| God the Divine Warrior | Theology for Farmers |
God even goes to war against "wickedness" and to keep Yahweh’s promise (in spite of Israel’s own stubbornness) (Deut. 9: 4-7). Indeed, Holy War and the Warrior God are theological images especially prominent in the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua. Instructions for war are specifically discussed in Deuteronomy 20. In the Book of Joshua the war to conquer the Promised Land is portrayed as a Holy War. The idea of war as an instrument in the service of a holy cause (including land) and of the Divine Being as the sacred warrior, is not unique to the Old Testament. This idea was very common in the ancient Near East. Israel simply appropriated it and adapted it to its own situation. Ancient Near Eastern kings always attributed their power and military victories to divine guidance in the midst of battle. For the Deuteronomistic Historians, the conquest of Canaan was no different. God is presented as the Divine Warrior fighting for a holy cause. Military might and victory are possible because God makes them so.
Yet the Deuteronomists and the Deuteronomistic Historians were not militarists. In the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua, the military weakness of the Israelites and the military strength of the "Canaanites" are emphasized as proper and according to God’s design. Yahweh is the warrior on the side of the weak who makes possible their victory over the strong. Also, it is Yahweh--not Joshua or the people--who goes to war. The people make up the armies. However, they do only what they are told by Yahweh. Yahweh gives them power. War itself is never glorified. Nor is a permanent, well-armed military establishment part of the Deuteronomists’ theology. For example, kings must "not acquire many horses" for their armies (Deut. 17:16). For kings and empires, horses were vital investments to ensure strong and permanent fighting forces. They provided quick mobility against enemies. Not having horses would signify a greatly reduced military capability. The Deuteronomists were deeply suspicious of military might. Throughout the Deuteronomistic historical work (Joshua through 2 Kings), Israel’s kings and their armies are nearly always corrupt and unfaithful to Yahweh! Trust is not to be placed in arms, but in Yahweh.
George Ernest Wright wrote: "the strong, active power given in the language of the Warrior Lord means that there is a force in the universe set against the forces of evil and perversity.* Life, then, is a battleground, but the Divine Warrior will not be defeated."1 Theologically, this is what the Deuteronomistic Historians sought to express through the idea of Holy War and Divine Warrior. This is especially prominent in the Book of Joshua. Set in their historical context of successions of competing imperialists and Israel’s losing struggle to maintain national autonomy and independent territory, Divine Warrior theology undoubtedly had a powerful impact on the minds of the people. Deuteronomic theology is a theology of resistance.
Return to Joshua: Arise! Cross!
The movement that gathered around the theology of the Book of Deuteronomy was essentially a farmer movement rooted in the "Poor of the land", or at least it reflected the hopes of farmers. No concern could be more important to them than land: The connecting feature of Deuteronomic theology (and a central feature of the message of the eighth century B.C.E. prophets). As in the life of agricultural people, in Deuteronomic theology everything functions around the land: land-getting, land-keeping, and land-recovering.2 Without land, Israelite farmers had nothing. No vision could have been dearer to their hearts than the promise of a fertile land (Deut. 8:7-10). Faithful obedience tied to the promise of rain (Deut. 11:11) was morality truly relevant to farmers. Regulations for pardoning debts every seventh year (Deut. 15:1-6) and laws against taking fields and houses (Deut. 5:21b) or moving property lines (Deut. 19:14) promised them land security. The requirement that credit be available to the needy (Deut. 15:7-11) and that no interest be charged (Deut. 23:19) meant that even the poorest would be able to plant. Harvest festivals were affirmations of farmers’ work. Strong prohibitions against "idolatry" and demands for faithfulness to Yahweh, assured them that these laws and promises would be kept!
The Book of Joshua is part of this Deuteronomic theology. The book is edited in such a way as to be the immediate sequel to the Book of Deuteronomy, and Joshua the successor to Moses. The work also incorporates these theological ideas and emphases. It is fundamentally concerned with land and its distribution. The taking of the Promised Land is written from the viewpoint of the followers of the Deuteronomists.
Return to Joshua: Arise! Cross!
Footnotes
1. Pablo Richard, ed., Idols of Death and the God of Life: A Theology (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1983), pp. 396-398.
2. Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible, p. 98.
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