Leviticus

Joshua

Joshua 1

God's Charge to Joshua

¹ Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying,
² "Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

This chapter starts with more of the verbal nonsense. Joshua was told by Moses that he would be the new leader of the Jews long before Moses dies. In fact he is brought before god in an earlier book. So when it says that Moses dies and God ‘tells’ Joshua about his future, we are led to believe that this is the first time he’s heard any of it, because the wording used by the writer is, “Moses My servant is dead, now therefore arise…” As if They were all standing over Moses’ grave and suddenly the voice of god comes down and instructs them as if from out of the blue.

The reason that this passage is written this way is two fold: 1. The writer probably had no idea about the first five books of the bible, or at least about the details revolving around Joshua’s life according to them. 2. The writer is trying to make Joshua look Pre-ordained, so that when Joshua starts killing off millions of people, it’s because god said that he was suppose to. Anyway the chapter goes on to say what Joshua will do when he gets there:

³   "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.
⁴   "From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.
⁵   "No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.

Joshua Assumes Command

¹⁰   Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
¹¹   "Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, to possess it.'"
¹²   To the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,
¹³   "Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, 'The LORD your God gives you rest and will give you this land.'
¹⁴   "Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them,
¹⁵   until the LORD gives your brothers rest, as He gives you, and they also possess the land which the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land, and possess that which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise."
¹⁶   They answered Joshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
¹⁷   "Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only may the LORD your God be with you as He was with Moses.
¹⁸   "Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous."

Joshua, a general, surveys his troops.

Joshua 2

Rahab Shelters Spies

¹   Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.
²   It was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land."
³   And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land."

This is one of the most polite lands I’ve ever seen. Either this is complete fairy tale talk or the Kings of those lands had no idea how to rule over their subjects. The very idea that a King would send word to a whore is preposterous. She was a subject, thus someone that was to subjugated. Besides she was a woman who sold entry into her vagina. Which is always frowned upon.

Now, in order for this story to remain true to it’s insane take on human nature, the prostitute would have to refuse the king’s wish…let’s see if that happens:

⁴   But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
⁵   "It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them."
⁶   But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.

Here is a story that probably would have happened. The King of Jericho has spies. His spies do what old spies did best, spy on the subjects of the King. One of these spies was paying to have sex with a prostitute in the seedy part of Jericho. During his stay at her manner, he saw two foreigners enter the place. He hightailed it out of the joint and told some guards. The guards came back to the brothel and killed the foreigners, after of course, they beat them to a pulp trying to find out what happened. That is what really happens in ancient kingdoms. In fact it wasn’t until the invention of the firearm, which had a tendency to equalize the playing field, that this sort of thing stopped.

⁸   Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof,
⁹   and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.
¹⁰   "⁽For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
¹¹   "When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
¹²   "Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's household, and give me a pledge of truth,
¹³   and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death."

Promises…later we will find out if they keep it.

The Promise to Rahab

15   Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.
16   She said to them, "Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way."
17   The men said to her, "We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear,
18   unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father's household.
19   "It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.
20   "But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear."
21   She said, "According to your words, so be it." So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22   They departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had sought them all along the road, but had not found them.
23   Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they related to him all that had happened to them.
24   They said to Joshua, "Surely the LORD has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us."

Of course.

Joshua 3

Israel Crosses the Jordan

¹   Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed.
²   At the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp;
³   and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.
⁴   "However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before."
⁵   Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."
⁶   And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.
⁷   Now the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.
⁸   "You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"
⁹   Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God."
¹⁰   Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.
¹¹   "Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.
¹²   "Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.
¹³   "It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap."
¹⁴   So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,
¹⁵   and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest),
¹⁶   the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.
¹⁷   And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Yeah, right. They say that this event happened near another city? Then it was witnessed by non-Israelites…how come this story does not arrive to us from an different source.

The problem with miracles is always the burden of evidence. First and foremost, god doesn’t do these feats in modern times. In fact, God has been awful quiet for the last 2000 years. According to the bible, this is the longest stretch of silence we humans’ have had to endure. Also, realize that a river, all rivers, are not always wide and deep. God could just have easily lead the people a bit to the east or west to find a better crossing point.

Picture of the River Jordan

Showing a Pretty good crossing point.

