Inerrant Lie #77

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

According to the written testimony of the various contributors to the ‘Holy Bible' canon, the LORD tells a number of lies; and teaches his princes, principalities, prophets, kings, judges, priests, and people to do likewise.

In Exodus 23, while the Israelites were allegedly serving the LORD at mount Hor (always at instant hazard to their own lives from the LORD), Moses says the LORD made a promise to him which the historical record contained in the various applicable books following Exodus in the canon confirm He did not keep.

Perhaps this sort of back- handed faithfulness is to be expected from a LORD who says to His own people, “ye shall know my breach of promise,” as Moses says the LORD did in Numbers 14:34. Every broken promise is a lie, however, especially when told by the omniscient and only God, as the LORD claims always throughout the canon to be.

[How is it possible to be omniscient yet unable to establish a conversation on a better foundation than that of lies and broken promises told and made to those one claims infallible, eternal, and boundless superiority over; as the LORD, according to the ’Holy Bible’ canon, et. al., does (while claiming to be the only God)?]

At mount Hor (in Exodus 23), while the LORD was informing Moses of a number of statutes which subsequently became a part of the canon of legal singularities referred to as “Moses' law“: the LORD informed Moses that He'd assigned an “Angel” to see the children of Israel the rest of the way to the promised land. This change- of- guard takes place in chapter 34 of Exodus (verses 6 - 8)– while the children of Israel remained at mount Hor– after Moses, desirous of seeing the LORD’s “glory” (33:18, ibid.),” is forewarned of the LORD, “thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen;” (which means, in the common vernacular: “Kiss my ass, and taste my blow- by. I’m gone.”) in the final word of chapter 33.

Meanwhile, in Exodus 23, the LORD– in setting Moses' heart at ease about His upcoming leave- taking– tells Moses: "28 I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land [Exodus 23:28 - 30]."

Notice: the LORD says “I will…” three times in the above passage from Exodus 23; “before thee” four times; and mentions “the Hivite” at the top of His list of targets assigned for harassment by the hornets He promises to chase them, the Canaanites, and the Hittites out of the land with.

In fact, the manner in which the LORD makes this particular promise to Moses is entirely reminiscent of the wonder of the “swarms” which allegedly harassed Pharaoh and the Egyptians to distraction in the earlier chapters of Exodus. At any rate, the historical record in the book of Joshua informs the discerning reader that the LORD broke His promise of Exodus 23 to drive the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites out of the promised land by harassing them with hornets.

Joshua 9 tells of the Israelites' first encounter with the Hivites (who occupied the top of the list of targets reserved for harassment by hornets) after their alleged return from Egypt. This meeting with the Hivites takes place after crossing the river Jordan and entering the land of Canaan promised to “Abraham” (Abram) by the same LORD who said to Abraham’s descendants, “ye shall know my breach of promise” (Numbers 14:34).

This encounter with the Hivites is the Israelites’ third experience with the inhabitants of the land on the west side of Jordan. According to the narrative of the book of Joshua, the Hivites sent a peace envoy to the children of Israel while the children of Israel were in Gilgal– presumably resting and recuperating in the aftermath of the destruction they visited on the cities of Bethel and Ai, in the second challenge they faced in their holy land conquest after crossing the Jordan.

The ninth chapter of Joshua says that the embassy sent by the Hivites to Joshua and the children of Israel in Gilgal was made up of a number of the inhabitants of “Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim” (verse 17). Furthermore, it is alleged that these chosen Hivites had been sent “wilily” (verse 4) to beguile a peace treaty out of their hostile new neighbors, the Israelites.

The fact that the Hivites of these four cities knew what to say and do to beguile the children of Israel could indicate the betrayal of the children of Israel by the LORD. Chapter nine of Joshua says that, in order to beguile Joshua and the Israelites, “4 [The Hivites] did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; 5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.” The express intent of the Hivites' artifices in regard to their equipment, provisions, and clothing was their pretense to being distant foreigners.

According to the ninth- and- following verses of the ninth chapter of Joshua, the Hivites “said unto [Joshua], From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him… 11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. 12 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: 13 And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.”

Ultimately, the children of Israel are beguiled by the wiles of the Hivites which the LORD promised they wouldn't have to contend in battle with: perhaps mostly by this word from them, “We are your servants.” They therefore accept the peace- and- protection compact proposed by the ambassadors of the four cities of the Hivites.

Subsequently, the next military contest Joshua and the children of Israel have to peel themselves away from Gilgal (yes, they keep retarding to Gilgal) to march off to is in protection of their recently- acquired servants in the Hivite cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim against “Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem... Piram king of Jarmuth... Japhia king of Lachish, and… Debir king of Eglon [Joshua 10:1]” who have entered into a destruction compact against the Hivites in response to their making peace with the children of Israel.

