Joshua Introduction
Introduction
The books of Joshua and Judges tell the story of the early years of Israel as a nation. They describe how the Israelites conquer and occupy the land of Canaan, and then struggle to live up to their covenant with God. The Bible’s drama here moves to an important new stage – God’s people are in God’s land. Yet it becomes clear that the road to reconciliation between God and humanity will not be easy.
The story describes the preparations and battles of Israel’s invasion, as well as how the land was divided among the tribes. Since pockets of resistance remained, Joshua in his final speech urges each tribe to take full possession of its territory. Next he leads the people to renew their commitment to the covenant relationship with God.
Judges then relates the troubling cycle of Israel’s repeated covenant breaking, falling under the rule of other nations, and then crying out to God for help. God responds by raising up ‘judges’ to fight for them and save them. But the relief is temporary as Israel falls back into wrongdoing once again. (‘Judges’ are both military leaders and legal authorities.)
Just as Israel was made up of twelve tribes, so the book tells of twelve judges. But as the people persist in going their own way, we see that they have rejected their true Judge and Ruler. As the anarchy and atrocities increase, Israel’s need for a king becomes more evident. By the end the questions are urgent: Can Israel fulfil its destiny and calling to be God’s light to the nations? Who can rule Israel to help it find its proper role in the drama?
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Joshua Introduction: NIVUK
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
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Joshua About this book
About this book
The book of Joshua tells how Israel settled in Canaan, the land God promised to give them. The book gets its name from its main character, Joshua, who had become the leader of Israel following the death of Moses.
The book of Joshua has two parts. In the first part (1—12) the Lord helped Israel capture many of the cities and towns of Canaan. Sometimes this help involved miracles. For example, in the battle at Jericho the Lord made the city walls collapse (6.20). Later, in the battle at Gibeon the Lord made huge hailstones fall from the sky and crush the enemy soldiers. Then he made the sun stand still so the Israelites had a longer period of daylight to catch and kill as many of the enemy soldiers as possible before night came (10.1-15).
But the Lord refused to help Israel if the people broke their agreement to worship only him and to obey his commands. For example, in the battle at Ai, Israel was defeated because one person broke Israel's agreement with the Lord (7.1-12).
The second part of the book (13—24) describes how each tribe received its land. Israel had captured territory east of the River Jordan. This land had already been promised to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, but they had to help the other tribes take over the rest of Canaan. The tribes of Judah, Ephraim, and West Manasseh took over their sections of the land fairly quickly. Then the rest of the land was explored and divided into sections, and the Lord showed Joshua which sections to assign to each of the remaining tribes. But since the Levites were the special servants of the Lord, they did not receive a large area of land like the other tribes. Instead, they were given towns scattered throughout the whole country.
At the end of the book, Joshua made two speeches emphasizing how good the Lord had been to the Israelites. Then Joshua gave them a challenge:
Worship the LORD, obey him, and always be faithful.
(24.14a)
A quick look at this book
1. Joshua becomes the leader of Israel (1.1-9)
2. Israel crosses the River Jordan and conquers Jericho (1.10—6.27)
3. Achan disobeys the Lord (7.1-26)
4. The battle at Ai (8.1-35)
5. The people of Gibeon trick the leaders of Israel (9.1-27)
6. Joshua commands the sun to stand still (10.1-15)
7. Israel takes over much of the land of Canaan (10.16—12.24)
8. Land that Israel did not take over (13.1-7)
9. Tribal lands that Moses had assigned east of the Jordan (13.8-33)
10. Tribal lands west of the Jordan (14.1—19.51)
11. Towns for protecting people accused of murder (20.1-9)
12. Towns for the Levi tribe (21.1-45)
13. The eastern tribes return home (22.1-34)
14. Joshua's farewell speeches and death (23.1—24.33)
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