Joshua

Part One: Introduction to Joshua

The Name

The book is named after its central human character, Joshua son of Nun. His name was originally Hoshea, "salvation," and Moses renamed him Yehoshua, "the LORD is salvation" (Numbers 13:16). In Greek, the name is Iesous, the same name as Jesus. The King James Version twice uses "Jesus" for Joshua in the New Testament, following the Greek (Acts 7:45; Hebrews 4:8). The very name of the man who led Israel into the promised land points to the One who leads His people into eternal salvation.

Author

Jewish tradition and the book itself point to Joshua as the main author: "And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God" (24:26). The writer was an eyewitness: "until we were passed over" (5:1, KJV first person). Rahab was still alive when it was written, for "she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day" (6:25). The account of Joshua's death and burial (24:29-33) and a few later notes were added after his death, probably by Eleazar's son Phinehas or the elders who outlived Joshua (24:31).

Date and Setting

Israel crossed the Jordan in the spring of about 1406 BC, forty years after the Exodus (5:6). The conquest took about seven years: Caleb was 40 when Moses sent him from Kadesh (14:7) and 85 when he received Hebron (14:10), which was 45 years later; 38 of those years were spent wandering (Deuteronomy 2:14), leaving about seven years of war. The book ends with Joshua's death at 110 (24:29), perhaps around 1380-1370 BC. It covers about 25-30 years.

Canaan at this time was a land of independent city-states, each with its own king (31 are listed in chapter 12), loosely under Egyptian influence but without strong central control. Their religion centred on Baal and Asherah, with fertility rites, temple prostitution and child sacrifice (Leviticus 18:21-27; Deuteronomy 12:31).

Purpose and Theme

Joshua shows God's faithfulness in giving His people the inheritance He promised, and the faith and obedience required to possess it. God promised the land to Abraham (Genesis 12:7; 15:18-21), Isaac and Jacob; Joshua records the fulfillment:

There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Joshua 21:45

At the same time, the book shows that Israel did not possess all that God gave. "There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed" (13:1). The gift was complete; the possession depended on faith and obedience. This sets the stage for the failures in Judges.

The Key Verse

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Joshua 1:8

Outline of Joshua

The Conquest and the Justice of God

Many readers are troubled by God's command to destroy the Canaanites. Scripture gives several important truths:

• It was judgment on extreme wickedness. God told Abraham the land would not be given yet because "the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (Genesis 15:16). Their practices included child sacrifice, ritual prostitution, incest and bestiality, and "the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants" (Leviticus 18:24-28). "For the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out" (Deuteronomy 9:5).
• God was patient. He waited over 400 years, and the Canaanites had heard of His power for forty years (2:9-11; 9:9).
• It was not ethnic hatred. Rahab the Canaanite and her family were spared because of faith (6:25), and the Gibeonites were spared (9). Achan the Israelite was judged when he sinned (7).
• Israel was warned it would face the same judgment. "As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish" (Deuteronomy 8:20). Israel was later expelled from the land for the same sins (2 Kings 17:7-18).
• It was a specific, limited command. It applied to those nations at that time, carried out under God's direct command. It is not a pattern for violence by God's people today. Christians fight "not against flesh and blood" (Ephesians 6:12) with weapons that "are not carnal" (2 Corinthians 10:4).
• It foreshadows the final judgment. The conquest is a picture of the day when Christ will judge the wicked and give His people the inheritance (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 19).

Part Two: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Section I: Entering the Land (Chapters 1-5)

Chapter 1 — Joshua's Commission

"Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua" (1:1). God's servants die, but God's work goes on. "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan" (1:2). God promised:

Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses... There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Joshua 1:3, 5

The land was given, but each place had to be claimed by walking on it. Hebrews 13:5 applies "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" to every believer. Three times God said, "Be strong and of a good courage" (1:6, 7, 9). Joshua's strength would come from the Word (1:7-8) and God's presence:

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua 1:9

Joshua told the people to prepare food, "for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan" (1:11). He reminded Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh of their promise to fight (1:12-15; Numbers 32), and they answered, "All that thou commandest us we will do... only be strong and of a good courage" (1:16-18).

