Home Truths from Joshua

Not all Canaanites were totally destroyed by Joshua's army. Some of them were to be allowed to live, usually as slaves. This was going to be a challenge for God's people, as Joshua himself explained, just before his death:


He lays it all out for them. He reminds them of their unique status as God's people. How could they want it any other way? The people respond:


The people responded, of course we will follow the Lord. We're not crazy, we know what's good for us! But Joshua knew better, he knew his people; so he gave them some home truths:


This could be a comedy moment, perhaps from a Mel Brooks film. You could imagine the people shuffling uncomfortably, twiddling their thumbs, avoiding eye contact with Joshua. Of course we will serve the Lord!

Joshua persevered and pushed the point further.


Still shuffling awkwardly, eyes darting to the left and the right, nervous whistling. Then Joshua hits them with a thunderbolt.


The correct response would have been, yes we will throw them away. We'll just fetch them now while you prepare the bonfire. Instead their response is perhaps a bit flat, robotic and insincere. There seems to be no record of the "foreign gods" being thrown away.


Joshua gave them the benefit of the doubt and made a covenant with God on their behalf at Shechem, but he must have been groaning inwardly.

Joshua died before things started to go badly wrong. We are shown this at the start of the book of Judges. The Israelites still had more fighting to do before they could fully claim the land. They met a determined foe and weren't able to drive out all the Canaanites, so kept them as slaves instead. What followed was the biggest shift in God's relationship with the Israelites since the Covenant was given on Mount Sinai all those years earlier.

Steve Maltz
June 2013


You may also like...

What is a family? More

How do we worship? More

Is our youthwork Biblical? More

