PART 2 The Bible and Graphic Violence! Why did God DISPOSSESS the people before Israel?

WHO WERE THE INHABITANTS OF THE PROMISED LAND AND WHY WERE THEY DISPOSSESSED BY GOD ? "GOD'S HATRED OF THEIR PRACTICES WAS WELL FOUNDED AND THEY HAD TO BE ERADICATED WITH "EXTREME PREJUDICE! OR
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.--Genesis 15:7
It would be some four hundred years later and four generations after beginning their sojourn in Egypt (Genesis 15:13,16, covering the generations of Levi, Kohath, Amram, and Moses) before the promise of inheriting the land would be fulfilled.
HERE IS SOME WELL FOUNDED HISTORY FIRST
God’s promises come with a cost. He would give them the land, but they would have to fight to conquer it. He would not fight for them; he would fight with them. This divine aid would, however, only be available if they obeyed him as their Commander-in-Chief (Exodus 23:20-23).
It took a little more than a year after Israel left Egypt before they reached the southern borders of the promised land at Kadesh Barnea (Numbers 13:26). From there the spies were sent forth and, when they returned, convinced their fellow countrymen that the inhabitants of the land were too strong to be dispossessed.
Apparently chastised by the message of Moses, they changed their minds and decided to begin their conquest. However, because the spies had brought back a message of fear, God did not go up with them; they were routed by the Amalekites and the Canaanites (Numbers 14:42-45).
It would be some forty years later, after this unbelieving generation had all died, that the final conquest of Canaan would begin.
The Inhabitants of the Land Genesis 15:18-21 " In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
Exodus 3:8, 17; 23:23 Deuteronomy 20:17 Joshua 12:8 Judges 3:5
Deuteronomy 7:1 Joshua 24:11 The discrepancies may be accounted for within the context. The Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, and Rephaim in the Genesis list all resided on the east bank of Jordan and had been defeated before the main conquest of Jordan began. The Hivites, omitted in Genesis, were a small sub-tribe living on the northern outskirts of the promised land, close to Mt. Hermon (Judges 3:3). The Girgashites, omitted in the majority of the lists, while living east of the Jordan, were not conquered until the Israelite invasion of the west bank had commenced.
The Borders of the Promised Land
While many texts give a general description of the promised borders, the most complete description of the land which Abram’s seed was to inherit is found in Deuteronomy: "Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites [the Nebo ridge on the east bank of the Jordan], and unto all the places nigh thereunto [the Jordan valley, east of the river itself], in the plain [in Hebrew, Arabah, the Great Rift of the Jordan valley south of the Dead Sea], and in the hills [the Judean hills], and in the vale [in Hebrew, Shephelah, lying between the coastal plain and the Judean hills], and in the south [the Negev], and by the seaside [the Mediterranean coastal plain], to the land of the Canaanites [particularly the Plain of Sharon and the Jezreel Valley], and unto Lebanon [in the north, but how far north?], unto the Great River, the River Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land1 which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them."--Deuteronomy 1:7,8
Three Staged Invasion
The conquest of the promised land took some six years and was accomplished in three stages:
1. The territory east of the Jordan river. 2. The southern flank. 3. The land in the north of Canaan.
After being rebuffed by the Amalekites in their abortive attack near Kadesh Barnea in the Negev, the wandering tribes were directed thirty-eight years later up the Great Rift valley northward along the Dead Sea. Here, at the time of the fall harvest, they crossed the river Arnon to do battle with Sihon, King of Heshbon. "And the LORD said unto me, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land" (Deuteronomy 2:31).
Within six months the twelve tribes had taken possession of the trans-Jordan, except for the lands inhabited by Edom, Moab, and Ammon (as well as the isolated sub-tribe of the Girgashites). It was here that Moses died after viewing the promised land from Mt. Nebo, and it was here that Balak, king of Moab, sought to enlist the aid of the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. It was shortly after his failure that the tribes of Israel, now under the command of Joshua, amassed themselves at the banks of the Jordan in preparation to pass over.
