Joshua 4-8 In The Land of Milk and Honey and Bloodshed

Joshua 4-8

5 chapters today but it's a pretty easy and action filled read.

The Israelites cross Jordan and enter the promised land.  Joshua commemorates the event by preserving twelve stones (4:9), or did he (4:20)?

All young males are circumcised and the older ones re-circumcised (?)  Why did they stop the tradition while wandering in the desert?

The first thing on their agenda after stepping foot on the promised land is to continue the massacre of the inhabitants.  Jericho is first on the list.

The priests practice some psychological warfare against Jericho by blowing horns and marching around the locked up city.  It must have been pretty scary for the inhabitants.  But they didn't live in fear for long because the Israelites brought the walls down and killed every living thing inside except for Rehab the harlot and her family.

But Achan has to go and screw up by coveting.  God's reaction?  Sending a small army to Ai to get it's ass kicked.  This humbles the Israelites.

They make things right by stoning and burning Achan, his family, cattle and possessions.  Sounds reasonable.

The Israelites are then able to attack and destroy Ai (in a very clever move IMO).
The laws of Moses are once again written in stone.

Another happy ending.

Joshua 1-3 Be Strong and of Good Courage

Joshua 1-3

New book and new leading man.  Joshua, son of Nun.  Great name for a sci-fi cowboy comic book!

After the death of Moses, the Lord changes his name to Jehovah and commands Joshua to cross the Jordan.  But first two spies are send out to recon the first city of Jericho.
They immediately go to the home of a prostitute.  At first, this caused me to raise an eyebrow but then I looked at it from perspective of the spies.  They would want to go somewhere where a lot of questions wouldn't be asked.  If you're going to a prostitute's house, people will just assume you've come into town to get your jollies (nudge, nudge).
Of course, their presence is somehow made known to the king almost immediately and Rehab the harlot makes a deal to save the spies in exchange for the sparing of herself and her family when the Israelites march in and kill everyone.

When the spies return, Joshua gives his/God's marching orders and as the priests (or the 12 representatives of the 12 tribes) step into the Jordan, the waters recede.

They're almost there!