Lastly, just removing the water would not have made the land ‘dry’, and it may not have even made it crossable. Some river bottoms are not rocky, but instead are composite of mud and liquid saturated sands.

Joshua 4

Memorial Stones from Jordan

¹   Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
²   " Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,
³   and command them, saying, 'Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.'"
⁴   So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;
⁵   and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
⁶   "Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

Oh, more idols. Now we are to follow the stones! I think this is a breach of the commandments, by allowing people to judge stones as valid symbols of god. Why not just build a statue of god? That surely would have been a crime punishable by stoning…but arranging a set of stones was okay? The adolescence of these people is ever increasing.

⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

Sure they are…where? Oh wait, just another coniciendental misplacing of important religious icons.

¹⁵   Now the LORD said to Joshua,
¹⁶   "Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan."
¹⁷   So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, "Come up from the Jordan."

More Simon Says. I bet no where in here we will see god say, “Now move our army on the enemies flank! Fire more arrows! Run, that enemy through!”…you want to know why? Because, for a nation that didn’t understand it was wrong to work on Sunday’s they seemed to have a great understanding for war…even though, the bible never explains that god told them how to build swords. It’s passages like the one above that really irritate me, because Joshua wasn’t allowed his intellectual individuality. Instead he was treated like a child, “Joshua, drink your milk. Joshua, brush your teeth. Joshua, comb your hair”. Yet, even though Joshua was not grown up enough to have moved the arc out of the Jordan we are suppose to believe that he was some kind of great military leader?

¹⁸ It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before.

It should have flooded…being that for the last few hours it was being held back, thus backing up at the point of it’s blockage…just like a dam. But of course it didn’t…I assume that god changed the physics of water for a few moments. If he could do that why not just…oh never mind. The point: My 7 year old son has a better imagination than god did throughout the whole bible.

Joshua 5

Israel Is Circumcised

¹   Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.
²   At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time."
³   So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.
⁴   This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt.
⁵   For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

Religious double speak. “You will all be circumcised!… Oh, wait, not now…later…Okay, now, we’ll circumcise you!”

The religion doesn’t even come up with a good excuse for why this happened. The bible says that it was because god had told the Israelites that the first generation wasn’t going to see the holy land. But, they were supposed to be a nation of very vigorous laws. How could something so important as the distinction of the person go completely by them without even the slightest wobble in the system?

I hear more and more that the reason for circumcision was for cleanliness. I’m beginning to really disagree with that interpretation. Oh sure, I think there is evidence to support that circumcision does in fact make it easier to keep the penis clean, but I think that was just a lucky by-product of the act. I think instead it was a mutilation of the genitals in order to identify an individual as being an Israelite. It would make sense, if the real reason for not performing the circumcision’s through the desert was that there were really no other peoples out there to intermix with. Now that they were in a situation where other people could ‘mix’ with their kind, they needed a mark of some kind that would help distinguish the ‘us’ from ‘them’ mentality that seemed so prevalent in their culture.

Now, you might say, that the penis isn’t really that good of a marker for social identification. Mostly because it is keep hidden from view. But we’re not talking about simply identifying strangers. We’re really talking about intermixing. The Israelites believe that they are the chosen ‘race’ of humankind. They believe that they are the people of god. It would therefore make sense that they didn’t want strange outsiders breeding with their women. One way of doing this would be to distinguish the reproductive organ of their ‘race’ from that of the other’s. This way when sex was going to be performed (remember, sex for pleasure was a crime punishable by death) the parties involved could recognize instantly their nationality, thus insuring that future children would be Israelites. As silly as it sounds, the woman would have been able to see that this man’s seed was ‘given’ to god.

⁹   Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.
¹⁰   While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho.
¹¹   On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.
¹²   The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.

Here they finally stop eating bird droppings.

¹³   Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"
¹⁴   He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?"
¹⁵   The captain of the LORD'S host said to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

At the end of Chapter 5 we begin this crazyness that is Joshua’s insanity. Oh, the fun’s just about to start don’t go away yet!

Joshua 6

The Conquest of Jericho

¹   Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.
²   The LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors.
³   "You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days.
⁴   "Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
⁵   "It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead."

