FALLING WALLS IN THE BIBLE

There are two examples of walls falling down that are found in the Bible, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. Despite the differences in these two accounts, both are instructive in what they tell us regarding the subject of theodicy – reconciling the presence of disasters in the world with a loving and all-powerful God. Theodicy is a rather large subject, and you may want to look at my post entitled “Theodicy: the Problem of Evil” for more information on the subject.

The OT example is the most well known by far – the fall of Jericho. In that particular case, the actual fall of the wall was accomplished without the Israelites having to break it down. Its fall was obviously a case of divine action although God did allow the Jews to take part in the process through marching around the city, blowing the horn, and carrying out the actual attack. Because of their faith, they cooperated with God's will in the situation, and so they were able to share in the glory of a successful campaign.

But next consider the fate of those inside the city walls. All but Rahab and her family were slain, and that included all the children as well. This is a sticking point for many people, including those of faith. First look at the adults of Jericho. We are told twice in the text (Joshua 2:8-14 and Joshua 5:1) that the news had already spread to the people of Canaan how the God of the Israelites had miraculously dried up the waters to allow the Jews to escape from Egypt. But despite their recognition of that fact, the Canaanites still opt to stay within their walls to keep God's people out. This is a clear example of those who know the truth of God but would rather reject it. And so they suffer the logical consequences of their own actions.

The deaths of the innocent children appear to be an entirely different matter in our mind. It seems horribly cruel of God to allow that to happen, but most of our problem with accepting it is due to our limited earthly perspective. As the author of Ecclesiastes amply demonstrates, nothing makes sense on earth if all we see is this present life, life “under the sun.” From a heavenly perspective, which is the preferable fate for the children of Jericho: (1) an existence for a limited number of years sharing in the evil, pagan pursuits of their parents followed by an eternity away from God or (2) a fleeting moment of pain followed by an eternity in the presence of a loving God?

And what else does God accomplish at the same time? By Rahab's free choice to believe in the God of the Israelites, she and her family are saved to live among them. That choice leads to her becoming the direct ancestress of Jesus so that the whole world will have the opportunity for eternal salvation. To look at the conquest of Jericho only in terms of bloodthirsty slaughter is to sell God short in many ways and not even to acknowledge that God can see much further into the future than we can in formulating His ultimate plan for mankind.

The New Testament example of sudden disaster being visited on people due to a portion of a wall falling is found in Luke 13:1-5. The story starts out with Jesus being informed of a recent tragedy in which Pilate had executed a group of Galileans while they were worshiping. Those who are telling Jesus this event apparently used it as an object lesson pointing out that those men were obviously being punished for their sins. We may wonder at the simple-minded conclusion they had come to, especially in light of the well known tale of Job and his innocent suffering. But how is their faulty reasoning any different from that of the prominent televangelist who a few years ago pronounced that the flooding of New Orleans was God wreaking his justice on the sinful inhabitants of that city?

In any case, Jesus wastes no time in setting them straight, as he does on another occasion narrated in John 9:2. Then, as Fitzmyer puts it, “Jesus plays at one-upsmanship, matching the story of the deliberate, gruesome death of the Galileans with that of the accidental death of eighteen Jerusalemites killed by the sudden collapse of a tower in the old well of the city near the pool of Siloam.” Both stories are vivid reminders of the fleetingness of earthly existence prompting others to change their way of life while it isn't yet too late.

Craddock says, “Surely it is not coincidental that...the one is an act of human evil, the other what we term natural evil. Jesus is as inclusive in his comments as the problem is universal: Why did this tragedy happen to these people? Perhaps no one has explored and exposed easy answers to the question 'Why?' more poignantly than Thornton Wilder in his short novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey.” If you don't recall that story, it is not at all improbable that Wilder actually based it on the incident in Luke 13. It concerns a South American priest who attempts to find out why God caused a bridge over a long gorge to fall just as a small group of unrelated people were crossing. He is never able to discover any common link between those particular people that would account for it, but there are hints the reader is given indicating that God may have actually accomplished his will in each of those individual's lives in quite different ways all at the same time.

Looking again at the two stories in Luke 13 and getting back to the subject of theodicy, we probably have a lot less problem with accounting for the violent deaths of the Galileans. It was an obvious act of an evil individual Pilate. But it could have been equally due to the possible evil actions of those Galileans in attempting to revolt against Roman rule, as suggested by some commentators. In either case, the only way for God to have stopped their deaths in the first place would have been to erase human will and not allow any of them (or us) to have the freedom of choice, whether for good or bad.

But what about the “natural disaster” of the falling tower? That appears to represent an entirely different category of evil. However, even it could have been due to the evil actions of human beings if, for example, the “lowest bid” method of choosing a builder for the tower was used in order to save a little money in construction. But more probably we should lay the blame for the fall on the force of gravity. Thus, the same physical laws that God put in place to allow us to stay on earth without all flying off into space comes with the natural potential to also cause harm on occasion.

I suggest that it is an instructive exercise some time to start trying to design a better universe that God has created which would totally eliminate all negative consequences in human existence. I guarantee that you won't get very far before you throw up your hands in frustration. But our very imperfect present existence is not even to be compared to the future existence that God has planned for us on a renewed earth.