J. Thomas Johnson – March 2, 2023
Sometimes I assume I have to choose between what is natural and what is supernatural. If an occurrence has a natural explanation—that is, if something can be explained according to the normal patterns of life on earth or of the universe generally—, then I am tempted to assume that it occurred naturally. If an occurrence has no clear natural explanation, then I am tempted to consider supernatural involvement. This all seems very reasonable to me, but I am becoming increasingly aware of how unbiblical this way of reasoning may be.
Recently I’ve been considering the fall of the walls of Jericho in Joshua chapter six. The Scriptures tell us that God told the Israelites to march around the city once each day for six days. Then on the seventh day, the Lord told them to march around the city seven times, with the priests marching before the Ark of the Covenant blasting the trumpets the whole time. Following the seventh time around the city, after the priests had released a long blast from the ram’s horn, the people were to shout a great shout, and the walls of the city would fall. The Scriptures tell us that this occurred precisely as God had described, and the Israelites took the city. What the Scriptures don’t say is whether anything ‘natural’ occurred at the same time.
For what I consider to be dubious reasons, most contemporary critical scholars have rejected the Bible’s date of Israel’s conquest of Canaan (i.e., 1406 B.C.) and have preferred a date of 1250 B.C. There is little archaeological evidence of a major settlement in Jericho in 1250 B.C. But, during the period in which the Bible indicates Israel came into the land, there is evidence of such a settlement. Assuming that the Bible is right both about the dates and about the events surrounding the fall of Jericho, how precisely might the walls have fallen?
Biblical historians who accept the Bible’s dating for the conquest of Canaan have suggested that an earthquake (or a series of earthquakes) might have led to the wall’s collapse. The Jordan River Valley is part of a large fault line sometimes called the Syrian-African Rift. In the last 2,000 years earthquakes have been recorded as causing landslides that have blocked the Jordan River’s flow and as having done substantial damage to human-made structures. Since the conquest of Jericho was preceded by the miracle of the Jordan River’s waters stopping for Israel to cross over, some historians have suggested a large earthquake followed by several aftershocks might have led to the fall of Jericho’s walls.
We don’t know if that is what happened, but if it were, would that mean these were not miracles—that is, that God was not involved? No. Permit me to explain.
According to the Scriptures, life is unnatural. According to Genesis, the natural state of things is lifelessness, formlessness, emptiness, darkness. God imposed life on lifelessness by speaking. For Christians, the universe is not natural, but a miracle, and life along with it. Order and life have been imposed on disorder and lifelessness by God. Nature is supernaturally sourced and supernaturally maintained.
Perhaps, then, it is not surprising that the Scriptures often describe events as both natural (that is, as consequences of cause and effect) and as supernatural (as intended by God). How many earthquakes might Jericho have withstood during its history? We don’t know. However, on that day in the late 1400s B.C. God did not allow the walls to remain standing. Was this a consequence of building on a fault line? Yes. Was this judgment? Yes. Was this the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel? Yes. As Christians we don’t choose between these interpretations. They were all true simultaneously.
Consequences of poor decisions are both natural and forms of divine judgment. The earth has been created in such a way that God can bring judgment through its design. God does not need to circumvent creation in order to use it for His purposes. God can and has worked through the very mechanisms of nature that He has created and that He maintains. As has always been true and remains true today, consequences can be both natural and forms of divine judgment simultaneously. Perhaps we should look for God’s communications and activities in the natural consequences of our choices and not only in the inexplicable or exceptional aspects of life on earth.