The present-day conflict that exists between the Israelis and the
Palestinians can easily be related to the war that took place in Joshua and
Judges. In both cases Israeli's had to fight for the land that they
believe belongs to them. In the book of Joshua the Lord instructs the
Israelites to conquer Jericho. The manner in which Jericho was conquered
is extremely unique in that it involved the blowing of trumpets and
marching around the walls of the city. (Soggin) They marched around the
walls of the city for six days and on the seventh day the wall of the city
came down, The account given in Joshua is rather gruesome because after
the walls came down the Israelites were told to kill every woman, man,
child and animal; with the exception of Rahab the harlot. (Soggin) The
Bible explains what happened after the wall came down saying,
" 21Then they utterly destroyed all in the city, both men and women,
young and old, oxen, sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword.
22And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, 'Go into
the harlot's house, and bring out from it the woman, and all who
belong to her, as you swore to her.' 23So the young men who had been
spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father and mother and
brothers and all who belonged to her; and they brought all her
kindred, and set them outside the camp of Israel. (Soggin)
In this instance the Israelites believed that God had given this land
although it was already inhabited. Throughout the books of Joshua and
Judges the Israelites employ a number of tactics to conquer various cities,
including the use of spies. This is similar to what is happening today
in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Both sides (especially Israel) are
deploying several tactics to get what they want.
One of the most dramatic tactics that I...