In the last century of biblical interpretation, much has been said about the moral interpretation of scripture. As a culture of ‘doers’ in western culture, we have a tendency to look at scripture and only ask the question, “How does this scripture help me make decisions in my life?” We look at the story of David and Goliath and realize that God can strengthen us despite the greatness of the challenge, Adam and Eve tells us to listen and trust in God’s command, etc. This is a good way of reading scripture, but if it is only the interpretation we use, we only interact with scripture on a surface level rather than experiencing the rich depths that it contains.
Israel’s conquering the holy land, specifically the battle of Jericho, is a story rich with theological depth. While we often tell the story to capture the imagination of our kids about the awesome might of our God, there is something greater (and more challenging at work here). As the new generation of Israel moves to take the Promised Land, Joshua assumes command and is to lead the Israelites into battle leaving no inhabitants of the land alive. The first city on their way into the promised land was the fortified city of Jericho. Joshua sends spies into the city and hears that the people feared the Israelites because of the battles they had won in the wilderness. The king of Jericho tries to find the Israelite spies, but Rahab the prostitute hides them, and they eventually escape the city. Because of her kindness, her family was spared when the Israelites took the city.
When the spies returned with good news of the fear of the people, Joshua moved the Israelites across the Jordan river. The people were to have the Ark of the Covenant in their midst. Once the feet of the priests stepped into the Jordan river, it turned back on its course. The Israelites crossed on dry land, just as they had through the Red Sea. Joshua then circumcised all of those who had not been circumcised while in the wilderness to fulfill the covenant of Abraham. After the nation had recovered, Joshua received instruction on how to conquer Jericho. For 6 days, the Isrealites were to march around the city walls once led by the Ark. On the seventh day, they were to circle seven times with the priests blowing their horns. Then the people were to shout and the walls would fall down. It happened as God had instructed and the Israelites took the city, sparing only Rahab and her family.
In this story, we not only learn of God’s power, but we hear how God orients the life of any Christian. Just as the Israelites are entering the land promised to them, we as Christians are on a journey to our eternal promise of a heaven. As we begin this journey, we enter through the waters of baptism which circumcises our hearts of original sin just as the Isrealites crossed the Jordan and fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant of male circumcision. The Israelites then make the walls of Jericho fall through a liturgical procession around the city. We also conquer the enemy through our right worship of God in our lives and in the Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist in the mass. These obvious steps are very familiar to a Christian, but what follows is difficult for most Christians, especially in western society.
God then instructs the Israelites to annihilate everything in Jericho. The land is to be rid of all things that do not glorify God. We are to do the same in our own lives. This can make us uncomfortable, especially in terms of reading about the annihilation of a people. But we have to remember that this was a non-christian society that did not have the same moral standards that we claim to have today. Their egotism and offensive forms of worship (both to God and man) deserved the justice of death. Even more uncomfortable than reading about this annihilation is applying this annihilation in our own lives. All things in our lives that draw us into egotism or lead us to worship something with our lives that is not God must be eradicated even if those things are morally neutral things. This is hard. We often want to keep our comforts, but as we find in the rest of the story, just as the Israelites fall into sin because they do not listen to God’s annihilation command, so do we.
Must everything go? Must we live in complete solitude from the world? No. The Isrealites lived in the world and were to only eliminate things that did not lead them to God. In addition, Rehab and her family were spared because they believed in God and came to the aid of the Israelites. All gold, silver, and bronze items were also redeemed to be used for worship of God. So there is some license to save things of the world, but only those things that can be redeemed. It takes much discernment and critical analysis identify these things.
The story of Jericho does not tell us just how to act, but how to lay a foundation of new life on our journey to heaven. It asks us to move beyond individual choices and help us engage in a way of life, namely complete trust in God. Ultimately, we need to be a people to accept the hard truth of ridding our attachment to this passing world. If we have too much of an attachment, it will lead us away from the Truth, and our Church is riddled with this attachment. If we are going to be a source of salvation for the whole world, we must follow in the footsteps of Yeshua (Jesus) who will lead us into the new promised land through the cross. Christ has annihilated the effects of sin (death) through the cross to make way for new life. It is up to us to make the hard choice to join Him in this new life.
