The Book of Joshua: Conquest and the Sin of Self-Reliance

The River Jordan

The first part of the book of Joshua deals with the conquest of Canaan.  It is a brutal saga of war and destruction. Then they utterly destroyed all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, asses, with the edge of the sword.  Josh 6:22. God instructs Joshua to destroy everything except what can be devoted to Him.  Many first time readers of the Old Testament wonder why so much collateral shedding of blood.  What kind of God would instruct his armies to leave no one alive?  It helps to look at the story in its historical context.

God  promised His people the land. To give it to them He must get them there.  He sent Moses to liberate them from slavery in Egypt so that they might go to Canaan.  But the Israelites were in Egypt for four hundred years, more than enough time to take on some very bad habits and sinful ways. They had not learned to trust God, and they fell into sin so much along the way that it took them forty years to go a distance that should have taken a few days. We can only imagine the patience of God as He dealt with His people, then and now!  Ever the good Father, God took them to their destination, but He did not give freely. There were contingencies.  Chief among them were fidelity and obedience.

 The consequences of disobedience were dire. Because of their many transgressions, most of the early generations did not live to see the promised land, including Moses.  The privilege fell to Joshua, Moses' successor.  Joshua proved to be a faithful leader who followed God's word to the letter.  One important theme of the book of Joshua is that Faith is the key to the success of any endeavor and disobedience results in death.

After the conquest of Jericho, the Israelites move toward Ai. All appears to be in order until we learn that Achan, of the tribe of Judah,  disobeys God's command, keeping for himself some of the booty that should be designated for God. This act ignites God's ire. Later, when Joshua sends men to spy out the land of Ai, they are filled with over confidence and report that taking the land will be an easy task.  They do not count on God's help, relying instead on their own abilities. This further angers the Lord. As a consequence, they fail to take Ai, and lose thirty-six men in the battle.  Thus, the battle of Ai is a recipe for how NOT to fight a battle, and the point God makes once more is that obedience brings victory and disobedience brings defeat.  The over-confident strategy failed to work because the Lord was not brought into the plans for battle.

The great lesson of the book of Joshua is that fidelity and obedience are key. God Himself is the model of fidelity. Fidelity for His children demands obedience. He keeps his promise to deliver the Promised Land into their hands. To keep it, they must obey.  Furthermore, the message of Joshua is that God wants to maintain the covenant relationship with his children. In the story of war and conquest we learn that the key ingredient, faith, supersedes military might.  God calmly tells Joshua not to fear.  He will deliver on His promise. Joshua believes Him and does as God commands. God delivers.

Another powerful example of faith in Joshua is Rahab, the prostitute who is made a member of Israel for her kindness to the Israelite spies and for her great faith in the God of Israel.  St. Paul recognizes her faith, supported by good works in the book of Hebrews 11:31.  According to Church Fathers, Rahab foreshadows the Gentiles who will later win salvation when they accept the Christian faith.

The Ark of the Covenant is a representation of God for the Israelites.  God instructs them to carry the Ark before them as they cross the Jordan and go into battle.  As long as the Ark is before them, they will be successful.  This is the relationship that God wants with His people to this day.  As long as we place God before all our needs, we will receive what we desire.  The requirements are fidelity, obedience and placing God in the forefront of all our endeavors.

Joshua: God's Faithful Man

Reading the book of Joshua, we might wonder what qualities Joshua possessed that God favored him with finishing the task of leading the Israelites into the promised land. Joshua was the son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim. We may recall from Genesis that Ephraim was the second son of Joseph and that Jacob adopted both Ephraim and Manasseh as his own.  It is also interesting to note that Jacob preferred Ephraim to his older brother in giving his blessing. Gen.48:14-16.  The tribe of Ephraim became the most powerful and influential  of the tribes of Israel after Judah and was credited with achieving and maintaining unity among the Israelites prior to the Kings.  Joshua, true to his lineage, distinguishes himself by faithfully obeying God's commands.  God rewards him by remaining by his side and selecting him to be Moses' successor.

