FIRST WORDS
To My Friends, Colleagues, Church Fellowship, Curious People everywhere and especially my Grandchildren,
Always know that you are fully loved by God and you are loved by me. I pray that you remember our purpose is to reflect the entire Glory of God.
THE COMMAND FOR TOTAL DESTRUCTION
At some point in our spiritual growth and our faith development, we need to examine our beliefs in relation to Christ's command in the book of Joshua that calls for the destruction of entire cities.
Joshua 8:1,2
"Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king."
Let's go back a few verses and find out exactly what Christ is telling Joshua to do.
Joshua 6:20,21
"When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in , and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys."
On many occasions in my ministry these verses have become the fuel for very heated debates about Christian morality, justice and love. How do we as people of faith in the justice and love of Christ, speak to the love of God while proclaiming the unchanging nature of God in Christ and the authority of all scripture as inspired by God through His Holy Spirit?
In all honesty, in our modern world, I have lost these debates more often than I have won. In other words, my reasoning did not convince those I was speaking to. At the end of the day those gathered for the discussion decided to either question the authority of scripture or they decided in many cases to believe that the God of the Old Testament had changed and we as followers of Jesus Christ are living under a new covenant and a new testament. Out with the old and in with the new!
I continue to believe that Christ is unchangeable from Old to New Testaments. I continue to believe in the inspired and inerrant nature of scripture. I continue to believe that the character of God in the Father, is the definitive character that defines for us the very concepts of love, justice, mercy and grace. At the risk of losing the debate once again, let me share my reasoned response to the question of Christ's absolute love in the face of a very harsh command that is responsible for the destruction of entire cities and peoples.
It is important to note that people's struggles become progressive in this debate. If only the men had been destroyed there was very little struggle. Men die in war...that is a given. Women being destroyed is more of a struggle but still not totally out of bounds. It might be a justice issue, but at least the women had lived and were responsible for some of their actions. The real struggle happens when we get to the destruction of children and babies. This is totally inexcusable in most modern minds.
WHERE TO BEGIN THE DEBATE
Let me begin with an observation. Most people who want to challenge my more orthodox view on this topic want to begin in the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua. My first question is, why become indignant about this type of destruction so late in the story of God's people?
Why not begin with the story of the flood? Remember this portion of scripture?
Genesis 6:5-7
"The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth and His heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, "I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created - and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground."
I can see the hearts of men being evil and can even imagine the hearts of women, but children? Why destroy the children along with the evil adults?
What about becoming indignant about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Let's get beyond the question of the "why" (which is the usual reason for indignation) they had to be destroyed, and ask the question about the destruction of innocents. Surely the 10 people Christ was looking for, if He were to spare these cities, could be found in the innocent hearts of children, and yet the children are destroyed along with the adults. You can find this story beginning in the 18th chapter of Genesis.
A more accurate place to begin our biblical discussion happens after these two events have already taken place. Armed with this information it should at least not come as a surprise that Christ is willing to deal with the enemies of His people in this manner. We may not agree with Christ or understand His purpose and justice yet, but it should at the very least, not be a surprise.
BY WHO'S AUTHORITY
Authority is very important to me in this world. Perhaps it is a part of my military background, but I want to know if something is a lawful order from my ultimate authority or an order that has become a matter of practice but is open to interpretation. In the military, this concept is drilled into a soldier during basic training. It is important to learn how to determine if something is a lawful order. Lawful orders are to be obeyed while common orders can be manipulated to suit a situation. Disobeying lawful orders can get you court-marshalled.
In scripture I consider all words that come directly from God in any expression (Father,Son,Holy Spirit) to be lawful orders. It is important to me as I read scripture to determine if someone is speaking on behalf of Christ or if Christ Himself is speaking. I tend to underline in the Old Testament the parts of scripture that are direct words from Christ. This has been done for us in many "Red Letter" translations of the New Testament.
I ask this question about this debate. By who's authority is this practice of total destruction put into place?
