The Promised Land Part 3

NOTE: the following is my manuscript and will be different than the sermon recording. All Scripture is from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.

I baked a cake yesterday. I haven’t done that in quite some time. But locked away in my brain are some important details that contribute to making a good cake.

Baking a cake is all about preparation and following a fairly strict process, because as soon as the ingredients come together in the mixing bowl, a chemical reaction happens fairly quickly. Baking soda and baking powder start releasing carbon dioxide the moment they are combined with the liquid ingredients. The gas bubbles are what puff it up and give it the fluffy texture. And once the batter starts warming up, the eggs and starches form the structure that traps and holds the bubbles. Those tiny bubbles are what will lift the cake to make it airy and fluffy. If the batter sits too long at room temperature, or if you mix it too much, the gas escapes, so you end up with a flatter, denser, tougher cake.

Baking is one of those things that, if you want a predictable outcome, you have to follow the plan. And you have to be prepared with everything ready to go before you start. And how you prepare depends on the recipe. Not everything you bake needs to be light and fluffy, so the preparations I just described are not going to apply to everything.

The story of Israel making their way out from the oppression of slavery in Egypt is filled with examples of how they were unprepared to settle into the promised land. Entering before they were properly prepared would result in failure. We will be looking today at what it meant for Israel to be prepared for taking possession of the land, and what it would mean for them to take the land in the name of their God.

A Nation Without a Plan

Consider what preparations a nation might make to take possession of a land that is inhabited by other people. History is filled with stories of conquest in which empires have attempted and sometimes succeeded in expanding their territory. The conquering nations would have usually spent months, maybe even years, planning—ensuring the military was properly trained, every scenario played out and prepared for, a sufficient supply of weapons and ammunition. To go ahead with conquest without proper preparations and planning would be foolish.

But the Israelites are people without land. They live in temporary shelters. They can only carry so much with them as they travel. Until only recently, they knew nothing except slavery for hundreds of years. And by some miracle they find themselves out in the middle of nowhere because 500 years ago, a God named Yahweh promised their common ancestors that the future nation of Israel would be given the land of Canaan as their home. They are to travel over there and just take it from the seven nations currently occupying the land.

After they left Egypt, God went to work, preparing them to inhabit the land. He gave them the formula, the recipe for success. They agreed to follow it exactly as given. After a year of preparation, God gave instructions to Moses to send twelve spies into the land. God knew what the spies would find—that it would appear to be impossible with their limited resources.

The challenge for them at the time was to not just agree to follow God’s instructions, but to trust that the outcome is in God’s hands.

The First Generation’s Failure

Numbers 13 and 14 tell the story.

Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up there into the Negeb, and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is like and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the towns that they live in are unwalled or fortified, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be bold, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the season of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron, and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the Anakites, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the Wadi Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Wadi Eshcol because of the cluster that the Israelites cut down from there.

The spies travelled through the whole land and then returned with a mixed message. The spies were impressed with the fertility of the land. It truly was a land flowing with milk and honey, but their report was not all favourable. Canaan’s cities were well fortified. The land devoured those living in it. The inhabitants were of great size. The spies were like grasshoppers in comparison.

When the Israelites heard the report, they raised their voices, wept aloud and grumbled against Moses and Aaron: “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to have us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

Joshua and Caleb were confident that the Lord would help the Israelites conquer Canaan, but it was the opinion of the other ten spies that prevailed. The Lord revealed his displeasure to Moses and Aaron. All those grumblers would die in the desert. The Israelites would wander the desert for forty years until that generation was dead—all except Joshua and Caleb, because they trusted Yahweh.

When Moses told these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly. They rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” But Moses said, “Why do you continue to transgress the command of the Lord? That will not succeed. Do not go up, for the Lord is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, even though the ark of the covenant of the Lord and Moses had not left the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them, pursuing them as far as Hormah.

They had initially rebelled out of fear and unbelief in God’s ability to fight for them. Now they rebelled in arrogance, thinking they could win the battle without God’s help. When God said they would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land, the people immediately confessed their sin and expressed readiness to fight, but it was too late.

The Same Test, Forty Years Later

So 40 years passed, and the next generation was faced with the same test. Would they trust God enough to do what he says even though they don’t understand how it would produce the promised outcome? This trust would be vital because of the nature of preparation for taking the land.

The context of Joshua 5 is that the Israelites had just crossed over the Jordan River. God parted the river, just as he parted the Red Sea 40 years ago. The Israelites are now in the plains of Jericho at Gilgal. Joshua 5:2-12:

At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites a second time.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath-haaraloth. This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the warriors, had died during the journey through the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt. Although all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people born on the journey through the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the Israelites traveled forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the warriors who came out of Egypt, perished, not having listened to the voice of the Lord. To them the Lord swore that he would not let them see the land that he had sworn to their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. When the circumcising of all the nation was done, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal, they kept the Passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

How Israel Prepared for Battle

The ceremonial preparations included circumcision and Passover. These reminded Israel of their commitments to God and his faithfulness to them. Nearly 40 years ago, their parents promised their unwavering loyalty to Yahweh but failed to live up to that promise. And, as we read in Deuteronomy 26:16-19, the mutual promise of loyalty between Israel and their God is renewed.

“This very day the Lord your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances, so observe them diligently with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you have obtained the Lord’s agreement: to be your God; and for you to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and to obey him. Today the Lord has obtained your agreement: to be his treasured people, as he promised you, and to keep all his commandments; for him to set you high above all nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor; and for you to be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

The emphasis on spiritual preparation that we see in Joshua chapter 5 aligns with the nature of the commitment Israel and Yahweh made to each other. The challenges ahead would not be overcome through human strategy, skill, or strength, but because Yahweh is going before them.

