Joshua / Judges / Ruth
The Problem with Joshua: Wrestling with God’s Justice
If you’ve got your Bibles, we are heading to the book of Joshua. But before we get there, turn just for a moment to Genesis 15 on the way. I want to take a shameless detour.
We are back in the historical portion of our text. We’ve covered Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and then inserted Job—which I know caused a lot of you to panic because you thought your Bible had a misprint, like somehow they forgot the book. It’s there, but chronologically it snaps in right about the time of Abraham.
Now we return to the historical narrative. When we left off, the nation of Israel was in captivity at the end of Genesis in Egypt. Moses leads them out in Exodus. Leviticus shows them how to be the holy people of God. The book of Numbers takes them behind the woodshed for forty years, reminding the old generation of what they should have been and encouraging the new generation to step up. Deuteronomy gives the law to that new generation.
Now, the leadership mantle passes from Moses, the deliverer, to a young stud named Joshua—one of the two faithful spies who went to scope out the Promised Land and said, “Let’s go take it!” while everybody else shrank back in fear. God exalts Joshua to lead the people into the land.
And Joshua is going to be commanded by God to do things that make most of us very, very nervous.
I remember when I first started reading my Bible seriously, I was all fired up until I hit the book of Joshua. The book of Joshua bothered me. I couldn’t figure out how a God who was gracious, loving, and kind could say, “Go wipe out every man, woman, and child in that civilization.” All of a sudden, my theological hard drive locked up. Have you ever wrestled with that? How can a loving God command Joshua to conquer the land and completely destroy its inhabitants? It’s an honest question, and I want to address it directly.
We find a crucial part of the answer in Genesis 15.
Genesis 15:13-16 (NASB)
[God] said to Abram, ’Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. ’But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. ’As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. ‘Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.’
God is ratifying His covenant with Abraham, and He gives him some prophetic insider trading. He says, “Don’t get your hopes up for an immediate return. Your descendants will be strangers in an alien land, enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But I will judge that nation, and afterward, they will come out with great possessions.” That points directly to the Exodus, when the Egyptians loaded up Israel with treasures just to get them to leave.
Then look closely at verse 16: “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
It’s that phrase that unlocks the tension. While God’s people were in Egypt, God was doing two things simultaneously. First, He was shaping and preparing His people for obedience. Second, He was demonstrating profound patience—putting up with the stench of the Amorites’ wickedness for over four centuries.
We have to remember a foundational truth: God has absolute power, absolute authority, and the sovereign right to rule His creation however He sees fit. The book of Job drove that point home. Because God is the ultimate Creator and Owner, everything He does is righteous. The problem is that what He does doesn’t always seem righteous to our finite perspective, but that never diminishes His perfect justice.
All of us deserve wrath. We tend to elevate ourselves as if God owes us a thank-you note for showing up, when the reality is that we all fall hopelessly short. The Canaanites were vile enemies of God—thoroughly entrenched in idolatry and an intensely depraved fertility cult revolving around Baal. For over four hundred years, God exercised astonishing restraint, holding back His judgment while the storehouse of their rebellion filled up.
When Joshua enters the land, it is not an act of wanton violence; it is the execution of holy justice upon four centuries of unrepentant evil. Furthermore, Deuteronomy 20 shows that this command was completely unique to the nations inside the Promised Land to eradicate idolatry and preserve holiness. It was never a blanket mandate for holy war against external nations, and it is a unique historical era that is never to be repeated.
Be Strong and Courageous: The Conquest of the Land
With that foundation set, we look at the conquest in Joshua. The book breaks into three major movements: entering the land (chapters 1–5), conquering the land (chapters 6–12), and dividing the land (chapters 13–24).
In chapter 1, God renews the Abrahamic Covenant—the promise of land, seed, and blessing. Then in verse 11, the people are told to pack provisions because the miraculous manna is about to stop. They are standing on the east side of the Jordan, and God shuts off the food supply. If they want to eat, they have to cross over into the land flowing with milk and honey. Hunger becomes a great motivator to move forward!
Joshua 1:6-9 (NASB)
’Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ’Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. ’This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.’
Do you see what God repeats to Joshua over and over? “Be strong and courageous… Be strong and very courageous… Be strong and courageous.” Why did he need to hear it three times? Because he had the most intimidating job in biblical history. He had to step into the shoes of Moses! Joshua was scared to death. But God assures him: “Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
In chapter 2, Joshua sends two spies into Jericho. They end up in the house of Rahab the harlot. Rahab knows the stories of how God split the Red Sea and shattered Pharaoh. The entire region had watched three million Israelites kick up dust in the desert for forty years, wondering when they would arrive. Rahab demonstrates faith, asks for mercy, and protects the spies. Even in the midst of looming judgment, God always preserves a faithful remnant.
