God’s Choice to replace Moses (Deuteronomy 31:7-8)
As the people of Israel stood on the threshold of entering the land that God had promised to them, Moses knew that the time had come for him to die. He had led Israel for forty years but now it was time to pass the baton to a new leader. Moses also knew that it would take someone special to be both a military and a spiritual leader. Joshua had already served a kind of apprenticeship under Moses but the task ahead was enormous: he would need to lead God's people in driving out the current occupiers of the Promised Land, whose behaviour and conduct and brought down God's judgment on them.
Joshua had been well trained. As a young man, he had seen Moses deal with the incident in the desert when the people had persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf idol. (Exodus 32:19-35) He had seen how Moses spent time in the 'tent of meeting', speaking with the LORD face-to-face, 'as one speaks to a friend'. Whenever Moses left the tent, Joshua would stay on.
So, Moses gathered the people together and addressed Joshua in front of them all: 'Be strong! Be courageous! For you shall lead these people into the land promised by the Lord to their ancestors; see to it that they conquer it. Don't be afraid, for the Lord will go before you and will be with you; He will not fail nor forsake you.' (Deuteronomy 31:7b-8) Moses laid his hands on Joshua (as a sign of God's blessing) and proceeded to give him very clear instructions: ‘Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions that I gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.’ (Joshua 1:7)
Farewell and Forward (Joshua 1)
God then took Moses to the top of Mount Nebo and showed him the Promised Land in the distance. Moses breathed his last there on the mountain-top and God buried him. The book of Joshua opens with God announcing Moses’ death, followed swiftly by His appointment of Joshua as the new leader. Although Moses had identified Joshua as the new leader, it had been primarily God’s choice. He now reinforces this by speaking directly to Joshua and giving him a commission: to conquer the territory from the desert in the South to Lebanon in the North, then from the mighty Euphrates river in the East to the Mediterranean Sea in the West.
Three times, God says to him: 'Be strong and very courageous!' He reminds Joshua to pay careful attention to the written laws that he has been given and promises that, if he does so, success will follow him in whatever he does throughout his life. When was the last time that you spoke creative or encouraging words over somebody, perhaps someone you work with or a friend or relative? God wants to use us and to bless us as we bless others. Also, read Mark 11:23 and consider the potential of your words!
Joshua later proved to be a true and mighty man of God. He showed boldness and strength, based on his willingness to ‘meditate’ on God's word constantly. This Hebrew word often translated ‘to think about’ literally means ‘to murmur’; it conveys the idea of ‘speaking something quietly over and over’. The product of 'meditation' in this sense is that we learn God's word, so that it is always on the tip of our tongue whenever we need to speak it; it is at the forefront of our mind whenever we need to take action! If God intended Joshua to meditate on His word, how much more does He intend us, who are living in an age when we have such easy and immediate access to it, to do the same? He intends you and me to be mighty people of God who choose to follow Him and to know how to live our lives wisely and courageously. If we don’t know what He says, how can we be who and what He wants us to be?
As our lives unfold, are we prepared to cross over into the best that God has for us or are we quite happy to remain on the edge of the action and in the first comfortable location that we find? Joshua called together the officers of the people and told them to be prepared, for they were going to cross the Jordan River. They responded by promising to obey his commands and directions.
Scouting ahead (Joshua 2)
Joshua's first action is to send a couple of scouts into the land ahead to get some idea of what they are facing, especially at Jericho - the first major city they would come to. Whenever God speaks to us about doing something for Him, it's always wise to do some preparatory work: speaking to one or two trusted friends to get their views and prayers. That can help us to get clear in our minds what needs to be done and to encourage our hearts to fully commit ourselves to God's will.
