|
Book of Joshua Response/ Outline
Chap. 1: Moses is dead; Joshua
begins his leadership of the Israelites as told in chapter 34 of the Book
of Deuteronomy. The
LORD promises to Joshua to be with him as he was with Moses and therefore
to not fear because God will be strong on his behalf. The LORD reminds Joshua to do all
according to the Book of Torah.
Joshua takes leadership and prepares the people through the officers
of the people to get ready to enter the land of rest promised to
Abraham. The LORD reminds Joshua
again to be strong and of good courage as the Israelites cross over the Jordan to
possess the land. There are
recurring phrases such as: “Be strong and of good courage”;
“to pass over the Jordan”;
“to take possession of the land…in order to possess it”;
Joshua on behalf of the people said, “All that you have commanded us,
we will do…”
Chap. 2-12: Chap. 2 is another story of spies who go to investigate the land of Jericho; Rahab the prostitute
is delivered from God’s wrath upon the Canaanites because of her
faith in the God of Israel. Rahab tells the Israelites that when all of the peoples
heard of God’s great works in the Exodus, their “hearts melted”
and there was no courage in any man.
In chap. 3-4, the priests lead the way across the Jordan with the ark of the covenant. As in the Exodus with Moses, so now in
the crossing of the Jordan with Joshua the Israelites cross on dry
land. Joshua tells the leaders of
the people to take up 12 stones for each tribe, as a memory of God’s
faithfulness.
Chap. 5 begins by saying
again that as the kings and peoples of neighboring lands heard of what God
did in the Jordan, their “hearts melted,” and they
greatly feared the Israelites.
Joshua circumcises the second generation of Israelites and they
celebrate the Passover together in the land of promise at Gilgal (roll).
The significance of the Passover is found in the Exodus, the
crossing of the Jordan and primarily in God’s faithful revelation to
his people as Joshua experiences at the end of chap. 5:13-15. This reminds the reader of Moses in
Exodus chap. 3. Chap. 6 continues
with Israel taking the city of Jericho as the LORD promised to them.
Chap. 7 reveals how
quickly it is for God’s people to turn to idolatry in the midst of
God’s presence and victory in the sin of Achan,
the son of Carmi. Joshua mediates
for the Israelites as Moses had done before. Chap. 8 recounts the victory against Ai
and Joshua is reminded by the LORD again not to fear or be dismayed because
the LORD will give the city as he has promised the land, into “your
hand.” Joshua obeyed the Book
of Torah in the battle and defeat of the king of Ai, then he built an altar
at Mt. Ebal and wrote on stones a copy of the Torah of
Moses, then he read to them all the words of Torah. Chapters 9-12
account for all the victories the Israelites had over the Canaanites. In chap. 9, the Hivites
try to deceive Joshua so that he will make a treaty and keep them from
destruction; chap. 10, King Adonizedek feared
greatly because he had heard how the Israelites were taking the land so he
tried to set up a united front against the Israelites. Joshua routed all the kings however,
putting them to death and hanging them on trees. The recurring phrases in these chapters
are the people’s great fear of the Israelites and God’s
constant reminder to Joshua as mediator and warrior of the people:
“Do not fear; be of good courage because I will give this people into
your hand.”
Chap. 13-21: This next section opens with these words: “Now Joshua was old
and advanced in years…”
This may be a marker as to the beginning of the end of
Joshua’s leadership. The
reader might read this and ask: “Who will be Israel’s leader now?” “They have not
possessed all the land, who will lead them to possess the
remainder?” The land that
remains is told and the Israelite tribes are given their portion in the
land. These blessings and portions
of inheritance by the Israelites takes the reader
back to Moses’ final blessing in Deut. 33. The point of these chapters seems to be
that the LORD was faithful in giving all the land to all of Israel just as he had promised to them and to their
fathers before them. One interesting
remark is in 17:17 when Joshua
says to the tribe of Joseph that they will drive out the Canaanites even
though “they have chariots of iron and though they are
strong.” This would be
forgotten in the Book of Judges, chapters 1-3. The turning point is in chap. 18 when all the whole congregation, the church assembles as Shiloh for the first official “worship service” in the land
that they had subdued by the power of the LORD. This section ends with verses 43 through
45 with great and precious promises: “Thus the LORD gave to Israel
all the land which he swore to give their fathers; and having taken
possession of it, they settled there…they had rest on every
side…Not one of all the good promises which the LORD had made to the
house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.” This is a summary of the section of
chapters 13-21: God is faithful to his promises.
Chap. 22: Chapter 22 could be summarized in verse 4-6, as Joshua sends the
tribes who will possess the land on the other side of the Jordan:
“…the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren…Take
care to observe the commandment and the torah which Moses commanded you, to
love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his
commandments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart and
with all your soul” (cf. Dt. 6:4-6). They then turn away from the LORD
immediately and build an altar which is contrary to the teaching of Moses
in Deut. 12ff.