Chapter 2 — Rahab and the Spies

Joshua sent two spies secretly to Jericho, where they lodged in the house of Rahab, a harlot (2:1). Her house was built into the city wall (2:15). When the king's men came looking, she hid the spies under stalks of flax on the roof and sent the soldiers away (2:2-7). Then she confessed her faith:

I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us... For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you... and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites... for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Joshua 2:9-11

All Jericho had heard the same news and "our hearts did melt" (2:11), but only Rahab turned to the God of Israel. She asked for her family to be spared (2:12-13). The spies promised, on condition that she bind "this line of scarlet thread in the window" and keep her family inside the house (2:18-21). She tied it in the window at once (2:21). The spies hid three days in the mountains and returned: "Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land" (2:24).

Rahab's story is a striking picture of salvation by grace through faith. She was a Gentile, a Canaanite under sentence of judgment, and a sinful woman, yet she was saved by believing God's word and taking refuge under a scarlet sign. The scarlet line recalls the Passover blood on the doorposts (Exodus 12:13); all who were inside the house were safe. The New Testament honours her twice: "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not" (Hebrews 11:31), and her faith was shown by her works (James 2:25). She married Salmon of Judah and became the mother of Boaz, the great-great-grandmother of David, and an ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5).

Her lie. Rahab lied to protect the spies (2:4-5). Scripture commends her faith and her actions in receiving the messengers, not her falsehood. God used a new believer who still had much to learn.

Chapter 3 — Crossing the Jordan

The ark, carried by the priests, went about 2,000 cubits (over half a mile) ahead of the people, "that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore" (3:3-4). "Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you" (3:5). God said, "This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee" (3:7). It was harvest time, when "Jordan overfloweth all his banks" (3:15). The moment the priests' feet touched the water, the river stopped and rose up in a heap far upstream at the city of Adam, and the people crossed on dry ground while the priests stood firm in the middle (3:13-17). Faith had to step into the water before it parted.

The Red Sea crossing brought Israel out of Egypt; the Jordan crossing brought them in to the land. The God who began their salvation finished it (Philippians 1:6). The Jordan is often sung of as a picture of death and entry into heaven. Many Bible teachers also see it as a picture of the believer's identification with Christ in death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-6), leading into the life of faith, rest and spiritual warfare pictured by Canaan (Ephesians 1:3; 6:12).

Chapter 4 — The Memorial Stones

Twelve men, one from each tribe, took twelve stones from the riverbed where the priests stood, and Joshua set them up at Gilgal (4:1-8, 20). Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan (4:9). The purpose:

That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD

Joshua 4:6-7

God's people must remember His works and pass them on (Psalm 78:4-7). The LORD "magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses" (4:14). When the priests came up out of the river, the waters returned (4:18). The crossing took place "on the tenth day of the first month" (4:19), the very day the Passover lambs were chosen (Exodus 12:3). The purpose was worldwide: "That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever" (4:24).

Chapter 5 — Gilgal: Circumcision, Passover and the Captain of the Host

The kings of Canaan heard and "their heart melted" (5:1). Before any battle, God required consecration. The generation born in the wilderness had not been circumcised, so all the men were circumcised at Gilgal (5:2-8). "This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you" (5:9). Gilgal means "rolling." It was an act of great faith: the army was disabled for days in enemy territory, trusting God for protection.

Israel kept the Passover on the fourteenth day, in the plains of Jericho (5:10), their first Passover in the land. The next day they ate the produce of the land, "And the manna ceased on the morrow... but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year" (5:11-12). God's wilderness provision gave way to the provision of the inheritance.

Near Jericho, Joshua saw a man with a drawn sword and asked, "Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?" (5:13).

And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship... And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.

Joshua 5:14-15

The command echoes God's words to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:5), and the Captain accepted Joshua's worship, which no created angel would do (Revelation 22:8-9). This was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God. The real question is not whether God is on our side, but whether we are on His. Joshua was the general of Israel's army, but the LORD was the Commander-in-chief. Christ is "the captain of their salvation" (Hebrews 2:10).

Section II: Conquering the Land (Chapters 6-12)

Chapter 6 — The Fall of Jericho

Jericho was shut up tight (6:1). God gave an unusual battle plan: the armed men, seven priests with trumpets of rams' horns, and the ark were to march around the city once a day for six days in silence, then seven times on the seventh day; at the long trumpet blast, the people would shout and "the wall of the city shall fall down flat" (6:2-5). Israel obeyed exactly, "and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city" (6:20).

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

Hebrews 11:30

The victory came by faith and obedience, not military power, "that no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Corinthians 1:29). Note the number seven: seven priests, seven trumpets, seven days, seven times on the seventh day, signifying God's complete work.

