Clear Boundaries
Using the same words that were addressed to him at the beginning of the book (Josh. 1:7-8), Joshua states that the task that lay ahead of Israel is not primarily military in nature. It is spiritual. It has to do with obedience to God’s revealed will in the Torah.
Why do you think Joshua took such a strong position concerning Israel’s relations with the surrounding nations? (Josh. 23:6-8, 12, 13).
The danger facing Israel is not the threat of the remaining nations’ animosity but the risk of their friendship. Their weapons might not represent any challenge to Israel; however, their ideology and values (or counter-values) could prove to be more harmful than any military force. Joshua draws the attention of the leaders to the crucial fact that the conflict they have been involved in is first, and ultimately, spiritual. Therefore, Israel has to maintain its unique identity.
The prohibition of invoking the name of a god, swearing by it, and serving or bowing to it has to do with idolatry. In the ancient Near East, the name of a deity represented his or her presence and power. Invoking or mentioning the names of foreign gods in everyday greetings or business transactions meant recognizing their authority and helped lead the Israelites to seek their power in time of need (compare with Judg. 2:1-3, 11-13).
The danger of intermarriage with the remaining Canaanites consisted in losing Israel’s spiritual purity. The intent of Joshua’s admonition is not to promote racial or ethnic purity, but rather to avoid idolatry, which can lead to the spiritual collapse of Israel. The case of Solomon is a dramatic example of the sad spiritual consequences of intermarriage (1 Kings 3:1, 1 Kings 11:1-8); in the New Testament, Christians are openly warned against seeking marital relationships with nonbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14), although, in the case of existing marriages, Paul does not advise divorce from the unbelieving spouse but calls them to live an exemplary Christian life in hope of winning the spouse to the Lord (1 Cor. 7:12-16).
Joshua’s warning against harmful associations inevitably leads to the question of the Christian’s relationship to the “world.” How can we find a balanced relationship with the society that surrounds us?