Joshua's name was originally Hosea, meaning "salvation."  Moses changed his name to Joshua, Num 13:16  "The Lord is salvation" in recognition of his loyalty to the Lord.  Interestingly, the name Joshua is a form of Jeshua or Jesus. Thus, in Joshua, we have a figure who is a type.  That is, he prefigures Jesus, the One who is to come.  Once again we are struck by God's hand in all that occurs in Salvation History. His perfect planning.  Before Joshua is even born, God  has designated him to lead His people into the promised land.

From the moment that Joshua begins to distinguish himself and then throughout the book of Joshua, God reiterates the promise he had given to the Israelites through Moses, No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.  Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Joshua 1:5-6.

God does not forget His word.  He is true to His promise, but He does ask this of Joshua, Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Joshua1:7-8.  

Reading the first chapter of Joshua gives us a glimpse of God's faithfulness.  It also should reassure us that we too will be rewarded for our faithfulness to Him. Joshua's task will not be easy.  The book of Joshua is about conquest in battle.  The land will not simply be handed over to the Israelites; they must win it.  And so it is with all of our endeavors.  Success does not come easy.  There are many pitfalls along the way.  There is always the temptation to take short cuts.  There is the danger of despairing when times get tough.  We can take heart from reading this first chapter of the book of Joshua.  God has given us the law which we must follow.  We must not deviate to the left or to the right, but follow it straight, meditating upon it night and day. As God said to Joshua, He also says to us, Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9/

We can gather from Salvation History that God supports those who act in His service and not for their own glory.  He requires absolute faithfulness.  That is the quality that Joshua possessed.

Marker placed at the entrance to Jericho

Desert Wanderings

We recently resumed our Bible study after a long break that began in late spring.  It was an unforeseen break.  Life intervened in our schedule with surprising and critical events, the kind that test your faith and force you to confront the inevitability of death.  Our first day back in our group, we offered prayers for our loved ones, for the world which is always at war, and for the souls of those departed---now one of us counted among them.  We also thanked God for the many blessings of our lives, and we called upon the Holy Spirit to guide us as we continue our studies.

So where did we leave off?  We asked each other. One class had just begun the book of Exodus; the other started Numbers or when did we read Deuteronomy?  Could it be we have forgotten?  So soon? We realized as we pondered where to start, that the Word of God continues to reveal new and wonderful truths even as we read and re-read, and especially in the light of the many crises of our lives. And we turned to the book of Exodus.

Sinai Desert

If you ask anyone what they know about the book of Exodus, he will probably tell you that it is about the journey of the Israelites out of Egypt. He may tell you about the ten plagues that God rained upon the Egyptians or he may know about the Passover, the event that is still commemorated today. Thanks to Hollywood and Charleton Heston, many in our group at least were well aware of those important events in Exodus, but as we re-read Exodus, we focused on the Call of Moses and on God's Promise.  Now here is where the Holy Scripture becomes relevant in our lives today!

Moses, our unlikely hero, is an ordinary man to whom God gives an extraordinary task.  Through God's intervention, he has survived the infanticide of Hebrew boys by the Egyptians, and he is raised in luxury as the adoptive son of Pharaoh's daughter.  As an adult, he kills an Egyptian and is forced to flee to Midian.  He marries Zipporah the daughter of a Midianite priest, and lives a fairly mundane life, until one day, he sees the Burning Bush and hears God's call.

As we read, we find that it takes God a great deal of patience to convince Moses that he is up to the task.  Moses first responds (to God no less!) with, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?" Ex.3:11  God responds, "I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you when you bring my people out  of Egypt, you will worship on this very mountain." Ex.3: 12. "But, says Moses..."if they ask me,' what is his name?' 'What shall I tell them?'"

It doesn't end there.  Moses has other objections. He is not gifted in speech.  He is not eloquent.  He cannot possibly be convincing. God answers, "Who gives one man speech and makes another deaf and dumb? Or who gives sight to one and makes another blind?  Is it not I, the LORD? Go then! It is I who will assist you in speaking and will teach you what to say." Ex.4:11-12.  

What does Moses say? "If you please, Lord, send someone else!"  God becomes angry and says, "Have you not a brother, Aaron the Levite?" "I know he is an eloquent speaker." (Of course he does!) Ex.4:14

We can draw many, many parallels to our own lives from the first chapters of Exodus.  No matter what the circumstances of our births, we are all ordinary people called by God to do extraordinary things. The question is, do we listen to God's call and trust in His promise to be with us in all things done for His glory?