I agree with David; at first Joshua's story seems disconnected from kindness, but a look at the larger story reveals God's kindness. When the Israelites were in Egypt, there were the haves and the have nots. The Egyptians had; the Israelites had not. Oppression was the rule of the day. But an ancient proverb reveals the heart and the behavior of God:
"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." Prov 14:31 (NIV)
So after God removes his people from oppression, he creates a nation patterned after his values. He creates the "gentler and kinder" country of its day: Israel. How is this so?
Chapters 13-21 of Joshua reveal that God's plan was for the land to be divided by tribes and by family. When you couple this with the knowledge that the laws for ownership of land and indebtedness specified in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (i.e., Lev 27.14-25; Num 36.5-9; Deut 15) did not, in theory, allow any family to permanently lose their land, you see the kind hand of God protecting people from falling permanently into poverty and need. Oppression was against the law. Instead, there is the Levitical imperative (19.18) to "love your neighbor as yourself." In this nation, blessings were to be found in behaving kindly (as God would), and curses come to those who are unkind or oppressive. How does that connect with Joshua?
According to Josh 8.30-35, The Israelites stood on Mount Gerazim and Mount Ebal and did what "Moses had commanded." What was that? The people recited the blessings and curses listed in Deut 27.12-26, half speaking the curses, half speaking the blessings. Read them and see the curses for those who are unkind, who are oppressive. Here is effectively their "Declaration of Dependence" on God and his kindness, and their agreement to be kind themselves or else face the consequences. It is the covenant to be a different and "kinder" nation than the world had yet known.
If people "tend to behave the way they believe their God would," God would have us (and Cail would, too) see God and his behavior as it truly is: kind.
Grace and peace,
Ron
