Peace on Earth, Good Will To All.

Regardless of one's beliefs, this IS the message of the season.

I wish you blessings of peace, health, prosperity and all around well-being.  

Thank you for following this blog.

Merry Christmas! 

Eight days of Light

To all Jewish people who may be reading this blog, whose early history I now look closely at, I wish you a Happy Chanukkah!

"Then the land has rest from war."

As we know, the first five books of the bible make up the Torah. Subsequent books come from varying other sources. And you can tell. I am noticing some differences in the writing style between the first five and now Joshua. There is now frequent use of variations of this phrase, “which remains to this day,” or “which may still be found there today.” Now, if I were still teaching, this is where I would pause and explain the word verisimilitude. Love that word. It’s those little stylistic details that make something (whether fictional or factual) ring especially real or true. This varied phrase didn’t occur earlier and in Joshua we see it many times. Someone new is writing this. Might not be interesting to others, but I always find fascinating the influence of writer’s role, the story-teller’s role, the translator’s role. It cannot be denied.

But I digress…

After Joshua’s long years of battle and conquer, the remainder of the book is devoted to his extensive assigning of lands to tribes. The exactness in names is impressive here.

Something to note: each tribe’s land allotment includes one city of refuge to where anyone who had murdered unintentionally could flee and find protection until such time as the high priest of the land died, then he could return home. So let’s picture one of these communities. Can you imagine a more unlucky bunch of residents? All there shared the unfortunate lot of having killed another accidentally. Must have made for some interesting “meet-and-greet” gatherings.

The Bible is big on summary, I’ve noticed. And this is undoubtedly helpful for all kinds of readers. So, as Joshua is very, very aged and near death, he takes the opportunity to review ALL that has happened in the last several books. This is done to remind the Israelites of their obligation to God. But is also helps for those “who just joined us” or have trouble keeping track of the darned details (like me). He reiterates in strong language God’s promises and expectations, consequences, punishments, rewards. Finally, Joshua, son of Nunn, dies at age one hundred and ten.

Confession #50: I am fighting procrastination right now. I am weary of names and places foreign to me. I have read of more fighting and killing than I would like.

Confession #51: I will try to post more frequently as I had earlier.

Confession #52: I sneak peeks ahead to the book of Psalms for the poetry.

The Spiritual Fog of War

Well, readers, I hope you enjoyed that brief comic aside, because I am here to tell ya that all of the book of Joshua is about war, my friends. It is violent; it is vicious; it is unrelenting. This book I am reading is clearly by and for males and would make a great graphic novel. It might be interesting to speculate what the emphasis would be were it written from and toward a female perspective. I’m sure there’d be more about relationships, nurturing, and God’s moral law as applied to child rearing. Perhaps more on this proposition later.

ANYWAY, line after line, scene after scene in Joshua depicts the Israelites’ invasion of, conquering of, killing of, plundering of, burning of tribe and city, always hanging its king. Only one tribe was spared – the Gibeons – because this group was smart enough to “trick” the Israelites into a treaty. Good going, Gibeons!

“He (Joshua) totally destroyed all, not sparing anything that breathed…Joshua waged war against all these kings (thirty-one in all) for a long time…For it was the Lord Himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that He might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy.”

First of all, Joshua and his tribe were the aggressors overall, and can’t the Lord destroy through some divine act like an earthquake.  W H Y   W A R ? ?

And what happened to earlier claims by God of His merciful nature?

The concept of “chosen people” drives every action here. Why not live peaceably alongside? Why not work to convert, bring new tribes into the fold of the “chosen?” Is it not this same exclusivity obsession that drove Adolph Hitler and others to do the same to the Jews, after all? As well as extremist jihad today? And in Darfur?

We must destroy those who are different.

Good God, deliver us from this mindset!


Confession#47: I’ve long had a problem with the notion of “tolerance,” of others, because it implies negativity. After all, I must tolerate (“to withstand the unpleasant effect of something”) what I frankly can’t stand, such as traffic jams, long waits in line, other people’s rude children. "O.K., I'll tolerate your habits, your culture, your way of living your life."  "Gee - thanks."   Until we learn to embrace and appreciate, even enjoy differences in others, any movement forward will be tenuous at best.

Confession #48: I fear world leaders (including our own beyond-lame one) who hang their policies on Bible models for all kinds of issues (see gay marriage bans) because if the book of Joshua could be held as a blueprint for justifying any group’s entitlement strategy, this planet remains in peril.

