I recently preached a sermon (click here to listen) that considers a very tough question, “Why did God order Israel to kill everything in Jericho including pre-school age children?”
What would you say if someone asked you about the ordered destruction of all life in Jericho?
I would also recommend Christopher J.H. Wright’s book, The God I Don’t Understand, which addresses this and some other tough questions.
Thank you for posting the sermon. I had just finished reading Joshua 1-4 when I saw your posting and decided to download the sermon. As I listned I began to wonder if God planned for the men to go to Rahab as a sort of forewarning to Israel concerning her future apostasy and as a reminder of His mercy and forgiveness. I read through Deuteronomy the week before and this stood out, “And the Lord said to Moses:’Behold, your will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.'” (Deut. 31:16 NKJV) This is followed by The Song of Moses that describes God’s promised judgement of Israel’s sin, HIs vengeance on the Gentiles who have harmed Israel and His restoration of Israel(Deut. 32). Rahab is a redeemed prostitute who recognized God’s power and sought His mercy. In a sense, Israel would eventually experience everything she had.