Lesson 10: Holy War 

Even the most heathen amongst you dear readers will most likely have heard of Jericho. Some of you perhaps only the name floating from the culture at large if your detachment from Christianity was severe. So we won’t delve too deeply into the parts of the story more commonly explored, if you’re new enough to the faith that you know nothing about Joshua and the walls of Jericho then you can find a thousand different serviceable lessons on the subject.

For our purposes I want to jump to the part every churchian and their dog’s mother skips over or even ignores with prejudice. The aftermath of the Isrealites’ faith, and the results of God’s will.

So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.

Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.”

So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel.

And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

Joshua 6:20-24

Churchians will never cease to amaze me in their ability to see only what they want to see in the Bible. The walls of Jericho falling down by faith and God’s power is a staple in every Sunday school course I’ve ever read or been a part of as a child, but I’d never truly read the whole story till I was a teenager. I think we can all see why. Modern heretics obsessed with slandering crusaders and every attempt of Christian men to root out evil might be a tad uncomfortable with the fact that after the walls fell every man, woman, child, and even animal were slaughtered in Jericho. Everyone but Rahab the prostitute and her family who helped the spies of Israel when they were passing through the city.

This was a direct command from God. One he took so seriously that when just one man amongst the Isrealites disobeyed and took a small amount of plunder, not even sparing anyone just taking some loot for himself, God removed his blessing upon them temporarily turning them over to their enemies for a short time till they rooted out the troublemaker, and stoned him and his family.

So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath.

And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the LORD.

And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

Joshua 7:22-25

These are the men God honed in the desert for forty years. Let this sink in. God had forty years to bring up this generation of Israel, and this is the result of his efforts. A violent warrior race who did not hesitate to kill even their own for disloyalty to God. That isn’t to say we should be stoning every thief, but Holy War in the Biblical sense is a different animal and these men very well understood it. Moreover, as we can see when the Almighty makes a command, yes even one of warfare and purging, if we fail to follow his decree we will be punished, as can be seen here, and later when the monarchy would be established.

And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.

And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’

Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?”

1 Samuel 15:17-19

And Samuel said,

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

he has also rejected you from being king.

1 Samuel 15:22-23

God is merciful, but when his judgment is declared going against his will by granting mercy the Almighty has denied to his enemies is rebellion against God and is as bad as witchcraft in his eyes. As things turned out The Lord had a very good reason to purge his enemies’ children, and he laid out the reality in no uncertain terms.

Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left,

that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them,

but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day.

For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day.

One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.

Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God.

For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,

know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.

Joshua 23:6-13

As we will see the Isrealites failed to drive out and purge many of the Canaanites set apart for destruction both for their sins and ancestry. As a result they would turn the descendants of these strong men honed for the destruction of the Lord’s enemies into rebels, dark god worshiping, child sacrificing freaks. A lesson, and a warning to men of action. Allowing tolerance into your ranks is a curse not for yourself, but for your children’s children.

Make no mistake, we are another generation God is preparing for legacy and his great vengeance on Earth before the final day of the Lord. Like Joshua and Caleb’s families, our children are being set apart for the legacy of warriors in Christ who will carve out a place for Christendom to continue, and punish the unrepentant enemies of Heaven for all their horrific sins. The previous generations of weak slave minded comfort focused men are dying off in droves. Soon they won’t be alive to hold the shackles around our feet, and we will be set to the Lord’s demands. We will have a decision to make.

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24:15

Will we serve God? Will we be like Joshua and Caleb purge institutional evil from our ranks and ensure justice rains in our societies and thus not incur the wrath of the Lord on our descendants and works? Or will we grant too much mercy, and thus leave stumbling stones for our children and children’s children? Who by example will follow in our steps, and let evil fester in their ranks rather than purge the stench. Will we allow the inevitable which we see in our nations and people now where injustice rules and acts as despicable as these are done in our ranks with almost impunity?

This doesn’t mean we act now. God is preparing us for the struggle. If you act prematurely you will be snuffed out without support and the full terror of the enemy coming on you. Make no mistake, our enemy is terrified. 

They, unlike the modern man, do know their history and even more that isn’t recorded as readily. They know very well God is planning their demise on Earth. A purge before their end when Christ returns. They also know their sins mean they deserve no mercy, and they will and have refused to bend a knee to Christ so they are condemned. That fear makes them act in excess, and just like when the Isrealites tried to force God’s hand after he declared the forty year excursion in the desert (Deuteronomy 1:41-44) if you act too early before enough of our generation has been prepared, and the boomer slave generation died off you will be destroyed on your own.

Not that God could not defend you, but his plans call for the fall of the Empire and now the rebuilding with his chosen remnant. So prepare gentlemen. Our time, and even more importantly, our children’s time is coming, and our enemy shudders at what God will do with a willing faithful generation with the stomach to complete his will on Earth.

But let’s continue our narrative. Joshua leads the Isrealites into the promised land and they purge most, but not all, or enough, of the Lord’s enemies, and God has won a victory against his old rebellious sons. Egypt and now Canaan have bowed to his power. Still, as we've seen, the Devil has a tactic for when men become too strong in God to be physically destroyed, and the Isrealites were going to fall for the plot hook line and sinker.

Question 1: Have you had a time in your life where you saw a church or city be conquered from within till you don’t recognize the institution or town anymore? How would you have done things differently if you were a leader in said organization or city?

Question 2: Many of us are preparing physically for the coming struggle around us. What are you doing to prepare yourself and your family for the coming spiritual side of our battle with the principalities of evil?

Question 3: Samuel makes things clear that God wants obedience over sacrifice and religious doctrine. Have you seen denominations, churches, and organizations choose their doctrine over God in the modern era?

I live stream every Monday, at 10:00 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time about each lesson. Click the boat below to watch the previous stream and click here to join the discord if you have any questions: https://discord.gg/NeybxRjG