Hum? Is this possible? Surely sound waves are powerful enough to have brought down the walls of Jericho. It’s been proven. I remember seeing a special on the Discovery Channel that did just that. Of course they used a 6 x 6 foot brick wall and thousands of watts of ultra low frequency power. The human voice runs in the range of 300-600Hz, hardly low enough to disrupt matter. But, we know that amplified sound energy is an issue. Just as an army knows as it crosses a bridge. They break rank and walk at their own pace, making sure not to march over the bridge. Why? Because the effect of all those feet coming down on the bridge in unisons could (could) cause the bridge to be disrupted. So it is possible that thousands of voices at once could do just this.

The problem is that there is no evidence of a wall being there during the time Joshua was said to have arrived.

Archaeology of Jericho. The generally accepted date of Joshua's incursion into Canaan is late thirteenth to mid-twelfth centuries B.C.E. This puts it at the end of the Late Bronze Age or early in the Iron I period. Archaeologists have not found any remains of a fortification wall that date to this period at the only possible site of ancient Jericho, Tell es-Sultan. By the time Joshua would have arrived there, Jericho already had a venerable history of many millennia. The excavations have revealed a fortification wall and tower dating to the Neolithic period (8000-7000 B.C.E.). Walls dating to the Early Bronze Age (third millennium B.C.E.) were at one time attributed to the age of Joshua, but this correlation is now known to have been in error. Fortified walls dating to the end of the Middle Bronze Age have been identified. Wood (1990) claims the archaeological evidence of this destruction correlates well with the biblical description of the Israelite battle. But only if Joshua's battle of Jericho is dated earlier, as suggested by Bimson (1978, 1987), could Joshua be associated with this violent destruction of Jericho.¹

As we are aware, Dr. Wood is a Christian trying to prove the accuracy of the bible. As we also know, Dr. Wood has to fiddle with both the History of the bible and his archaeological data to get the two to match. Even Wood realizes that the dates don’t match, thus, instead of being an objective scientist, he assumes that his forensic data is correct and the bible’s dating system is incorrect. Thus, how the whole of the religion seems to propagate itself. The point: The wall wasn’t there when it was suppose to have been knocked down by Joshua.

Then they actual do this:

⁶   So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD."
⁷   Then he said to the people, "Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the LORD."
⁸   And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the LORD went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
⁹   The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets.
¹⁰   But Joshua commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, 'Shout!' Then you shall shout!"
¹¹   So he had the ark of the LORD taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.
¹²   Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
¹³   The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them and the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while they continued to blow the trumpets.
¹⁴   Thus the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days.
¹⁵   Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times.
¹⁶   At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city.
¹⁷   "The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.
¹⁸   "But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.
¹⁹   "But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD."
²⁰   So the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.

Yeah for our side…now for the fun:

²¹ They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

Yep. That’s the first one. Joshua wants to be a ruler and general and he is on his way.

²² Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the harlot's house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her."
²³ So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel.

Kept their promise and Rahab lived happily ever after.

²⁴ They burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

…and made themselves richer! Amen.

I actually heard the argument that the reason they committed “The Ban”, the utter turning over to god the spoils of war, was because god was the soldier who fought the war and thus was due its plunder. The problem with that argument is that real material wealth was always taken away from the sacking. And sometimes, young girls as ‘brides’. This is hardly the utter turning over to god the spoils. In fact it reeks of humanity and simple greed. Again, the real reason for the utter destruction, I think, lies in the fact that the Israelites did not want these ‘other’ people intermixing with their people and by destroying everything, they not only keep their woman safe from influence by strange men, but they keep their culture clean of other influences.

²⁶ Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, "Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates."

That turned out to be a lie. Of course the bible is trying to draw a ‘prophetic’ line between Joshua’s statement and 1Kings (Hiel’s rebuilding). The problem is that Jericho was rebuilt, most probably by the Romans, because the dig shows signs of canals. Oddly enough Yesu himself cures some blind men there. Not only did Joshua not completely destroy the city, but 13 centuries later the man that was suppose to be god walked there himself!

A picture of an Oasis in Jericho

(Notice that those are Poppies)

Joshua 7

Israel Is Defeated at Ai

¹   But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.
²   Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.
³   They returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few."
⁴   So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai.
⁵   The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water.

