New West Community Church

By far one of the most interesting and shocking parts of my study this last week was to read an extended and exceptionally erudite commentary on Joshua 10 by the great theologian Jonathan Edwards (Notes on Scripture) in which he argues that Joshua is the true and myth-inspiring character known eventually as Hercules. He writes, “This oriental Hercules (says Vossius), for some ages, more ancient than the Theban, was by his true name called Joshua, who made war with the Canaanites, amongst whom were the sons of Anak, and other giants, as Num. 13:29, 33.” Calling on a host of primary sources (many of them only in Latin), he builds a case for the fact that the account of Joshua and his great victory over the giants in Joshua 10 became corrupted, but some of its basic ideas continued in the ancient myths, including the gods raining down stones from heaven upon giants and a great man (Hercules) who slays the giants. “’Tis said of Hercules, that whilst he was fighting with the giants, Jupiter rained down stones. This answers exactly to the story of Joshua, his strenuous achievement, and God’s raining down stones, by which he slew great part...Continue reading→

Prior to Israel entering the land, God gave instructions for warfare in Deuteronomy 20. In verses 11 to 18, a distinction is made between Israel’s approach to war based on whether the enemy is among the Canaanite tribes singled out for destruction, or not. I alluded to this distinction during the sermon, but I would like to draw from it a principle that I think is supremely helpful for living the Christian life and choosing our battles. I believe this distinction is rooted in the context of the biblical narrative. It might be summarized this way: when sin is in your life, your family, or your church, you must deal with it ruthlessly; when you see sin in the world, you are permitted, given the dominion the church has in Christ, to engage in battle according to wisdom. Consider that one of the main reasons, given over and over again in the Old Testament, that God told the people of Israel to absolutely and fully destroy all the Canaanites (men, women, and children) was that they might not “teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against...Continue reading→