JOSHUA: Chapter 4

Chapter 4
Summary:	When the Israelites had all crossed over the Jordan River, God spoke to Joshua telling him to pick out twelve men from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. He tells Joshua to have each of the twelve men take out a stone out from where the priests had stood in the Jordan River and carry them to where they will camp that night. Joshua selected twelve men, one from each tribe, and told them each to go out toward where the ark was out into the middle of the Jordan River, and carry out a stone upon their shoulders. He continues to tell them that when future generations ask about the meaning behind these stones, that they are to answer that they serve as a memorial to the people of Israel of when the waters of the Jordan River were halted as the ark of the covenant passed over the river. The men did as they were commanded, and each took a stone out of the river and carried them over to where they were camped. Joshua set up twelve stones* and set them in the Jordan River in the spot where the priests were standing next to the ark of the covenant, where the stones stand to this day. The priests who carried the ark remained standing in the midst of the Jordan River until after the monument of stones was complete and the Israelites had passed through the river. When the Israelites had all passed through the priests carried the ark through the river in the presence of all of the people. The armed tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had led the way across the river as they had sworn to Moses prior to his death. About 40,000 soldiers had passed over the river into the plains of Jericho prepared for war. On that day God had magnified Joshua in view of all of the people of Israel, and the people feared him, just as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life. God then told Joshua to command the priests to come up and out of the river bed of the Jordan River. As soon as the priests set foot on dry land, the waters of the Jordan River returned to their place and flowed over the banks as they had before. The Israelites had crossed the Jordan River on the tenth day of the first month*, and camped in Gilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho. In Gilgal Joshua piled up the twelve stones that had been taken out from the Jordan River. Joshua then told the Israelites that if their children ask about the significance of these stones, that they are to tell them that they are a reminder of when the people of Israel crossed through the Jordan River on dry land, and that God had dried up the waters of the Jordan River - just as he had done to the Red Sea - that all the people of the earth know the mighty hand of God - adding, "that they fear the Lord your God forever."
Notes:	1.) It's unclear as to whether Joshua has set up a different set of twelve stones as monument in the river itself, or if this is a possible error that seems to imply that the original twelve stones were both left in the river and at the campsite in Gilgal. 2.) Approximately March 25th by our modern calendar.
Thoughts:	Essentially this chapter seems to serve as a "me too" justification for Joshua's position as the leader of the Israelites. Mention Moses and most likely the first thing that comes to mind is Moses parting the Red Sea. This chapter seems to try and attribute the same wondrous feat to Joshua, but lacks the urgency of the original tale found in the book of Exodus. Unlike Moses's tale, Joshua and his merry men are not being pursued by a mighty army, nor are they desperately facing impending doom having been boxed in by their pursuers and a vast body of water. Instead, Joshua and the Israelites are armed to the hilt ready to invade foreign lands and simply need to get across a river. Quite a different dynamic from Moses's situation, yet the chapter attempts to equate the grandness of this event to the parting of the Red Sea (even going so far as to reference it specifically in Joshua 4:23) in an attempt to bolster Joshua's status to that of Moses. Yet it comes off as lame as if a modern U.S. President were to sail a boat through the Delaware to try and equate himself to George Washington. Joshua then goes one step further by selecting twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel, to build a monument to memorialize this event. The chapter comes off as a desperate attempt to justify Joshua's place as ruler and confidant to God, and to equate them to that of Moses.