Notice right off the bat, the writer sets up an antagonist for us to believe in. Any study of Military history offers a quick and simple explanation of what occurred here. They simple were driven back by a larger / better equip / better trained / etc. army. The fact is that Joshua had been lucky with Jericho. Probably because he outnumbered the enemy so enormously. Now that he was facing a smaller army, he realized that he had no strategy to solve the battle. He therefore:

⁶   Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
⁷   Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!
⁸   "O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?
⁹   "For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?"

Joshua is unable to win so what does he do? He blames god. Not directly, but by questioning god’s intention, he turns all of his ‘true’ feelings on and tells god what he really thinks of the events going on around him. This is rebellion, but do we see Joshua get struck down for his disenchantment? Do we see Joshua’s family stoned at the city gates? No…but we will see some one get stoned. Remember that guy at the beginning of the chapter who ‘stole’ some goods from the city…well:

¹⁰   So the LORD said to Joshua, "Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
¹¹   "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
¹²   "Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.
¹³   "Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the LORD, the God of Israel, has said, "There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst."
¹⁴   'In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which the LORD takes shall come near by households, and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man.
¹⁵   'It shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.'"

The Sin of Achan

¹⁶   So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.
¹⁷   He brought the family of Judah near, and he took the family of the Zerahites; and he brought the family of the Zerahites near man by man, and Zabdi was taken.
¹⁸   He brought his household near man by man; and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken.
¹⁹   Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me."
²⁰   So Achan answered Joshua and said, "Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did:
²¹   when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it."
²²   So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was concealed in his tent with the silver underneath it.
²³   They took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they poured them out before the LORD.
²⁴   Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
²⁵   Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
²⁶   They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day.

That’s right…it’s Achan’s fault. What utter and complete nonsense! Notice that this ‘outraged’ god only makes himself known after Joshua has lost a battle. The truth is that, if this event occurred, it is because Joshua had promised them that god was on their side. That god would lead them to victory…oops, what happened, god didn’t lead us to victory, instead we got trounced. Joshua was probably facing a political nightmare after that event. So what does he do? He throws some dice (drawing lots) and the unlucky winner gets stoned, along with his whole family. Sounds to me like a good way to keep future people from rebellion.

Joshua 8

Now that Joshua has cleaned Israel of it’s evil:

¹ Now the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
² "You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it."

Wait a cotton picking minute! Notice right away that this time the lord says, “take ALL the people of war…” Right way Joshua realizes that his real probably for losing the battle was the size of his army.

¹⁰   Now Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai.
¹¹   Then all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and arrived in front of the city, and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai.
¹²   And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
¹³   So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.
¹⁴   It came about when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
¹⁵   Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
¹⁶   And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
¹⁷   So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.
¹⁸   Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand." So Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
¹⁹   The men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire.
²⁰   When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.
²¹   When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and slew the men of Ai.
²²   The others came out from the city to encounter them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they slew them until no one was left of those who survived or escaped.
²³   But they took alive the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.

A classical diversionary tactic, the kind of thing that went out of style with The Trojan Horse. But That aside, here Joshua does what he does best: Murder children. Oh but he saves the wonderous King…what becomes of him:

²⁴ Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them were fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
²⁵ All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000--all the people of Ai.

²⁷ Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.

²⁹ He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua gave command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and raised over it a great heap of stones that stands to this day.

They had such dignity for those that they murder, didn’t they?

Joshua 9

Guile of the Gibeonites

¹   Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it,
²   that they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel.
³   When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
⁴   they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended,
⁵   and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled.
⁶   They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us."
⁷   The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?"
⁸   But they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you and where do you come from?"
⁹   They said to him, "Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of the LORD your God; for we have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt,
¹⁰   and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was at Ashtaroth.
¹¹   "So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and say to them, "We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us."'
¹²   "This our bread was warm when we took it for our provisions out of our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become crumbled.
¹³   "These wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and these our clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey."
¹⁴   So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD.
¹⁵   Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
¹⁶   It came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors and that they were living within their land.
¹⁷   Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim.
¹⁸   The sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.
¹⁹   But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.
²⁰   "This we will do to them, even let them live, so that wrath will not be upon us for the oath which we swore to them."
²¹   The leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation, just as the leaders had spoken to them.
²²   Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, "Why have you deceived us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you are living within our land?
²³   "Now therefore, you are cursed, and you shall never cease being slaves, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God."
²⁴   So they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was certainly told your servants that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; therefore we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
²⁵   "Now behold, we are in your hands; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us."
²⁶   Thus he did to them, and delivered them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them.
²⁷   But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place which He would choose.

