Herem - Devoted to Destruction
The first chapter of Judges recounts the Israelites' conquest of the Promised Land from the people living in the land. It discusses how the twelve tribes overcame the different cities' defenses, routing enemy armies and progressing toward full possession of the land God had promised Abraham. It also mentions some of the decisions made during this conquest. Decisions that would have ramifications for generations upon generations to come.
In verse seventeen of Judges 1, an intriguing spiritual practice is discussed. It centers around destroying something so completely that it is considered irrevocably given to God. The verse says, "Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites, their fellow Israelites and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed the city. Therefore it was called Hormah." (vs 17). Horman, the city's new name in this passage, means devoted to destruction. (a) Herem, this principle of irrevocably offering something to God through destruction, meant that when the Israelite army attacked and overcame an enemy city, they would totally destroy it. Every structure would be destroyed, and every living thing would face the same fate or be chased out of the land.
Although herem was a Hebrew practice, pagan cultures also made similar sacrifices, albeit not necessarily to their gods. The marauding and destruction rendered at the hands of the barbarian horde is legendary. Genghis Khan devastated cities in the path of his military conquest. Whole people groups were lost to the destruction of the Mongols. The Jews were not unique in wreaking absolute destruction. But they were unique in that they devoted their actions to the one true God. How did Herem come to be, and why was it instituted?
Herem is the practice of entirely destroy something so that it is irrevocably devoted to God.
Insight on why herem existed can be found in a previous Better Blessing called To be with You. How it came to be can be found in Deuteronomy 7:1-6. In this scripture, Moses instructs the Israelites on what to do as they take possession of the land Almighty God will give them. According to the passage, as the enemies of the Jews are "delivered over" by God to them, "then you must destroy them totally." This declaration established herem. As discussed in To be with You and explained in the verses of Deuteronomy 7, the purpose of herem was to remove from the land all remnants of the pagan culture that existed before. Only through this practice would the Jewish nation keep itself from falling prey to the influence of pagan rituals and practices.
Unfortunately, like all human beings, the Jews were not fully capable of following this command from God. It only took the first battle in the Promise Land at Jericho for a Jewish man named Achan to violate this herem command. You can read of the sin of Achan in Joshua 7. Many, many accounts of Israel's sin and rebellion against God follow. The story of the Old Testament is one of God reaching out to a people and that people rejecting Him. The Word also explains the result of the people's rejection of God and His commands. The Bible tells of the corrupting of the Israelites by the pagan cultures that were not totally destroyed. (Judges 2) In a single generation, the Jewish nation lost sight of God and the things He had done for them. The idolatry and practices they took on because they failed to eradicate the pagan cultures plagued the Jews despite the judges, prophets, and kings God appointed to speak to and for them. Ultimately, the penalty was exile when Jerusalem and the Promised Land were lost to invaders. God was faithful to bring the Jews back to Jerusalem as He said He would. But even after a renewed dedication to God, the people could not hold off the effects of the world drawing them away from their Lord.
But Jesus! Almost 1500 years after Israel failed God, our Lord, in His awesomeness, provided His own body in herem. Through the Messiah's devotion of His flesh to complete destruction, He completed a work that had to be accomplished. In the instance of our Lord's sacrifice, it was His body that was to be destroyed. Yet, through this destruction, our Savior obtained victory over the ultimate enemies, sin and death, and gave us the ultimate Promised Land in eternal life with God! Praise be to His name!
Now, because of Jesus' sacrifice and victory, we who believe have overcome the enemies that separated us from God and out of the Almighty's desired inheritance. Because Jesus devoted His body in herem, we have obtained His righteousness and adoption as the children of God. Amen. Also, because of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, we have escaped our intended destruction and will be raised to eternal life with the One who truly loves us.
(a) In this Wikipedia reference, you can see a modern-day illustration of the problem caused by Israel not following the instructions of God. The people of the Promised Land, given to their ancestors by God, are referred to as "migrants" in their own country. This is illustrative, not because they are referred to as migrants. Instead, it is because the author of the reference feels it is necessary to modify the explanation with the term migrant. Suppose this same logic is applied to all other military conquests in history. In that case, we have a lot of modifying to do.