Jericho was "accursed" (devoted to God, herem): its people were destroyed, its silver, gold, brass and iron went into the treasury of the LORD, and nothing was to be taken for personal gain (6:17-19, 21, 24). The spies brought out Rahab and all her family, "and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day" (6:22-25). The house on the wall was spared when the wall fell. Joshua pronounced a curse on anyone who rebuilt Jericho: he would lay the foundation at the cost of his firstborn and set up the gates at the cost of his youngest son (6:26). About 500 years later, "Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua" (1 Kings 16:34). "So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country" (6:27).

Archaeology. Excavations at Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) have found a city destroyed by fire with collapsed walls. The date of that destruction is debated: John Garstang in the 1930s dated it to about 1400 BC, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1950s dated it earlier, and later re-examination of the pottery by Bryant Wood argued again for about 1400 BC. Notable features consistent with the biblical account include large stores of grain left in the burned city (a short siege at harvest time, Joshua 3:15; 5:10) and fallen walls.

Chapter 7 — Achan's Sin and the Defeat at Ai

"But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan... took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel" (7:1). One man sinned, but God counted it as the nation's sin. Joshua, not knowing, sent about 3,000 men against the small town of Ai, confident it would be easy (7:2-4). Israel fled, and 36 men died; "the hearts of the people melted, and became as water" (7:5). Joshua tore his clothes and lay on his face before the ark until evening (7:6-9). God answered, "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned... for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also" (7:10-11). "Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you" (7:12).

By lot, the tribe, family, household and man were identified: Achan (7:16-18). Joshua said, "My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him" (7:19). Achan confessed:

When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent

Joshua 7:21

The progression of sin: saw, coveted, took, hid. It is the same pattern as Eve's sin (Genesis 3:6) and David's (2 Samuel 11:2-4). "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:14-15). Achan and his family, who probably knew of the goods buried in the tent, were stoned and burned in the valley of Achor ("trouble") (7:24-26). "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).

At the beginning of Israel's life in the land, secret sin in the camp was severely judged, as at the beginning of the church, when Ananias and Sapphira lied about money and died (Acts 5:1-11). God's holiness in His people matters most at the start. Centuries later God promised to give "the valley of Achor for a door of hope" (Hosea 2:15; Isaiah 65:10): the place of judgment becomes a place of grace.

Chapter 8 — The Capture of Ai and the Covenant at Mount Ebal

With sin dealt with, God said, "Fear not, neither be thou dismayed" (8:1). This time Israel was allowed to take the spoil and cattle for themselves (8:2, 27); had Achan waited, he could have had it lawfully. Joshua set an ambush behind the city, drew the men of Ai out with a feigned retreat, and stretched out his spear toward Ai as the signal (8:18). The ambush took and burned the city (8:3-29).

Then Joshua led all Israel to Mount Ebal near Shechem, in the heart of the land, as Moses had commanded (Deuteronomy 27). He built an altar of uncut stones, offered sacrifices, wrote a copy of the law on plastered stones, and read all the blessings and curses before the people, half standing before Mount Gerizim and half before Mount Ebal, "the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them" (8:30-35). "There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not" (8:35). After a victory, Israel recommitted to God's Word.

Chapter 9 — The Gibeonite Deception

The kings of Canaan united to fight Israel (9:1-2), but the Gibeonites used cunning. They came with old sacks, worn wineskins, patched shoes, old garments and dry, mouldy bread, claiming to be from a far country, wanting a treaty (9:3-13). "And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD" (9:14). Joshua made peace with them and swore an oath (9:15). Three days later the truth came out: they were neighbours (9:16). The congregation murmured, but the leaders kept their oath, made in the LORD's name (9:18-20). The Gibeonites became "hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD" (9:21-27).

Lessons: the enemy comes not only as a lion but as a deceiver (2 Corinthians 11:14; 1 Peter 5:8); appearances deceive; every decision needs prayer (Proverbs 3:5-6; James 1:5). Yet God brought good out of it: the Gibeonites served at God's altar, and the temple servants known as the Nethinim are traditionally linked with them (1 Chronicles 9:2); men of Gibeon helped rebuild Jerusalem's wall (Nehemiah 3:7). Israel's oath was binding: when King Saul later killed Gibeonites, God sent three years of famine (2 Samuel 21:1-9). God holds His people to their word (Psalm 15:4).

