Today’s
Scripture Reading (November 27, 2015): Joshua 6
The bombing of Dresden in February 1945 by the Americans and
the British remains one of the most controversial actions of World War II. The criticism
seems to stem from two main areas of concern – the identity of the city and the
method used in the bombing. First, Dresden was seen as a cultural hub prior to
the war, and until 1933 and the beginnings of the Nazi regime in Germany, Dresden
had been the European center for modern art. But the problem was that in the
last days of the war, it also became the hub for the defense of Germany,
especially with regard to the approaching Russian Army from the East. Dresden
began to be packed with military personnel and equipment. And so the decision
was made to bomb the city.
The Americans and British insist that they bombed only
military targets in Dresden. But the reality after the war was over was that
much of the cultural center of Dresden was gone. The city boasted many civilian
casualties in the bombing and the city looked like someone had simply tried
their best to erase the city off of the map. And one of the post war decisions
that had to be made was simply what do we do with Dresden? The final decision
was about restoration. While many destroyed cities were rebuilt with new
buildings allowing the old to simply be removed and fade from memory, in Dresden
there was a concerted effort to restore the city to the way it was before the
bombing - to rebuild the city and try to make it look like it did before bombs
tore away at its cultural heart.
The position of cities is rarely accidental. Cities are often
built strategically. They are close to needed natural resources, or they are
built in a militarily vulnerable area. Often they are built close to rivers,
which brings with it both life and the danger of flooding during the rainy season.
If a city grows, then the place where it stands is important. And when the city
is destroyed, rebuilding is often a natural response – because a city in this
place is still needed.
Some cities are not rebuilt. Ancient Babylon remains today as
an example of a place where many have planned to rebuild, yet centuries after
its destruction the site still remains in ruins. But most destroyed cities in
one way or another find their way back to life.
And Jericho would be an example of a city that was hard to
kill. The reality is that many have declared this prophecy to be false. Almost
immediately following the destruction of Jericho, we find people inhabiting the
ancient site. It seemed like a natural place for people to live. The site was
naturally defended with cliffs west of the city and the Jordan River defending
it in the east. It sat close to the Northern coast of the Dead Sea. So even
though the city lay in ruins, people began to return to the ancient site and
began to live in Jericho once more.
But Bible scholars have pointed out that the curse was not
that the city would remain unoccupied, but rather that it could never be
fortified again. And for generations this was true. People lived in Jericho,
but Jericho was a town with no walls. The walls were not rebuilt until the time
when Ahab was king over Judah, generations after its destruction by Joshua. And
in that day the prophecy of Joshua would come true. The postscript to this
story of destruction is found in 1 Kings 16:34.
In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel
rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son
Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in
accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son
of Nun.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: Joshua 7
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