Temple-Building and Conquest

The goal of Joshua’s conquest of the land was to purge it of idols so that Yahweh’s house could be built. Temple-building was the end of the conquest. For the Chronicler, temple-building is the new form of conquest.

David repeatedly exhorts Solomon to “be strong and courageous” in building the temple (1 Chronicles 19:13; 22:13; 28:20), just as Yahweh and Moses exhorted Joshua (e.g., Joshua 1:6-9). The conquest is preceded by a mustering of troops (Numbers), and the temple construction is preceded by a reorganization of priests and Levites (1 Chronicles 24-25). Each priestly clan receives its allotment of duties by lot (1 Chronicles 24:5), as the tribes received their allotted portion of the land by lot (Joshua 13-24).

Ezra-Nehemiah works with a similar transformation of conquest: Rebuilding the house and city of Yahweh is a form of conquest.

And so too for the New Testament: To edify God’s house as the temple of the Spirit is to engage in conquest of the promised land, now envisioned as the world (Romans 4).