The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Closer Look at the Weird and Wild Parts of the BibleSample

Former Slaves and Trained Soldiers

As we close out this Bible Plan, we’re going to look at one of the most difficult instances in all of the biblical story: the conquering of the Promised Land.

Before we dive in though, let’s review some of what we’ve learned.

What is the Bible? It’s a collection of poems, parables, prophecies, histories, letters, and laws, written by people and inspired by God, all telling one unified story that leads to Jesus and teaches us to become like Jesus.

How can we read it wisely? By remembering that Jesus is King and context is everything. It’s all pointing to Jesus and should be read in view of Jesus; we read it all through the lens of His perfect love, a love that holds justice with mercy and grace with truth. And we look to the biblical and historical context—all the information that gives meaning to what we’re reading—to help us understand the deeper lessons God wants to teach us in every passage.

Now, we’re going to apply what we’ve learned to the Israelite conquest of the Promised Land, a story that, when read unwisely, can lead to some really unsettling conclusions about the nature of God and His relationship to violence. So, let’s jump in.

After 400 years in Egypt and 40 years in the wilderness, the time had finally come for God’s people to inherit the land that was promised to them. Except there was a problem: There were other people living there.

To understand what’s going on, we need to address three issues.

Issue 1: Who’s who?

The two sides are Israel and Canaan. Israel is a group of former slaves who have been wandering the desert for the last 40 years. Canaan is an empire full of walled cities, horse-drawn chariots, trained soldiers, a thriving economy, and established alliances. This is kind of like a kindergartner stepping into the ring to fight Mike Tyson in his prime. Or a 4th grade YMCA basketball team going up against the ‘96 Chicago Bulls. This isn’t a story of the strong pushing around the weak—it’s a story of God using a band of slaves to bring down an empire.

Issue 2: What’s really going on?

It’s really easy to read the accounts of the battles found in the book of Joshua and assume the Israelites are committing genocide against large populations of innocent civilians. For instance, Joshua 11 describes how the Israelites utterly destroyed the enemy armies, showed no mercy, and did not spare anyone who breathed.

But there’s a problem. If we go just a little bit further in the story, we see that those same enemies show up and cause trouble again. So, what’s really going on here?

The book of Joshua uses the language of ancient warfare, which the people in Joshua’s day would have understood. This type of communication is often exaggerated and full of hyperbole.

Think about when your favorite team beats their rivals in an intense game. When asked how the game went, you might say, “It was a massacre! The other team didn’t even stand a chance! We wiped the floor with them!”

This is exactly what many historians and scholars believe is taking place throughout the book of Joshua, and why it is so important for us to remember toread the Bible literately (according to its literary genre) and not just literally.

Issue 3: Why is this happening?

Hundreds of years before this group of former slaves went to war against Canaan, their ancestor, Abraham—while he was living in Canaan—heard this from God:

… “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. … In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”Genesis 15:13, 16 NIV

God was telling Abraham that his grandkids would be stuck in Egypt because God was being patient with Canaan. The Amorites were the founders of Babylon, infamous for violently conquering their neighbors and stomping all over the poor and marginalized in their communities. They were the ones occupying Canaan, a land that had given itself over to the corruption of sin.

Canaan had become so defiled by idolatry and infested with injustice that the people living there had made child sacrifices a part of their routine. Archaeologists have uncovered graveyards that contain the remains of thousands of infant corpses that had been offered to their blood-thirsty gods.

This was the sin of the Amorites. For hundreds of years, God was patient with them. He gave them hundreds of years to stop what they were doing, repent of their sins, and choose a different way. But they never did.

Eventually, the time came for justice. God’s method of justice was to use this wandering band of liberated people to bring down a blood-thirsty empire that had been built on the backs of slaves and child sacrifices.

The lesson? God is immensely patient. As God Himself says, “... ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness’…” (Exodus 34:6 NIV).

The people of Canaan lasted as long as they did because God was being patient with them. It was an act of mercy to spare them for as long as He did, at the expense of His own chosen people suffering in slavery. In His grace, He continued to make a way for the people of Canaan to come to Him.

The first major city to be conquered by the Israelites was Jericho, a city whose walls famously came crumbling down after the Jewish people circled them seven times. As the soldiers of Israel charged into battle, a select few had been sent on a rescue mission.

So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel. … Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day. Joshua 6:23, 25 NIV

If we jump forward to Matthew’s Gospel, we learn that Jesus Himself, the Savior King of the world, is a descendant of Rahab, this Canaanite prostitute who was rescued from destruction by God’s grace.

And this pattern is nothing new for God. From the very beginning, He’s chosen to work in all things—the good, the bad, and the ugly—to tell a beautiful story of His grace and our redemption. He did it for Rahab, and He wants to do it for you.

Our world has been stained and soaked by the blood of the innocent. Sin has ravaged and violated those made in His image. And just like then, God is being patient—but He won’t be patient forever. Someday, He will return to deal with sin and evil once and for all. Someday, justice will reign and every broken thing will be put back together.

So, if you haven’t already, choose to devote your life to Him. Throw yourself on His mercy and receive His grace. Decide to follow Jesus and become a part of His family. If you do, He will make you new, He will make you whole, and He will use you to make a difference. He is inviting you to join your story with His. If you do, you will never be the same.

God, today I’m choosing to surrender all that I am to You. I’m done trying to live for myself. I want to follow You. I believe You died and rose again to rescue me from sin. I believe You are the one true God. Please forgive me of my sins, make me new, and teach me to live for You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

If you want to learn even more about how to read the Bible, check out this Plan: How to Read the Bible 101

If you want to do a deep dive into the life and teachings of Jesus, try this one: Learning the Jesus Way of Life

And if you just made the decision to start following Jesus, this is the Plan for you: What’s Next: Student Edition