Wow, I can’t believe it has been three months since I’ve posted to this blog. As you can imagine I have been busy and if you’re following me on Facebook or Twitter, you’re aware I have had some amazing opportunities over the past three months that I hope to post on in the near future. Needless to say I am quite a ways behind and though I have kept up with our daily readings as much as possible, I am in the process of going back and re-reading the books of the Bible so I can provide a complete post rather than merely writing about things I remember from three months ago. In short, I have updated on my right hand column some of the places I’ve visited in the last three months and they were all very exciting and filled with the wonder of God’s creation. For the time being, I am going to begin posting where we left off and that is with the book of Joshua.

We learned in Deuteronomy that Joshua was to succeed Moses upon Moses’ death. In the transition, Moses presented Joshua with the Law in a book and passes on the command that Joshua is to read it periodically not only to himself but to the nation of Israel. In fact this principle is reiterated in Joshua 1:7-8 and God clearly states not only to read the law but they “shall meditate on it day and night.” It was this time in the history of the Israelites that the nation of Israel began their conquest and settlement of the promised land. If you recall, God made three major promises to the Israelites beginning with Abraham approximately 500 years earlier (Genesis 12:1 – 3) and it was now under the leadership of Joshua that the nation of Israel would obtain their inheritance.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this in the book of Deuteronomy but Joshua is believed to have been a personal assistant to Moses. Having spent the 40 years wandering the wilderness and having been one of the 12 spies sent out before the nation to bring back fruits of the promised land, it is evident that Joshua was closely involved with the workings of the nation of Israel. With that being said, we also know that Joshua ascended Mount Sinai with Moses as shown in Exodus 24:13 and he was an obedient man as he was one of the only two spies to stand up for pressing forward in conquering the promised land before the nation was cast into the wilderness. Through these examples we can be certain that God had been working through Joshua throughout his involvement in the nation of Israel and it was at the age of 85 that Joshua succeeded Moses. For six years they fought to overtake the land of Canaan and Joshua spent the remaining 19 years he lead Israel governing the twelve tribes. What we learn from Joshua is that he listened and obeyed God and honored God throughout his success in settling the land of Canaan. Joshua did so by remaining close to and focused on the Word of God which was documented in the book of law handed him by Moses.

One of the main items that caught my attention while reading Joshua Chapter 2 is the faith Rahab had in the God of Israel as outlined in Joshua 2:10-11. Having no association with the nation of Israel, Rahab had observed the miracles performed by God and believed in Him as the one and only true God. Interesting how someone outside of the ranks of Israeli privilege could see what so many Israelites failed to see throughout its history. The other interesting point that I took from this chapter is that even though God explicitly commanded the nation of Israel not to dwell among the Canaanites nor make covenants with them, the very first two spies sent into the Promised Land by Joshua make a covenant with a prostitute there by the name of Rahab. I found this particularly interesting because in such a situation, where one is being sought after and the only apparent self-preservation requires such a covenant, I would say that most every individual today would do the very same thing. Of course, it was against God’s commandment and yet God was faithful and blessed the nation of Israel upon their entrance and attack on Jericho. The only other thing that stood out to me within this chapter was the use of a scarlet cord to mark the safe home of Rahab per the covenant they had made. This scarlet cord seemed to resemble the color and placement of the passover blood used in Exodus 12.

Upon receiving the good report from his spies, Joshua decides to cross the Jordan and begin their conquest of the Land of Canaan. Though my knowledge of the area is limited, it is my understanding that the Jordan is a wide and perhaps deep river with who knows what kind of current. Needless to say, it would be a daunting task to cross with all of your supplies and not lose anything. The great miracle of Chapter 3 occurs when God speaks to Joshua and clearly lays out the plan and path for crossing the Jordan. In great faith, the people of Israel follow Joshua’s orders and to their amazement, and you can imagine the amazement of the Canaanites, when the nation of Israel follows God’s orders (flowed down through Joshua) the Jordan becomes merely another dry path to walk upon. As the feet of the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord entered the water, God caused the Jordan to cease flowing and dried up the river bed before them. In a great demonstration of God upholding His promises, He leads them into the Promised Land and safely carries them across great obstacles. This miracle was such a profound moment for all the land that Joshua obeyed in placing memorial stones at both banks of the river to mark the historic location and to be a memorial for generations to remember God’s great work on their behalf.

Setting up camp on the west side of the Jordan at a place called Gilgal, the nation of Israel settled for the first time in the Promised Land. It was from here that they began to conquer the land of Canaan and this location served as a headquarters for them. On the fourth day, after crossing the Jordan, the nation of Israel observed the passover. If you recall, the passover and its associated feast of Unleavened Bread were performed in the spring. Lasting seven days, the passover commemorated Israel’s exodus from Egypt and served as a mark of the beginning of the religious year. It is only fitting that the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land at the time of the Passover which signified the deliverance from Egypt and the entering of a new period with God. More-so, the day after the passover, God’s great provisions, in the form of manna, ceased. This signified the ending of the 40 years in the wilderness and God’s special provisions He granted them. The nation of Israel was now given the provisions of the Promised Land which God promised would flow of milk and honey for their survival. As we close out chapter 5 we see that God presents before Joshua the Commander of His army. God provides the commander of His army as a sign of confidence to Joshua and encourages Joshua in obeying God in overtaking Jericho.

