After Joshua's conquests are tallied up, the Lord tells him that there is more territory within the promised land that needs to be conquered and divided among the tribes. This new campaign may have taken another five or ten years.

At this juncture, it is appropriate for us to pause and look at four questions that we may have asked as we read the accounts.

One frequently-asked question about the book of Joshua is: ″Did these events really take place?″ The answer is a resounding ″Yes!″ In fact, among the books of the Bible, the book of Joshua is one of the most thoroughly reviewed by the archaeological community. Archaeologists have discovered the city of Jericho–the first city the Israelites attacked and conquered upon entering the promised land–and noted that its location would have made it the first city the Israelites would have needed to conquer after crossing the Jordan River.

The second question is: ″Did God really order the obliteration of the people in all these cities and kingdoms?″ Yes, He did. But let's not forget that the people of Jericho were not given several minutes or hours to repent. And nor were the people of neighbouring cities and kingdoms given several days or weeks to repent. Rather, they were given many years and decades. Some were given centuries. ″The Lord is patient″ is an understatement of immense proportions.

The third question is: ″How could an all-powerful and loving God wipe them all out?″ Precisely because the Lord God is all-powerful and loving . . . and much more. Though we may have difficulty reconciling God's actions with His character, we must always trust that God's actions is always consistent with His character. He is infinitely and eternally sovereign, holy, and loving. As finite creatures, we will always find it difficult to fully comprehend His infinite mercy, grace, and forgiveness, even with the Bible in hand. But we can always trust that God will mete out His justice and mercy perfectly.

The fourth question is: ″How can God be so heartless?″ Again, let's always remember that the Lord God does not want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). This important truth reverberates through the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi. It then reaches its crescendo in the Gospels. The infinite anguish that Jesus felt in the hours, minutes, and seconds before He gave His life for the lost world eloquently answers, once and for all, any doubts about His ultimate goodness, rightness, mercy, and justice.