The God of Genocide
They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword. Joshua 6:21 NASB
Utterly destroyed – This is one of those verses that offends our moral sensitivity. We just can’t imagine how our loving and forgiving God could order Israel to kill every man, woman, and child after taking Jericho. In fact, this is one of those verses that pushes people away from the God of Israel. Who could possibly worship a God who indiscriminately slaughters everyone in His path?
To answer this question, I need to tell you a story. Years ago when we lived in Florida, we created several landscape areas where we planted trees and flowers. One day I discovered torpedo grass among the flowers. You might think you could just pull it out and get rid of it. Ah, but not so. Deep under the ground, this weed sends out a network of fibrous roots which then find their ways to the surface and appear as more weeds. In fact, the only way to get rid of this nuisance is to dig down until you find the matted network and then make sure you get every single piece out. Even the smallest bit left underground will start the problem all over again.
It took weeks for me to literally dig up entire sections of the landscape areas to get rid of this stuff.
What’s the lesson? Just because you remove what is visible on the surface doesn’t mean you’ve corrected the problem. This verse in Joshua is a “torpedo grass” verse. When the children of Israel left Egypt, they took the ideas of Egypt with them. The result was a forty-year elimination process. Egyptomania had to be completely removed in order to establish a holy nation. The forty year process wasn’t punishment. It was re-education. God had to create a new mentality in the people. That generation passes away. Now the new generation has come into the Promised Land, but they immediately face the same “torpedo grass” problem. If just the smallest bit of the pagan world is left alive, the weed will grow, eventually consuming all the flowers of the new Land. God knows this. Thus, they must all be removed. All the roots have to be dug out and destroyed.
As we know, Joshua made a tragic and fatal mistake when he was duped by the people who came to him claiming to be foreign wanderers. He made a covenant with them that guaranteed their existence. Years later, that mistake nearly destroyed Israel from within. We might not like the “moral” implications of this verse, most likely because our society is built on compromise and tolerance. God’s isn’t. You will notice that the verb for “destroyed” (ḥāram) is also the same verb for “devote.” Devotion to God means digging up all the roots—completely—utterly. Whatever gets left behind will pull you back into Egypt.
Oh, and by the way, how’s the compromise and tolerance society working out today?
Topical Index: destroyed, ḥāram, devote, Joshua 6:21