A couple of things are noteworthy, here. The promise made by the LORD to drive the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from the land He promised to “Abraham” was made forty years before the Israelites crossed the river Jordan. While the promise was made under the condition that “[the LORD] will not drive [the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites] out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee [Exodus 23:29]”: the LORD had forty years from the time the promise was made to “By little and little drive them out from before [the children of Israel], until [they were] increased, and [inherited] the land [Exodus 23:30].”

Likewise noteworthy is the fact that Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon– the kings the children of Israel were compelled to protect the Hivites of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim from– were, like the Hivites themselves, on the list of targets the LORD promised to harass out of the promised land with swarms of hornets. Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon were, each of them, Canaanite kings. The Canaanites were the second target on the hornets hit- list from Exodus 23.

It could be the children of Israel lasted longer in the promised land than the LORD supposed they could or would. At any rate, the really ironical thing in the tale of this ‘Lie’ is a thing Joshua said in his farewell- to- public- service address, in the final chapter of the book which bears his name.

At his retirement party in Shechem, Joshua speaking for the LORD, says: “And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow [Joshua 24:12].” However, nowhere does the LORD mention the Amorites in His promise to harass the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites out of the promised land with hornets.

Likewise, nowhere does Moses mention being helped by hornets in his war against the kingdoms of Og and Sihon (the “two kings of the Amorites” cited by Joshua, above) on the other side of the Jordan. The only mention of Amorites in Exodus 23 has nothing to do with hornets, and even if it did: the promise made in verse 28 of Exodus 23 would still be a lie in respect of the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites.

Inerrant Lie #30

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

The book of Joshua was not necessarily written by Joshua, but it was written about the leadership of Joshua during the children of Israel's attempt to conquer the promised land after the death of Moses. Toward the end of this less- than- triumphal account of “holy land” conquest, the writer of the book of Joshua attributes a lie to Joshua which is perhaps optimistically ignored by scholars as a lie– and instead considered a “statement of faith.” It is nonetheless a lie: one which has always been a lie; and is a lie to this day.

Joshua 21:43 - 45 says Joshua said: "43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. 44 And… rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers…. 45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass." This lie is, at best, a transubstantiation of a deception as truth and that likely based on good intent. Wishful thinking, in other words. The inspiration for this lie is presumably an accounting taken of the territories of the promised land not yet taken by the children of Israel, of all things.

This tale of the account taken of territories of the promised land not yet taken by the tribes of Israel begins at the start of the thirteenth chapter of the book of Joshua. Joshua 13:1 - 7 says, “1 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him… there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. 2 This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, 3 From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites: 4 From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites: 5 And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal-gad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath… 7 Now therefore divide this land…”

The rest of verse seven of Joshua 13 is a clumsy and confusing segué into a description, beginning with verse 8, of the land Moses gave to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh on the other (east) side of the Jordan. This description takes the rest of chapter 13. Verse eight of Joshua thirteen is also the beginning of a longer, more general historical account of the progress which had been made on both sides of the river Jordan, by the time Joshua was told by the LORD, “Now therefore divide this land,” at the beginning of chapter thirteen.

Chapter fourteen of the book of Joshua begins thus: “And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan [the west side of the Jordan], which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them [Joshua 14:1].” The boiled- down essence of the next four chapters of Joshua is that two- and- a- half tribes had received their inheritances on the west side of Jordan– in the land of Canaan, that is to say– by the time “Joshua was old and stricken in years,” at the beginning of chapter thirteen. Everyone else was left in the lurch.

It's worth noting that, when Joshua 14:1 says that some of the land had been “distributed for inheritance”: this word “distributed” apparently indicates the land under consideration had been taken by the tribes to whom it– according to Joshua, Eleazar, and the fathers of the tribes– belonged, in light of the narrative of the next three chapters of Joshua and the first chapter of the book of Judges. Also it seems these were the only three tribes who tired of convalescing (with Joshua, Eleazar, and the fathers of the tribes) in Gilgal (and later in Shiloh) to the point of demanding an inheritance to fight for and take possession of: in light of the narrative of the book of Joshua, generally. [A half- part of one of these tribes– the tribe of Manasseh– was no doubt antsy to get back across the Jordan to their own possessions on the east side.] The rest of the tribes must have been “waiting upon the LORD.”

After all, the LORD had promised to drive most of the inhabitants of the land out of the land before the children of Israel. In Exodus 23 (verses 28- through- 30) Moses records the LORD telling him– sometime after the delivery of the ten commandments and before the children of Israel left mount Hor, where the commandments were given–: “28 I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land." This promise came forty years before the children of Israel entered the promised land and concerns the lion’s- share of the inhabitants of the land inasmuch as the Canaanites were by far the most populous people inhabiting the land.

