Joshua - Kicking Ass in the Promised Land

We have arrived.  Joshua and the Israelites enter the Promised Land and slaughtered all the men, women and children (except one tribe that tricked him).  OK, did anyone else have a huge problem with this?

That's really all I have to say about the Book of Joshua.  They went into the Promised Land, mass murdered practically everyone under the Lord's orders, divided the land and that's that.  What more can I say?  Well, apart from this isn't really helping me grow closer to my faith at all.  It's depressing.

Reading it wasn't as boring as in other Books.  This was more like a story, and really the only boring part was dividing up the land among the tribes of Israel.  So yay for not being completely boring,  but boooo for slaughter.

Assignment 6 - The Book of Joshua

Moving forward.  Moses is dead and buried and it's time for the Israelites to claim the "Promised Land" under the new leadership of Joshua.  Thus the title of the book.  Here's what my bible says about this book:

     "The Book of Joshua derives its name from the successor of Moses, with whose deeds it is principally concerned.  The purpose of the book is to demonstrate God's fidelity in giving to the Israelites the land he had promised them for an inheritance (Gn 15, 18ff; Jos 1, 2ff; 21, 41ff; 23, 14ff)
     Their occupation of the country is begun with the crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of Jericho (ch 1-6), in both of which the Lord intervenes on their behalf.  This is followed by a first foothold on the Palestinian mountain range, at Ai, Bethel and Gibeon (ch 7-9), and two sweeping campaigns against the city states in the south of the country (ch 10) and in the north (ch 11), with a summary in ch 12.  The broad claim to total sovereignty thus established is spelled out by a combined list of tribal boundaries and of the towns contained within each area or administrative district (ch 13-19), including cities of asylum and cities for the Levites (ch 20, 21).  The book closes with a narrative about the tribes east of the Jordan (ch 22), a warning speech by Joshua (ch 23), and a renewal at Shechem (ch 24) of the covenant with the Lord, already affirmed there near the beginning (8, 30-35) of the conquest.
     Like the books which precede it, the Book of Joshua was built up by a long and complex process of editing traditional material.  Both Jewish and Christian believers have always regarded it as inspired. 
     The entire history of the conquest of the Promised Land is a prophecy of the spiritual conquest of the world through the church under the leadership of Jesus the Messiah."

Now I don't know about that whole last paragraph.  That just sounds like Christian interpretation and I'm not about twisting words around to get them to mean what I want them to.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm a believer.  A Christian.  I also am smart enough to see that that last bit appears to be generously interpreted.  We shall see.  Perhaps I will feel differently after reading Joshua.  I'm hoping there will be less slaughter-everyone-in-sight, but I suppose if they are following God's wishes, slaughtering their enemies will be what I'm reading.  See ya on the other side (of the week that is!)