The scouts arrived at Jericho and called at the home of a prostitute – Rahab – whose house was built into the city wall. (This was probably some kind of bar or inn - incorporating a brothel - and run by Rahab and her family.) There they learned two interesting facts:
- Rahab told them that the locals already knew about the Israelites. Indeed, most of them believed that God was going to give the city and the land to Joshua and the Israelites. ‘We have heard how the Lord made a path through the Red Sea for you when you left Egypt! And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan.' (Joshua 2:9-11)
- Rahab herself wanted to know the God of the Israelites and to be saved from the coming destruction. (Joshua 2:12-13)
The local king soon learned that some Israelite spies had arrived and sent men to hunt them down. Rahab hid them on her roof and later helped them escape from the city by letting them down on a rope from an outward-facing window. She and the scouts did a deal and the spies promised that, provided she and her entire family stayed inside her house when the army arrived, they would be spared. They gave her a scarlet cord to fasten in the window as a sign to the invaders that they were to be left alone. Then Rahab had to wait. The spies went back to Joshua and told him everything that they had seen and heard.
Crossing the Jordan (Joshua 3)
Before they could get to Jericho, the people of Israel had to cross the River Jordan which, at that of year, happened to be in flood. The water may have spread up to a mile wide and no sane military leader would have attempted such a crossing, but God had some lessons that He wanted the people to learn. Firstly, He intended to demonstrate His supernatural power to them, at the same time ensuring that they would trust and follow Joshua in the days to come, whatever he asked them to do. He also wanted to remind them of how their own story had begun: with God's rescue of His people from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea to allow them to escape.
Thus, it was exactly forty years to the day from the celebration of the 'passover' (with the killing of a lamb and the smearing of its blood over the door posts of their houses) to the crossing of the Jordan in order to enter the land that had been promised to them. As the 'Ark of the Covenant' had led them in the desert, so now they would follow it into the River Jordan. Firstly, they had to confess their sins and get right with God, then they were warned not to approach too close to the Ark itself, as it was carried ahead by the priests.
As soon as the Ark (symbolising the very presence of God among them) entered the river, the water piled up at a town called 'Adam' to the North. At the very point where they were going to cross over, the water began to dry up. This had two effects. Firstly, the Israelites were amazed. Only two of them had seen the dividing of the waters at the Red Sea. Now the entire nation witnessed a similar miracle and went through the Jordan on dry land. Secondly, the inhabitants of the land who saw the same miracle were terrified. If they had already feared that they might be in trouble, now they were convinced. Who could possibly fight against a people whose God did things such as this?
A New Country for a New Nation (Joshua 4)
After all the people had crossed over, one man from each of the twelve tribes of Israel collected a stone from the river bed and, with these twelve stones, they constructed a monument on the bank of the Jordan so that, in years to come, they could tell their children about what God had done for them. Are you and I expecting God to do mighty miracles in our lives? And when He does, how will we remember what He did so that we can pass on the truth of who God is to our children (and theirs) for future generations?
Finally, the Israelites had a toe-hold in a country that they could call their own. On the very day that they entered the land, the provision of manna (which had lasted for forty years) stopped. Why? Because they had entered the land at harvest time. They could now roast their own grain and eat their own bread in their own land! The message went out loud and clear to the nations of the world that these were God’s covenant people, under His protection. (That same message has been echoed in our own time with the re-establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948.)
The Taking of Jericho (Joshua 5 and 6)
Joshua was not tempted to think that the credit for their first major achievement as a nation was down to him. He continued to seek God's guidance and approval for his strategy and tactics. God had to be first in all their thinking. So, Joshua ordered all the men to be circumcised in accordance with God's law. This was a painful process that required healing, so they were confined to camp for three days. After that, they celebrated the festival of Passover. When we are about to embark on a work for God, we need to know that, no matter how good at our job we may be, we too have a higher authority to look to first. God Himself will show us what to do and will fight for us. We need to be right with Him before we start. Then, what He tells us to do may not seem to be the obvious or best way forward, but it will be the only way of completing the task, in the power of the Holy Spirit, as something that will have eternal value.
Jericho was considered impregnable. It was strongly fortified with walls all around and plenty of supplies in store. But God had a plan. The Bible tells us that He (Jesus) was 'before all things' and, in Him, 'all things hold together'. (Colossians 1:17) The converse is also true: without Him, all things fall apart! If we seek to run our lives in our own way, without reference to God, then things will fall apart for us too. Don’t doubt it!
