“choose you this day whom you will serve; . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (the words of Joshua, Chapter 24:15)
As my ancestors were wont to say, “A lot of water has run under the bridge.” That meant a lot of time had passed, and with it many events. It has been more than four years since my last article pertaining to the Hebrew people, predecessors of the present day sons and daughters of Israel. Despite all its faults, which are not worse than our own, Israel remains the apple of God’s eye, and the seat of His kingdom, which is coming perhaps sooner than we think.
Remains of ancient tower at Jericho, ca 7,000 BC
We left off at Jericho, where by the Lord’s intervention, it took no more than a boisterous shout and the din of trumpets blowing to bring down a six foot thick brick wall surrounding a city of seven acres. It is important to note that this miraculous event took place after Joshua had encountered an unusual personage. And it came to pass, as Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold there stood a man over against him with a sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him and said unto him. Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto him, what saith my lord unto his servant? (Joshua 5: 13-14)
The Jericho of Joshua’s era was cloaked in mystery for a long time, to the point there were doubts as to whether there ever was such a place. However, recent excavations and re-examinations of previously held opinions have pretty much settled the issue, certainly for those who believe the Bible. Much of the controversy had to do with questions about the timing of the conquest, and the huge, impenetrable wall that surrounded the city.
The biblical narrative is always true, and when it seems not, it is because our understanding needs a little adjusting. At present there is on YouTube a video depicting excavations at ancient Jericho which show how and where the walls fell. Yes, they have now dug them up. You can see this at http://www.experienceisraelnow.com/heres-a-great-video-about-the-walls-of-jericho/ . To further support the archaeological facts there is an article at http://www.biblearchaeologyreport.com/2-19/05/25/biblical-sites-three-discoveries-at-jericho/ which tells us, “The phrase ‘fell down flat’ is translated from two Hebrew words: (naphal — to fall) and (tachath — bottom or below). Thus a literal understanding would be that the wall fell below itself. Excavations at Jericho have revealed that this is precisely what happened.” One can see in the video that the massive upper wall fell below itself, to the bottom of a lower retaining wall. Thus the Hebrews were able to scramble up, every man straight before him. (Joshua 6:20)
Be aware that despite all the unmistakable evidence of Joshua’s remarkable conquest of the city of Jericho there are non-Christians who would like the world to believe that such an event never happened. If you visit Jericho in the near future you will likely be subjected to this type of propaganda. While it is a fact there are 23 levels of civilization at Jericho, nearly all of which pre-date Joshua by thousands of years, the proof of Joshua’s destruction of that city is extensive and the sum of it overwhelms all arguments to the contrary.
So: now that we have put Jericho to rest, let us take another look back, all the way back to Abraham, first known as Abram, and his father Terah, who, about four thousand years ago, with their households and possessions, left their home in Ur of the Chaldees and settled at Haran, in upper Mesopotamia. After Terah died, the Lord said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee. (Genesis 12:1) The Bible tells us that by faith he went out, not knowing whither he went. (Hebrews 11:8) His first recorded stopping place was Shechem, an ancient site on the outskirts of the modern city of Nablus. We are going to see that Shechem holds an important place in the history of the Israelites. And Abram passed through the land to a place called Shechem (Sichem), unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land. (Genesis 12:6-7)
Jesus at Jacob’s well. John Linnell, public domain, Wikimedia Commons
What is God up to? Why has he led Abram to the land of the Canaanites? Why are Abram’s descendants promised this land? Oh, the vastness of God’s plan! Oh the depth of . . . the wisdom and knowledge of God! (Romans 11:33) If we stand here in the footprints of Abram and take just a little peek down through the ages we see Jacob, father of the twelve tribes of Israel digging here in the hard ground . . . and if we keep looking . . . yes! there is Jesus, asking a Samaritan woman for a drink from Jacob’s well — Jesus the Messiah, fully God, but totally man, a descendant of this man Abram. The writer of Hebrews says, He took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. (Hebrews 2:16) Wow! At this point however, Abram is 75 years old and childless; his wife, about 65 now, has never borne children.
Fast forward some years, the Bible doesn’t tell us how many, maybe ten more or less . . . the Lord appears to Abram in a vision. Abram still does not have any children so he asks God about that saying, Behold to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. (Genesis 15:3) Here the Lord corrects him saying This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir . . . Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: . . . So shall thy seed be. (Genesis 15:4-5)
That evening as the sun was going down God made a covenant with Abram, a solemn agreement complete with a sacrifice of animals and birds upon an altar of rough stones, lit by the fire of God himself. The Bible says a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness came upon him. And he (God) said to Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them: and they shall afflict them four hundred years; . . . thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:12-13, 12-16) The fulfillment of the promise was sure, but it lay in the faraway future . . . why, we are not told, except that the iniquity, the evil, of the Amorites, was not complete.
