The Book of Joshua: Nothing But Holiness

We as believers know of God's love and compassion towards the world, so it can be difficult to read certain parts of the Bible and understand why and how a God, who is so loving, could allow and call for men, women and even children to be destroyed. There are examples of this in Joshua 6:17, and 11:10-11, 14, 20.

It is important to remember, however, that God is Holy and everything and everyone in his kingdom must also be holy. The people of the lands that Israel were called to destroy practised such wickedness and rejected God. They couldn't remain in those lands where God was sending his people. We see throughout scripture how Israel was easily influenced by the nations around them. They continuously strayed from God and worshipped idols.

Achan's sin of taking the items that were meant for destruction gives us another example of how necessary it was that God's people remained holy. Israel suffered at the hands of the people of Ai because of what Achan did. His whole family also paid the penalty. They may have been complicit in his sin, but either way, God's people had to be made holy again. They had to be cleansed of the sin that had entered the camp.

In chapter 24, Joshua makes Israel commit themselves to God, he even had to tell them to get rid of any idols they had, Joshua 24:23. So even after witnessing all that God had done, there were still some who held on to these relics. It can be difficult for us to let go of the past, but holding onto items linked to our old nature will only make it easier for us to turn back to them.

Because of this, Joshua had to warn the people that they would not be able to properly serve God and what would happen when they turned away from him, Joshua 24:19-20. But even these warnings weren't enough to keep them on track.

All this points to how Holy God is, even his own people were not immune from judgment when they sinned against him. Believers now can be thankful that we have Jesus who became a sacrifice for us.

Our holiness comes from the fact that Christ has already paid the price and when we fall short, all we have to do is, point to the cross, genuinely repent and draw from the strength and encouragement he gives us daily.