God's plan began with a top-level meeting between the commander of His own (angelic) army and Joshua, the commander of His (human) army. Joshua then passed on his instructions, telling the armed men to walk round the city silently, ahead of seven priests carrying trumpets of rams’ horns and followed by the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant (the Presence of God among them), every day for six days. On the seventh day, they were to walk round seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets, then everyone was to give a great shout.
God knew what He was doing. Sometimes the way He does things is not the way we would do them, but we need to allow Him to be in control! All of the occupants of the city, men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep and donkeys were to be destroyed as the Lord had instructed, but the items of silver, gold, bronze and iron were to be put into the Lord's treasury.
The Israelites did as they were instructed and, on the last circuit when they gave a great shout, the walls fell flat - all except for the house near the gate where Rahab lived, with the scarlet thread hanging in the window. She and her family were saved by her faith in God and she is celebrated (in Matthew 1:5) as one of those in direct line of descent to Jesus; Rahab was the mother of Boaz.
Complacency goes hand-in-hand with sin (Joshua 7 and 8)
The people of Israel had been told to put all of the items of value in the Lord's treasury, but one man, Achan, decided that it would be a good idea to feather his own nest and to keep some things for himself. Initially, he seemed to get away with it. The next town to be tackled after Jericho was called 'Ai' - nothing to do with intelligence, artifical or otherwise. Ai was a small place and the scouts who went ahead to check it out said that three thousand troops would be more than sufficient to take it.
To the dismay and humiliation of the Israelite detachment, the men of Ai proved to be excellent warriors. The result was a calamity for the Israelites. Thirty-six Israelite soldiers were killed and the rest were chased away by the people of Ai. We read that: ‘the hearts of the Israelites melted in fear.’ Joshua fell on his face in the presence of the Lord. He realised immediately that this humiliating defeat was only to be explained by God Himself. Joshua, as leader, took full responsibility, as Moses had done before him. It seemed that the entire Israelite population might now be defeated by the Canaanites and the name of God wiped from the face of the earth. What was he to do? What could God do?
God’s response was typical. ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned and disobeyed my commandment.’ When God instructs us to do something, we need to do it fully and completely. We should not think that God will accept incomplete or shoddy work from us. It is called sin and we need to own it as such. This means confessing it (agreeing with God that we did it), repenting of it (turning away from it entirely) and asking God’s forgiveness. What's more, the longer we delay putting things right, the worse our situation will become.
Joshua did put things right. He found out who had stolen something for himself and Achan, the culprit, was taken out and stoned to death. They buried him under a large pile of rocks as a warning to anyone else who might be tempted to try something similar! Now, we are all human; we regularly sin and fail, but Jesus has come to help us overcome our fallen natures. By His death on the cross, He has paid the penalty for our sin - all of it! But, when we fall, we must not stay fallen. We need to get up again, resolve the problem that caused us to fall in the first place and get going again, calling on the Holy Spirit to empower us.
The people of Israely did just that and, this time, Ai was destroyed. We should never be complacent, but always on our guard. The apostle, Peter, advised believers to be ‘self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings’. (1 Peter 5:8-9)
It is often the case that, following some spiritual victory, Christian believers are so full of what has happened to them that they do not remember to be wary of the things that God has warned them about. Although God had told the people of Israel to drive out the inhabitants of the land, this was actually a partnership. The Israelites were to do it under God's authority, using His power and following His directions.
Later, (in Joshua, chapter nine) we read what happened when the Israelites were again off-guard and had grown complacent. They were expecting to have to fight the tribes occupying the land but one group (the Gibeonites) hatched a cunning plan. They sent a delegation, dressed in worn, patched clothing with mouldy food rations and purporting to have travelled from a distant country, to seek a treaty with Israel.
