DEFENDING THE CONQUEST MODEL -------------------------------------------- A Paper Presented to Professor Ott of College of Biblical Studies ------------------------------------------ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Final Grade BI 1321 Historical Literature ----------------------------------------- by Durward Gray 15015 Lance Circle Houston, TX 77035 August 1, 2011 1
INTRODUCTION In the year 1406 Joshua was called by God to lead the Children of Israel to the land of promise and I will be sharing the biblical, archaeological and geographical evidence that support these facts. The Joshua and Judges period was known as the late bronze early Iron Age. With this in mind this should have been a time that the Canaanites should have had a hold of things. We will discover that the key to the success of the children of Israel was their faithfulness to God. We will see how the results of both obedience and disobedience in the midst of the children. There will be evidence on how God used the inhabitants in the land to punish the Children of Israel. The children of Israel had come to a point in their journey where they are about to enter in to a land that was promised to them by God. This happened around 1406,I personally think that there must have been a reason that God took them only a short distance in the forty year period that they roamed in the dessert. The reason that I see is that when God delivered the Children of Israel from the land of Egypt they had become some broken because of the Egyptian rule. This can be easily viewed as a slave mentality. At this time they had more fear for pharaoh than the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. Being slaves for four hundred years they possessed only slave habits and God knew that the land would have to be taken by force because of the nature of its inhabitants. So in my opinion the whole experience was to teach the people about the attributes and the character of the God that they served. They need to develop faith and military skills to possess the land. As they exited out of Egypt the Promised Land was just beyond the Philistine territory meaning that the Children of Israel would have to have near excellent military skills to battle someone who was as mighty as the Philistines. So after many years of learning the nature of God and reverence for the lord the plan became clear. The children of Israel continued to be disobedient 2
in the dessert and therefore had to be disciplined constantly by God nearly severing a relationship between God and the Children of Israel. So once they got to the point of following the commands, God had to punish the sin that they committed. God would not allow anyone over the age of twenty years old to pass into the Promised Land and this further postponed the journey. With this punishment established I came to be that Moses was one who was considered to be among them that were punished. So about 40 years after the Exodus, this is where the setting in history takes place of the Conquest of the Invasion of the land of Canaan takes place. I came to pass that Moses and all who were over the age of twenty at the time that God administered the penalty, has now died. God purified the Children of Israel by washing away the sin and doubt from them. This story of the Conquest will begin with the servant Joshua from the west side of the Jordan river that is to lead Israel to battle for the land of promise. The conquest of the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua began around 1406 and lasted probably 10 to 15 years. These events are described in Joshua 1-12. Soon after the conquest or perhaps during the territory was allotted to each of the Israelite tribes. This was the beginning of the settlement of the land of Canaan the land that God had promised to Abraham about 500 years earlier. Here the Israelites would have a chance to live their lives in obedience and worship the true living God. Religion at the this time the worship of Baal and Asherah became common among God s people as they failed to respond with gratitude to God s gracious dealings with them. In response to Israel s sinful disobedience, God used the pagan nation to oppress His people- as as instrument of His Judgment THE CALL TO LEAD Joshua is the hero rather than the author of the book. Both tradition and the book itself 3
credit him with much of the material. Some of it came from an eye witness. Joshua had been a young man when the Exodus from Egypt took place and had later become the personal assistant of Moses. He proved to be a very reliable right hand man. His minority report, with Caleb, of their espionage in Canaan also showed him to be a man of faith and courage. He was a natural successor of Moses and took over from him at the age of seventy, Joshua later died at the age of 110 years old 1. After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, God handed over leadership to Joshua, whose responsibility it was to bring the nation of Israel into the promised land of Canaan. After entering Canaan, Joshua had to go to war with the people who occupied the land. Canaan was a land of city-states. There