So, what about the Amorites? Who were they and just what was their wrongdoing? Though perhaps the more numerous and powerful, the Amorites were just one of several people groups occupying the land of Canaan, including the Kenites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perrizites, Jebusites and others. In many instances, these groups were themselves subdivided geographically. These various tribes descended primarily from Noah through his grandson Canaan; they shared a common ancestry and a common heathen culture: idol worship to start with, and then incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality and bestiality. These sins of the Canaanites are listed in Leviticus, followed by the directive: Defile not yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. (Leviticus 18:24-25) (For all these abominations have the men of the land done which were before you.) (Leviticus 18:27) Note here that the word nations is plural. Not only were the Amorites to be ousted from the promised land, but the other sinful “ite” nations as well.
God continued to lead Abram, eventually changing his name to Abraham and establishing the covenant of circumcision with him. In time Isaac, the promised “seed” was born to Abraham and Sarah, and through Isaac’s son Jacob sprang the twelve tribes of Israel. It is worth mentioning here that Abraham had additional children after Sarah died some years later. He also had a son Ishmael, older than Isaac, whose mother was Hagar, Sarah’s handmaiden. Ishmael is considered to be the progenitor of the Arabic peoples. If you need a brush up on Abraham, you could check out my first article in this series — The Hebrews: From the Call of Abraham to the Passover.
It is now the fourth generation. The years of affliction are now finished. Moses has led the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt to freedom at the border of Canaan. Now under the leadership of Joshua, they have begun to lay claim to their inheritance. The Lord has enabled them to supernaturally defeat the fortified city of Jericho and take the smaller fortification of Ai. It is time for the restating of the covenant between God and the children of Abraham. This occasion has been ordained ahead of time by Moses who directed that when the Hebrews had entered their promised land an altar should be erected at Mt. Ebal whereon were to be written the words of the law (commandments). Ceremonies at Mt. Ebal were to include burnt offerings and peace offerings, with the people eating and rejoicing before the Lord. Joshua and the Levites were charged with reiterating, in the hearing of all the people, the commandments, and their attendant blessings and curses.
View from Mt. Ebal by “someone35″/Wikimedia Commons
Now, obeying the directive of Moses, Joshua leads that vast throng from their camp at Gilgal northward through the Jordan valley to Shechem — that same hallowed ground where, centuries ago, the voice of God echoed in the ears of Abraham, Unto thy seed will I give this land. (Genesis 12:7) Oh, the significance of that day! It is fair to estimate that well over a million descendants of Abraham assembled there at that natural amphitheater, half under the slopes of Gerazim, the mount of blessing, and half at Mt. Ebal, the mountain of cursing. If we listen with our hearts we can almost hear the words of Joshua ringing out from Mt. Gerazim . . . if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground. (Deuteronomy 28:2-4) and then, as the Levites lift up their voices, the curses. (Deuteronomy 27:14) But . . . if thou wilt not hearken . . . cursed shalt thou be. . .(Deuteronomy 28:15) And at the end all the people said “Amen.”
The conquest of the land of Canaan had begun even before the crossing of he Jordan, when two Amorite kings of the east, Sihon and Og, were defeated. Their lands were awarded by Moses to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh, on condition that these tribes aid the others in subduing Canaan. The cities of Jericho and Ai have been taken. Now, however, there slips a sour note into the Hebrews’ songs of victory. The nearby Hittites of Gibeon, having heard of the invincibility of the armies of Israel are terrified. They send to the Hebrews’ encampment an entourage pretending to be foreigners desiring a league of peace, which the Hebrews unwittingly agreed to. The Bible says they asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. (Joshua 9:14) Uh oh! Not a good idea, not then, not now. In a matter of days the “foreigners” were found to be Hittites, people whom the Lord had said should be wiped out, but now it was too late, for the Hebrews had sworn by the Lord God in their agreement of peace with these people. The lives of the Gibeonites were spared; however, the Israelites reduced them to servanthood, requiring them to be their woodcutters and water drawers.
Not long after that a coalition of Amorite nations attacked Gibeon for their involvement with Israel and Gibeon sent to Joshua for help. Joshua and the armies of Israel responded quickly and a fierce battle ensued. During that battle Joshua spoke to the Lord and the Bible says the Lord hearkened. For about a whole day, the sun stood still and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves. (Joshua 10:13) If you find that too fantastic to be true, you can find any number of writings to support that, including arguments there was an eclipse that day. This sounds plausible, until one reads in verse 12 that the sun was in Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, which, as almost everyone knows, is hardly an alignment for an eclipse!