I don’t know why I’ve listed this chapter in full detail. But there is something about it I really don’t like. Something I can’t quite put my finger on.

This chapter tells a tale where the Gibeonites deceived the Israelites into a treaty where they wouldn’t be destroyed. Upon detection of this deception Joshua curses them, by forcing them into slavery. Earlier in the laws, god told Moses the Murderer that they weren’t to take the enemy into slavery, because they had been in bondage in Egypt. Assuming that Joshua was ignorant of this law, or through creative interpretation found a loop-hole in it, why?

I read a Christians interpretation of this story…funny thing about Christians is that they are the first one’s to say that the bible is 100% the word of god, and god doesn’t lie. Which would mean that stories like this one actually happened. Of course, the Christian didn’t make his story come off that way, Instead he made it sound like god included this story because he was trying to teach the lesson of spiritual deception. The implications of a world where god sets up these elaborate stage plays with real human beings, only to show us a lesson thousands of years after the fact is astronomically dangerous.

He even goes so far as to say, “The fact that a battle hardened Israel was deceived…” That is raw hogwash. Battle hardened? We forget that those that Battled with Moses the Murderer are dead, they had to have died, because it was god’s command that none of those who left Egypt would see the chosen land. So under the new General, Joshua, they’ve only seen two battles. Two battles where they greatly outnumbered their enemies, is hardly a battle hardened army. In fact it shows a weak and detestable style of running an army…because Joshua relied on the size of his army as his chief advantage, instead of employing any good tactical advantages (though in the battle of Ai, he does use surprise, flanking, and deception to his advantage).

The truth of this story might be more realistic after all. Gibeon (as the next chapter describes it) was a very powerful city. And if that was the case, then maybe, they mutually feared each other’s might and made peace on the fear of mutual destruction. It would make much more sense than that elaborate fable above.

Joshua 10

Five Kings Attack Gibeon

1   Now it came about when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai, and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were within their land,
2   that he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
3   Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king of Jarmuth and to Japhia king of Lachish and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,
4   "Come up to me and help me, and let us attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel."
5   So the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they with all their armies, and camped by Gibeon and fought against it.
6   Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, "Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us."
7   So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors.

It just occurred to me, that maybe it was this battle that decided the allegience we see in the last chapter. Maybe the 5 knew that the Gibeonites were not for them, but not against them either. And they hoped by attacking the Gibeonites they could stop they potential larger problem that would occur.

⁹   So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal.
¹⁰   And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
¹¹   As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
¹²   Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
          "O sun, stand still at Gibeon,
          And O moon in the valley of Aijalon."
¹³
       So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
          Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.
          Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.
¹⁴   There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.

Um…okay. I’m sure I’ve mentioned, that the idea that god ‘physically’ involves himself with our existence is dangerous and shows a biased for certain ‘types’ of people. To expand on this idea. Christians are not Israelites (though some Israelites can be Christians). By they very nature of this distinction, if war were to break out between the two, the Israelites would have to win, being that they are a single ‘people’ of Noah…while Christians are any peoples that just accept Yesu as their savior. Be careful, where you step, this may sound like utter impossibility…but remember, in 1999 a group of Right wing wack-job Christians was expelled from Israel, because they were going to blow up things to bring about the second coming.

Victory at Makkedah

16   Now these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in the cave at Makkedah.
17   It was told Joshua, saying, "The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah."
18   Joshua said, "Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and assign men by it to guard them,
19   but do not stay there yourselves; pursue your enemies and attack them in the rear. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand."
20   It came about when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished slaying them with a very great slaughter, until they were destroyed, and the survivors who remained of them had entered the fortified cities,
21   that all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. No one uttered a word against any of the sons of Israel.
22   Then Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave and bring these five kings out to me from the cave."
23   They did so, and brought these five kings out to him from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
24   When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, "Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came near and put their feet on their necks.
25   Joshua then said to them, "Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies with whom you fight."
26   So afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees; and they hung on the trees until evening.
27   It came about at sunset that Joshua gave a command, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and put large stones over the mouth of the cave, to this very day.
28   Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Thus he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

So he kills the Kings and their armies…And still has time to conquer Makkadah! Now that’s amazing!