It was in the spring of the year, just prior to the Jewish feast of Passover, and the river Jordan was in flood stage (Joshua 3:15). These raging flood waters probably gave those dwelling west of Jordan a feeling of security. A landslide upriver at the town of Adam, however, dried up the torrent so that the Israelites could pass over dry shod. Crossing the river, they set up camp in a box canyon by the name of Gilgal.
The crossing of Jordan is seen by many Christians as the passing over of the death sentence when Christ and his church raise the billions of humanity back to life once again. This erasure of the original curse will also be traced as far back as the first man named Adam.
Gilgal provided an ideal staging ground for the next step of the invasion. Here the nation’s dependency on heaven-sent manna ceased (Joshua 5:12), for here there was ample pasturage for their flocks in the fertile Jordan valley, an abundant source of clean water from the river, as well as the protective mountain cul-de-sac for protection from enemies. It was here that they awaited instructions from God as to how to claim their promised heritage.
Jericho
An angel from the Lord instructed Joshua to begin the conquest at Jericho, a prosperous Canaanite city located not far from the Jordan, between the river and the cliffs of Quarantania. It was built on a foundation set in alluvial soil which would have become greatly moistened by the overflowing floods of spring. This geological sub-strata is similar to that of Santa Rosa, California, the city which suffered the greatest damage in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
The tribes of Israel were instructed to march around the city for seven days with the priests blowing a loud blast on seven ram’s horn trumpets,from which we derive the word jubilee). This was to be followed on the seventh day by seven encirclements and seven blasts of the seven trumpets. The city had been living in fear of an attack (Joshua 6:1) and it is likely that the unusual events, particularly of the seventh day, would have brought crowds to the city wall to see what was happening. The synchronic noise, the accumulated weight on the walls, and the unstable dampened alluvial foundation may have all contributed to the miracle power of God in bringing down the thick stone walls.
The trumpet soundings of six days followed by seven blasts on the seventh day are suggestive of the picture given in the book of Revelation where seven trumpets appear in parallel with the seven churches and seven seals, followed on the seventh day by the seven plagues which topple the antitypical Jericho, the great Babylon. The further connection with the trumpets being ram’s horns, or "jubilee" trumpets, blown by the priests may be of further significance since the great seventh thousand-year day of humanity is known as "the year of jubilee."
Ai
The thrill of victory was soon met with the bitterness of defeat. The sin of covetousness by a single Israelite resulted in a stunning defeat to Joshua’s army by the army of the city of Ai. God had commanded that nothing be taken from the spoils of Jericho, but Achan, a man of Judah, took a Babylonish garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a fifty-shekel wedge of gold. The three items may hold a symbolic meaning relative to the remnant of fallen desires from which mankind needs to rid itself in the kingdom age.
1. A Babylonian garment illustrating the ritual ways of attaining justification practiced in antitypical Babylon. The Vulgate translates it as a purple garment while the Septuagint calls it "a garment of different colors." Some suggest that it was the royal robe of the king of Jericho, while others speculate it was a robe kept in the temple for the king of Babylon when he would come on royal visits to this important trade center.
2. Two hundred shekels of silver illustrating the greed of Achan and the temptation of materialism. Its placement under the other items (Joshua 7:21) suggests that it is greed and selfishness which lie at the foundation of all the other faults.
3. A wedge of gold. The Hebrew expression is "a tongue of gold" and probably refers to a golden phallic image or idol, representing the difficulty that many will have in the kingdom giving up the many cherished idols of their former lives.
God’s Secret Weapon
Ambush was a standard tactic in Old Testament warfare. It was by one ambush, strategically placed between the cities of Ai and Bethel, that resulted in the fall of both these hilltop strongholds. Their defeat gave Joshua’s forces a foothold in the southern highlands of Samaria. From there a prolonged campaign in the north conquered the territory as far north as Tyre and Sidon on the coasts of present day Lebanon.
Ambush, however, was also a tactic used by the entrenched cities of the land. The lush croplands of the Jezreel and Sharon valleys provided ample hiding places for the armies arrayed against Israel. It was for just such contingencies that God provided Israel with a secret weapon--swarms of hornets: "And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee" (Exodus 23:28). More than just a nuisance, these stinging insects would evoke cries of pain from the hidden enemy forces, revealing their location.
