I appreciate it. I do enjoy these discussions.
Yes, I've carefully read every single word in the four gospels and have gotten through the books of the Torah, up until Joshua (and I'm still reading further). I've taken the time to deeply understand the text, delving into its true meanings, referring to the footnotes, and often using a concordance for clarification.
From what I've gathered, it seems that YHWH has taken actions against those he would consider as my enemies. However, I'm troubled by the instances where everyone, including men, women, and children, were killed. Specifically, in my current reading of Joshua, it appears to be a clear case of genocide. Despite their pleas for peace and forgiveness, only a few were spared.
Even prior to this, the entire narrative of Moses and the way YHWH dealt with his own people is deeply troubling. Consider this: YHWH brings them out of Egypt and leads them into the wilderness. Instead of a journey that should have taken around two months, they remain in the wilderness for years. Their primary sustenance was manna. When they expressed a desire for something else, they were met with death. Understandably, this led to questioning YHWH's intentions and Moses' leadership capabilities. In response, YHWH wanted to wipe them all out.
I encourage you to read the Torah and approach it with a modern perspective. Try to place yourself in the shoes of those Israelites and foreigners in what was considered the promised land. Would humans today allow such behavior? Imagine the cartels entering California, slaughtering everyone, due to a god you’ve never heard of said the land belongs to them. Just imagine.
