How does Joshua 6:17 reflect God's justice and mercy? Text of Joshua 6:17 “And the city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the spies we sent.” Contextual Setting Jericho is the first Canaanite stronghold Israel confronts after crossing the Jordan (Joshua 5:13–6:27). God’s command to place the city under ḥerem (“devoted to destruction”) inaugurates Israel’s occupation of the land promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:18). The directive serves a covenantal, judicial, and missional purpose: cleansing the land of entrenched idolatry (Deuteronomy 7:2–5) while preserving a holy people through whom the Messiah would come (Genesis 12:3). The Justice of God in the Ban (ḥerem) 1. Moral Grounds. Canaanite culture was characterized by child sacrifice, ritual prostitution, and bestiality (Leviticus 18:21–30; Deuteronomy 12:31). God’s justice responds to centuries of hard-hearted rebellion, having delayed judgment “until the iniquity of the Amorites is complete” (Genesis 15:16). 2. Judicial Pattern. The same standard applies to Israel; when Israel later replicates Canaan’s sins, the nation is expelled (2 Kings 17:7-18). God is impartial (Romans 2:11). 3. Legal Type. Ḥerem anticipates final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). It shows that sin’s wages are death (Romans 6:23), yet also opens a door for mercy to any who repent (Ezekiel 18:23). Mercy Manifested through Rahab Rahab hears of Yahweh’s deeds and responds with faith: “for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below” (Joshua 2:11). Her confession, scarlet cord, and covenant with the spies (Joshua 2:18-21) provide: • A tangible refuge open to all who would enter her house (Joshua 6:23). • A foreshadowing of substitutionary atonement; the cord prefigures blood on doorposts (Exodus 12:13) and Christ’s blood (Hebrews 9:22). • Inclusion in Messiah’s lineage (Matthew 1:5), honoring God’s promise that faith, not ethnicity, grants salvation (Romans 4:16-17). Thus, amid corporate judgment, individual grace shines. Corporate Judgment and Individual Salvation Biblical justice often addresses nations (Isaiah 10:5-19) while preserving righteous individuals (Genesis 19; Ezekiel 9). Joshua 6 mirrors this paradigm: Jericho falls, but Rahab and her house stand. The episode illustrates Proverbs 11:21—“Though the wicked join forces, they will not go unpunished; but the descendants of the righteous will be delivered.” Typological Foreshadowing of the Gospel 1. Joshua (Heb. Yĕhôshuaʿ, “Yahweh saves”) prefigures Jesus (Greek Iēsous, same name). 2. The seven-day march, trumpet blast, and walls collapsing depict divine, not human, victory, paralleling salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). 3. Rahab’s rescue models Gentile inclusion (Ephesians 2:12-13). Her former life underscores that mercy is unearned (Titus 3:5). 4. Destruction outside Rahab’s household anticipates eternal separation for those rejecting refuge in Christ (John 3:36). Archaeological Corroboration • John Garstang (1930–36) reported fallen mud-brick walls forming ramps, consistent with Joshua 6:20. • Bryant G. Wood’s pottery analysis (Biblical Archaeology Review, Mar/Apr 1990) dates Jericho’s destruction to ca. 1400 BC—aligning with an early Exodus chronology. Burn layers, carbonized grain, and collapsed walls corroborate a swift conquest and city set “on fire” (Joshua 6:24). • Kenyon’s earlier “1550 BC” date relied on absence of imported Cypriot ware; Wood demonstrated local Late Bronze I pottery actually fits 1400 BC. Physical evidence affirms the historicity of the event and, by extension, the reliability of the theological claims embedded in it. Moral and Philosophical Considerations Objection: “Divine command genocide.” Response: 1. Not racial but moral: Canaanites judged for persistent wickedness (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). 2. Conditional reprieve: Deuteronomy 20:10–11 offers terms of peace outside Canaan proper; Rahab shows even a Canaanite city-dweller could be spared. 3. God’s prerogative: As Creator, He has the right to give and reclaim life (Job 1:21). 4. Protective deterrent: Behavioral science recognizes that purging systemic violence can reset a culture’s moral norm; Jericho’s fall signals seriousness of sin to Israel (cf. Achan, Joshua 7). Pastoral and Missional Implications • Evangelism: If God spared Rahab, He can save anyone; no past disqualifies faith. • Holiness: God’s people must avoid syncretism; judgment begun at Jericho warns against compromise (1 Peter 4:17). • Confidence: Archaeological confirmation strengthens believers facing skepticism. • Worship: Justice and mercy converge, eliciting awe (Psalm 89:14). Concluding Synthesis Joshua 6:17 intertwines unsparing justice with lavish mercy. The same decree that devotes Jericho to destruction opens a door of salvation to all who, like Rahab, trust God’s revelation. Archaeology, covenant history, and redemptive typology collectively demonstrate that God is both righteous Judge and gracious Savior. |
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