In this episode, we cover 1 Samuel, chapters 11-20. Yahweh seeks a replacement for "soft on pagans" Saul, the archetypal underdog story turns out to be not such an underdog story after all, and we learn of a love story that churches seem to have left out.

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This episode we cover 1 Samuel chapters 1-10. We meet Hannah, another favored, but barren wife, Eli, the priest who's sons will be the death of him, Samuel, who will find your donkeys for you, but not tell you where they are, and Saul who's really handsome and that's about it.

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This episode we're talking about the book of Ruth. We'll take a bit of a hiatus from the Deuteronomic History for a Valentine's Day love story about Ruth and Naomi.

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In this episode we cover the rest of Judges. We meet Gideon, who tests the living hell out of god and builds an idol, but somehow gets away with it. We also meet Samson, a brawny, long haired muscle bro who doesn't know how riddles work and murders entire cities when he loses. By the time your done with it all, you're gonna really like Delilah. 

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The rest of Joshua was so boring we moved on to Judges. In this episode we give a quick summary of the rest of Joshua, and we start on the Book of Judges. Joshua passes out deeds to land he doesn't own yet, Joshua dies, Judah does a bunch of the same things Joshua does, and Joshua dies again.

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 This episode we cover Joshua 1-12. With Moses dead, Joshua is out of his shadow and into the spotlight. Joshua performs some mini-miracles to show that he's just as special as Moses, and the Israelites get circumcised again; but mostly there's just a whole lot of destruction and killing. 

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In this episode we cover Deuteronomy 27-34. Moses takes a moment to remind the Israelites of the many blessings god will bestow on them for their faith; then he spends the next 5 hours describing in agonizing detail the ways in which god will murder, starve, and afflict them should they fail. Also this episode, Moses learns a song to remind the Israelites why god hates them, Moses gives Joshua the job that no one wants, and we look at a reference to Judaism's pagan roots.

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In this episode, we cover Deuteronomy chapters 14-26. We'll dig into the Deuteronomic Law Code, including many repeated, but contradictory rules about tithes, passover, and unclean animals; a commandment to impregnate your widowed sister in-law; and a convoluted set of tag rules for a man-slaughterer to escape the wrath of a vengeance seeker.

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This week we cover Deuteronomy chapters 1-12. Moses gets nostalgic and retells the same stories from Exodus and Numbers, Yahweh commands the Israelites to love him (pretty sure that's not how love works), and Ashton can't help but do some more math. Most importantly, we'll discuss the historical context of Deuteronomy and what motivates the Deuteronomist to rewrite old myths.
Donate to https://www.rebuildingalliance.org. They advocate for and provide financial support to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
You can also learn more about the history of Zionism and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinian people from Ilan Pappe's The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. You can find it at your local library or buy from your local black-owned book store.

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In this episode, we close out Numbers with chapters 36. We meet the promised talking donkey, Phinehas, who shows gods love by spearing pagans during intercourse, and Balaam, who seems like he just wants to be left alone. Also, if you were wondering if this theology gives autonomy and agency to women, the book of Numbers would like to remind you that it doesn't!

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