Joshua's Conquest of Southern Palestine

²⁹ Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah, and fought against Libnah.
³⁰ The LORD gave it also with its king into the hands of Israel, and he struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor in it. Thus he did to its king just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

“More blood, more blood! I thirst for blood,” The voice of god.

³¹ And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish, and they camped by it and fought against it.
³² The LORD gave Lachish into the hands of Israel; and he captured it on the second day, and struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah.

“Ah, thank you,” the voice of god.

³³ Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua defeated him and his people until he had left him no survivor.

³⁴ And Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon, and they camped by it and fought against it.
³⁵ They captured it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; and he utterly destroyed that day every person who was in it, according to all that he had done to Lachish.

³⁶   Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron, and they fought against it.
³⁷   They captured it and struck it and its king and all its cities and all the persons who were in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor, according to all that he had done to Eglon. And he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it.
³⁸   Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to Debir, and they fought against it.
³⁹   He captured it and its king and all its cities, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Just as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had also done to Libnah and its king.
⁴⁰   Thus Joshua struck all the land, the hill country and the Negev and the lowland and the slopes and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
⁴¹   Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibeon.
⁴²   Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
⁴³   So Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

What can I really say? Obviously Joshua was a war Monger. Let’s just move on to the next chapter.

Joshua 11

Northern Palestine Taken

¹   Then it came about, when Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon and to the king of Shimron and to the king of Achshaph,
²   and to the kings who were of the north in the hill country, and in the Arabah--south of Chinneroth and in the lowland and on the heights of Dor on the west--
³   to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite in the hill country, and the Hivite at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.
⁴   They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
⁵   So all of these kings having agreed to meet, came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel.
⁶   Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire."
⁷   So Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and attacked them.
⁸   The LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, so that they defeated them, and pursued them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim and the valley of Mizpeh to the east; and they struck them until no survivor was left to them.
⁹   Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

Oh, this is war at it’s finest! But there’s more:

¹⁰ Then Joshua turned back at that time, and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor formerly was the head of all these kingdoms.
¹¹ They struck every person who was in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire.

¹² Joshua captured all the cities of these kings, and all their kings, and he struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed them; just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.

More death. But the next part’s kind of interesting:

¹³ However, Israel did not burn any cities that stood on their mounds, except Hazor alone, which Joshua burned.
¹⁴ All the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one who breathed.

Curious don’t you think. That according to The Ban, it was required that they utterly destroy the cities…but here they did not.

¹⁵ Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.

Yet another passage that looks like it was written by a different writer. In early Chapters of Joshua, he has been told by god himself what to do, but this passage says that it was Moses the Murderer who passed on the tradition.

¹⁸ Joshua waged war a long time with all these kings.

I bet. Can anyone think of a possible number of people murdered by this war monger?

²⁰ For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

More heart hardening, so that god can glorify himself…as if being god wasn’t glory enough.

²³ So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Thus the land had rest from war.

And there was much rejoicing!

Joshua 12

Kings Defeated by Israel

¹   Now these are the kings of the land whom the sons of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the valley of the Arnon as far as Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east:
²   Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, both the middle of the valley and half of Gilead, even as far as the brook Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon;
³   and the Arabah as far as the Sea of Chinneroth toward the east, and as far as the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, eastward toward Beth-jeshimoth, and on the south, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah;
⁴   and the territory of Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,
⁵   and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and all Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and half of Gilead, as far as the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
⁶   Moses the servant of the LORD and the sons of Israel defeated them; and Moses the servant of the LORD gave it to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh as a possession.
⁷   Now these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated beyond the Jordan toward the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even as far as Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions,
⁸   in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, on the slopes, and in the wilderness, and in the Negev; the Hittite, the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite:
⁹   the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
¹⁰   the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
¹¹   the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
¹²   the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
¹³   the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
¹⁴   the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
¹⁵   the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
¹⁶   the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
¹⁷   the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
¹⁸   the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;
¹⁹   the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
²⁰   the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
²¹   the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
²²   the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
²³   the king of Dor in the heights of Dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;
²⁴   the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

A complete list of all the kings that were put to the sword. I count 18 kings. And since it was the Hebrew custom to kill all of the citizens as well…assuming, that each city housed at least 10K people then, Joshua was responsible for the murder of at least 180,000 people.

