The Walls Came Tumblin' Down

Does Christian non-violence sidestep the Old Testament?

This post is a follow-up to Forgotten Strength: Christian non-violence could answer our troubled moment.

With the development of AI weapons as well as the return of political violence in America, we need to renew our understanding of biblical non-violence.

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The Warrior Named Jesus

I was fortunate to learn early on in my Christian life that Joshua is the same name as Jesus. The Hebrew Yehoshua became the Greek Iesous. You can see how it’s just a small step from there to the English Jesus. When I discovered the connection between the names of the two men, it felt like someone had handed me a flashlight, but one with dying batteries. I couldn’t see very far by it, but I could take another step with my questions.

I knew that names in the Bible are often significant. Adam, in Hebrew, can also mean ‘man’ or ‘humanity’. Likewise, in Greek, the name Peter sounds like ‘rock’. There’s wordplay when Jesus says, “And I tell you, you are Peter (Petros), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). Scripture abounds with names of people as well as places that are layered with meaning.

At the most basic level, the connection between the first human, Adam, and mankind is straightforward. As for Peter, after he became filled with the Holy Spirit, his rock-like boldness helped to build up the early church. But the parallels between Jesus and Joshua didn’t seem obvious to me. One was a Savior who achieved victory through his sacrificial death on a cross. The other was a warrior who fought at God’s command.

After the Walls Tumbled

Joshua succeeded Moses as Israel’s leader. He was the military leader who guided Israel into the Promised Land. The biblical book that bears his name manages to be both well-known and overlooked. The call to “be strong and courageous,” found in Joshua 1:6, shows up frequently in sermons with a motivational flavor. Likewise, nearly all Sunday school alumni have sung of how Jericho’s “walls came tumblin’ down.” The lyrics recall how Israel saw God miraculously destroy the ancient city’s defenses. But few if any versions of the song include what happened next:

Then [Israel] devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword. (Joshua 6:20-21)

Among Jericho’s inhabitants, only one family is spared. Rahab, a prostitute who had earlier helped Israelite spies, is allowed to escape with her kin. And although God’s people do often stray from the Lord’s intentions, the destruction of Jericho wasn’t an example of that. The account ends like this:

So the Lord was with Joshua and his fame was in all the land. (Joshua 6:27)

As the book of Joshua continues, we find that Jericho is just one stop in the military conquest of Canaan. Throughout the campaign, it’s when Israel fails to eliminate the people living in the Promised Land and their religious influence that God is displeased.

I brought you. . .into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice (Judges 2:1b-2a).

Why Would God Command That?

This pattern continues. The Old Testament includes many accounts of Israelites waging war against various enemies. For example, in 1 Samuel 15, God instructs Israel’s king, Saul, to completely destroy a people group called the Amalekites. Here, vengeance is the stated purpose: this tribe attacked Israel during the Exodus.

Our innate sense of right and wrong can resonate with this, but only to a point. A lot of movies end with the bad guy dying at the hands of the hero. If the story is well-crafted, the evildoer’s demise gives us a sense of resolution, even (dare we admit it) satisfaction. It’s telling that we return again and again to stories that end this way. We can grasp that an especially malicious person could deserve death. But how could God order the death of all of the Amalekites?

Years after I first encountered it, 1 Samuel 15 still makes me queasy. That’s because like in the battle of Jericho, God instructs the Israelite army to target not only soldiers, but also women and children (1 Samuel 15:3). Livestock were also to be destroyed, which offers a clue to the rationale behind the devastation. If Israel obeyed their instructions for battle, they couldn’t couldn’t claim any plunder. War profiteering, the norm at that time for other nations, was forbidden here for the Hebrews. It’s an interesting, if disturbing, insight into the brutal reality of ancient warfare. And I’d be lying if I said I found that explanation fully satisfying, given the loss of human life that still took place. Even now, years after first encountering passages like this in the Bible, I find myself wanting to skip over such verses.

And yet, while God approves of some actions that shock us, he doesn’t condone all of ancient Israel’s warfare. In 1 Chronicles 28:3, God tells King David that he won’t be allowed to build the Lord’s temple. Why? He is “a man of war” and has “shed blood.” The consequence seems reasonable to most modern-day readers, but it’s puzzling given the backdrop. As with Joshua and Saul, God had approved of at least some of David’s warring (2 Samuel 5:19, 2 Samuel 8:14).

