THE DESTRUCTION of Jericho was not just a military victory. It was another statement of God’s superiority over the gods of the Amorites, whose land was about to be given to the Israelites.

This week, we discuss the conquest of Jericho and Ai. We explain why God’s command to march around the city may have been a reversal of an ancient ritual known in Mesopotamia a thousand years before the Exodus. Sharon compares this to a pagan myth from ancient Persia, and then we explain the significance of the location of the altar on Mount Ebal, overlooking the city of Shechem.

We also note the reference to “native born” Israelites in Josh. 8:33. Who were they, assuming that all of the Israelites who entered Canaan (except Joshua and Caleb) had been born during the wilderness wanderings?

THE CROSSING of the Jordan River by the Israelites was more than preparation for the conquest of Canaan. It represented God breaching the veil between the spirit realm and the land of the living.

We discuss the mission of the two spies sent by Joshua and more examples of the “third day” in the Bible. It was on the third day after the spies visited the inn run by Rahab that the Israelites crossed the Jordan, and it was the third day after the circumcision of the men of Israel that the assault on Jericho began (which we’ll discuss next week).

We also explain why the Jordan River crossing was significant: We found during our research for our book Veneration that the Jordan was believed to be a boundary between the realm of the living and the land of the dead. Hence, the mountains of Moab east of the Dead Sea were called the “mountains of Abarim” (Num. 33:47), which, according to the 1899 Encyclopaedia Biblica, means mountains of “Those-on-the-other-side.”

Other definitions are similar: “regions beyond,” “going across a space or a dividing line,” or “crossing over.” But until recently, when scholars recognized the existence of a cult of the dead among the ancient Canaanites, these definitions were assumed to refer to geography—the other side of the Jordan River.

In fact, scholars now recognize that the equivalent term was used by the neighbors of the ancient Israelites to refer to spirits that “cross over” from the spirit realm into the land of the living. This was used to describe the spirits of the Rephaim, who were summoned to a ritual feast in their honor to the threshing-floor, sanctuary, or tabernacle of El—the summit of Mount Hermon—where “the blessing of the name of El” would revivify (resurrect) “the heroes” after their arrival at dawn of the third day.

Interestingly, abarim, translated into English as “travelers,” appears in Ezekiel 39:11 as a reference to the soldiers of Gog of Magog, and was used by Ezekiel to describe the valley “east of the [Dead] sea”—in other words, the very place from which the Israelites crossed the Jordan to begin the conquest of Canaan.

PSALM 91 is often called the Soldiers’ Psalm, but the warfare it describes is spiritual rather than physical.

The “terror,” “pestilence,” and “destruction” referenced in Psalm 91 were evil entities named Pachad, Deber, and Qeteb who were well-known to the ancient Canaanites. We also note that the “adder” of verse 13 is nachash, the “serpent” of Genesis 3, and “the serpent” of Psalm 91 is a tannin—a dragon!

We also note God’s promise to deliver those who hold fast to Him in love, and we explain why verse 16 is a promise of the coming Messiah.

Then we move to the first chapter of Joshua, an exhortation of the Israelites to “be strong and courageous” as they prepared for the conquest of Canaan. Notice Joshua 1:3, God’s promise that “every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you.” And we discuss the importance of verse 11, and why Joshua’s command to his officers to prepare the people “for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan” is a reversal of a pagan ritual intended to resurrect “those who cross over”—the Rephaim—at dawn of the third day.

MOSES’ FINAL blessing on Israel was in the form of prophecies over the tribes, along with a reminder that when God led the people from Sinai, He was accompanied by “ten thousands of holy ones.”

“Holy ones” is a term used elsewhere in the Old Testament, always in reference to angelic beings. Yahweh’s “march from the south” is a theme also noted in Habakkuk 3:3–7 and Judges 5:4–5. The references to Edom in those passages hint that Mount Sinai is located farther north than most people think.

We also discuss the prophecy over the tribe of Dan (“a lion’s cub that leaps from Bashan”), the absence of Simeon from the tribes blessed by Moses, and the odd reference in Jude to the dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses.

MOSES’ LAST message was a warning—not just to the Israelites, but to the lesser elohim who’d rebelled against the authority of God.

We discuss Moses’ warning to the people against disobeying the commandments of God, the commissioning of Joshua, and the Song of Moses, which lays out the consequences of following other gods.

Deuteronomy 32 makes it clear that these small-G “gods” are real and that not all of them are faithful. We explain why Deuteronomy 32:8 should read “sons of God” and not “sons of Israel,” and share some background of the “demons” (Hebrew shedim) in Deut. 32:17.

Interestingly, Deut. 32:24 suggests that two entities known as deities in ancient Canaan may have been agents of God’s judgment for disobedience—Qeteb (“pestilence”) and Resheph (“plague”), who was later known to the Greeks and Romans as Apollo.

GOD’S COVENANT with Israel was conditional, with blessings for obedience to His commandments and curses for disobedience.

Disobedience can be summarized as serving other elohim. The promises of harsh punishment for worshiping other gods may seem extreme to us, but the consequences of following those entities are actually worse than the awful things that God warned would befall Israel if the people failed to heed His warning—because those consequences are eternal.

GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS to the Israelites were surprisingly progressive for the time, prohibiting His people from engaging in predatory lending practices and providing for the poor, widows, and orphans (without a government agency to collect and redistribute wealth!).

We discuss God’s command that oxen not be muzzled while they’re treading out grain and its interesting connection to the war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39. And we talk about God’s command to build an altar on Mount Ebal, overlooking Shechem, when the Israelites came into the land. We’ll have more on the significance of Shechem when we get to the Book of Joshua.

We also explain why Deut. 26:14 includes a command not to take any of the firstfruits and tithes of the produce of the land as offerings to the dead. It’s another clue that the pagan cult of the dead (i.e., the Rephaim/Nephilim) was a powerful influence on the ancient Canaanites.

Take advantage of Aaron Lipkin’s online seminars about the altar of Joshua at www.AltarofJoshua.com.

HALLOWEEN CELEBRATES death and the dead. Today, we set aside our schedule of scripture to discuss the spirits and how they’ve convinced humanity that engaging in practices forbidden by God is not only harmless, but profitable and fun.

We discuss Santa Muerte’s rise to prominence in Mexico, California’s schools embracing Aztec death cults as “ethnic studies,” and the spiritual and symbolic links between ancient Mesopotamia and the present day.

THE PUNISHMENT God ordered for a number of sins, ranging from sexual relations before marriage (for women) to rebelling against one’s parents (for sons), seems harsh by today’s standards.

We discuss the cultural and spiritual contexts for a number of things declared sin by God. Many of these things make no sense to us today because we don’t understand the world of the prophets and apostles or how these behaviors were connected to pagan religions of the day.

THE PEOPLE in Canaan engaged in what God called “abominable practices”: First, burning a child as an offering to Molech, followed by divination, reading omens, augury, sorcery, enchantment, consulting mediums, necromancy, and inquiring of the dead.

Derek argues in his forthcoming that these seven acts, which all involve contacting the spirit realm to gain influence or information, are connected to the worship of Molech, which was another name for the creator-god of the Canaanites El—also known as Dagon, Enlil, Kronos, and Saturn.

We believe this Watcher-class elohim is Shemihazah, leader of the rebels on Mount Hermon in the days of Jared, and is “the Destroyer” (Abaddon, or Apollyon), the king of those in the bottomless pit (Revelation 9).