Deuteronomistic Disaster Reel: From Joshua’s Murder Tour to David’s Messy Monarchy

Sacrilegious Discourse - Bible Study for Atheists

Forget cozy Sunday school—this episode yanks you straight into the Deuteronomistic history, where obedience allegedly brings “blessing” and disobedience gets you earthquakes, exile, and the occasional mass slaughter… all lovingly curated by Yahweh’s PR team. The hosts trace the arc from Deuteronomy through Joshua, Judges, and 1–2 Samuel, showing how Israel’s “history” is really a theologically rigged scorecard: obey and prosper, screw up and die horribly. Along the way they drag the conquest of Canaan, the Battle of Jericho, and the nonstop claim that the Israelites “totally wiped out” enemies who mysteriously keep reappearing like bad sequels.

Then it’s chaos hour: the cycle of sin–oppression–crying–judge in Judges, where left-handed assassin Ehud, vow-disaster Jephthah (who kills his own daughter to keep a promise to God), and himbo-strong Samson with the legendary hair show just how morally upside-down this “holy” era really is. The hosts roast the idea that “God told me to” was once a valid legal defense, point out how today that lands you in prison or a psych ward.

Finally, they roll into Samuel and the rise of the monarchy: Saul flaming out in a cloud of disobedience, David the war-hero-turned-sex-pest, and the full Bathsheba/Uriah coverup where God’s chosen king essentially engineers a murder to hide his affair. Add in family drama with Absalom, rape and retaliation in David’s household, and the birth of Jerusalem as the shiny new religious center, and you’ve got a dynasty built on blood, lies, and very selective covenant piety. The hosts keep it hilarious, furious, and deeply human—calling God “a dick” more than once and leaning hard into the hypocrisy of divine favoritism.

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📌 Topics Covered:

• How Deuteronomy becomes the theological spine for Joshua–Kings and sets up the “obey or die” covenant scam
• Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, Jericho’s walls, Rahab the Canaanite sex worker-turned-ancestor of David, and the never-ending “we totally wiped them out this time, guys” claims
• The Book of Judges as a collection of war stories, folk tales, and absolute moral collapse: Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Samson, Delilah, and one extremely regrettable vow from Jephthah
• Why “God told me to do it” would get you locked up today—but in the Bible it’s framed as heroic obedience
• The shift from chaotic tribal rule to monarchy in 1 Samuel: Samuel as the last judge, Saul as the failed first king, and David as the golden boy with a body count
• 2 Samuel’s high drama: David, Bathsheba, Uriah’s engineered death, Absalom’s rebellion, rape and revenge within the royal family, and Jerusalem’s rise as Yahweh’s favorite city
• Side quests into colonialism, Trump, left-handed prejudice, Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand,”

💬 Best Quote from the Episode:

“It didn't matter who was in charge. They always be sinning.”

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