Joshua 6:21

[Augustine3]

“And killed all that were in it, man and woman, young and old. The oxen also and the sheep, and the asses, they slew with the edge of the sword.” – Joshua 6:21

This is in the context of the battle at Jericho. We know these people were sinful (“Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." – Genesis 15:16) but it almost seems God has neglected compassion and mercy for even the young were slaughtered. How serious could the sins of the young be that they should merit death? I’m thinking it could be to prevent future sins the young may commit when they grow older…

Any comments?

God bless,

 

[Barbkw]

Well, you’re in luck. I recently watched a program on DISH about Jericho. One of the “educated elites” said “this didn’t match with that” and therefore there was no Joshua at Jericho.

Just a “made up” story to spread fear into the hearts and minds of Israel’s enemies at a much later date with another generation.

Tada, no theological or moral dilemma, whatsoever.

 

[Dorothy]

“And killed all that were in it, man and woman, young and old. The oxen also and the sheep, and the asses, they slew with the edge of the sword.” – Joshua 6:21

This is in the context of the battle at Jericho. We know these people were sinful (“Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." – Genesis 15:16) but it almost seems God has neglected compassion and mercy for even the young were slaughtered. How serious could the sins of the young be that they should merit death? I’m thinking it could be to prevent future sins the young may commit when they grow older…

Any comments?

God bless,

I think your last sentence got it right. While the whole scenario may seem overly cruel, the Lord did command that they wipe out the sinful, pagan nation. Every time the Lord commanded it and an Israelite did not obey, they suffered many problems. The Lord, of course, had his reasons for purifying the Israelites and making them into a spiritually strong nation from whence the Incarnation would take place.

I trust the Lord judged each of the slain individuals according to his perfect justice and mercy.

 

[Earnest_Bunbury]

Well, you’re in luck. I recently watched a program on DISH about Jericho. One of the “educated elites” said “this didn’t match with that” and therefore there was no Joshua at Jericho.

Just a “made up” story to spread fear into the hearts and minds of Israel’s enemies at a much later date with another generation.

Tada, no theological or moral dilemma, whatsoever.

Oh good… what else can we extract from the Bible?

Joshua 6:25 "But Josue saved Rahab the harlot and her father’s house, and all she had, and they dwelt in the midst of Israel until this present day: because she hid the messengers whom he had sent to spy out Jericho.

Matthew 1:5 “And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab, And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse. [6] And Jesse begot David the king.”

I guess if no Joshua, no Jericho, no Rahab, no King David. So no Kingdom of David for Jesus to rule.

Perhaps it is all just made up to scare people, huh?

 

[Augustine3]

I once heard Scott Hahn make a comment the Israelites took the land by force only to reclaim what was originally theirs; but from my understanding the Israelites moved to Egypt because Joseph had invited them to live there. There is no mention of any Israelites remaining in the land of Canaan.

It seems unfair that they all moved which gave way for others to live there then return 400 years later to re-claim what they left behind…

It even seems they weren’t going to move back to Canaan because they were busy enjoying Egypt’s wealth…

Can someone please clarify?

God bless,

 

[rdscheirer]

I guess it would be like the Mohamadans saying that we conquered and were there therefore it should always be ours.

 

[rcjones]

I once heard Scott Hahn make a comment the Israelites took the land by force only to reclaim what was originally theirs; but from my understanding the Israelites moved to Egypt because Joseph had invited them to live there. There is no mention of any Israelites remaining in the land of Canaan.

It seems unfair that they all moved which gave way for others to live there then return 400 years later to re-claim what they left behind…

It even seems they weren’t going to move back to Canaan because they were busy enjoying Egypt’s wealth…

Can someone please clarify?

God bless,

Does it seem unfair that God should give whatever he wants to whom ever he wants? Did you forget God’s involvement in it all or simply disbelieve it?