Deuteronomy is heavy with Moses speaking to the people about what Christ expects. The question is whether this is Moses's understanding of what Christ expects or has Christ specifically told Moses these expectations. I find no evidence in the books of Moses to support Christ literally telling Moses this is the way Israel will move into the promised land. I have searched and do not find a command from Christ to Moses about total destruction of cities and people. This then is the understanding Moses has in encounters or information he has received apart from the recorded words of Christ in the first five books of the Old Testament. For the record here is what Moses believes Christ expects.
Deuteronomy 20:16,17
"The cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them."
Is this a lawful order? Just because it appears in scripture does not make it a lawful order from Christ.
Joshua obviously considers it a direct (lawful) order from Christ. This is the manner in which he deals with Jericho. We come back full circle to the passage in Joshua where the practice of total destruction is confirmed by the direct word of Christ. So that you don't have to go back to the beginning I will print it again for you.
Joshua 8:1,2
"Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king."
This then for me is the proof that this is in fact a lawful and direct order from Christ about how Israel is to deal with the enemies of God. It is not a misunderstanding by God's people. It is a command given straight from the character of Christ Himself.
WHY TOTAL DESTRUCTION
This brings us to the question of why.
Moses gives us the why. If Moses was right about the practice it makes his answer to the why credible for me. It does not make it definitive, but it means I must take it very seriously and give it due consideration.
Deuteronomy 20:18
"Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God."
The argument Moses makes in scripture for total destruction, is that any sin left behind will lead you back into rebellion against Christ at some point.
But what about the children? The implication is summed up in this "saying" stated by a member in one of my studies. "As goes the parent, so goes the child". In other words, children will grow up and by virtue of their upbringing they will learn the character of the parent. Some might break away from the practice, but most will follow the lead of the parent. Simply destroying the parent and leaving the child will leave a legacy of evil in the promised land. What about the babies? Take it from an adopted child who came from an orphanage, at some point all children want to know where they came from. When those questions arise and you learn that your parents were destroyed there will be consequences for the future of that child. I would say that some of you will argue with this idea (and rightly so).
Let me further make my case from scripture. We actually have an example of this in scripture. If you read the book of Esther you read the story of a very courageous woman who saves the people of Israel from certain destruction. What most people are not aware of is the context. Why was Haman so intent on the destruction of the Israelites? The answer, he was one of those children from the promised land that was not destroyed but his parents were. He harbored this resentment in his heart and acted on it when he acquired the power to strike back.
I have had many teachers attest to the fact that "as goes the parent, so goes the child" is in fact a true statement. Not one-hundered percent true, but true enough that it is the norm and not the exception to the rule.
This then seems to be the wisdom of Moses as he understood it from God. Destroy everyone or expect that in the future they will lead you back into evil practises and will seek your destruction.
BUT THIS WAS THEIR LAND
The occupants of the Promised Land at the time of the exodus were not the original inhabitants of the land. The tribes living in the Promised Land were the descendants of Ham. They had taken by battle the cities built by the descendants of Shem. It was the descendants of Shem that came from Abraham and Christ was leading them back and reclaiming the land He had given to Shem by the blessing of Noah.
No, those occupying the Promised Land at the time of the exodus were not the owners of that land. They might have conquered it, but that just means there is no real cause for cries of justice when they themselves are conquered as the original inhabitants take it back.
A LESSON TO LEARN
I'm sure there are many lessons to be learned and many discussions to be had, but let me share one in particular.
When Jesus Christ comes in the new testament and promises that sin or evil can and will be conquered in our lives, did He mean just some of the sin? Will it not be Christ's intention to bring victory in our lives over all sin and all evil? We may never be rid of the influence evil can exert on our lives, but a life with Christ will push that sin and that evil to the outer boundaries. It will be Luke who records the encounter Jesus had with the demon possessed man. The demons ask if Christ has come to "destroy" them. The expectation is that they will be destroyed. In Revelation 11 Christ will come and destroy those "who destroy the earth".
Christ did not promise to only deal with some of our sin. He promised to destroy all the power sin had over our lives. From Old Testament to New Testament, it is Christ who will lead the battle to destroy that which is against His character and His purpose.
I echo the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 15:57 "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ".
Yol Bolusm,
Tim
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