Chap. 23-24: In chap. 23, it is again repeated that Joshua was getting older and
dying. He tells the judges and
officers of the people that they have seen God’s faithfulness,
therefore to be faithful to the LORD their God after he dies. He tells them again to be very steadfast
“to keep and do all that is written in the book of Torah…but
cleave to the LORD your God as you have done to this day.” Joshua warns them against idolatry and
tells them that the beginning of wisdom and of obedience is found in love
to God and his Torah. He tells them
in conclusion that when they disregard the covenant and forget the
commandments of the LORD, the LORD’s anger
will be kindled against them in curses as Moses had warned them. In chap. 24, Joshua is about to die as
Moses did in Deuteronomy. He
therefore renews the covenant at Shechem and the
people agree to live by the commands that Moses has given them written in
the Book of Torah. The imperatives
of obedience are again preceded by the indicative of who
God is as revealed and what he has done for them in the past, the promises
to the fathers, and the fulfillment of the promises in giving them the land
at impossible human odds.
“That day” they choose to serve and obey the LORD their
God. Joshua calls a stone from the
altar as a witness against the people that day. Joshua dies and the bones of Joseph are
brought up from Egypt and buried at Shechem. The book of Joshua ends at 24:33, not
verse 34 because there is an implicit absence of a successor to Joshua in
order to prepare the reader for the Book of Judges and the fact that
everyone will do what is “right in his own eyes.”
Outline
I.
Joshua to be Strong and of Good Courage as He
Leads the Israelites into the Land (Chap.1)
A.
Joshua
succeeds Moses as leader of the Israelites (1:1-9)
B.
Joshua
commands the offices of the people to prepare the people to possess the
land (1:10-15)
C.
The people
renew the covenant prior to entering the land (1:16-18)
II.
The Conquest
of the Land (Chap.2-12)
A.
Spies to
view the land and Rahab the prostitute who
believes in the LORD (2:1-24)
B.
Joshua leads
the people across the Jordan as Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea (3:1-4:24)
C.
All the
Kings of the nations fear the Israelites because of the mighty deeds of the
LORD (5:1)
D.
Joshua
circumcises the second generation of Israelites (5:2-9)
E.
Joshua leads
the Israelites in the celebration of the Passover meal (5:10-12)
F.
The
Commander of the LORD’s Army reveals
himself to Joshua as the LORD did to Moses at the burning bush (5:13-15; cf. Ex. 3)
G.
The siege of
the city of Jericho (6:1-21)
H.
God’s
faithfulness to Rahab and her family (6:22-27)
I.
Unbelief in
the camp: Achan’s sin of idolatry in spite
of God’s faithfulness (7:1-26)
J.
Joshua takes
the city of Ai (8:1-29)
K.
Joshua
builds an altar to the LORD at Mt. Ebal and reads the Torah of Moses to the people (8:30-35)
L.
Joshua
routes the five kings who wage a united front against Israel (9:1-10:43)
M.
The LORD
delivers all the kings of the nations into the hands of the Israelites
(11:1-12:24)
III.
The Inheritances of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Chap.
13-21)
A.
Joshua is
aging and coming close to death (13:1)
B.
The land
that remained to be conquered (13:2-7)
C.
Apportionment
of the land as Moses said in Deut. 33 (13:8-19:51)
D.
Cities of
Refuge as Moses said in Deut. 4 (20:1-9)
E.
Remainder of
the tribes and their inheritance (21:1-42)
F.
The LORD’s word had come to pass as he promised (21:43-45)
IV.
The Inheritance of Reuben, Gad, Manasseh, and
their Idolatry (Chap. 22)
A.
Their
possession because of their faithful obedience to the LORD (22:1-9)
B.
Reuben, Gad
and Manasseh offer strange fire to the LORD (22:10-34; cf. Numbers 32:20-22)
V.
Rest in the
Land and the Death of Joshua (Chap. 23-24)
A.
Joshua summons the elders of Israel
to read the Torah of Moses to them in the promised land (23:1-15)
B.
Joshua summons the elders of Israel
to renew the covenant in the promised land at Shechem
(24:1-28)
C.
Joshua tells the people that they
“cannot serve the LORD for he is a holy God and a jealous God”
(24:19-21)
D.
Joshua calls the people to affirm the
covenant of the LORD at Shechem (24:22-28)
E.
Joshua, the servant of the LORD dies
(24:29-30)
F.
There is no mediator, no leader for Israel
now that Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Eleazar have
died (24:31-33)
G.
The bones of Joseph are buried at Shechem (24:32)
H.
The conclusion has no successor of
Joshua (24:33)
|
