I have read various bits and pieces of the evidence that is supposed to validate the claims that these didn't occur. What I found interesting was that the archaeological presentations either were very wishy-washy or the conclusion so presented were in direct disputation of the evidence presented.
Some years ago, I read a paper by two Israeli archaeologists disputing the idea that the northern Kingdom of Israel arose out of a split of the unified King David/King Solomon kingdom. What bemused me was that the evidence directly confirmed what the biblical record says and yet the conclusion was that the evidence had to mean that the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been independent from the very beginning.
I find it interesting that the Hittites were, for a long time, only known by the biblical records. Yet, it found in recent times, (the last two or so centuries) that it was a large thriving kingdom that disappeared from history.
As far as Jericho is concerned, what evidence have you seen that is was uninhabited at the time. I have seen various archaeological papers that directly support the biblical story.
One of the major problems that is faced today is that we have no sure way of measuring the time periods of the artefacts found with any real precision. The +/- errors are just too large to be sure of precise timing.
Unless we actually develop the technology to view the past, we will always be unsure of what and when events occurred. It becomes a matter of "faith" as to what you end up as believing as "truth".
What god, if any, you believe in is a personal decision. I believe that Jesus Christ is God (one with the Father and Holy Spirit) and that He is the creator of the universe and that He takes a personal interest in every single person who has lived, is living or will live. But whether or not you so believe is entirely up to you. He has given you the free choice to do so.
For those who think science "proves" that there is no God, my to you is why are there so many scientists who believe in a god and in particular believe in Jesus Christ as God, especially when they come from a background of no belief in any god or gods?
What made it compelling to them to change their minds and believe in Jesus Christ?
Of course, on the other side, there are those who believed and no hold the view that there is no god. One must also ask them why did they change their minds about the matter.
The evidence for pretty much the entire Bible before the return from exile generally ranges from non-existent to contradictory.
The biggest problem is that the conquest of Israel, as depicted in Joshua, is impossible. Joshua gives a lot fairly specific details about what kinds of regions would have been particularly despoiled, and while there is some archaeological evidence of war, they can't add up to the tale of Joshua, even on a superficial level (such as the destructions being a millennium apart, a pretty major chronological conundrum). In terms of historicity, Joshua has much in common with a kind of King Arthur mythology for the ancient Hebrews.
Furthermore, the entire history as depicted is pretty heavily massaged into a pattern of "king does well, Israel prospers; king does bad, Israel suffers." So much so that even most of the good leaders get specific episodes of transgressions resulting in punishment (Joshua is the only figure off the top of my head that doesn't have such an evidence). The text should therefore be treated as unreliable and nonindicative of history until we have corroborating evidence to support textual evidence.
The latter bit is where most of the archaeology to support the Biblical narrative falls flat. Sure, you can point to evidence that people lived in Jerusalem around 1000 BC... but that's all the evidence says. We don't know if they were even following Jewish law, for examples, least of all if Jerusalem was the capital of a major regional power.
Note that I write this as someone who would consider himself a Christian. But I do acknowledge that the Bible is not an accurate source of literal history.
In what way is the conquest of the region that became known as Israel impossible? You say that the archaeological record doesn't add up to what is described. So what? The evidence of the destruction that occurred in Europe during WW1 and WW2 is now very minor compared to the extensive damage done. That is only within the century. One should expect that residual archaeological evidence will be extremely small after a period of 3 millennia.
So to say that the amount of archaeological evidence is not extensive enough to validate the details found in Joshua and that the details given in Joshua are impossible is a bit extreme.
Your comment about the history of the kingdom following the "fortunes" of the various kings is also not matching what we can see in modern day history. If one looks at the modern histories of different countries around the world, one can also see similar patterns. Countries quite often follow the actions of the leadership of that country, bad leadership worsens a country, good leadership tends to better a country.
It doesn't always follow this pattern but for the discussion, close enough is an indicator.
To say that this should be treated as unreliable and non-indicative of history really means that we should treat all (and I mean all) historical records as completely suspect. As I remarked earlier, the only indicators of the Hittites was found in the OT until relatively recently. If it is correct in such a minor (extremely minor) point, shouldn't we expect it to be at least somewhat indicative in the major points?
You can either accept based on what we do have or not accept based on what we do have. That's your call. I have yet to come across anything that amounts to the biblical record being bogus. Even the stuff used to refute has not done so as far as I am concerned.
As far as "Jewish" law is concerned, the biblical record quite clearly says that the Israelites did not follow the Mosaic Law for varying periods of time during their history and that they followed after other gods. In point of fact, it evens tells of an event where one of the Mosaic books hadn't been know for at least a couple of generations, since it had been found hidden in the old temple for that entire period.
One of the interesting aspects of the OT, at least from my point of view, is that it doesn't hide the failures and foibles of the leaders and people of that time. King David, who is called a man after God's own heart, is described in terms that indicate how variable he was, good and bad. I mean to say, he slept with one of his leading officers' wife and then to hide the fact, got the man killed.
Stories like Lot and his daughters and their getting of child by their father or the actions of Tamar with her father-in-law Judah, or even Abraham and how he tried to hide his marriage to Sarah (by calling her his sister, which she was) from the various Kings he came in contact with.
These are the stories of real people not whitewashed for religious reasons.
Essentially, the bible is a book about the relationship between God (Jesus Christ) the Creator and people. It is not afraid to tell it like it is. The stories could be about anyone today, we are no different.
I listened to an Islamic Imam who was teaching his followers how to deal with Christians when they come. He basically was telling them that they should use all the "naughty" stories in the bible to get the Christians to run away. For those who don't understand what the books are about, this is a good tactic.
It is up to each individual to test the veracity of what they are told and to weigh up the evidence presented to them. This is applicable irrespective of the subject matter, irrespective of the field, irrespective of the consensus.
I often hear something to this affect, would you be willing to provide 3 specific claims/events documented in the Bible that have been disproven?