The genocide in today's text needs to be considered; due to genocide, war crimes, Isis and Boko Haram, we can't look away from the point the Bible is making. God makes no apology to the inhabitants of Jericho. For them it is judgment day, small caps. In prophecy throughout the Bible, war is seen as God's tool to punish mankind. In Revelation Judgment Day is routinely pictured with images taken right from many a bloody Old Testament history or prophecy.
Yet I am not advocating genocide. The Old Testament failure of theocracy is the same as the failure of the law. Both the law and theocracies failed to work for lack of good people. There is no biblical theocracy on earth today to render God's judgment on the rebellious, and no other Messiah expected to create one. Jesus refused to set up a theocracy on earth, though Satan and many of Jesus' fans asked him to do so. He also warned that though many would come after him claiming to be the Messiah, they would all be impostors. Yet when Jesus does come, we need to understand he will judge the quick and the dead. None can hope to endure the day of his coming in their own righteousness. But by the blood of Jesus, who took ultimate judgment on the cross, we have hope for ourselves and offer hope to all the Jerichos that live in rebellion today. May there be many Rahabs that respond.