 

[Augustine3]

Of course not;

It just seems to be very similar to the way Muslims use the Quran to justify killing people…

God bless,

 

[Fidelis]

“And killed all that were in it, man and woman, young and old. The oxen also and the sheep, and the asses, they slew with the edge of the sword.” – Joshua 6:21

This is in the context of the battle at Jericho. We know these people were sinful (“Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." – Genesis 15:16) but it almost seems God has neglected compassion and mercy for even the young were slaughtered. How serious could the sins of the young be that they should merit death? I’m thinking it could be to prevent future sins the young may commit when they grow older…

Any comments?

God bless,

Read this (by *Catholic Answers *apologist Jimmy Akin) and see if it helps you have more perspective on the issue:

Hard Sayings of the Old Testament

I once heard Scott Hahn make a comment the Israelites took the land by force only to reclaim what was originally theirs; but from my understanding the Israelites moved to Egypt because Joseph had invited them to live there. There is no mention of any Israelites remaining in the land of Canaan.

It seems unfair that they all moved which gave way for others to live there then return 400 years later to re-claim what they left behind…

It even seems they weren’t going to move back to Canaan because they were busy enjoying Egypt’s wealth…

Can someone please clarify?

Before they went down to Egypt, the Israelites never possessed the Promised Land in any substantial way. The promise was there, but up to the time of Jacob when they came down to Egypt (at which time they only numbered 70, BTW-- see Gen 46:27), they were pretty much nomads and sojourners. It wasn’t until the time of Joshua that they were able to finally begin to take the land–and then only gradually.

 

[rdscheirer]

So you are saying you can go away for 4 hundred years and take control of the the land because God said it was the right thing to do.

 

[UnityofTrinity]

This remind me of when God wanted to destroy Gomorrah and Abraham begged for God’s mercy. God said even if there are only 10 righteous people in that town, he’ll forgive it. Since in the Joshua account, God gave Rahab the liberty to save those who are in that town, and whoever goes with her shall not perish, I would place my trust and my faith in God’s mercy that He would move her to save those who are righteous and truly innocent. That being said, we should also think of how awful the people in there were, I’ve heard that their deeds will make the Nazi feel ashamed, they sacrifice children, they have orgy parties…, I could imagine if we could see what happened in that town, we would agree why such things happened to them. The Buddhists call it Karma, you’ll reap what you sowed.

 

[Fidelis]

So you are saying you can go away for 4 hundred years and take control of the the land because God said it was the right thing to do.

You are way over-simplifying it. God told Abraham**–more than 500 years prior to Joshua-- **that he would be bringing his descendants into the land after the current inhabitants of the land would reach the full extent of their wickedness. In Genesis 15 we read:

13
Then the LORD said to Abram: "Know for certain that your descendants shall be aliens in a land not their own, where they shall be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
14
But I will bring judgment on the nation they must serve, and in the end they will depart with great wealth.
15
You, however, shall join your forefathers in peace; you shall be buried at a contented old age.
16
In the fourth time-span the others shall come back here [to Canaan]; the wickedness of the Amorites will not have reached its full measure until then."
17
4 When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces.
18
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River (the Euphrates),
19
the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
20
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Since we know that “God desires all men to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), we can presume that all this time God, in a way not revealed to us) made himself known in some way to these evil people and gave them an opportunity to repent. Obviously, they did not heed his call to repentance.

Hope that helps.

 

[promethius]

Of course not;

It just seems to be very similar to the way Muslims use the Quran to justify killing people…

God bless,

False muslims. Real muslims will tell you that there are 9 steps in Jihad, each consisting of 3 minor steps. The last minor step in the highest level of jihad is the right to take away another’s life… however, this power is reserved in the Quran to be exercised ONLY by governments (in other words, the doctrine of Jihad is very similar to the Christian just war doctrine). To a true muslim, only their government has the right to declare that a person’s life is forfiet and should be taken (be that in war or in death penalty).

Extremists, however, are often poorly catechized to muslim beliefs OR they are deliberately misled by Imams who are agenda driven to satisfy their own ends.

Spend some time talking to good Imams, you’ll be amazed at how angry they are at the extremists (to the point that I’ve heard many many many muslims tell me that the extremists are NOT muslims, are the enemy of Islam, and should be driven out of society)