Perplexity and a Plot Twist

As a new Christian in my late 20s, I remember reading Old Testament passages where God commands war. I’d never looked closely at them before, and I found them unsettling. Ephesians 6:12 helped with its assurance that New Testament believers “do not wrestle against flesh and blood.” The phrase is nestled in a passage about putting on the armor of God. It makes clear that the battles Christians fight are spiritual, first and foremost. But I struggled to understand why God had ever urged his people to wage war offensively. I couldn’t make sense of it.

I don’t know if it’s possible to fully understand why God once gave commands like those in 1 Samuel 15. As much wisdom as the Bible offers us, the Lord’s ways are ultimately beyond our understanding (Romans 11:33-34).

But even without certainty, we can make some helpful observations. For one, Israel’s military clashes in the centuries before Jesus’ arrival cause his non-violence to “pop” by contrast. Jesus’ words, “Do not resist the one who is evil” (Matthew 5:39a), would have been startling in any culture. They really shook a people who were used to hearing “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Matthew 5:38b). Jesus’ own apostles seemed to expect the Kingdom of God to arrive with a messianic military triumph (Mark 10:35-45, Matthew 20:20-28, Acts 1:6). The Lord, of course, had very different plans.

True Strength is Revealed in Surrender

The backdrop of Israel’s warfare offers another important contrast. Again and again, the Bible makes it clear that “the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:47). Reflecting on Joshua’s own victories, God says:

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. (Joshua 23:10)

Even when his people are wildly outnumbered, the Lord of heaven and earth can give them victory. So what happens when that same God takes on human flesh? Speaking to his captors, Jesus says:

Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53)

In other words, Jesus chose not to use God’s power to protect himself. He ultimately accepted a crucifixion that he could have easily prevented. Jesus had access to the same power that was behind Joshua’s victory at Jericho. He could summon the same Spirit that enabled a single soldier to put a thousand to flight. But he didn’t.

Stories the world over tell of the hero who does what’s right and loses his life as a result. Some of these tales blend fact and fiction. Others are true. But among historical heroes, how many, in the end, could have chosen to evade death?

The first Joshua wielded devastating power. Because the greater Joshua, Jesus, had access to that same supernatural might, his surrender is all the more profound.

Toward a Greater Promised Land

By the sword, Joshua led God’s people into “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). By the cross, Jesus opens the door to an everlasting Promised Land. In time, believers will experience our true home as “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Jesus conquered our ultimate enemies, sin and death, not by commanding an army, but by accepting death on a cross (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Following his death came his resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God the Father. Today, as we await his return, Jesus reigns as King. Joshua saw success on the battlefield, but never accomplished anything like Jesus’ victory.

In our day, Christians can respond to Jesus’ greater victory by choosing non-violence. This path offers a triumph greater than vengeance. Even when this choice brings suffering, we have confidence that an unimaginably better future awaits us.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18)

Signposts Along the Way

During our in-between age, we see only glimpses of the glory to come. Although these signposts point us forward, we await much that the Lord has yet to reveal. As a result, many things are still wrong in our world, and obedience to God doesn’t always produce the kind of change we hope to see. This is true in our individual lives. It’s true in the church, and it’s true in our country. It’s true throughout history as much as today.

Yet breakthroughs still occur. In the post “Forgotten Strength” I brought up the American Civil Rights Movement. I think it’s one of the clearest examples in our country’s history of when a movement rooted in Christian morality tipped our whole society in the direction of biblical justice.

The name of this post, “The Walls Came Tumblin’ Down,” is a line from the well-known song about the battle of Jericho, which I mentioned earlier. Originally sung by enslaved African-Americans, it came to be known as “Joshua Fit (Fought) the Battle of Jericho.” In the 1960s, the song played a role in the Civil Rights Movement. As you can see in the video below, legendary singer Mahalia Jackson performed it at a church just before Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke. I encourage you to take a couple of minutes to watch it.

I’ll leave you to contemplate this: thousands of years after it had been fought, the battle of Jericho became a song on the lips of people longing for freedom. Over a hundred years later, their descendants were still singing it. The melody rang out as they grabbed ahold of liberties long denied, and did so with non-violence.

May we follow Jesus, the greater Joshua. And may we learn to see the signposts on the road to the greater Promised Land.

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)