was no central government; each city had its own king. To conquer the land each city would have to be defeated. Joshua being so close to Moses, must have understood the plan of attack that God had given to Moses upon reaching the Promised Land. In chapter one and verse one God begins to tell Joshua of Moses death and the he is to arise and cross the Jordan into the land that He is giving them to the now Sons of Israel Now I believe that since this information was evidently new to Joshua that Moses was dead then it had to also be new to rest of the people. At this point I believed that God gave the people a heart to follow Joshua or at least the proof that God was with him as so of demonstrated with Moses. THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM GOD By this time there is much reverence in the heart of the people for God, there is a will to listen intently with the intentions of obedience. When god tells Joshua to arise I belive that this is a physical and spiritual elevation taking place, an attribute possessed by Joshua that would give 1 John Baldwin, The Compact Survey of the Bible Bethany House Publishers Minn. MN. 1985 4
the people a heart to follow him. God encourages Joshua by letting him know that where ever the soles of your feet touch, that God has given it to him as promised to Moses. The God gives Joshua a geological map to illustrate to him the exact amount of territory that was promised. God tells Joshua that no man in this land will be able to resist him. God further reiterated that the key to his success would depend on three things. 1) Being strong and courageous. 2. Never compromising the law of God. 3. Keeping the law constantly on his mind. God reminds Joshua of these things and also giving him the assurance that he will be with him as he was with Moses. So then Joshua gets the message to the people on what to do and something marvelous happens. They are able to see at this point that God is with Joshua and they vow to obey every command that he gives. Joshua tells the people that they will cross with battle array in verse 14. This implies that a war is about the take place. THE WAR TACTICS In the second millennium it was customary to use spies to seek out land that was about to be conquered. So Joshua sends the spies in to a nearby town to take refuge at Rehab s, a woman who cast lots with them. Often times the kings of that land would commission undercover people to make him aware of any foreign visitors or those that were planning as the zealots did against Rome. In Joshua 10-11 we find that there are two campaigns for war set up respectively the north and south Canaan. It is believed that they made Gilgal their base and went attacking their foes pursuing them to Azekah and this victory was contributed to YHWH 10:1-14. After vanquishing five more towns and claiming yet another victory they return to base at Gilgal. So now that the southern campaign is accomplished in verse 11 God tells Joshua again to fear not because the conquest of the Northern campaign is about to begin. Joshua leads under the command of YHWH to conquer the kings of the northern region. In Joshua 10-11 there is detailed account of 5
foreign rulers toward Joshua. The conquest model has been misunderstood by many scholars as if the book was a myth. The book presents Joshua leading the his massive forces to slew their foes. 2 The scripture say that YHWH will drive the inhabitants of the land out and with the very tactics being used by Israel this is precisely what has happened. After all the victories Jerico, North and South Canaan, Joshua is reminded to not be afraid. It has been witnessed by a friend of Joshua of seeing fire fall from heaven witnessing that YHWH was with Joshua as he promised. The difficulty of fitting together all the items of biblical and archaeological evidence relating to the conquest of Canaan has been taken to indicate that the sequence of events were more complicated than a superficial reading of biblical narratives. Patriarchal stories tell how with their immediate kin settled in Palestine temporarily. The account in Genesis 34:25 of the attack on the Shechemites by Simeon and Levi is more readily understood if these represent not only the individual but clans. Such features suggest that settlement often came with war like efforts 3. We make the duration of Joshua s wars of conquest to be six years instead of seven. It would appear that Anstey inadvertently made the second year after the Exodus to the until two years after which would be the third 4. I am one who believes that the conquest if Canaan was violent and the land was taken by force. Much of Biblical History took place around the land of Israel. Understanding the geography of this area provides valuable insight as one studies these bibles events. These events of Joshua took place in the rainy season from mid October through April which means that most of the water rolled into the Jordan or the Mediterranean Sea. This made the flood waters of the Jordan impassible for most or at least that did not believe God 5. Geography helps us to see the condition that trhe men were fighting in. 2 K.A. Kitchen The reliability of the old testament Eerdmans Publishing 2003 3 GW Anderson The History and religion of Israel Oxford University Press 1966 4 Phillip Mauro The wonders of Bible Chronology Bible truth Depot Swengal Penn. 1961 5 Henry Halley, Halley s Handbook of Theology Zondervan Publication China 2007 6
