Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Books of the Bible--Joshua

The Book of Joshua is written by and named after the same Joshua that we have seen from Exodus to Deuteronomy as Moses's helper. It's very logical that he would be the successor to Moses. Chapter 1 starts with an exhortation to him. I can understand why someone following in Moses's footsteps would need some encouragement! That chapter has been an encouragement to many many followers of Christ over the years.

Immediately following, Joshua begins to lead the people actually into the promised land that they have been looking forward to for the past 40 - 50 years. I'm sure the people had many doubts after Moses was not there to lead them any longer whether God would still show up for them. So God starts off with doing a miracle to get the Israelites across the flooded Jordan River just as he had done to bring the Israelites across the Red Sea.

After that the first city they came to was Jericho and I think most people in our culture know that story even if they weren't raised in church. God had the Israelites March around the city every day for 7 days and on the seventh day they marched around 7 times then they blew their trumpets and shouted praise to God and the walls fell down with no effort whatsoever.

It shows a tactic of the devil that even after that great victory he was able to lure Joshua into making an unwise decision. Joshua made an agreement with a country he shouldn't have, possibly because he was too secure in his succes. Another similar lesson is the story of Achan who stole things from the plunder of Ai and faced punishment for himself and his whole family because of it. In fact Israel suffered casualties of war because of it.

There is some tedium for the book as it recounts battle after battle after battle and describes the different sections of property that were allotted to each of the different 12 tribes. More suitable for study than reading.

Some favorite verses
Joshua 1:9 "Haven't I commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid, neither be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you will meditate on it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success."
Joshua 24 "Choose for yourselves this day who you will serve . . . but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord."

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