So it will be in Christ’s kingdom when man does battle against his seven spiritual foes (Proverbs 6:16-18). God will reveal the secret sins in man’s heart, but it will be up to him to achieve the victory over them (Psalm 19:12).
A Gradual Conquest
God did not promise swift victory. The land was to be claimed piecemeal. "I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land" (Exodus 23:29,30).
Nature abhors a vacuum. If Israel’s foes had fallen before the invaders were ready to use the land for farming or grazing, the ground would soon be overspread with weeds and inhabited by wild beasts. This further illustrates the methods God uses in helping mankind overcome their fallen propensities. Jesus used a parable to demonstrate this principle: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first" (Luke 11:24-26).
It is not enough that man rid himself of sinful and impure thoughts, but he must replace these with the principles of righteousness and the desire to implement these.
Caleb and the Conquest of the South
When the spies entered the land at Kadesh Barnea, they penetrated as far as the cities of Hebron, a confederacy of four sheikdoms ruled by Anak and his three sons, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, all men of gigantic stature (Numbers 13:22). Hebron (whose name means "confederacy") was then named Kirjath-arba, or Cities of the Four, named for these four rulers.
Now at age 86, Caleb requests permission of Joshua to conquer the city whose inhabitants had earlier struck terror into the hearts of the spies (Joshua 14:13,14). Seeking to inspire others with similar zeal, he offered the hand of his daughter Achsah in marriage to any warrior who would take on the neighboring city of Debir, also known as Kirjath-sepher, or city of the book for its being the center of learning for the Canaanitish culture. Caleb’s younger brother, Othniel, accepted the challenge. Because Debir was in the desert of the Negev, he also requested water and was given "the upper and nether springs" (Joshua 15:19). After the death of Joshua, Othniel became the first judge of Israel.
Conquest of the entire south progressed at a rapid pace and soon Israel was master of the entire area, though the failure to drive out pockets of resistance, particularly in the Philistine controlled Gaza strip, became the source for not only continual conflict but a temptation for assimilation and the practice of idolatry.
When Joshua neared the time of his death, the Lord listed the lands yet to be conquered (Joshua 13:1-6), but he was given the task of dividing the land among the nine and a half tribes who were to reside west of the Jordan as though it were all subdued. The actual job of distributing the inheritance was left to Joshua, the leader, and to Eleazar, representing the priesthood (Joshua 14:1).
Two tribes were not given a territorial inheritance: Levi (Joshua 13:14) and Simeon, who was to dwell in the tribal lands of Judah (Joshua 19:1). These two sons of Jacob had been the ringleaders in the slaughter of the Shechemites after the rape of Dinah and were condemned for this act by Jacob on his death bed: "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:5-7).
The tribe of Levi redeemed itself by standing with Moses after Israel’s sin with the golden calf. They received a special inheritance of service to God and were given 42 cities with surrounding pasturage within the tribes of their siblings plus six cities that were to serve as "cities of refuge" for those fleeing punishment in cases of manslaughter.
Simeon, on the other hand, was given no special honor and produced none of the heroes of faith, save perhaps Judith in the Apocryphal account of deliverance from the Assyrian general Holofernes.
The completion of the six years of conquest started Israel in her experiences as an independent nation with her own homeland, an existence that was to continue for nearly a thousand years, first under judges and then under kings, until its termination in the invasions of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
In this warfare of conquest we find a rich treasure trove of lessons applying to mankind’s conquest of individual sin and the claiming of their rich and eternal resurrection inheritance --their "promised land."
Now the question is how can Israel be a "light to the nations" while takingup arms against them? How can God be both a God ofpeace and a God of war? The ancient Israelites reachedno consensus about holy war, just war, and pacifism. YetScripture faithfully records their long and difficult debates,for the diversity of viewpoints arose out of a deepfaith in God who had brought the people out of Egypt.
