Joshua
Introduction

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24

Cruelty and Violence
Injustice
Intolerance
Absurdities
Contradictions
Family Values
Prophecy
Science and History
Interpretation
Sex
Women
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SAB: Joshua

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Cruelty and Violence in Joshua

  1. God "magnifies" Joshua and promises to "without fail" drive out all the inhabitants of the lands through which they passed. 3:7

  2. "And the city shall be accursed ... and all that therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live." God explains that Rahab is to be spared since she hid Joshua's spies and lied to those who were searching for them (2:4-5). But why was everyone else killed? Some of them were probably liars too. 6:17

  3. "And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword." 6:21

  4. After killing everyone, "they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein." Only the valuables (silver, gold, brass, and iron) did they keep to "put into the treasury of the house of the Lord." 6:24

  5. Joshua says that those who try to rebuild Jericho will be accursed by God, and will have to sacrifice both their oldest and their youngest sons in its construction. Well, Jericho still exists today, and is often considered to be the world's oldest, continuously occupied city. 6:26

  6. God tells Joshua to kill whoever took "the accursed thing." 7:10-12

  7. If you happen to see "the accursed thing," don't touch it. If you do, you, your family, and all of your animals must be burned. 7:15

  8. "And Joshua ... took Achan ... and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his sheep... And all of Israel stoned them with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones." This is because Achan "took of the accursed thing" -- whatever that means. But why would God require that Achan's sons and daughters (and even his animals) be stoned to death along with him? The Bible doesn't say. But it does tell us that "the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger" when Achan, his children, and his animals were stoned to death and their dead bodies burned. 7:24-26

  9. "When ye have taken the city [Ai] ... ye shall set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the LORD. 8:8

  10. Joshua and his army, per God's instructions, slaughter "all the inhabitants of Ai." 8:22-26

  11. Joshua hangs the king of Ai on a tree until evening. 8:29

  12. After Joshua kills all the inhabitants of Ai, burns their city, and hangs their king on a tree, he kills some animals and burns them as a "peace offering" to his warlike God. 8:31

  13. God curses the Gibeonites to be slaves of the Jews forever. 9:21-27

  14. God slaughters the Amorites and chases them "along the way" as they try to escape. Then he sends down huge hailstones and kills even more of them. 10:10-11

  15. In a divine type of daylight savings time, God makes the sun stand still so that Joshua can get all his killing done before dark. 10:12-13

  16. God tells Joshua to "pursue after your enemies and smite the hindmost of them." (Kick their butts.) Don't let any of them escape "for the Lord your God hath delivered them into your hand." 10:19

  17. Joshua tells his captains to "put your feet upon the necks of these kings." He says, "thus shall the Lord do to all of your enemies." Then Joshua kills the kings and hangs them on trees. 10:24-26

  18. Joshua, at God's command, kills everyone and everything that he can find (including babies and little children)-- or, as the Bible puts it, he "utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord commanded." 10:28-32

  19. God delivers the Hazorites into Joshua's hand, and he knows just what to do with them: he smites them all with (you guessed it) the edge of the sword until "there was not any left to breathe." 11:6-17

  20. "And Joshua did unto them as the LORD bade him: he houghed their horses." 11:9

  21. "For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly." Notice that God hardens their hearts so that he can have an excuse to kill them. 11:20

  22. Caleb offers to give his daughter to whoever conquers the city of Debir. Caleb's nephew wins the contest and is given his cousin for a prize. 15:16-17

  23. "Did not Achan son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel?" To find out see Joshua 7:1-26. 22:20

  24. "I plagued Egypt." 24:5

  25. God brags about drowning the Egyptians. 24:7

  26. "I gave them [the Amorites] into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you." 24:8

  27. "I delivered them into your hand." 24:11

  28. God is jealous and will never forgive you for your sins. "He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you." 24:19-20