Judges

When I read Judges, the question that comes to mind is not a new one. How can a good God not only allow evil to exist, but also seemingly condone it?
While there is no one, easy answer to this question, I think Judges gives us some possibilites. The biggest possibility is that the evil done in God's name did not have God's approvial. Also, it's clear that the more Israel moved away from God, the more succeptable they were to the violence of other religions.

Joshua

It had less stories than I thought it would have. It was mostly military conquests and land divisions. It is interesting to note that Israel never owned the whole Promised Land, only part of it. I wonder what would be different if they had obtained all of it. I think they wouldn't have been as good examples of God's grace, forgiveness, and patience as they are. This begs the question: Why does the book make it sound like they conquered more than they actually did? Maybe part of it is to emphasize how God was in control of it all, but maybe we think it was more land thant it actually was because we're modern readers and we don't go to a map to see for ourselves how much land was Israel's.

Numbers/Deuteronomy

Honestly, Numbers was really boring and I didn't get much out of it.

The main theme of Deuteronomy seems to be about remembering. The first part of the book is a recap of the main events in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Then it moves to a retelling of the law and ends with blessings and curses as well as Moses' death.
His death symbolizes a turning point in the history of Israel. I think of the Veggietales video Josh and the Big Wall at the beginning where they're singing about the promised land. It's a new day. A blank slate in some ways. As long as they never forget their past or their God.