Book of Joshua

Just wrapped up the final chapter of Joshua last night. I've come to appreciate the Old Testament a lot more these days. It's filled with so many stories, even from a literature standpoint it's pretty interesting to read through all these old accounts and war tales. The thing that got me a bit confused while reading Joshua was the killings. God commanded Joshua to lead the Israelites into numerous battles against other nations--in fact, God handed them to Israel on a silver platter saying, "Be strong and courageous. They will not be able to withstand you. I have given you all these nations.." etc.etc.etc. So the Bible goes into detail about how Joshua destroyed and left nothing of each land. No survivors. They slaughtered even the innocent women and children. Wait a minute, I thought murdering was a sin. So why is God commanding Joshua to kill all these people? I brought this question to my good friend Mike whose goal in life is to become a pastor. What he said to me was interesting.. I guess this is a metaphor of us and how we must live today. We are Israel and the other nations that we go into battle with are our sins. God brings these sins upon us and wage battle telling us, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord Your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9) We need to attack and kill these sins with ruthlessness and leave no survivors. I thought it was an interesting way of reading the Old Testament. Ahh I love the book of Joshua! =)