Chapter 10 — The Southern Campaign and the Long Day

Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, formed an alliance of five Amorite kings (Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon) to attack Gibeon for making peace with Israel (10:1-5). Gibeon called for help, and Joshua marched all night from Gilgal (10:6-9). God said, "Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand" (10:8). The LORD threw the enemy into confusion, and as they fled, "the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them... they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword" (10:10-11). Then Joshua prayed:

Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies... So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.

Joshua 10:12-14

The writer cites "the book of Jasher" (10:13), a collection of heroic poems also quoted in 2 Samuel 1:18. Bible-believing Christians have explained the event in various ways: a slowing of the earth's rotation, a miraculous prolonging of light, or a refraction of light. Whatever the mechanism, the text presents a real miracle in which the Creator, who controls the heavens, answered the prayer of His servant. Habakkuk recalls it: "The sun and moon stood still in their habitation" (Habakkuk 3:11), and Isaiah refers to God's work "in the valley of Gibeon" (Isaiah 28:21).

The five kings hid in a cave at Makkedah (10:16). Joshua had the captains put their feet on the kings' necks: "Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies" (10:24-25). This pictures Christ's final victory, "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool" (Psalm 110:1), and the believer's share in it (Romans 16:20). Joshua then took the southern cities, "because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel" (10:28-43).

Chapter 11 — The Northern Campaign

Jabin, king of Hazor, the chief city of the north, gathered a vast coalition, "much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many" (11:1-5). God said, "Be not afraid because of them" (11:6). Joshua attacked suddenly at the waters of Merom and won (11:7-8). He hamstrung the horses and burned the chariots as God commanded (11:9), so Israel would trust in God rather than military power (Psalm 20:7; Deuteronomy 17:16). Hazor, "the head of all those kingdoms," was burned (11:10-11). Archaeologists have found a major destruction layer at Hazor, and its interpretation and date are debated.

"Joshua made war a long time with all those kings" (11:18). "For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly" (11:20); they had hardened themselves against what they knew of God (2:9-11), and He confirmed them in it, as with Pharaoh. Joshua destroyed the Anakim, the giants who had terrified the spies forty years earlier (Numbers 13:33), except in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod (11:21-22). Goliath of Gath would come from that remnant (1 Samuel 17:4). "So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses... And the land rested from war" (11:23).

Chapter 12 — The Defeated Kings

A summary of the victories: two kings east of the Jordan under Moses, Sihon and Og (12:1-6), and 31 kings west of the Jordan under Joshua (12:7-24), each named with his city. God's victories are recorded one by one, like the names of His people in His book (Philippians 4:3).

Section III: Dividing the Land (Chapters 13-22)

Chapter 13 — Land Yet to Possess; the Eastern Tribes

"Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed" (13:1). The Philistine cities, the coast and the north still remained (13:2-6). God promised, "them will I drive out," and told Joshua to divide the land anyway (13:6-7): faith allots what God has promised even before it is fully possessed. The chapter describes the eastern inheritance of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh (13:8-32). Balaam is noted among the slain (13:22). "But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance" (13:33; 13:14). Israel "expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites" (13:13), the first note of incomplete obedience.

Chapter 14 — Caleb: "Give Me This Mountain"

The land west of the Jordan was divided by lot under Eleazar the priest, Joshua and the tribal heads (14:1-2). Then Caleb came to Joshua at Gilgal. He reminded him of Kadesh forty-five years earlier, when "I wholly followed the LORD my God" (14:8), and of Moses' promise (14:9; Deuteronomy 1:36).

And now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me... Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out

Joshua 14:10-12

At 85, Caleb asked not for a quiet retirement but for the hardest assignment: Hebron, the stronghold of the giants who had terrified Israel. Joshua blessed him and gave him Hebron, "because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel" (14:13-14). Hebron was where Abraham had lived and was buried (Genesis 23). "And the land had rest from war" (14:15).

Chapter 15 — Judah's Inheritance

Judah, the royal tribe, received the largest territory in the south, with its boundaries carefully described (15:1-12) and over a hundred cities listed (15:20-63), including Bethlehem's region. Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from Hebron and offered his daughter Achsah in marriage to whoever took Kirjath-sepher (Debir). Othniel, his nephew, took it and later became Israel's first judge (15:13-19; Judges 1:12-15; 3:9-11). Achsah asked her father for springs of water as well as land, and he gave her "the upper springs, and the nether springs" (15:19), a picture of asking our Father boldly for blessing (Luke 11:13). But "as for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out" (15:63). Jerusalem was not taken until David (2 Samuel 5:6-9).

