The books of Joshua and Judges are sometimes dismissed as just Old Testament history but properly understood in their context, I believe that these two books can help us as believers to understand the consequences of disobeying the Word of God and can help us to understand both our culture and why we tend to imitate the sins that are prevalent in the culture. The writers have a worldview that has been framed particularly by the Exodus event and by the covenant promises of blessing and cursing. The narrative characters and families are a continuation of the story from the Pentateuch. From the opening conquest of Jericho in the book of Joshua to closing pronouncement that everyone did what was right in his own eyes in Judges 21, the writers are developing the story that is foreshadowed in Numbers 33, of a people ultimately failing to conquer all the inhabitants of Canaan and allowing their worship to be polluted by the idolatry of the Canaanites.
The command from God in Numbers 33:50-56, provides the overarching instructions regarding both conquest of the land and the division of the land to the tribes of Israel, which constitutes most of the narrative in Joshua. The specific command in Numbers 33:52, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish their high places, is a command that Israel does not obey and we see throughout the book of Judges, the working out of the consequences promised by God in Numbers 33:55-56, when He says, But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.
The beginning of the conquest narrative in Joshua appears to go well for Israel. Jericho easily falls to Israel and although the sin of Achan causes defeat at Ai, once that sin has been dealt with appropriately, Israel easily conquers Ai and many other areas. The account in Joshua 9, of the Gibeonite deception and Joshua’s failure to take counsel from the Lord, is the first of many instances where Israel did not drive out all of the inhabitants of the land. Joshua 11:22 informs us of the Anakim who were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod, Joshua 15:63 informs us of the Jebusites remaining in Jerusalem, Joshua 16:10 references the Canaanites in Gezer and Joshua 17:11-13 recounts the failure of the people of Manasseh to drive out the Canaanite inhabitants in the cities that were allotted to them.
The Judges narrative picks up this line of failures to fully drive out the Canaanites. Judges 1 ends with a list of Canaanites that could not be removed by Judah, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. Judges 2 begins with God’s judgment on Israel for her failure to fully drive out the inhabitants and demolish their ways of worship. God will no longer drive out the Canaanites and their gods will become as snare for Israel. This is exactly the curse for disobedience that was promised in Numbers 33. The rest of the book of Judges is the working out of this curse. The Canaanites do become a thorn in the side of Israel and their gods ensnare the people of Israel and pollute their worship.
God’s purpose in cleansing the land of the Canaanites was really two-fold. There was certainly the aspect of Israel carrying out God’s judgment on the Canaanites for their wickedness which we read about throughout the Pentateuch but there is also the goal of destroying their systems of worship and keeping Israel and her worship of God unpolluted by the idol worship of the Canaanites.
The fascination of the Israelites with the gods of the Canaanites begins with Achan. He stole things from Jericho that were devoted to destruction. By the time we get to Judges 2, the people of Israel abandon God and serve the Baals and the Ashteroth. God’s anger is kindled and He works out the fulfillment of the promise from Numbers 33 for Israel’s disobedience, He does to Israel what He intended to do Canaan. He is against Israel when she goes into battle, He oppresses Israel through the Canaanites that Israel failed to drive out, and He places them, as Judges 2:15 it, in terrible distress.
There is a consistent theme of redemption throughout Judges that is reminiscent of God’s redemption of Israel during the Exodus event as God raised up Judges who were more military leaders than prophets like Moses. These Judges led the various regions of Israel into brief periods of rest from war and oppression. And like the Exodus event, the people, for a time chose to follow God. But the cycle of sin and walking away from God is one that continually recurs.
The sins of the people grew worse with each rebellion until they looked just like the people of Canaan whom they were to drive out in the first place. In Judges 3, we see Israel intermarrying with the Canaanites. This is a significant step to adopting Canaanite gods. Judges 8, tells us that even after Gideon sees the power of God in his triumph over the Midianites, he make a golden ephod and the people worship. This is reminiscent of the golden calf created by Aaron in Exodus 32. Abimelech’s power grab and murder of his brothers Judges 9 looks a lot like the culture in Noah’s day before the Flood. Jephthah, offering his daughter as a sacrifice to God in Judges 11, certainly mirrors the human sacrifice practice of the Canaanites. Samson generally rejected his Nazirite vows, forsaking every one of them in his lifetime as shown in Judges 14-16. We see the pollution of the priesthood when a Levite becomes a personal priest to Micah and the silver idol that Micah has created in Judges 17 and then this personal idolatry grows as the tribe of Dan steals the idol and priest in Judges 18 and sets up a shrine to worship the carved image. Finally we see perhaps the most shocking reminder of how far the people have fallen with the story in Judges 19. The men of Gibeah were no different than the men of Sodom in their desire to have the Levite. Unable to satisfy their wicked desires, they sexually assault and abuse the Levite’s concubine and cause her death. The ensuing civil war and the near destruction of the tribe of Benjamin leave us with a picture that the consequences of sin are truly devastating. The words spoken by the Lord in Numbers 33 have come to pass. The curses as outlined in Deuteronomy 28 have begun.
I think there are two very important lessons for believers to learn from the books of Joshua and Judges. The first is that God keeps His promises. We continually see God being faithful and doing what He says He will do. That truth alone can be both a source of great comfort or a reason to be in fear. If God has said He will do it, we can count on it being done. The second lesson for us is that as we first tolerate sin around us and then become intrigued by the sin, we can rest assured that the sin will own us. God’s people didn’t eradicate the Canaanites, but instead became intrigued and by the end of the story, they became just like the Canaanites that they were suppose to remove from the land. Without careful attention to and study of the Scriptures, we easily fall into the cycle of doing what is right in our own eyes. May God give us a hunger and a passion to know and obey Him.
Soli Deo Gloria
Gospel Ramblings 