At any rate, it isn't until the eighteenth chapter of Joshua that the narrative of the book of Joshua finally circles back to the seventh verse of the thirteenth chapter of Joshua (“Now therefore divide this land…”) with the declaration, “And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance [Joshua 18:2].” Theirs was the land which had yet to be possessed, spoken of by the LORD in Joshua 13.

Now (in chapter 18), in response to the LORD’s command to divide this land: “3… Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you? 4 Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me. 5 And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph [Ephraim and half of the tribe of Manasseh] shall abide in their coasts on the north. 6 Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God [Joshua 18:3 - 6].”

The rest of chapter eighteen, everything in chapters nineteen and twenty, and most of chapter twenty- one of Joshua describes the resultant allocations of the land divided among six of the seven tribes remaining and of the cities given to the Levites (in this case, the seventh tribe, as per Joshua 18:2) out of all the tribes. It is after this accounting, at the end of chapter twenty- one, that Joshua allegedly tells the lie, “...the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein [Joshua 21:43].” It must be that Joshua considers the deed spoken a deed done (transubstantiationarily, at least) once the lot is cast: if this confirmatory statement at the end of the twenty- first chapter of Joshua concerning the faithfulness of the LORD is ought but a heavy- handed gaslight. However, the truth is that the children of Israel have never had the promised land to themselves.

To see how patently false this claim is, one need look no further than the beginning of the next book in the canon. In the second chapter of the book of Judges, an event is recorded and memorialized by the name of "Bochim." This event took place while Joshua was still alive; and it seems, in light of verse six of Judges chapter two, that it must have taken place immediately before, during, or immediately after Joshua cast lots to divide the land which had yet to be taken (the land spoken of by the LORD in the first seven verses of the thirteenth chapter of Joshua). It could be the same angel of the LORD speaking in both passages.

"1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice…. 3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you [the promise of Exodus 23:28 - 30 breached]; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you [Judges 2:1- 3].” Three verses later, there seems to be a time- stamp on this “Bochim” encounter.

The sixth verse of the second chapter of the book of Judges says, “And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.” This is exactly what one would reasonably expect the children of Israel to do, immediately after “Joshua cast lots [upon the land] for them in Shiloh before the LORD [Joshua 18:10]”: go to possess the land distributed to them by the lots Joshua cast.

Though it does not necessarily matter when the Bochim event occurred, it (Bochim) is the simplest proof of the disingenuous nature of the statement, at the end of Joshua chapter 21, that “the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers.” It is therefore offered here, as such, in the hope of as- briefly- as- possible concluding a matter the biblical account of which is obviously extremely muddled by non- linear accounts, anachronisms, lies, and so on.

For instance, in the immediately- adjacent biblical testimony, there are many statements which run contrary to the lie Joshua is credited with in Joshua 21. Some of these are found in the book of Joshua; some in the book of Judges. In the book of Joshua, there is this statement concerning the Jebusites (a tribe of the Canaanites the LORD promised– in Exodus 23– to drive out of the land): “As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day [Joshua 15:63].” The onus of accepting the Jebusites and allowing them to remain among the tribes of Israel is conversely and likewise laid on the Benjamites in Judges 1:21, which reads, “And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day [Judges 1:21].”

Also in Joshua, there are at least two more statements concerning the tenacity of the Canaanites. Joshua 16:10 says, “And [the Ephraimites] drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.” While Joshua 17:11 & 12 says, “11 And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries. 12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.”

In chorus with the latter citation from Joshua 17, Judges 1:27 says, “27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land [Judges 1:27].”

Finally, there is this summation at the end of Judges chapter one, which reads: “29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them. 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: 35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries [Judges 1:28 - 35].”

Notice how, in the above passages from Joshua and Judges, the onus is on the children of Israel to do what the LORD said He would do: drive out the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Hittite. That is to say: for waiting upon the LORD (Isaiah 40:31, et. al.)-- which the ‘Holy Bible' advises, et. al.-- the children of Israel are rewarded with the curse of Bochim.

Never in biblical times (or accounts), nor in the more- or- less contemporary times since 1947 (C.E.) has the LORD, their own hand, or any other source ever given the children of Israel the promised land free- and- clear of any- and- all previous claims. If possession is nine- tenths of the law, the children of Israel are and always have been trespassers and thieves as a nation: in the land of promise and elsewhere. No matter where– except Ur of the Chaldees– the children of Abraham were to be found, someone who didn't want to share the land with them was always there before them. If the Annunaki hadn't simply disappeared somehow, the same might perhaps be said for all of us.