In chapters 3 and 4, the nation crosses the Jordan. The moment the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant step into the flood-stage waters, the river parts. God confirms Joshua’s leadership publicly, assuring Israel that just as He was with Moses, He is with Joshua.
Before taking Jericho, chapter 5 records their consecration. Israel undergoes circumcision, celebrates Passover, and observes the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Holiness always precedes spiritual victory. These people weren’t a trained military machine; they were former slaves carrying farming tools!
Then Joshua encounters a mysterious figure standing before Jericho with a drawn sword.
Joshua 5:13-15 (NASB)
Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’ He said, ‘No; rather I indeed come now [as] captain of the host of the LORD.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, ‘What has my lord to say to his servant?’ The captain of the LORD’S host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.
Joshua asks, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” The figure replies, “No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”
This is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ—the Angel of the Lord. Notice He doesn’t show up for a warm group hug. He stands ready for war with a drawn sword, reminding Joshua that the battle belongs entirely to the Lord.
In chapter 6, God gives them an absurd military strategy: march quietly around the fortified walls of Jericho once a day for six days, and on the seventh day, march around seven times, blow the trumpets, and shout. The people obey, the walls collapse inward, and Israel takes the city.
Tragically, victory is immediately followed by defeat in chapter 7 at Ai. Confident in their own strength, Israel attacks Ai without seeking the Lord and gets routed. Joshua discovers that a man named Achan had stolen devoted plunder from Jericho. Once the camp is purged of hidden sin, God grants them total victory at Ai in chapter 8.
From chapter 9 through 24, the military campaigns sweep through the southern and northern regions, followed by the allotment of tribal territories. In chapter 18, the Tabernacle is permanently pitched at Shiloh. Levitical cities and cities of refuge are established throughout the land so the priests can act as salt and light.
Joshua gathers the nation at the end of his life in chapter 24, charging them to remember God’s faithfulness and remain uncompromisingly loyal to Him. Joshua dies, Joseph’s bones are finally laid to rest in the Promised Land, and the book closes on a high note of military victory.
The Downward Spiral: Incomplete Conquest and Compromise
Everything looks triumphant until you turn the page to the book of Judges. Judges immediately exposes two catastrophic failures.
The first was a physical failure: incomplete conquest.
Judges 1:19-31 (NASB)
Now the LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had promised; and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak. But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. Likewise the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them. The house of Joseph spied out Bethel (now the name of the city was formerly Luz). The spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, ‘Please show us the entrance to the city and we will treat you kindly.’ So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. The man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz which is its name to this day. But Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. It came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely. Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob.
Read through chapter 1 and you will see the tragic pattern: Judah could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley; Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites; Manasseh did not drive out Beth-shean; Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali all failed to clear the land.
Israel settled for partial obedience. Instead of removing the Canaanite altars and cultural practices, they coexisted with them. If you visit the archaeological ruins of Gezer today, you can find Canaanite standing stones embedded right within an ancient Israelite city. They mingled with the pagans and adopted their corrupt practices.
The second failure was a spiritual catastrophe: parental abdication.
Judges 2:10-14 (NASB)
All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from [among] the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger. So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around [them], so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
Deuteronomy 6 clearly charged parents to diligently teach their children the commandments of God. But this generation failed to pass the torch. The tragic result was a rising generation that did not know the Lord or the mighty works He had done for Israel.
This sets up the notorious cycle of the book of Judges:
- Israel lives in peace and faithfulness for a season.
- Israel slowly compromises with the culture and plunges into idolatry.
- God hands them over to an oppressive enemy to discipline them.
- Israel cries out in desperation and repents.
- God graciously raises up a deliverer—a judge—to rescue them.
- The judge dies, and Israel spirals back into worse rebellion than before.
God raises up an eclectic lineup of flawed deliverers. There is Othniel, the faithful elder statesman. Ehud, the left-handed warrior who conceals a double-edged dagger and executes the tyrannical King Eglon. Shamgar, who strikes down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. Deborah and Barak, whom God uses when men refuse to step up, culminating in Jael driving a tent peg through General Sisera’s temple.