Ronald Wells, writing in 1991 about the wars of America : said "While the history of war is not the history of humankind, humankind’s history cannot be studied fully without reference to war.Moreover, the way in which a nation wages war reveals a greatdeal about its basic values. Thus, the illuminating qualities of warshould be of greater interest to the historian of society than the actualstuff of warfare, such as armaments, battles, and tactics. To examine anation’s experience of war, and its response to it, is to learn something fundamentalabout a nation’s values and its social order"Though the history of war is not the history of the Old Testament, wecannot understand the Old Testament without reference to war. It may be too much to claim that one can find war and conflict on every page of the Hebrew Bible, but not by much. War was almost a daily part of ancient Israelite life, primarily because of that nation’s size and location. Here was a nation no larger than the state of Vermont located in the strategic Syria-Palestinian corridor—and all the surrounding nations coveted it. Egypt in the south and various Mesopotamian empires in the north-northeast saw that territory as a buffer zone to protect themselves from encroaching armies bent on conquest and pillage. The Old Testament scholar Norman Gottwald observes the Israelites’ preoccupation with war "imparts a vigor to the biblical records but also often casts about them an aura of somber realism and a sense of the fragility of human life." It is difficult for Americans to fathom what it IS like for citizens of this tiny country to live with the prospect of large, invading armies camped out on their doorstep on a regular, unrelenting basis EVEN TO THIS DAY. Consider that Bethel, an important city to ancient Israel, was destroyed four times in the two-hundredyear period from the time of the Judges to the establishment of the Davidic monarchy. For comparison, consider the city of Philadelphia being destroyed four times since the Declaration of Independence. America’s "dean of biblical archaeology," W. F. Albright, noted over half a century ago that under these conditions "one can hardly be surprised…[that] Israel became martially minded."
Ecclesiastes 3:8 states that there is a "time for war and a time for peace." In these times of warfare, we often ask, "How should we respond? What should be our attitude?" We will find biblical answers for these questions when we explore the ultimate issue: What does the Word of God say about warfare? When a nation goes to war, God’s people need to fully understand their heavenly Father’s viewpoint about this matter. Naturally, God is not excited about war. He does not enjoy bloodshed and vengeance. However, He is dealing with a world of people who have a fallen nature—sinful, wicked and vile. Romans 3:10-11,15-17 describes mankind without God: "…there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God. . . . Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known."
God battles with people who oppose Him, who fight against Him and His followers. So, even though He hates war, God is not against it. Throughout the Old Testament, there are examples of God using warfare to carry out His plans, to punish the wicked and preserve His people (Deut. 9:4-6; Deut. 20; Jer. 5; Numbers 33:55-56). You may think, "How could God do that?" He says in Isaiah 55:9, "My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts." God has divine reasons for choosing to use war as a vehicle to accomplish His will.
Let's not kid ourselves about the condition of these Nations,they were sick people with even sicker sins to their credit and do NOT make the mistake of thinking that these nations were unfamiliar with warfare and conquest,all of them were WARRING PEOPLES who took this land from other people before them- THIS LAND WAS WET WITH THE BLOOD OF INNOCENT MEN,WOMEN & CHILDREN LONG BEFORE ISRAEL EVER WAS PROMISED THE LAND!
No pacifists were among the Old Testament righteous. In the law, loving neighbor did not exclude all possibility of killing neighbor. Neighbors who committed certain crimes were put to death. Warfare itself was at times an expression of faith and love for God. The idea that love, faith and war are inherently in conflict and mutually exclude one another is not an Old Testament idea. The Mosaic blessings for obedience to God did not bring freedom from war, but victory in war. In the Old Testament, God is the great warrior who trains, leads and fights alongside his human servants. In the Old Testament, within certain bounds, God has given to humans the authority to take human life.
It must be said that the "bounds" that God placed upon war were very "SET" BOUNDRIES" AND ISRAEL WAS TOLD TO FOLLOW GOD'S RULES IN WAR , IF THEY DISOBEYED THESE BOUNDS IT MENT THEIR OWN DEATH (AS HAPPENED IN THE CASE OF THE SEIGE OF "AI" Which was One of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Jos_10:1; Gen_12:8; Gen_13:3). It was the scene of Joshua's defeat, and afterwards of his victory. It was the second Canaanite city taken by Israel (Jos_7:2-5; 8:1-29). It lay rebuilt and inhibited by the Benjamites (Ezr_2:28; Neh_7:32; Neh_11:31). It lay to the east of Bethel, "beside Beth-aven." The spot which is most probably the site of this ancient city is Haiyan, 2 miles east from Bethel. It lay up the Wady Suweinit, a steep, rugged valley, extending from the Jordan valley to Bethel.) In Galatians, Paul lists the acts of the sinful nature and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. He says that the acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Those that relate to warfare and bloodletting include "hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy." Paul tells us that "those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19–21). All these acts of the sinful nature can lead to deadly violence. In war, people on all sides have these behaviors or inward desires.Notice that Paul does not mention here all acts of the sinful nature. For example, he says nothing about sloth or lying. Galatians 5:19–21 is not a comprehensive sin list.
