Joshua 16-17

I've written about the awesomeness of fantasy author Brandon Sanderson before; although his prose is merely functional, his plots, character development, and magic systems are wonders to behold. In The Way of Kings, a massive tome of 1000 pages, the story begins with the death of the king of Alethkar. Taking responsibility for the assassination are a group of people called the Parshendi, a coalition of whom had just entered the kingdom to ostensibly make a peace treaty. The Parshendi bear striking similarities to parshmen, beings whom the people of Alethkar basically use as slaves. The parshmen are physically strong yet subservient, seeming to have no desires of their own. But the assassination of the king by the Parshendi raises a troubling question: could the parshmen potentially rise up and subjugate the people of Alethkar?

Slaves (or people under slave-like conditions) rising up against their masters is a common theme of storytelling; A Bug's Life and Spartacus are two other examples that come immediately to mind. These two chapters of Joshua note two instances of the Israelites failing to "dislodge" Canaanites, instead subjecting them to forced labor (16:10, 17:13). Now, we know that Israel didn't fall because of slave revolt; they fell to the outside forces of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. And yet, as the subsequent books of the Bible will reveal, Israel all too often turned away from God. Some of that, no doubt, was because of their own blockheadedness, but I can't help wondering if their Canaanite slaves inveigled themselves and their pagan beliefs into the Israelites' hearts. Sure, the Assyrians and Babylonians defeated Israel. But was their task made easier from a rotting of Israel from within?

This reminds me of the old chestnut, "A man is known by the company keeps." (To which Evan Esar added his own waggish addendum: "A man is known by the company he keeps, but a woman is known by the company she keeps waiting.") We soon find ourselves adapting at least some of the attitudes of those whom we surround ourselves with. While I don't think it's good for Christians to limit their company to just other Christians, a drug addict wishing to recover shouldn't just hang around other junkies.

After the author describes the territory allotted to Manasseh, he relates a little anecdote showing that the Manassites could be just a little petulant--and lazy. After they complain about receiving such a small allotment relative to their size, Joshua says that they can clear out the forests of the "Perizzites and Rephaites" (17:11). Clearly, the Manassites wanted Joshua to give them land allotted to another tribe, for they snivel about iron chariots and such. To his credit, Joshua refuses to become a doormat, repeating his offer and pretty much saying, "You say you have a lot of people? Well, then you should have no problem clearing out the forests and driving out the Canaanites in their big, scary chariots. Grow some backbone already!" Maybe he didn't say that last part, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was thinking it.