Chapters 16-17 — Ephraim and Manasseh

The descendants of Joseph received the central hill country (16:1-17:13). Ephraim "drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer" but made them pay tribute (16:10); Gezer was later taken by Pharaoh and given to Solomon (1 Kings 9:16). The daughters of Zelophehad received the inheritance Moses promised (17:3-6; Numbers 27). Manasseh also failed to drive out the Canaanites in several cities, but "put the Canaanites to tribute" (17:12-13): profitable compromise instead of obedience. When Joseph's tribes complained that their land was too small, Joshua told them to clear the forest and drive out the Canaanites with iron chariots: "for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong" (17:14-18). They wanted more given to them rather than possessing what they had.

Chapter 18 — Shiloh and the Survey of the Land

"And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there" (18:1). Shiloh remained the centre of worship until the time of Eli and Samuel (1 Samuel 1-4; Jeremiah 7:12). Seven tribes had not yet received their inheritance, and Joshua rebuked them: "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?" (18:3). Spiritual laziness can leave God's gifts unclaimed. Three men from each tribe surveyed the land and wrote a description in a book, and Joshua cast lots "before the LORD" (18:4-10). Benjamin received the land between Judah and Joseph, including Jerusalem, Jericho and Gibeon (18:11-28).

Chapter 19 — The Remaining Tribes and Joshua's Inheritance

Simeon's inheritance was within Judah's territory (19:1-9), fulfilling Jacob's prophecy, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:7). Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan received their lands (19:10-48). Nazareth and Capernaum would later lie in the territories of Zebulun and Naphtali, "Galilee of the Gentiles," where Christ ministered (Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:13-16). Dan, unable to hold its land, captured Leshem far to the north and renamed it Dan (19:47; Judges 18). Last of all, Joshua, the leader, received his own inheritance, Timnath-serah in Ephraim, a city he asked for (19:49-50). He served others first, like the Lord who "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Matthew 20:28).

Chapter 20 — The Cities of Refuge

As Moses commanded (Numbers 35; Deuteronomy 19), six cities were appointed where a manslayer "that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither" from the avenger of blood (20:1-6). West of the Jordan: Kedesh in Galilee, Shechem in Ephraim, and Hebron in Judah. East of the Jordan: Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan in Bashan (20:7-8). They were open to Israelites and strangers alike (20:9). See Numbers 35 for their picture of Christ our refuge (Hebrews 6:18).

Chapter 21 — The Levitical Cities and God's Faithfulness

The Levites received 48 cities with their pasture lands scattered throughout all the tribes (21:1-42), including the six cities of refuge. The priests, Aaron's descendants, received thirteen cities in Judah, Simeon and Benjamin (21:4, 9-19), near where Jerusalem and the temple would later be. Then comes the great summary of the book:

And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the LORD gave them rest round about... there stood not a man of all their enemies before them... There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Joshua 21:43-45

God had kept every promise. Any land not yet possessed was due to Israel's failure, not God's. "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen" (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Chapter 22 — The Altar of Witness

After about seven years of fighting, Joshua commended Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh for keeping their promise and sent them home with a charge: "take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law... to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways... and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart" (22:1-6). On the way they built "a great altar to see to" by the Jordan (22:10). The western tribes, fearing it was a rival altar and the start of apostasy, gathered at Shiloh to make war (22:11-12). Wisely, they first sent Phinehas and ten princes to confront them, recalling Peor and Achan, and offered to share their own land if the eastern tribes felt it was unclean (22:13-20). The eastern tribes explained: the altar was not for sacrifice but a witness, so that future generations on the west side could never say "Ye have no part in the LORD" (22:21-29). Phinehas was satisfied, war was averted, and the altar was named Ed, "witness" (22:30-34).

Lessons: zeal for purity is right, but accusations should be investigated before acting (Proverbs 18:13; Matthew 18:15); and believers must guard the unity of God's people (Ephesians 4:3), while recognising that physical separation (the Jordan) can become spiritual distance.

Section IV: Joshua's Farewell (Chapters 23-24)

Chapter 23 — Joshua's Charge to the Leaders

"A long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel," Joshua, old, called the leaders together (23:1-2). He reminded them that "the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you" (23:3). "One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you" (23:10).

Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.

Joshua 23:11

He warned against mixing with the remaining nations through marriage, because "they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land" (23:12-13; Numbers 33:55). He testified to God's faithfulness: "I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you" (23:14). But just as surely as God kept His good promises, He would keep His warnings if they turned to other gods (23:15-16).

Chapter 24 — Covenant Renewal at Shechem

Joshua gathered all the tribes to Shechem, where Abraham first built an altar in the land (Genesis 12:6-7) and where Jacob had buried his household idols (Genesis 35:4). Speaking for God, he reviewed their history: their fathers beyond the river "served other gods" (24:2), the call of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Egypt, the Exodus, the wilderness, Balaam, and the conquest (24:2-13). "And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out... but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour" (24:12-13; Exodus 23:28). Everything they had was grace. Then came the challenge:

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:14-15

The people answered, "God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods" (24:16-18). Joshua tested their sincerity: "Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God" (24:19). He was not discouraging them but warning them not to promise lightly. They insisted, "Nay; but we will serve the LORD" (24:21). Joshua said, "Ye are witnesses against yourselves," and called them again to "put away... the strange gods which are among you" (24:22-23), which shows idols were still hidden among them. "The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey" (24:24).

Joshua made a covenant, wrote the words "in the book of the law of God," and set up a great stone under an oak as a witness (24:25-27). He died at 110 and was buried at Timnath-serah (24:29-30), called "the servant of the LORD," the title Moses had held. "And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD" (24:31). The next generation would be different (Judges 2:7-10). Joseph's bones, carried out of Egypt, were finally buried at Shechem in the plot Jacob had bought (24:32; Genesis 33:19; 50:25; Exodus 13:19; Hebrews 11:22). Eleazar the priest died and was buried (24:33). The book ends with three graves in the promised land: a picture of faith that rested in God's promises to the end.

Part Three: Christ in Joshua

Joshua as a Type of Christ

Hebrews 4:8 makes the key point: "For if Jesus [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." Joshua's rest was real but partial and temporary. Christ gives the true and final rest.

The Captain of the LORD's Host

The Commander who appeared to Joshua (5:13-15) was not an angel but the LORD Himself: He accepted worship, declared the ground holy, and is called "the LORD" in the following verse (6:2). He is the pre-incarnate Christ, who appears at the end of the Bible leading the armies of heaven (Revelation 19:11-16).

Rahab and the Scarlet Line

Canaan as a Picture of the Christian Life

Canaan is often sung of as heaven, but it contained enemies, battles and failures, which heaven does not. Many Bible teachers therefore see it chiefly as a picture of the believer's present inheritance in Christ, entered by faith and possessed through spiritual warfare:

• Already given, yet still to be possessed. "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you" (1:3); God "hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), which we must lay hold of (Philippians 3:12).
• Victory by faith, not by strength. Jericho fell by faith (Hebrews 11:30); "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4).
• Real enemies. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers" (Ephesians 6:12).
• Secret sin brings defeat. Achan's sin defeated the whole army (7); "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18).
• Compromise brings long-term trouble. The Canaanites left in the land became thorns (23:13).
• Rest. The land had rest from war (11:23; 21:44), but the full rest still remains (Hebrews 4:9-11).

Part Four: Fulfilled Prophecies and Promises

Part Five: Key Passages in Depth

Joshua 1:7-9 — The Secret of Success

God's formula for success was not military skill, wealth or numbers, but four things:

• Courage: "Be strong and of a good courage" (three times).
• Obedience: "observe to do according to all the law... turn not from it to the right hand or to the left."
• Meditation: "meditate therein day and night" (compare Psalm 1:1-3).
• God's presence: "the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

True "prosperity" and "good success" in Scripture are measured by faithfulness to God, not by worldly wealth (Matthew 6:33; 3 John 2).

Joshua 7 — One Man's Sin

God said, "Israel hath sinned" (7:11), though only Achan took the goods. God's people are one body (1 Corinthians 12:26), and sin tolerated in the camp affects all: "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (1 Corinthians 5:6). Achan's sin was covetousness (7:21), which "is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). The sin took what belonged to God (6:19), was hidden, and was only confessed when exposed. Confession is still the way to restoration: "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

Joshua 10 — The Day the Sun Stood Still

The miracle shows that God controls creation and answers prayer, and that "the LORD fought for Israel" (10:14). Joshua prayed a bold prayer "in the sight of Israel" (10:12), in the middle of the battle, based on God's promise, "I have delivered them into thine hand" (10:8). "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).

