain terms. When
questioned why Moses allowed for it (Dt 24), Jesus responds, “For your hardness of heart
Moses allowed you to divorce, but from the beginning it was not so” (Mt 19:8). Notice
that Jesus equates the “law of Deuteronomy” (or the “law”) with the “law of Moses” (what
Moses allowed) and not with the “law of God.” What is more, Jesus states that at least
some of these laws were custom-made for hard hearts. Jesus’ critique of divorce illustrates
that the later laws of Deuteronomy 6–26 were not God’s original plan but were
concessionary and thus temporary in nature and authority.
The idea that much of Deuteronomy reflects concessions to human weakness, rather
than the positive will of God, is found throughout Jewish
rabbinic tradition, which
recognized that the only law given directly by God on Sinai is the Decalogue, or Ten
Commandments (Ex 20; Dt 5). The laws from Deuteronomy 6–26 are ascribed to Moses
and often called the Law of Moses. Indeed, “Deuteronomy” means “second law” (
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