The primary themes that configure the book of Joshua are constituted by possession of the promised land, obedience to the commands of Moses, and the extermination of the peoples of the land. Even though there has been common agreement that these themes function to establish a sense of national identity, attempts to describe how they do so have been frustrated by the apparent contradictory perspectives they present. The book of Joshua argues against associating Israel's identity with racial, religious, or territorial programs. It affirms that Israel exists because YHWH created it, accompanies it, and accomplishes the divine will through it.