The Israelites (Joshua and the leaders included) relied on their own senses and trusted what the men said. They felt it was okay, and things looked okay. But nobody asked God. Joshua made a treaty with these people based on feelings and, only when it was signed, sealed and delivered did he and the Israelites find out the truth! Things may look good to us, but they may not be all that they appear to be. Let's not fall into the trap of making decisions for ourselves, especially when we know God, who sees everything as it truly is, not as as it seems to us. This is why He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us.
Victory over the Amorites (Joshua 10-12)
Five Amorite tribes saw what had happened with the Gibeonites and decided to punish them for their disloyalty and cowardice. They formed an alliance of their own and advanced to attack the Gibeonites, who responded by appealing to Joshua and his people for help. Joshua sought God's advice and was given the go-ahead to respond. He took the entire army and made an all-night march from Gilgal to surprise the alliance. The Israelites defeated all five Amorite kings on a single day that would never be forgotten.
As they joined battle, God turned the weather against the Amorites. A violent hailstorm assailed the Amorite lines, with more troops being killed by large hailstones than by Israelite swords and spears. Then Joshua called out to God to extend the hours of daylight so that they could complete the job of wiping out the Amorite army. We read that: 'the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation avenged itself on its enemies'. The entire area in the South, from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from Goshen to Gibeon was occupied and cleared out by the Israelite army.
Joshua and the Israelites went on and defeated the kings in the North as well, despite them having the most modern equipment (iron chariots) and a huge army (as numerous as the sand on the seashore). God gave Joshua victory wherever he went. Joshua did everything that God had commanded both him and Moses. He destroyed the chariots, hamstrung the horses, killed the kings and the people and burned most of their cities. He subdued just about all of the country, even the majority of the Anakites - a race of giant people - leaving only a few survivors in the area of Gaza, Ashdod and Gath. (These became a problem for King Saul much later when David faced and killed Goliath of Gath. (See 1 Samuel 17).
Running out of steam or taking stock?
From chapter thirteen onwards - about half-way through the book of Joshua - we find that Joshua has grown old, but the task is not yet complete. There are still areas in the South and the far North to be captured, but God tells Joshua to take an inventory and allocate the land to the twelve tribes. God Himself will complete the job for Joshua in due course.
The rest of the book is taken up with this allocation of the land to the various tribes. It included making provision for 'cities of refuge' where people guilty of manslaughter (accidental or unintentional homicide) could be assured of finding refuge until a proper trial could be held. A special allocation of land in Hebron is made to Caleb who had earlier proved his whole-hearted devotion to God. (See Joshua 14:14)
So, the people lived in the land in and amongst the remnants of the original occupants. Today, God calls all Christians to live amongst those who are not believers in Jesus and to be witnesses by our lifestyles and by our love for them. How are we matching up to this challenge? Are we showing love to others and setting an example in the ways that we live? After Israel had settled the land, we read that 'the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their ancestors'. (Joshua 21:44) In the same way, His desire is still that people everywhere should live in peace. The presence of Christian believers is intended to act as salt and light in the midst of corruption and darkness.
Finally, Joshua recognises that he is coming to the end of his life on earth. He summons the leaders and rehearses the things that God has done with and through them. He passes on encouragement to be strong, to be obedient and not to turn aside to the ways of the nations remaining among them, but to walk in the ways of the LORD their God. If I am able to pass on anything to you, the reader, of these studies, I want it to be the same message as Joshua gave. If you don’t put God first, the things that replace Him will become the very snares that draw you away from the Living God.
Joshua and the people then renewed the covenant at Shechem, where the people were adamant that they would serve God wholeheartedly. Accordingly, Joshua exhorted them to remain true to their word. ‘The people answered, "we choose the Lord!" "You have heard yourselves say it", Joshua said. "You have chosen to obey the Lord". "Yes", they replied, "we are witnesses". "All right", he said, "then you must destroy all the idols you now own, and you must obey the Lord God of Israel". The people replied to Joshua: "Yes, we will worship and obey the Lord alone"’. (Joshua 24:21-24)
What about us? Are we going to give up the things that replace God as 'Number One' in our hearts and worship only Him?
‘Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve’.
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