Confession#49: I appreciate that none of you dear readers points out how often I use parentheses and the way I jump between tenses when summarizing the bible. How kind.

Now a word from our humorist...

The new minister was asked to teach a boys' class in the absence of the regular teacher. He decided to see what they knew, so he asked who knocked down the walls of Jericho. All the boys denied having done it, and the preacher was appalled by their ignorance.

At the next deacons' meeting he told about the experience. “Not one of them knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho," he lamented. The group was silent until finally one seasoned veteran of disputes spoke up. “Preacher, this appears to be bothering you a lot. But I've known all those boys since they were born and they're good boys. If they said they didn't know, I believe them. Let's just take some money out of the repair and maintenance fund, fix the walls, and let it go at that."

Source unknown

And the Walls Came Tumblin' Down

When I was in high school chorus (high soprano, mind you!) we performed a stirring medley of “Negro Spirituals” such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” one of my favorites. We also did one about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (spell check is NO help here), and a modern rendition of “Joshua ‘fit’ the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumblin’ down…” O.K., so I knew it was Biblical and some guy named Joshua must have had quite a fight with someone. That was the extent of my knowledge. I cannot tell you how references all around me now have meaning with just six books into this reading. It’s like the difference between reading a foreign language phonetically and actually comprehending it.

Turns out, this is an awesomely dramatic passage; I think my favorite so far.

So here’s the fill-in:

Joshua inherited Moses’s role as leader as the Israelites crossed Jordan. Reminiscent of the Red Sea scene (which is still a pretty cool ride at Universal Studios) as Joshua steps into the Jordan River, its floodwaters stop for the thousands of Israelites to cross. They are now commanded by God to plan Jericho’s attack and conquer. Josh sends two spies who immediately head for a prostitute’s house. Hmmm. She agrees to hide them in return for her and her family’s safety when the time comes.

Then, following God’s usual detailed directives through an armed man who calls himself a “commander of the Lord,” Joshua and his troops, along with the seven priests guarding the ark (remember, they house the tablets) conduct this ritual: They march around the walled city one time each for seven days, blasting their trumpets but saying nothing and doing no more. On the seventh day they marched around the city seven times (God was quite the numerologist, you may have noticed) and after the seventh time, on command, EVERYONE in ALL the tribes begin to shout. And with that, the walls of the city indeed come down, enabling Joshua to lead his people into Jericho to destroy every man, woman, child, and animal. (OMG!) That is, except the prostitute, Rahab, and her family who were spared.

So actually, the lyric should be, “The walls came tumblin’ down and Joshua 'fit' the battle of Jericho.” Right? Just doesn’t have the same rhythm, tho.

Confession #46: Of course those walls just crumbling gave the Israelites a head start, but I suspect that entire seven day ramp-up had a tremendous psychological effect on both sides. Can you imagine how creepy it would be for some group to just circle your house with trumpets for seven days, then seven times for one, then massive shouting. Jeez!

“…I looked over Jordan and what did I see…comin’ for to carry me home…a band of angels comin’ for to me…comin’ for to carry me home…Swing low, sweet chariot…”

Love those Negro Spirituals!

Confession #47: I am quite certain that, had I known the real stories behind those songs I sang in tenth grade, I would have done a better job singing them. It is what would have put the “spirit” in those “spirituals.”

The Death of Moses

Moses is now 120 years old with eyesight and strength intact. Yet, as God had promised, Moses is to die on Mount Nebo. This was retribution for Moses’s defending the Israelites when they had offended God. “Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel. Double ouch!

In lovely lyrical form, Moses blesses all the tribes, promising, “Israel will live in safety alone.” Oh, would that that were true. Of course, their history has been anything but.

“Since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”

Confession #44: I feel sorry for Moses who has led his people through so much, having to work both sides, just to be told by God that he won’t get to see its fruition. See all that land; you won’t live to set foot on it. It is amazingly reminiscent of Dr. King’s telling us he might not “get there with you, but we’ll get there all the same.” It is a remarkable destiny of a leader to sometimes bring us where he or she may not go.


Thus concludes the first five books of the Bible. According to my still incomplete research, this constitutes the founding religious document of Judaism known as the Torah. Some attribute its authorship to Moses through divine inspiration; some see it as having been created before Creation as a blueprint. Varying others attach varying degrees of authenticity.

Confession #45: And so, I am still struggling to answer, Who wrote the Old Testament? But at least now I have some choices.