What’s insulting, is that if the nation of Israel just said, “hey we had a war going, and well, we needed to muster or troops, so we used religion as the tool”, I would buy that. I would let that go, but we’re not talking about human beings, we’re talking about god. A god that created all those people that he put to the sword…what was the point of all those peoples lives? Nothing.

Joshua 13

Starts off talking about Joshua separating the nation into god’s design…putting the 12 tribes where they belonged. But there is an interesting passage in it:

²² The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner, with the sword among the rest of their slain.

Now, I think I didn’t address his murder in numbers, so I will here. Balaam was the diviner that god used as his Oracle in the book of numbers. I know that I addressed the fact that Balaam was hired by the attacking King to issue a curse against the Israelites. He, instead, gave the Israelites three different blessings. Of course, for what ever reason, the King, instead of killing him for his insolence, let’s Balaam go. What we are reminded here, is that Balaam, for his wonderful service to god, is killed by the very people that he blessed. That my, friends is your god.

The rest of the chapter, again, talks about the dividing of the spoils.

Joshua 14

Yet another retelling of Joshua dividing the spoils of war.

Joshua 15-17

Actual explanations of three of the divisions…talk about dull read.

Joshua 18-19

Actual explanations of the rest of the divisions. You can read about them if you want. But it’s totally irrelevant.

Joshua 20

The Cities of Refuge defined. Not that interesting either. This idea has already been disguished, I’ve put the chapter in so that if you…um…ever need one, you’ll know where to go:

Six Cities of Refuge

¹   Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
²   "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
³   that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood.
⁴   'He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them.
⁵   'Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand.
⁶   'He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.'"
⁷   So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
⁸   Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
⁹   These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.

Joshua 21

Forty-eight Cities of the Levites

¹ Then the heads of households of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
² They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle."

This is one of those confusing issues. God commanded that the Levites would have no inheritance, because the priesthood was their inheritance. I guess he realized that they could live in the priesthood, so he says they need cites as well. It’s like god changed his mind, or worse, realized that he had made an error in his original judgment.

³ So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, according to the command of the LORD.

That’s right, “the Sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance…” From their inheritance…hum, sounds like the Levites inheritance included land, not just the priesthood.

The rest of this chapter, yet again, tells the tale of the separation for each tribe.

Joshua 22

At the beginning Joshua tells the tribes that stayed on the Other side of the Jordan that that is their land and to follow the commandments:

The Offensive Altar

¹⁰   When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance.
¹¹   And the sons of Israel heard it said, "Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel."
¹²   When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at Shiloh to go up against them in war.
¹³   Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,
¹⁴   and with him ten chiefs, one chief for each father's household from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one of them was the head of his father's household among the thousands of Israel.
¹⁵   They came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying,
¹⁶   "Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, 'What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the LORD this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the LORD this day?
¹⁷   'Is not the iniquity of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although a plague came on the congregation of the LORD,
¹⁸   that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? If you rebel against the LORD today, He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow.
¹⁹   'If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of the LORD, where the LORD'S tabernacle stands, and take possession among us. Only do not rebel against the LORD, or rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the LORD our God.
²⁰   'Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'"
²¹   Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the families of Israel.
²²   "The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the LORD do not save us this day!
²³   "If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD, or if to offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the LORD Himself require it.
²⁴   "But truly we have done this out of concern, for a reason, saying, 'In time to come your sons may say to our sons, "What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?
²⁵   "For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the LORD." So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the LORD.'
²⁶   "Therefore we said, 'Let us build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice;
²⁷   rather it shall be a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to perform the service of the LORD before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, "You have no portion in the LORD."'
²⁸   "Therefore we said, 'It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, "See the copy of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you."'
²⁹   "Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away from following the LORD this day, by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the LORD our God which is before His tabernacle."
³⁰   So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, even the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.