So let’s consider. If the sun stood still in Canaan, it must have stood still everywhere. Right? Are there non-biblical reports of that happening? Yes, there are. Here is an excerpt from an article by Richard Riss, published by believersweb.org that sheds lots of light on this supernatural event:
In 1940, Harry Rimmer summarized these traditions as follows:
In the ancient Chinese writings there is a legend of a long day. The Incas of Peru and the Aztecs of Mexico have a like record, and there is a Babylonian and a Persian legend of a day that was miraculously extended. Another section of China contributes an account of the day that was miraculously prolonged, in the reign of Emperor Yeo. Herodotus recounts that the priests of Egypt showed him their temple records, and that there he read a strange account of a day that was twice the natural length.
Rimmer concludes this section with a lengthy quotation from the Polynesian account of this event.
In 1950 Immanuel Velikovsky came out with his controversial book, Worlds in Collision, based on the premise that the account of the long day in Joshua is accurate, accounting for many other unsolved scientific mysteries. In support of his premise, he also refers to the ancient traditions of a long day.
You can read Harry Rimmer’s wonderful little book of 32 pages – Modern Science and the Long Day of Joshua – on the internet. Search for the book by name at archive.org. Used copies of Velikovsky’s book are available from online booksellers.
There is no doubt Joshua’s campaign against the inhabitants of Canaan was vicious. The Lord strictly instructed the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites and their culture in Deuteronomy Chapter 7. When the Lord shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and has cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perrizites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them and wholly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. (Deuteronomy 7:1-2)
Remember, these Canaanite people are idol worshippers. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. (Exodus 23:33) Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break down their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. (Deuteronomy 12:2-3) God’s people are to worship him only. (Exodus 20:3)
Within an estimated five to seven years of fighting a sizable portion of Canaan was under Israelite control. The Bible lists a total of 31 kings west of the Jordan who had been defeated by then. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh were allowed to return to their land east of Jordan, having fulfilled their pledge to aid their brethren. The land west of Jordan was allotted by portion to the other tribes. Many Canaanites remained in the land and the western tribes were charged to take possession of their portions and to drive out the heathen inhabitants. The Lord had said I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee. 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 23:28-30) Chapters 13 through 17 of Joshua mention some of the Canaanite peoples who were not dispossessed at that writing, including: the Geshurites and Maacathites, the Jebusites at Jerusalem, the inhabitants of Gezer, and others, though some of these peoples were eventually put under tribute. The first two chapters of Judges lists some of the Israelites’ successes and failures in subduing the land.
As long as Joshua lived he was leader of the Israelites. He was around 90 years old when his initial campaign drew to a close and the tribes were assigned their lands. Joshua would live about 20 more years. Not much is recorded in scripture of that time period. However, the ferocity of the Hebrews’ campaign to make Canaan their own is apparently attested to in an extra-biblical source, the Amarna letters. This collection of clay tablets was discovered in the nineteenth century in Egypt. Among other things, these tablets contain letters from vassal Canaanite city states to the Pharaoh asking for help defending against the “Habiri”. One of these letters is from Er-Heba, the ruler of Jerusalem, who fears his land will fall to these invaders. The Amarna documents depict the Habiri as a ruthless and rebellious people. https://www.israel-a-history-of.com/amarna-letters.html. That should not be surprising to us, for after all, they were under orders. (See Deuteronomy Chapter 7.)
Toward the end of his life Joshua again called all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem, including the elders, the heads of houses, their judges and officers. At that assembly he reiterated the events of their history. Beginning with Abraham, and continuing through Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and Moses and Aaron, he named their ancestors and spoke of the miraculous help of the Lord . . . about the plagues he put upon the Egyptians and their mighty deliverance from the hand of Pharaoh, how he had fought their battles and provided for them . . . a land for which you did not labor, cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and olive yards which ye planted not do ye eat. (Joshua 24:13) He warned the people against forsaking the Lord and serving strange gods, and they agreed they would serve the Lord. We read that Joshua made a covenant with the people that day. Then he took a great stone and set it up and said, Behold this stone shall be a witness unto us for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall therefore be a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God. (Joshua 24:27) Should we doubt that stones can hear? The whole of creation is silent witness to what we are, or are not.
So, Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. (Joshua 24:29)
Today Israel possesses only a part of their original promised land. The Canaanites were never totally driven out; but again, many of the promises of God to the Hebrews were conditional upon the obedience of the Hebrews to God’s instructions. It would be three to four hundred years before the Jebusites at Jerusalem would yield their stronghold to David, and another generation before the magnificent temple of Solomon would be built there.
Joseph’s Tomb – public domain
The last chapter of the book of Joshua records that the bones of Joseph which were brought up from Egypt were buried at Shechem, in a parcel of ground Jacob his father had bought during his sojourn there. Here is a photo of Joseph’s tomb in the early 1900’s.
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