Inerrant Lie #54

Another lie from "God's ineffable, inerrant word":

Joshua confesses telling a number of lies in his autobiographical record of 'conquest'. Some of his lies are obviously deliberately told as lies. This one is not decidedly so. It's hardly worth mentioning, perhaps even. Maybe the only reason it even sticks out to me as a lie is because of my own field experiences with the "cluster fuck." Maybe it's simply the fact that it is Joshua's 'secrecy [Joshua 2:1' which ultimately makes a liar of Joshua in this case.

Preparatory to crossing the Jordan into "the land," Joshua tells the chiefs: "Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it [Joshua 1:11]."

Joshua then "secretly [Joshua 2:1]" sends spies across the Jordan who consequently find themselves in a SNAFU in Jericho which requires them to run and hide for three days before re- crossing Jordan to deliver their scout report/ SITREP to Joshua and crew, who are waiting on the other side.

According to Joshua 3:1 - 5, because of the SNAFU the spies ran into in Jericho, it was at least seven days after Joshua said "three days" when the nation crossed the Jordan against Jericho and "the land." This after Moses had already said, more than thirty days previously, "Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day [Deuteronomy 9:1a - c]."