Advent Devotions

Today’s author is Prince of Peace member Scott Tunseth.

I remember the first time I walked across the suspension bridge over the St. Louis River at Jay Cooke State Park. I had to hold on tightly as the design of the bridge allowed for more side-to- side movement than I expected. Crossing over and back was a bit shaky for my taste.

Some scholars note that the book of Joshua is a sort of bridge book in the Old Testament. On one side of the bridge are the books that tell the stories of Israel’s ancestors, the covenant promises of God to Abraham and his descendants (which included the promise of a land where they could settle), God’s rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and God’s giving of the Law during their sojourn in the wilderness. On the other side of the bridge are the books that describe Israel’s life in the land of promise, including all the stories of Israel’s kings and prophets and the endless drama centered around whether Israel would remain faithful to God or not.

Joshua is a bridge because it describes how the people cross the Jordan River into the land promised to their ancestor Abraham and begin to settle in. But how they settle in is what feels shaky to me. Joshua reports that God commanded the people to attack and literally wipe out some of the indigenous peoples of the land. Whole cities and their residents were destroyed. Several times the ritual of herem takes place, in which people and things are utterly destroyed and devoted to Yahweh. It shakes my understanding of God to think that all this destruction and genocide are indeed holy. It shakes my sense of justice to think God’s divine favor for one people leads to the destruction of other peoples.

Of course, acts of murder and mayhem have been done in the name of religion (including Christianity) throughout human history, as has the claiming of land by one people by displacing the land’s native peoples. Our own church stands on land once settled by native peoples. Peeling back all the historical, theological, literary, and sociocultural layers of Joshua is not easy and certainly not to be attempted in a single devotion. Maybe it’s enough to acknowledge that the book is a shaky bridge that reminds us of our own shaky human nature, a human nature that prizes power more than love, a human nature that creates warrior gods to subdue our enemies.

As I scan the world we live in, I still see much that shakes my mind and rattles my faith. I long for stable ground. This longing draws me back to words such as this passage from Colossians 3:12-14 >

Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Loving God, help us to stand on the firm ground of your gospel promises. Help us to value our neighbors and seek their good. May your love shake all forms of destructive power, bigotry, and greed. In Jesus’ name. Amen.