Joshua: Staying Faithful to God

Continuing my reading of Joshua (begun here). I like the fact that Joshua has had the same choices in essence that we do still in our modern lives. Listen to God, do what He wants, and live ... or serve other gods and die. Some like Joshua perform spectacular feats while others of us live more anonymously, but it all boils down to that same choice made repeatedly.

... What Joshua has to say is very moving and it contains a message which is virtually the same as the one God gave him when Moses died (cf. 1:1-19)--an invitation to trust in the Lord and do everything his Law lays down. Promises and threats criss-cross in Joshua's insistence that the people must stay faithful to God if they are to retain the land he has given them. It is a very urgent exhortation--for those who heard it, and for Israelites at later times, particularly during the difficult test of the exile.

Joshua's own life was guided by that message. To start with, God gave him his instructions. Then as events unfolded Joshua could see for himself that what God said was indeed true: the Lord scattered enemies in his presence; he gave the people the promised land, and did everything he said he would. Joshua saw for himself that God gave success to those who did his bidding, and this made him keener still to be faithful to the Lord. ...

In the fullest way possible something similar happened with Jesus, whose life was a continuous striving to identify with his Father's will; from his infancy (cf. Lk 2:49) to the cross, what nourished him was doing the will of the One who sent him: "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Lk 22:42). And thus we see St. Paul placing Christ's example before all Christians: "Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, [...] humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him" (Phil 2:5-6, 8-9). That is also the route that Christ's followers should take--listening to his word and going along with the plans he has for each. Assimilating and putting this message into practice makes life meaningful. And one experiences the effectiveness of God's help, the more one bears witness of it to others.

Joshua 23:1-16
The Navarre Bible, Joshua - Kings

This finishes my journey through Joshua though I'll be beginning 2nd Peter soon and will share what I find there with y'all.

Joshua: When the Sun Stood Still

Continuing my readings of Joshua (begun here), I was struck by the commentary upon the battle where, famously, "the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies" (Joshua 10:13).

I appreciate the explanations of using our very limited language and symbols to explain the divine. This can be a stumbling block for dialogue between literalists and scoffers, for one thing, to say nothing of the difficult it may provide for believers studying the word of God. Our priest is always at great pains to underline such circumstances, especially when dealing with the Old Testament.

However, of more interest and enlightenment to me were the thoughts upon "The Lord hearkened to the voice of a man" (Joshua 10:14). These made a connection that was eye opening. I share the entire commentary below.

This was one of the texts used in the famous debate about the relationship of sun to earth in the Galileo case. But as the basis of that whole argument lay a misunderstanding by theologians of the day as regards the nature of the sacred texts. St. Augustine and St. Thomas had already explained the salvific meaning of Holy Writ, a teaching which Leo XIII ws later to sum up in these words: "The sacred writers, or better said, 'the Spirit of God who spoke through them, did not seek to teach men those things (the knowledge of the nature of visible realities) that were of no consequence for their eternal salvation' (St. Augustine, De Gen, ad litt., 2, 9, 20); therefore, the sacred writers, while carrying out something much greater than an investigation of nature, sometimes describe objects and speak about them [...] as the language of the times demanded [...]. Since in ordinary discourse what is given to the sense is normally spoken of first, the sacred writer (as the Angelic Doctor has noted) 'addresses what appears to the senses' (Summa theologiae, I, q. 70, a.1, ad 3), that is, he takes account first of what God himself, in speaking to men, expressed in human terms in order to make himself understood by them" (Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus, EB 121).

"The Lord hearkened to the voice of a man" (v. 14). What is really noteworthy is not so muchthe sun's standing still as the fact that God should vary his way of working to obey the words of a man. Meditating on this passage, St. Alphonsus Mary de Liguori comments: "It comes as a surprise to hear that God obeyed Joshua when he ordered the sun to stand still on its circuit [...]. but it comes as a greater shock to see how with a few words from the priest God himself descends to the altars and to where ever he is called, putting himself in the priest's hands every time he is called upon to do so" (Notes for Preaching, 1, 1, 3).

Joshua 10:13-14
The Navarre Bible, Joshua - Kings

Joshua: Why Total Destruction of the Enemy?

Getting back to my basics, I have begun reading Joshua. It was when I was recommending the Navarre Bibles to a friend for their excellent commentary that I realized I had forgotten to read them myself lately. At one time, Rose was reading through the Old Testament using them which gave me the required excuse to purchase a volume here and a volume there. However, I never delved into them myself. I love how the commentaries not only cover the Jewish point of view but also what the Church Fathers have seen as a logical forerunner for Christ and Christian living.

I am supplementing this with my Archaeological Study Bible (which has an adamant "yay Protestant Biblical books choice!" cheering section of the introduction) which I know is deficient in some ways. However, their practically pure archaeological take on things is also eye opening. One must just keep in mind that they may fall short when it comes to Catholic teachings if they happen to comment on those things (which I haven't seen happen yet other than in their stern comments about which books should be in the Bible).

I'll be sharing some eye opening bits with y'all as I go along.

So let's start with this, which suddenly helped me understand the reasoning behind God's orders to raze conquered cities to the ground. Not to mention requiring every person and animal be slaughtered. Never could figure that out and although our weekly scripture studies have gone a long way toward making me see that a loving, merciful God is shown throughout the Old Testament, this issue never squared with that. Certainly I never thought about how that policy might have an inner meaning for me.

But, read on ... for naturally I just wasn't thinking deeply enough. I have italicized the parts that spoke to me but am quoting the entire commentary on this particular verse.

Deuteronomy 7:1-6, 25-26, 13:13-19 and particularly 20:16-18 lays down detailed instructions about the policy of utter destruction (anathema or "ban); Israel is told to obey these instructions to the letter, to avoid being contaminated by the idolatry of the Canaanites. A policy which to us seems quite incomprehensible, savage and inhuman, it needs to be seen inn its historical context and to be set in the framework of the gradual development of divine revelation. Total destruction of the enemy was common practice in antiquity, but the biblical laws about it were very strict; it could actually deter people from ungodly war: if all booty must be destroyed (treasure, livestock, or persons who could be turned into servants or slaves), then there is no point in embarking on war out of greed or for aggrandizement. Even so, we need to bear in mind that this was a temporary law, for that time only, so neither this nor any other passage of Holy Scripture can be used to justify the use of violence or criminal behavior. God's revelation to man was a gradual process culminating in the Incarnation of the Word. The preaching of Jesus is the true reference-point as regards respect for life and for the lawfully held property of others. In the sermon on the mount our Lord said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you maybe sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Mt 5:44-45).

In mystical writing we find allegorical interpretations of this commandment to the effect that the soul needs to be detached from everything in order to draw closer to God. Thus. St. John of the Cross comments that this order about total destruction is given "so that we may understand that to enter into union with the divine, everything that lives in the soul must die, what is great and small, of much worth or of little, and the soul must remain without lust for it all" (Ascent of Mount Carmel, 1, 11, 8).

Joshua 6:21
The Navarre Bible, Joshua - Kings