In Chapter 6 we see the clear instructions for Joshua to overthrow Jericho and through obedience to His orders, the nation of Israel observes another great miracle in which Jericho falls by the direct intervention of God. In the process of overthrowing Jericho, Joshua issues clear commands as to the cities devotion to destruction. He instructs the Israelites that besides the household of Rahab, the entire city is devoted to destruction and identifies in Joshua 6:18 that by taking or keeping anything devoted to destruction within the camp of Israel in turn devotes the camp of Israel to destruction. Another important note is the curse placed upon Jericho by Joshua as he declares that anyone who rebuilds the city of Jericho will be cursed and the city as well.

Chapter 7 is an important chapter within the book of Joshua because it serves as the first moment in Joshua’s leadership that the nation of Israel is disciplined. As we saw in Chapter 6, Joshua declares all of Jericho as devoted to destruction and it is amazing to see how quickly the Israelites disobey. Immediately following two miraculous events (crossing the Jordan and the fall of Jericho) we see that people of Israel broke faith with the Lord and one individual kept “some of the devoted things.” As a result, in a battle with Ai that clearly would have been given to Israel, the nation receives a dreadful defeat. In great shock and despair Joshua bows before the Lord and God explains the reason for such a defeat. This chapter shows that although God is continuously faithful in His promises and protections, He intends for His people to obey Him. This served as a very clear reminder of God’s expectations. The nation of Israel had thus become devoted to destruction and brings me to another point of this chapter that I find profound. Throughout the remainder of chapter 7 we see that through a series of tiers, the exact person responsible for Israel’s destruction is called out by name without God having told that name to Joshua previously. More profound is that Joshua and the Israelites, in the face of pain-staking required action, obeyed God by bringing Achan and all he had to the vally of Achor. In obedient action they stoned not only Achan but his sons and daughters and everything he owned and burned them as commanded by God. What a difficult action to take and yet what devotion they showed.

The Israelites then return to defeat Ai. After the defeat of Ai, following what Moses had commanded Joshua in Deuteronomy 27, at Mount Ebal Joshua erected an altar in roughly the same place Abraham had 600 years earlier. Here, Joshua read the Book of the Law to the people of Israel and honored God. Immediately following Joshua’s renewing of the covenant, they were deceived by the Gibeonites and Joshua entered a covenant with them which went against God’s commandment before. In an interesting twist, however, even though the covenant was made against God’s commandment, God guided the nation of Israel to uphold that covenant and resulted in one of the great battles of this time. Joshua and Israel come to the rescue of Gibeon which had now been under attach by Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. The famous battle of Gibeon and further west is known for God’s great provision of causing the Sun to stand still for an entire day. This provision enabled Joshua’s victory. Probably the most profound part of this section is that the occurrence of the sun standing still was the result of Joshua, in what appears as him commanding the lord, speaks to the Lord and says in Joshua 10:12: “… Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”

All in all, the nation of Israel conquered a long list of the kings of the south and the kings of the north (31 in total) though small pockets of Canaanites remained. Though not as evident in Joshua, these pockets of Canaanites will serve disastrous for the nation of Israel. Throughout the remaining chapters, specifically Chapters 13 through 22, we see the division of the Promised Land according to tribe. Out of the inheritance there were also six cities of refuge and 48 cities for the Levites which included 13 cities for the priests. In Chapter 22 we do see a bit of contention between some of the tribes of Israel. In remembering the powerful lesson the nation of Israel learned in Chapter 7, when 10 of the tribes heard of an alter built by the two and 1/2 on the East of the Jordan they immediately rose to confront those responsible. Not only is this a profound message of the lesson they learned but also a message of how we too should confront those in our midst, those who claim to be of the same family of Christ yet who perform actions against Christ. For in this instance, we see that they approach the 2 and 1/2 tribes and make known the image perceived by their building this alter. They make known that they are approaching them in query of their motivations and clearly identify the consequences of said actions. It is through dialogue and the mending of hearts that only God can do that we see the intent of such an alter was to forever mark the unity of the nation of Israel even though 2 and 1/2 tribes resided outside of the Promised Land (which was granted them by God through Moses). What a beautiful representation.

In Chapters 23 and 24 we close out the Book of Joshua with Joshua’s farewell message. Joshua charges the nation of Israel and in particular the leaders of Israel with some very important statements. The main principle of these charges relates to the practice of idolatry. Joshua understood the practice of Idolatry performed by the Canaanites and knew that such a lure of personal indulgence of passions and desires would be very difficult to withstand. Joshua warned of the temptations and he reiterated the Book of Law. More-over, Joshua added his own book to the book given him by Moses as demonstrated in Joshua 24:26. In an even greater attempt to ensure the nation’s obedience, Joshua wrote the book on stones to be a witness and to be prominently displayed for all to read. Joshua was set on obeying God and warned of Israel’s struggles and charged them to continue reading, meditating, and above all else, obeying God’s Word. Joshua renewed the covenant of the Lord and instilled in the hearts and minds of the elders the importance of obeying and serving the Lord. Joshua died at the age of 110 having served the Lord as leader of Israel for 25 years. After Joshua’s burial, Israel continued to serve the Lord “all the days of the elders who outlived joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.”

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