NUMBERS: Chapter 14

Chapter 14
Summary:	All of the people of Israel began wept that night, voicing complaints against Moses and Aaron. The people complained that dying in Egypt, or dying out in the wilderness they were in, would be an easier fate than dying at the hands of the sword from the "promised land" God was bringing them to, endangering their wives and children as well. The people argued that they'd actually be safer returning to Egypt, and decided to appoint a "captain" (or leader). Moses and Aaron "fell on their faces" before the congregation, while Joshua and Caleb (two of the spies from Chapter 13) tore at their clothes in frustration. Joshua and Caleb tried to tell the people of Israel that the "promised land" was in fact a good land, "flowing with milk and honey", while telling the people not to rebel against God, nor fear the current inhabitants of the land, as God will ensure their victory against them. The congregation however decided to condemn Joshua (and Caleb) to death by stoning, when God appeared in the tabernacle before all of the people of Israel. God spoke to Moses asking him how long will these people provoke him, not believe in him, despite all the signs God has shown them all? He then tells Moses that he's simply going to kill them all with pestilence, disinherit them, and make Moses' lineage a greater nation than the people of Israel. Moses however tells God that if he does this, then the news of this will spread to Egypt and Canaan, and that people will then believe that God simply decided to slay his people out in the wilderness because he was unable to bring them into the land he had promised them. Moses begs God not to kill all of the people, asking him to show mercy and forgive their "sins". Moses acknowledges that by no means should God clear the guilty, and that Moses understands that "sin" is to be punished not only to the father, but upon children of unto third and fourth generations, but again he begs God to show mercy upon the people. God agrees to pardon the people of Israel, but adds that because they've witnessed God's "miracles" and have disobeyed God ten times, that they will not see the "promised land". God makes an exception for Caleb, as he had followed God fully, and states that he will bring Caleb into the "promised land". God tells Moses that tomorrow he is to lead the people of Israel back into the wilderness towards the Red Sea. Moses and Aaron are also to tell the people of Israel that they will die out here in the wilderness, and that every man over the age of twenty who has rebelled against God shall not enter the "promised land" - with the exception of Caleb and Joshua. Those younger than twenty will inherit the land that their elders have "despised", and therefore everyone over the age of twenty will not enter the "promised land", but will die out in the wilderness. God continues, stating that the children of the people of Israel will wander in the wilderness for forty years until their elders have all died off in the wilderness. God states that each of these forty years will be punishment for each of the forty days that the spies had searched out the "promised land" - one year for each day. God states that the people will bear this "sin" and shall remember the breach of their promise to God as they are consumed and die out in the wilderness. God sends a plague to kill off all of the spies (minus Caleb and Joshua) whom he felt turned the people of Israel against God and brought "slander" upon the "promised land". All of the spies died from this plague, except Caleb and Joshua. Moses delivered this message to the people of Israel, and they mourned greatly their "sins". The people rose early in the morning and climbed the mountain proclaimed to obey God's will, acknowledging their "sins", and stated that they were ready to enter the "promised land". Moses however tells the people that they are now disobeying God's commandment by not returning to the wilderness (to die out there) and tells them to turn back. Moses tells them that if they invade the "promised land", God will not be with them and they will perish at the hands of their enemies inhabiting the land. Moses states that the Amalekites and the Canaanites will crush them because the people of Israel have turned against God, and God will not help them in battle. The people of Israel went up the hill top anyways, despite that Moses and the ark of the covenant stayed in the camp. The Amalekites and Canaanites attacked them and chased them to Hormah.
Thoughts:	Faced with discouraging news that the spies (that God had Moses pick out and selected himself) brought back when they scoped out the "promised land", the people of Israel became discouraged and began blaming Moses and Aaron for getting them into what they perceived as an unwinnable situation. The people reasoned that they were better off dying in their Egyptian slavery, or even out in the wilderness, rather than die at the hands of the "giants" currently inhabiting the "promised land". The people felt that it was a better idea to return to Egypt and decided to appoint themselves a leader. Apparently, this displeased Moses and Aaron, as they both "fell on their faces", while two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua tore at their clothes in frustration. Joshua tried to reason with the growing rebellion, and told them that they shouldn't fear invading the land as God would protect their armies. However, the congregation of people didn't want to listen and instead decided that they should stone Joshua to death. Meanwhile, God spoke with Moses wondering why these people keep acting so rebellious and keep doubting, despite all the "miracles" God has shown them. One has to question here whether God's repeated malevolence of plagues, setting people on fire, and giving people leprosy might possibly have anything to do with negating some of the positive "miracles" God has performed. God decides once again (just like he did when Aaron crafted a "golden calf" for the people to worship) that he's going to kill all of the Israelites and make Moses' lineage into a great nation instead. Moses also again, begs and pleads for God not to kill everybody, by basically stating that God's reputation will suffer if he does. God's reputation. The only concern Moses seems to have is for God's reputation not to be tarnished by killing several million people - or at least 603,550 of them. Moses tell God that he's concerned that if he commits genocide against the Israelis that word will travel back both to Egypt and Canaan that God killed everyone because he wasn't strong enough to deliver his own people into the "promised land". God apparently seems to agree that perhaps he shouldn't build upon his reputation as a mass murderer, as he agrees to change his mind once again. This is the second time God has managed to talk God out of killing everyone, which again demonstrates that God's judgments are not necessarily as "perfect" as believers will attest to, when Moses can find faults in God's judgments and again, get God to change his mind. Unfortunately, this time Moses didn't point out to God that killing over half a million people was "evil" - as he had done back in Exodus: Chapter 32. God decides that although he'll spare the lives of these disobedient Israelites, that none of them over the age of twenty will be allowed to enter the "promised land". God plans to have them wander around in the desert for the next forty years until the current generation dies off. God makes two exceptions - Caleb and Joshua. God states that each of the forty years spent wandering the desert will be punishment for each of the forty days the spies had spent searching out the "promised land" and that they are to remember this as they all slowly die off in the wilderness of the desert. He then kills off the other ten spies, save for Caleb and Joshua, with a deadly plague because he felt they were responsible for scaring the people of Israel into rebelling in the first place. When Moses told the people of Israel that God's punishment for rebelling against God's plan to enter the ""promised land was"for them to wander the desert for forty years until they all died off, the people became remorseful. They got up early the next morning and told Moses that they were now ready and willing to invade the promised land, but Moses tells them that they're too late now and that any invasion will fail, because God won't protect them in battle. He further explains that not agreeing to die out in the desert would be disobeying God, and that the Amalekites and Canaanites will crush them without God's assistance. The people went ahead with their invasion plan anyways, leaving Moses and the ark of the covenant back at the camp, and the Amalekites and Canaanites wound up attacking them and chasing them to the city of Hormah.