Joshua 24:15 — Choose You This Day

Every generation must choose for itself. Joshua's generation and the elders after him served the LORD (24:31), but "there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD" (Judges 2:10). Faith is not inherited automatically. Joshua's decision was personal ("as for me"), included his household ("and my house"), and was public, made before all Israel.

Part Six: The Major Teachings of Joshua

1. God's Faithfulness to His Promises

"Not one thing hath failed" (23:14). The God who promised the land to Abraham over 400 years earlier delivered it exactly.

2. The Power of God's Word

Success comes from meditating on and obeying God's Word (1:8). Jericho fell when Israel followed God's instructions exactly, however strange they seemed (6).

3. Faith That Acts

The priests stepped into the Jordan before it parted (3:15); Israel marched around Jericho before the walls fell (6); Caleb asked for the giants' mountain (14). Faith takes God at His word and moves forward.

4. Holiness and the Danger of Sin

Victory depends on purity. Before Jericho, Israel was consecrated at Gilgal (5); after Achan's sin, Israel lost at Ai until the sin was removed (7).

5. God Is the Warrior

"The LORD your God is he that hath fought for you" (23:3). Victories came by hailstones, a long day, falling walls and the hornet. Joshua led, but the Captain of the LORD's host commanded.

6. Grace to Outsiders

Rahab the Canaanite and the Gibeonites were brought into God's people. God's plan always included the nations (Genesis 12:3).

7. Prayer and Seeking God's Counsel

Joshua prayed on his face after Ai (7:6-9) and prayed for the sun to stand still (10:12). The one major failure of leadership came when they "asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD" (9:14).

8. Integrity and Keeping One's Word

Israel kept its oath to the Gibeonites even though it was obtained by deceit (9:19-20).

9. Incomplete Obedience

The tribes repeatedly failed to drive out the Canaanites (13:13; 15:63; 16:10; 17:12-13). Partial obedience is disobedience, and it leads to the downward spiral of Judges.

10. Remembering and Passing On the Faith

Memorial stones (4), the altar of witness (22) and the stone of witness (24:26-27) were all reminders for future generations. Each generation must choose for itself (24:15).

Part Seven: Connections — How Joshua Links to the Rest of the Bible

Joshua in the New Testament

Joshua in the Old Testament

Themes That Run from Joshua Through Scripture

Part Eight: Practical Lessons

• God's work continues when His servants die. "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise" (1:2).
• Feed on the Word daily. Success comes from meditation and obedience (1:8).
• Courage is commanded. Fear is natural; courage comes from God's presence (1:9).
• God saves the most unlikely people. Rahab the harlot became an ancestor of Christ (2; Matthew 1:5).
• Step out in faith. The waters parted after the priests' feet touched them (3:15).
• Remember and tell your children. "What mean ye by these stones?" (4:6).
• Consecration comes before conquest. Gilgal came before Jericho (5).
• Make sure you are on the Lord's side (5:13-14).
• Obey even when God's ways seem strange. Marching round Jericho made no military sense (6).
• Hidden sin defeats God's people. Saw, coveted, took, hid (7:21).
• Pray before every decision, especially the easy-looking ones (9:14).
• Keep your word even when it costs you (9:19-20).
• Pray boldly. God stopped the sun at a man's prayer (10:12-14).
• Age is no barrier to faith. Caleb at 85 asked for the giants' mountain (14:10-12).
• Don't be slack to possess what God has given (18:3).
• Investigate before you accuse (22).
• Choose today whom you will serve, and lead your household (24:15).

Part Nine: Key Verses to Memorize

Conclusion

Joshua is the book of fulfilled promise. After 400 years in Egypt and 40 years in the wilderness, God brought His people across the Jordan, defeated their enemies, and gave them the land He swore to Abraham. Not one word failed. Yet the book also shows that God's gifts must be possessed by faith and obedience: Jericho fell to faith, Ai stood against hidden sin, and much land remained unconquered through compromise. Above all, Joshua points to the greater Joshua, Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, who conquers every enemy, divides to His people an eternal inheritance, and gives the true rest that Joshua could only foreshadow.

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Hebrews 4:9