It's Sunday, the day for catching up when we're behind. By now, according to the Lent to Lent reading guide, we are supposed to have completed 15 chapters of Joshua. So... I'll try offering some running commentary on chapters 4-21.
Joshua 4 I have an acquaintance in Georgia who has a farm called Twelve Stones Farm, an explicit reference to the twelve stones that the Israelites took out of the Jordan to represent and remind the Twelve Tribes of Israel of God's part in getting them safely to the Promised Land (4:1-9). These stones are to be a lasting monument, so that when children in the next generation ask, the parents can tell the story (vss. 22-24). Notice, also, how Joshua's authority was now established in the minds of the Israelites (4:14).
Joshua 5: This miraculous crossing of the Jordan made the neighboring countries nervous about the Israelites and the sort of power their God commanded. The text says "their hearts melted" (5:1).
The first thing Joshua did was to re-establish the practice of circumcision, which had not been part of the practices of the Israelites while they were in the wilderness. The ritual was connected, according to this text with God's words: "Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt." (v.8), giving the village there the name "Gilgal." While there they had their first Passover in their new home. "The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year" (v. 12). They are settling in. And Gilgal will be their base camp as they make forays into Israel to claim the land they were promised.
Then Joshua had a vision. It's really quite important. He sees a man (an angel?) with a sword and asks: "Are you one of us or one of our adversaries?" The man responds: "Neither; but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come" (v. 14) And, as the LORD had said to Moses at the burning bush, this man commands Joshua to remove his sandals because he is on holy ground. It should be important for us always to remember that the LORD doesn't take sides in a straightforward way in the wars of men.
Joshua 6: The wonderful, beloved story of the taking of Jericho. My sister and I had an LP record of dramatized Bible stories, complete with sound effects. This story was one of them. Jericho is in a very strategic location and the archaeological record shows that it or its walls have been destroyed several times. Joshua's curse in v. 26: "At the cost of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest he shall set up its gates" becomes important later in Israelite history.
Joshua 7: As we continue through the books of Joshua and Judges, we will see a recurring theme; and it is articulated here in the first verse of Joshua 7: "But the israelites broke faith..."
The theme becomes a formula in Judges, as God rescues the Israelites, as they express gratitude, then begin to forget, as they break faith, as God allows their enemies to overrun their territory, as they cry out for help, as God raises a judge and faithfully rescues them again under the judge's leadership.
Here, the "breaking faith" involved their stealing of things that were ritually devoted to destruction, as a sort of analogue to animal sacrifice. God's plan was not that the Israelites would get rich off the spoils of war, but that they would come to depend on him alone. Achan kept spoils of war for himself, and his disobedience led for trouble for all the Israelites until, by lot, he was identified. Then he was stoned. This seems like a very big punishment for the crime. Our experience of God tends, after the coming of Jesus, to be more grace-filled. In spite of our sin, God offers forgiveness and love. The picture here in Joshua is quite different. We need to think about and discuss (in person!) this tension.
Joshua 8: The capture of Ai is a second chance, in a way, for the Israelites. If Achan failed at Jericho, the Israelites were more obedient in this instance.
Notice how Joshua then renews the covenant that God made with Moses, reading "all the words of the law, blessings and curses, according to all that is written in the book of the law" (8:34). He has made it clear that his leadership is in continuity with that of Moses.
Joshua 9: This story of how the Gibeonites managed to trick the Israelites into a treaty by appearing to have traveled a long distance is a quite marvelous story, with elements about it of a folk tale. Also, it explains how there happened to be a slave class of people in Israel despite God's command that they were to have killed all the local inhabitants. Again, as we will many times in the book of Joshua, we will have occasion to ask how it seems just or fair that God appears here to be the author of what really could be called genocide or ethnic cleansing.
Joshua 10: The story of the sun standing still. This one also reads like a folk tale. The point is that God was upholding Joshua and fighting for the Israelites. They couldn't have done it on their own without divine intervention. Notice also how in 10:1 Jerusalem is mentioned for the first time! The kings in vss. 16 and following are war lords of little city states that ally together when threatened by invading forces.
Joshua 11: continues the story of the Israelite forces as they conquer territory. Note the summary in v. 18 and following: "Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a town that made peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; all were taken in battle For it was the LORD's doing to harden their hearts so that they would come against Israel in battle, in order that they might be utterly destroyed, and might receive no mercy, but be exterminated, just as the LORD had commanded Moses." Maybe the most charitable thing we can say about this passage is that it is written from an Israelite point of view.
Chapters 12 to 17 are like a catalogue of the conquering of territory for Israel to occupy. The tribe of Joseph lodges a complaint in the end of the 17th chapter. They are also known as the half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and they try to see if they can have a larger allotment. The answer is "No." The initial plan that God revealed to Moses provided sufficient land for them.
Joshua 18: Notice the summarizing statement here: "The land lay subdued before them" (18:1). It was time to attempt as fair a division of the land as was possible. This would be done by casting lots.
Chapters 19-21 continue a description of the allotment.
While it is seldom inappropriate to read the Bible, it is hard to imagine how these chapters could reward you spiritually as you read. I think this is the sort of section that it's okay to skim, aware that there are specifics here that actually mattered to the people of Joshua's day and to the tradition of the Israelites in the generations to follow. And it might also be important to note that Joshua, following in the tradition of Moses, is establishing for Israel what will eventually become a theocracy.
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