23So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.
This verse concludes in my opinion one of the most difficult passages of Scripture. The previous chapters tell the account of the total destruction of every person living in the Promised Land. All the previous inhabitants were killed to make way for the Israelites. To our modern ears the total slaughter of entire cities, men, women and children, sounds extreme. People will say, “How can a loving God order the destruction of an entire population?” I might ask, “How can a holy God put up with rebellion and not bring immediate punishment on sin?” The love of God is not separate from His holiness. Both are essential to His nature. Fortunately for us His patience has prevented His wrath from coming against sin, at least for now. When Jesus came, lived a perfect life, and then died in our place, God’s wrath was satisfied. All we need to do to avoid His wrath is be “in Christ”. When we are “in Him” then the wrath that was aimed at us is satisfied by Christ’s death and resurrection. I may not understand how cleansing the land of all the sin prior to Israel’s occupation, but I do know that the Lord is just. Cleansing can be a very difficult and painful process.
The Arnold Journey 