Joshua

Part 1 Chapters 1-8

Begins with Joshua being told by God that Moses is dead. Joshua is to lead the people of Israel into the promised land. God encourages him and charges him to be obedient and courageous. The verse charging him to immerse himself in the book of the law and be courageous seems especially key to understanding God's initial interaction with Joshua.

Next is the story of the two spies being sent to Jericho. Rahab hides and protects them and saves herself and her family from destruction, and the Israelites learn that the people know of them and are terrified of them.

The Israelites cross the Jordan River in a miraculous fashion that seems to obviously mirror the also miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. They take 12 stones from the river bed to establish a monument to create a historical link to the event for future generations. The priests stand at the edge of the river while the rest of Israel crosses on dry land, and upon everyone else having crossed, they themselves cross over, and the river flows normally again. This would seem to insure that the entire nation of Israel individually had a clear awareness of God holding back the waters for them.

Upon entering the promised land, Joshua commands the men be circumcised because the generation that now exists had not been. Next he runs into the angel of the Lord who makes it clear that he is neither on their side or Israel's enemies side, but he is on the side of God.

Jericho story takes place. Jericho is delivered into the hands of the Israelites, and Rahab is spared along with her family as promised, but one of the Israelites takes some of the articles that they were commanded not to take. This leads to a defeat at Ai(the next city after Jericho) that should have been an easy victory. An interesting fact that dawned on me about Achan this time around is that his sin is not simply that of thievery or greed, but they were given explicit instructions before hand NOT to take anything "devoted to destruction." Achan knew what was at stake when he chose this. He knew he was placing the entire nation at risk from God's judgment. It was a supreme act of self-centered disobedience. I will still admit I don't understand why his entire family was judged for his choice, but I trust in God more than my own understanding in this. Finally Israel is given victory over Ai once they are purged.


Part 2 Chapters 9-16

The word gets out about Joshua and the gang and the Canaanites start reacting. The first response is the Gibeonites who choose trickery as their ticket out of being judged. The most interest thing about this passage to me is how obviously the phrase, "...they did not seek the counsel of the Lord..." appears to make clear the crux of their mishandling of the situation. Next the five Amorite kings unite and come against the Israelites. This seems to represent the most intimidating military challenge that the Israelites have faced, and God encourages Joshua as they begin the fight. A miraculous extension of the day takes place during this major battle. My favorite part of this passage is when it speaks of God hurling rocks down from heaven. It actually says the rocks killed more than the Israelites. Then there is a massive fight against many other kings and their kingdoms and a long list of victories for Israel. Chapter 12 is a list of the kings on both the east and west of the Jordan River who are defeated by the Israelites.

God tells Joshua that he is getting old, and there is still more land to conquer, but the land needs to be divided by lot among the twelve. The description of the borders of the various tribes begins to be spelled out geographically. There is also an account of Caleb inheriting his land(he and Joshua were the only two of twelve spies who returned encouraging the people to trust in God in regards to conquering the Canaanites). There is also an account of Othniel who wins the daughter of Caleb by brave exploits in battle. Note how often the tribes of Israel fail to drive out all the inhabitants of the land.


Part 3 Chapters 17 -24

There is a continuation of the border specifics of the twelve tribes. There is a story of Zelophehad's daughters. Their father had no sons, and they were promised to inherit land in their father's name. The tabernacle is established in Shiloh. Joshua sends out men to map out the remainder of the land for the remainder of the tribes so he can continue to determine the borders by using their information and casting lots. The remaining tribes are told their geographical boundaries.

The cities of refuge are established. The cities of the Levites are established(remember the Levites did not actually inherit any land because they were the servants of God and "...He was their inheritance...". However, the Israelites were commanded to give them cities to live in spread throughout their nation and fields for their livestock to be tended.)

Joshua dismisses the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the 1/2 tribe of Manassah to return to their homes on the east of the Jordan River. Upon passing back over the river, the men of these tribes build an altar that almost causes a huge war and tragic slaughter of these tribes by the rest of Israel. However, the men of Reuben, Gad, and the 1/2 tribe of Manassah explain that they didn't build the altar to sacrifice on it but as a witness for future generations to remember the connection between those living on both sides of the river.

Finally, Joshua gives a very solemn speech challenging the nation of Israel.