This is an important chapter. What the Jordanites (the three tribes) did was build an altar for themselves. But they built this altar without the permission or instruction from god. Not to mention the altar is another idol. Now the Israelites here about it and send some priest down there to find out what’s going on. What makes this an important chapter is the fact that the Israelites were ready to war against them and thus destroy their brothers, but the Jordanites stopped them with a simple explanation of why they created the altar. They did not receive instruction to build it, but did so of their own intentions. What that means is that god’s word IS allowed to be interpreted by the individual that reads it. You see, obviously the Jordanites broke the no icon’s commandment, and thus, should have been put to death. But what they did instead was re-interpret the rules and come up with a flashing new way to look at them…all outside the actual teachings of god. In other words, god had nothing to do with this event, but it was passed off as holy. It is because of this chapter alone that we have all the different version of Yahweh. Different sects, different interpretations of god…it’s all right here.

Joshua 23

Joshua's Farewell Address

¹   Now it came about after many days, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years,
²   that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, "I am old, advanced in years.
³   "And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has been fighting for you.
⁴   "See, I have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun.
⁵   "The LORD your God, He will thrust them out from before you and drive them from before you; and you will possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you.
⁶   "Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,
⁷   so that you will not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them.
⁸   "But you are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.
⁹   "For the LORD has driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.
¹⁰   "One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.

So far Joshua’s “I’m old and dying” speech sounds good, the problem: Joshua had no historical perspective on which to base his speech. We know, that Jerusalem is later sacked by the Babylonians. Then conquered by the Romans, the Arabs, The English… So, according to Joshua, that means that the Jews lost their faith somewhere. That they failed and god turned his anger toward them. So, in accordance with Joshua’s speech, the Jews are no longer the chosen people, god has forsaken them. Oh but the paradox arises, for it Joshua was wrong, and they are still loved by god (as Yesu tries to tell us), then Joshua lied and if he lied, well then it calls into question the whole bible.

¹² "For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,
¹³ know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

There, defining what will happen to Israel if it turns away from the law of god…which it does. Then why does Israel exist today?

Joshua 24

Joshua Reviews Israel's History

¹   Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
²   Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.
³   'Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.
⁴   'To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
⁵   'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.

Notice that this genealogy doesn’t say, “And from **** I gave you Moses”. That’s because Moses the Murderer didn’t know who is Mother was! It’s funny, god tells Moses everything, from world’s beginning, yet Moses never learns who his parents are. Talk about troubled logic.

¹⁰ 'But I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his hand.

This verse basically says what I keep saying; that there is NO free will in this religion. It’s a façade. Balaam, spoke the blessing and I assume that the readers of the bible think god spoke through Balaam, thus calling him an Oracle. This means that poor Balaam had no option…he was nothing but a worker bee doing the hive’s business. Then of course, we find out that the Israelites kill him anyway. It’s more stupidity.

Then Joshua falls back into the same old tired speech: Fear the lord…it’s getting old.

Joshua's Death and Burial

²⁹ It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.

And that’s the end of this Book.

As a final note. Modern day theist seem to think that this history of Israel is a refection of a different time. That the reason why it was okay for them to slaughter whole cities (killing children and mothers) was because, well, god said that it was okay, because he promised them that land.

I tell you that times have not changed. The Settlers landing in America, instead of befriending the natives, gave them blankets infested with small pox in an attempt to eradicate a potential enemy. WWII. The current war in Israel between Israel and Palestine. Not to mention the holy war a certain terrorist has started on the USofA. All of these are religious ideals bent out to kill the enemies of god. It’s utter hogwash. It’s completely insane. What makes it worse is that modern theist think that groups who do such thing are out of touch with the teachings…the truth is, the modern theist is the one out of touch with the teachings.

Genocide of Joshua

1. Joshua Utterly destroys Jericho (~20K)

2. Achan and his family (10-25)

3. Joshua Utterly destroys Ai (12K)

4. God kills the armies of the 5 Kings (~100K)

5. Joshua sakes Makkadah[on the same day as the army of the 5 kings](~10K)

6. Joshua Slays the Libnahites (~10K)

7. Joshua destroys Lachish (~10K)

8. The Gezerites (~10K)

9. The Eglon (~10K)

10. Hebron(~10K)

11. Debir(~10K)

12. Joshua Defeats Palestine (~20K?)

13. Joshua sakes Hazor (~10K)

14. Joshua kills all the citizens of Palestine (~50K)

15. 1. http://www.hope.edu/academic/religion/bandstra/RTOT/CH6/CH6_1B3.HTM