We see Gideon, who is so terrified that he threshes wheat hidden inside a winepress. God calls him a “valiant warrior,” strips his army down from thousands to a mere 300 men, and routes the Midianite army using clay jars, torches, and trumpets.
We see Jephthah, an outcast who delivers Israel but makes a rash, foolish vow that costs him his daughter. We see Samson—the ultimate picture of wasted potential. Samson is narcissistic, arrogant, and governed entirely by his impulses. His life is marked by continual compromise, eventually ending with his eyes gouged out in a Philistine temple, pulling down the pillars upon his enemies.
Chapters 17 through 21 reveal the absolute depths of Israel’s spiritual collapse. The priesthood becomes completely corrupt; Levites are hired out as private family priests. The tribe of Dan abandons its difficult God-given inheritance to seek an easier life up north, descending into blatant idolatry.
By chapters 19 through 21, the narrative grows unspeakably dark with an account reminiscent of Sodom and Gomorrah—a traveling Levite’s concubine is abused to death by men of Gibeah, leading to a brutal civil war that nearly annihilates the tribe of Benjamin.
Why does the author include such horrific accounts? The diagnosis is repeated like a solemn drumbeat:
Judges 21:25 (NASB)
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
When a culture abandons the absolute truth of God, morality becomes entirely subjective. The ultimate authority becomes whatever feels good or seems convenient to the individual.
Look around at our culture today. Isn’t that precisely where we find ourselves? We marginalize God, push His Word out of the public square, and decide that truth is relative. When a society abandons God’s standard, it inevitably plunges into darkness and moral chaos.
Light in the Darkness: The Kinsman-Redeemer
Yet, right against the pitch-black backdrop of the era of the Judges, God gives us the stunning diamond of the book of Ruth.
Ruth 1:16-17 (NASB)
But Ruth said, ’Do not urge me to leave you [or] turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people [shall be] my people, and your God, my God. ‘Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if [anything but] death parts you and me.’
Ruth is a Moabitess—a member of a nation historically hostile and idolatrous toward Israel. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, has lost her husband and both of her sons while living in Moab. Naomi returns to Bethlehem empty, broken, and bitter, telling people to call her Mara.
Yet Ruth refuses to abandon her. She clings to Naomi and makes an astonishing declaration of faith: “Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.”
Ruth goes out to glean in the barley fields to provide food for them. By God’s divine providence, she ends up in the field of a godly man named Boaz—a name that means “in him is strength.”
Boaz is a righteous man living faithfully in the middle of a corrupt era. He notices Ruth, protects her, provides for her, and acts as her Kinsman-Redeemer (Go’el). He pays the full price to redeem Naomi’s family land and takes Ruth as his wife.
God blesses Boaz and Ruth with a son named Obed. Obed becomes the father of Jesse, who becomes the father of King David.
Matthew 1:5-6 (NASB)
Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
When you open the New Testament and read the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1, you find four remarkable women: Tamar, who was wronged and desperate; Rahab, the former prostitute from Jericho; Ruth, the foreign Moabitess; and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. God weaves their stories of redemption straight into the lineage of the Savior of the world!
Shining as Lights
We live in a world that can feel relentlessly dark. Our culture looks strikingly similar to the closing chapters of Judges—a generation drifting from God, where people celebrate whatever is right in their own eyes.
That was true in Ruth’s day, too. But that is not how Boaz lived. That is not how Ruth lived.
Light only truly shines when it is juxtaposed against deep darkness. What an extraordinary opportunity we have as the people of God to step up and live differently!
We don’t have to let the prevailing culture dictate our character, our values, our worship, or our families. We are called to be faithful in the daily rhythms of life—faithful at work, faithful to our spouses, faithful in raising our children, and faithful in serving our communities.
If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. The old has passed away, and the new has come. You are not defined by your past, by your heritage, or by the darkness around you. You are defined by Christ living in you.
Take courage. God has placed you right here, in this exact cultural moment, to shine as an unshakeable light on a hill.
Let’s pray together.
Father, thank You for Your Word and for the timeless truths of these historical accounts. When the world around us abandons Your ways, give us the courage of Joshua, the radical faith of Rahab, and the quiet, steadfast loyalty of Ruth and Boaz. Keep us faithful to pass the knowledge of who You are to the next generation. May our lives shine brightly in the midst of a dark culture, pointing every seeking heart to our ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer, Jesus Christ. It is in His mighty name we pray. Amen.