Bible Battles

I guess it has been out a while, but I just happened onto the Bible Battles on the History Channel. It is a fascinating look at the battles recorded in the Bible. The part I watched was about the battles led by Moses, Joshua and Gideon. It was great to see the military strategy behind the Exodus, the battle at Jericho and especially the prowess of Gideon's elite units. What I was confronted with again was the problem I have with the view that God told these men to slaughter entire civilizations of people. There is one point in the show where it shows one Hebrew soldier standing in front of a mother and a little girl, contemplating his task and then following through with it. I have always read this in the OT, but I always skimmed over it as fast as I could, somehow justifying it that these people were given a chance to believe in God but never took it. I still have a problem with it and the show was just a reminder of how horrific an act this was and how it was done in the name of God. As I look at Jesus and how he is the fullest revelation of God we have, I can't see Jesus calling for this barbarism. Other articles of note hitting the press today:

• New finding on Judas. My son was asking a lot of questions about Judas after Sunday School last week. The teacher talked about Judas hanging himself and I found myself doing lots of explaining, trying to end the questions about how hanging can kill you. I reminded them never to play with rope.
• Ice capade? These folks seem to think Jesus walked on ice, not water. It seems it would be easier to believe it really happened.

Jesus Bible Battles Judas