Throughout Joshua 10-12 it is repeatedly noted that Joshua destroyed everyone in the wake of his victory and left no survivors in accordance with the Lord’s command given in Deuteronomy 7. I will repeat here what I said when I dealt with Deuteronomy 7 in a former edition of Thrive. This deed of the Israelites was terrible, but it was the only right thing to do. God had waited until the inhabitants of Canaan were so sold over to sin that judgement would be a necessity (see Genesis 15:16) and Israel would be the means of that judgement. But for them it would also be a pre-emptive strike, for God knew that if they did not drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, they themselves would be either destroyed or misled. And a threat to the people of God is a threat to the plan of God. In subsequent generations God’s directive would be vindicated. The failure of the Israelites to fully carry out this judgement in Canaan led to no end of problems for them. The conquest of Canaan was a once-off event, not to be repeated until the final triumph over evil in the end times. In fact, it acts as an important prefiguration of the final judgement. God is serious about eradicating evil. In this period we are called to overcome evil with good, but soon God will end this period of grace and forcefully bring evil to a final end once and for all. I am thankful that he has not brought about this judgement earlier for I may have missed out myself.
Think about how serious you are about eradicating bad influence from your life.
Read Joshua 10:16 – 12:24