So, rather than focusing on conventional military strategy, the ceremonies demonstrated the importance of ritual purity through circumcision and the observance of Passover. Proper relationship with God is the key to success.

And while ceremonial preparation and sacrifices to gods prior to battle was fairly common in the ancient Near East, the nature of those rituals was to seek divine favour so that their plans would be successful. Israel had no plan. They were responding to the direction given to them by their God. There is nothing in the text that suggests they had a plan for military conquest and were appealing to their God to give them success to accomplish their own goals.

So the battle to come at Jericho was not truly Israel’s battle, but Yahweh’s.

The Commander of the Lord’s Army

And to call it a battle is a bit of a stretch. Let’s look at how the battle got kicked off, in Joshua 5:13-15.

Once when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you one of us or one of our adversaries?” He replied, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, “What do you command your servant, my lord?” The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

In a bit of an odd little passage, Joshua is met by a strange man. He identifies himself as commander of the army of Yahweh. He denies being one of the adversaries, but he also is not one of the Israelites. He is not on either side. This is because what is about to happen is for the sake of God and his plan. It is not about the Israelites vs. the people in Canaan.

Joshua’s response was to worship the man. He immediately wants this commander to know that his loyalty is to Yahweh. And when he asked what to do next, the commander said the same thing that Yahweh said to Moses at the burning bush: “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.”

Joshua most certainly knew the story of the burning bush. He must have made the connection. The same God that called and empowered Moses has called and will empower Joshua. This will be the source of his confidence. It is the only thing he needs.

The Battle of Jericho

And so we come to the most famous story of the book. You know the song, “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho”? You know the story—that they marched around the city once each day for six days. And then on the seventh day, they marched seven times, shouted, and the city wall fell down flat. The people went into the city and captured it. Joshua 6:17-21 tells us what they were to do upon capturing Jericho.

The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent. As for you, keep away from the things devoted to destruction, so as not to covet and take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it. But all silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. Then they devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.

There is nothing in this story that describes a battle scene. There’s no clash of armies, no actual fighting. Israel marches in circles, the priests blow horns, the people shout, and the walls fall.

Seven priests, seven trumpets, seven days, seven circuits on the seventh day. The ark is at the centre. The procession is organized around God’s presence rather than around an army of soldiers.

What Does Herem Mean?

The instructions Yahweh gives them upon entering the city are stated several times in these verses. It is a phrase that is quite different depending on the translation you use.

Let’s look at verse 17:

NRSV: The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the LORD for destruction.

NASB: The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD.

KJV: And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD.

NIV: The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD.

NLT: Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the LORD.

In some, it seems to say that the Israelites are supposed to destroy everything. In others, it seems they are supposed to offer everything to God. And then there’s “under the ban,” and “accursed.” What does that mean? Do they destroy everything or not?

The word for all these different terms is herem. Whenever you see a verse with very different translations, it is probably because the word is very difficult to translate. In this case, not only is the word hard to translate, but when it’s translated, it is immediately subject to misunderstanding depending on the reader’s interpretation of the English words.

This is where it is very helpful to have a Bible with good notes. In one of my Bibles, the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, it says that herem calls for something or someone to be made ineligible for human use. For a city, that means that it must be emptied of everything. For people, that means that they cannot be assimilated into the nation.

“Putting them to the sword” is an alternative to their normal expected fate, which was slavery. They are being killed not for the purpose of making them dead, but to remove them from use as slaves.

And why must they do this? Joshua 6:18 gives us a clue: “As for you, keep away from the things devoted to destruction, so as not to covet and take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it.”

The objective was not the elimination of people, but the elimination of that which threatens Israel’s loyalty to Yahweh. This is consistent with one of the laws given to Israel, recorded in Leviticus 27:28–29:

“Nothing that a person owns that has been devoted to destruction for the Lord, be it human or animal or inherited landholding, may be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord. No human beings who have been devoted to destruction can be ransomed; they shall be put to death.”

Wrestling With a Hard Text

This is strange to us, and it should be. The idea that God would tell anyone to kill another person just seems wrong. But this is the ancient world. It is how things were done. It doesn’t mean it’s how things should be done.

If we consider all of Scripture, we see that God’s instruction for Israel to kill people is the exception, not the norm. The norm is always to trust in God, who is moving creation toward shalom, where no one lacks anything and everyone is at peace.

Consider Psalm 44:1–8. There are many Psalms like this, but this one points back to Joshua.

The story of Joshua suggests that true success lies in loyalty to Yahweh. We must not make these statements into a justification to make plans of conquest and then ask God to go before us and kill our enemies so we don’t have to. That is not the promise being made.

The promise is that if God has given you a command, and that command seems impossible, you can trust that it will be possible because he makes it possible.

The Cost of Loyalty

When Jesus told his disciples that he didn’t come to bring peace but a sword, he was referring to the potential costliness of loyalty to him for some people. He was saying that following him into the kingdom would be dangerous and costly. It might seem impossible to live in the way that he lived, laying down his life in obedience to God.

Loyalty to Yahweh meant the Israelites had to remove all the potential threats to their loyalty from the land. And the same is true for us.

Jesus said that if a part of our body causes us to sin, to remove it. He is using the same sort of imagery as herem. If something is drawing you away from loyalty to God, make that thing ineligible for human use. The point is not to literally remove your eye, but to do everything you can to eliminate the source of temptation.

Imagine what would happen if we took this seriously.