Joshua

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I'm studying for a talk I have to give after Christmas and learning all sorts of things that I must have missed in the first year of seminary. Some things are ringing a bell, but many are not.

My note and thought for the night is pulled from the book of Joshua. (My talk is on the 2010 yearly theme for the youth, and it is Joshua 1:9).

I thought that maybe in order to understand what the Lord was telling Joshua, or why he was telling Joshua to Be strong and of a good courage (which did you catch that, is that just a typo, "of a good courage?").

I started Googling, which is my favorite thing, and I found that they have a SparkNotes for the Bible. CRAZY! It was a perfect way for me to learn what happened in the Book of Joshua.

The reason for my post comes from the startling facts I found in the book. They were really quite shocking.

The story about Joshua is all about the Israelites going to claim the Promised Land, also known as Palestine. The book focuses mostly on going around and conquering city after city. The startling fact there is that they would go in and just wipe out entire cities and leave no one alive (well except for Rahab from Jericho). Chapter 6 verse 17 says this: And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the ^aharlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

My shock comes from the fact that they killed everyone except Rahab and her family. After Jericho, they just moved on from one city to the next conquering and killing everyone. It seems so heartless and not so much like Heavenly Father. Why would he just kill everyone?

The other shocking thing to me was the story of Achan which is here from Joshua 7:

19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, ^aglory to the Lord God of Israel, and make ^bconfession unto him; and ^ctell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.

20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord ^aGod of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:

21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly ^aBabylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I ^bcoveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

22 ¶ So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.

23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord.

24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.

25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.

Is there no forgiveness? He confessed his sins. Why did he and his whole family have to die?

Seriously perplexing questions for me. It seems so unlike a loving Heavenly Father.

I think what got me thinking about it comes from the criticism that the BOM gets about Nephi killing Laban. Many say that Heavenly Father wouldn't have told Nephi to commit a sin because murder is a sin. I have to say, what Nephi did seems not as terrible as what the Israelites are doing in the book of Joshua.