EXODUS: Chapters 13 & 14

Chapter 13
Summary:	God instructs Moses to dedicate to him all of the first born sons of Israel, as well as every first born male animal claiming to him that "they are mine". Moses then addresses the people of Israel (all 600,000+ of them?) telling them that this is a day for them to remember forever. He then reminds them, by recounting, the rules laid down for the annual celebration of the holiday. He tells them that during the celebration days each year that they must explain to their children why they celebrate. He tells them that this memorial week brands them as unique people, as if God had branded his ownership upon them like cattle. He explains to the people that all the first born sons and first born male animals now belong to God, and that when they reach the "promised land" that they must be given (meaning by ritual sacrifice) to God. He further explains that they can "buy back" (or substitute), for example, a donkey with a lamb, but that something has to be killed. Moses adds that for human sons, they must "buy back" (or exchange them) with another animal to be sacrificed. God did not lead the people of Israel through the land of the Philistines, although that was the most direct route from Egypt to the "promised land". God's reasoning being that he felt the people could become discouraged if they had to fight their way through, and perhaps some might return to Egypt out of frustration. Instead God leads them along a route through the Red Sea wilderness. Moses had taken the bones of Joseph with him, as Joseph had made the sons of Israel promise that they would take his bones with them as they were led by God out of Egypt. Leaving Succoth, they camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness. God guided them by a pillar of cloud during the daytime, and by a pillar of fire at night. Neither pillar was ever out of sight from them.
Thoughts:	Perhaps it's just me, but I've never been able to understand animal (or human) sacrifices, especially in the name of all-powerful "gods". God has the power to kill, and to kill the first born as he had apparently done in Egypt - yet now, he wants the people of Israel to gruesomely slaughter a bunch of animals for him - once every year. I fail to see how the ghastly and gruesome slaughtering of animals is supposed to please God, and how or why he enjoys the suffering and terror that human beings are putting upon innocent living beings. While a controversial subject to some, like myself, who have adopted a life of vegetarianism (I'm a pescitarian, more precisely - meaning I still consume fish and seafood) we can at least justify the needs for killing animals for food, pelts, skins, or for other uses when we show respect and compassion for the life we have to take. Modern hunters are (usually) a fine example of how mankind strives to minimize the amount of pain and suffering involved towards their prey. They attempt to make death as quick and painless as possible, and with a wounded animal they finish the job off as quickly as possible. In ritualistic sacrifice, minimizing pain and suffering is not a concern, and it seems bizarre and contradictory to me that a God who is described as "merciful", "loving", and "compassionate" not only condones, allows, commands, and encourages this kind of suffering and trauma - he likes it as well, the bible describes it "pleasing" to him. Anyways, God allows the people to make substitutions - so if you really don't want to kill your first born male donkey, you might be able to slip God a lamb in its place. Human first born males however, require a substitute proxy animal, establishing that God doesn't care for human sacrifices unless he himself is doing the killing. However, whatever the case may be, God wants you to kill something for him. I'm also having trouble imagining Moses without the aid of a public address system being able to address over half a million people with his decrees unless he's either got some sort of newsletter to pass around, or if he's just holding a bunch of seminars for a couple hundred people at a time. Perhaps he's given these messages to some of the elders and had them address groups of people, but the way in which the bible is written makes it appear that Moses somehow manages to make himself heard to all 600,000+ people at once - which would be a pretty amazing feat, even with a modern public address system. Meanwhile, we are told that God had decided to lead his people to their "promised land" by taking the long route, as he didn't want to discourage the Israelis by making them fight their way through a more direct route through Philistine country. He notes that possibly some of the Israelis might have given up and simply headed back to Egypt, so he opts for the longer journey for them. Moses upholds the Israeli promise to Joseph - of not being left behind or buried in Egypt - and carries along Joseph's bones on the journey to the promised land, 400 years or so after his death. God now leads the people by taking the forms of giant clouds during the day, and blazing fireballs at night, allowing the people to travel both night and day.
