I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 10-11.

    This passage is a bloodthirsty account of the Israelites conquest of the land. The passage tells us that, under Joshua, the people of Israel defeated and killed all of the people in the land, as God had commanded them. Except for the Gibeonites. As I read this, it initially struck me as somewhat cruel and sad. However, there is a sentence in the middle of the passage which puts it in a different light: “For the Lord hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites.” Aside from the Gibeonites, all of the people in the land chose to make war against the Israelites. None of them chose to attempt to make peace with them. It is still sad, but living peaceably requires that the other person be willing to live in peace with you as well.