However cold temperatures combined with wind and rain may have caused some of these tactics to unattainable. I especially believe that this was an issue when the Children of Israel went to conquer the Northern territory. The weather could cause the hilly regions to be very uncomfortable when rain and cold temperatures are in the equation. Though these elements were facts in the planning of war tactics Joshua still had to believe what God said. Sometime in life the elements can try to convince us one way or another, we must move at the command of God. Many things that we tried to accomplish but did not; because the geography may have caused things to appear challenging. I believe that when it come to studying the scripture that one should pursue it with not only a archaeological, but also geographical mind set. Archaeological facts There were two piles of memorial stones: one where the Ark stood on the east bank of the river (4:9) and the other on the west side, at Gilgal where they stayed. The stones were place there so that generations to come would not forget the enormous miracle that happened there. Concerning their first conquered city Jericho the city of Jericho has been excavated much in the 20 th century by Warren, by Sellin and Watzinger, by Garstang, by Kenyon and by the Italian team. Bryant Wood and his analysis of the all the collected data suggest that City IV was destroyed about 1400 BC. The city was also by a inner and outer city wall and that the outer wall was supported by massive sloping stones. Between the walls houses have been found that suggest the location of the house of Rahab (Joshua 2:15) It seems that this city was destroyed by a violent earth quake and the by fire- burnt debris in some places more than three or more feet thick. Because of one man s disobedience Israel was defeated at Ai God was with them but He needed them to understand the importance of Obedience. Archaeological facts have not yet been illuminated with archaeological finds. Biblical Ai is usually associated with et-tell because of the topographical setting and is very close to Ai described in scripture. The evidence that 7
support this is that the land was not inhabited from 2300 to 1100 BC which mean that Joshua could not have conquered it. Lachish and Debir are named among the cities whose inhabitants were defeated by Joshua 10:32,39. Archaeological excavations at Tell ed-duweir have suggested that in the time of conquest, Lachish was an important unfortified city. Its lack of a wall may have contributed to its speedy conquest. Joshua destroys hazor by fire 11:11 and archaeological evidence through excavations determine that ashes with pottery destroyed by fire was the reason. Also this defeat was recorded in Egyptian history in thae Amarna Tablet written to Pharaoh in 1380 BC 6. DIVIDING REALESTATE When the settlement began they were given 48 cities that had been conquered by the Children of Israel but we are well aware that not all of the land had been conquered we find that the Hebrew are off to a humble beginning by the way that they conducted the arrangements made to divide the land that was conquered. It is believed that the kings who failed cast land grants. It was believed that even under David reign as king that this government was not enforced. To each tribe there were grants that were assigned for instance in Joshua 15:1-12 is stated what will go to the tribe of Judah and to what extent. In the same manner land was distributed to the tribe of Benjamin and so forth and so on. It is plain to see that when the bible speaks about God giving the land to the Children of Israel that it was in the sense of God being with them and guaranteeing the victory. There is no doubt in my heart that through all of the years of suffering that Children of God had now become The Sons of God. They came to a place in God where that lived by faith and this faith was necessary to conquer all that they 6 Henry Halley Halley Handbook of Theology Zondervan Press China 2007 8
conquered. Many have argued that there were many regions of the land that was still possessed by Canaanite power. Biblical narratives suggest that there may have been an extensive settlement before the Egypt sojourn. The Patriarchal stories tell how individuals with their immediate family settled in various parts of Palestine. But we have already noted the possibilities that sometimes at least the individual may represent a community. It is widely Held that some of the tribes which formed the later Israel went down to Egypt. The Bible accounts of the conquest cover four main areas: Transjordania, the central hill country, the southern region and the north. Among these many cities were captured and divided among the tribe 7. 7 GW Anderson M.A., D.D. The History and religion of Israel; Oxford University Press 1966 Great Britain 9