Chapter 14
Summary:	God now instructs Moses to tell the people to turn towards Piha-hiroth and to camp there along the shore, explaining that the Pharaoh (who is apparently about to pursue them) will think that he has trapped the Israelis between the desert and the sea. He tells Moses that he will harden the Pharaoh again, and in turn that he will chase after the people of Israel. When word reached the Pharaoh that the Israelis were not planning on returning to Egypt after their supposed three day excursion, the Pharaoh became angered at the fact that he was losing his slaves. The Pharaoh led a chase in his chariot, along with his army totaling 600 chariots in all. The Pharaoh's entire cavalry of horses, chariots, and charioteers overtook the people of Israel at the shore of Piha-hiroth. As the Egyptian army approached the people of Israel became frightened and begged for God's help. They complained to Moses for getting them into this whole mess, feeling that they would have been better off not having listened to him in the first place. They told him that they wished that they had remained slaves in Egypt as opposed to dying out here in the desert. Moses, however, tells the people to not be afraid, and to prepare to marvel in the miraculous way that God will rescue them. God then tells Moses to cut out the chit-chat and to get the people moving. He tells Moses to hold his rod out over the water and that the sea will open up a path for the people of Israel to cross on dry land. God then moved a cloud around behind them to stand between the Israelis and the Egyptians, and at night became a pillar of fire, giving darkness to the Egyptians but light to the Israelis. The Egyptians were now having a tough time finding the Israelis. Meanwhile Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and God opened up a path with walls of water on each side. He caused a strong east wind to blow that night, drying the bottom of the sea. The people of Israel then crossed the sea on dry ground. As the Egyptians went in after them, God started making their chariot wheels come off. The soldiers then shouted to each other to retreat, as God was clearly fighting for the Israelis and against themselves. When all the people of Israel made it across the sea, God tells Moses to again stretch his hand across the sea to close the waters. Moses did as he was commanded, and the sea returned to normal under the morning light. The Egyptians tried to flee, but it was too late and God drowned them all at sea. Not a single member of the Egyptian army that had pursued them across the sea survived. The people of Israel saw the dead Egyptians washed up on the shore, and realized that had witnessed a mighty miracle. They became afraid of God, yet now believed in him and his servant Moses.
Thoughts:	The Pharaoh somehow gets wind that the people of Israel have no intentions of returning back to Egypt after the "three day pilgrimage" they'd been requesting for all along. Incensed by the thought of losing all those Hebrew slaves for good, he decides to gather his army of 600 chariots in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, God has his own plan to once again strike another blow to the Egyptians. He has Moses lead the people towards the Red Sea, explaining to him that the Egyptians will think they have cornered them. However, God tells Moses that when he lifts his magic staff over the water, that will cause the Red Sea to part, granting them a pathway to cross the river on dry land. When the Egyptians approach, the people of Israel start getting all huffy with Moses again angry that he had seemed to have led them into another bad situation - this time being a death trap. Moses however, tells them not to fear, but stand back and watch as God rescues them with his spectacular magical powers. God first creates a cloud cover over the Egyptians, leaving them in darkness, while he lights the way for the Israelis with his magical fireball. As Moses waves his magic staff over the water, the Red Sea parts just as God said it would, and God gets to work blowing an eastern wind across the pathway to dry up the floor of the sea. The Israelis manage to cross over the sea, but when the Egyptians finally make it in after them in the morning, God tells Moses to once again raise his hands over the sea to close it back up. The Egyptians trying to flee for their lives all die by drowning in the sea without a single survivor. When dead bodies of the Egyptian soldiers wash up on the shores, the people begin to fear God and profess their belief in him as well as his messenger Moses. Of particular note is the explicit mention of "fear" and how it relates to theistic belief. This has always bothered me that belief is coerced by the notion of fear, and that intimidation lies at the core of belief. Again, another contradiction of God's "love" and "compassion" is when he is a force to be feared - by his followers!