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Joshua 11:12-15 - Summary of Israel's conquest - Day 190

Happy St Patrick's Day

As Jonathan pointed out in recent sermon, judgment day is an important concept and something we cannot shy away from.  Today's passage is a "small judgment day" that took place over years of conquest of Canaan.  Using Israel to temporarily put things right points to the day when God will put all things right.  I hope consideration of this passage makes us all more aware of God's holiness.

Blessiings,

Jeff

Repetition of "all that the LORD had commanded Moses."  Observations & comments:

Israel was carrying out the divine judgment of the various Canaanite peoples.  This was not genocide as we think of it.  Murdering groups of people based on ethnicity or race is not condoned.  Executing people for what they have actually done (human sacrifice, gross immorality) is retribution.  God had allowed these people groups to occupy the Promised Land for hundreds of years.  Much as He had allowed man to go astray prior to the flood. Noahic covenant not to destroy all mankind again by water is not a promise not to judge nations.  

God does not require perfection in the nation(s) He used to carry out His judgment at various times in history.  Israel was not morally perfect, but they were God's chosen instrument to carry out justice on the Canaanite cultures.  Centuries later, the Assyrians and Babylonians were pagan but God used them in executing judgment on Israel and Judah.  Imperfect human government is used to carry out judgment on individual law breakers.  

While nations carrying out some of the genocides that have happened in the last 100 years may have claimed divine authority based on passage such as this, God has not repeated this command.  Therefore, all genocides since OT time are mass murder and therefore unbiblical and unjust.

However, that does not mean sin is insignificant.  Every sin is cosmic rebellion and deserves divine condemnation.

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