Nor does he list all of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. For example, how do we fit Samson into this list, who when the Holy Spirit fell on him slew a thousand men (Judges 15:14–19)? How do we fit into this list David’s statement in Psalm 44 that it was God who fought alongside Israel to give them their victories? If the fruit of the Spirit automatically rules out all forms of warfare, how then do we understand God himself, the Mighty One? Revelation shows us that even in the New Testament, God condones some forms of war (Revelation 19:11–15). It seems that the fruit of the Spirit would have to include this side of God as well. Yet, the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 says nothing of this. So the list is incomplete.
Examining the acts of the sinful nature more closely, we notice several other interesting points. While we would agree that "sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft" are universally sinful and therefore always to be avoided, can we say the same about several other acts that Paul lists? What about hatred? Is hatred to be universally avoided? Are we not to hate sin? Romans 12:9 says we are to hate what is evil. Revelation 2:6 says we are to hate the work of the Nicolaitanes. How should this observation affect our understanding of Galatians 5?
Notice also discord. Are there not some things with which we are to be in discord? Are we not to be in discord with Satan and the ways of this world? Should we not be in discord with false teachers and false prophets? Discord by itself is neither good nor bad. We could say the same of dissensions and factions.
Then there is jealousy. One of God’s names is Jealous. Jealousy characterizes him (Exodus 34:14). So some kinds of jealousy must be godly, while others are sinful acts of the flesh.
It is in the context, of Christians loving Christians, that we should understand Paul’s vice and virtue lists of Galatians 5. Read his words carefully. He is not addressing how believers should behave toward violent unbelievers (or for that matter, toward believers who become violent). He is not addressing how believers should behave when confronted with warfare. Paul is not telling them how they are to respond to the beating and attempted murder of a neighbor. Nor is he discussing the attempted rape of a daughter or other forms of severe violence in or out of the church. He is not writing an entire ethic that covers every situation that a Christian might face. He is simply telling Christians that they ought to get along, that they ought to love one another, that they ought to bear one another’s burdens (6:2). The whole passage specifically addresses how believers are to behave toward each other. The Holy Spirit should govern those relationships. Among themselves, Christians should be peaceful. Loving neighbor (here the brethren) sums up the law.
Brethren who do not treat each other properly, who relate to one another through the flesh and not the Spirit, will not inherit the promises of the kingdom of God in this life. Brethren should not provoke or envy one another (5:26).
The point here is NOT to vindicate the idea of Violence and God's O.k. with it,but to show that GOD can BOTH be a God of LOVE and a God of severe Judgement at the same time,which is a sign that HE IS COMPLETELY FAIR AND JUST; BEING NOT MORE ONE OR THE OTHER. The Bible is very honest about WARFARE and gives the GOOD WITH THE BAD. Some pacifists argue that the very nature of warfare is such that one cannot carry it out without sin. Those who look to the Bible as the ultimate standard should immediately recognize the sillyness of such an argument. God wars in both Testaments.
In the Old Testament God ordered others to war. As we have noted, the blessings for obedience to God’s Mosaic covenant did not include freedom from war, but victory in war. In the New Testament, God continues to be portrayed as a God who wars. Those familiar with the apocalyptic portions of the New Testament know this. The Bible never portrays all warfare as inherently sinful.
When confronted with a murderous enemy, may love use deadly force to protect?
It seems to me that one could be patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, humble, polite, not self-seeking, slow to anger and have all the other attributes of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13 and still on occasion use deadly force. God does. The use of deadly force does not automatically exclude the attributes of love.
In the next blog I will go over "Why God DISPOSSESED the people in the promised land and WHY IT WAS A JUST THING TO DO!