Old Testament Scriptural
Summaries and Commentary
Joshua, Chapters 1; 2; 3; 4; 6;
7:2-21; 14; 23; 24;
Gospel Doctrine Class, Sunday
School Lesson 18 - "Be Strong and of a Good Courage"
Book reference, The Old Testament Made Easier, Part 2,
by David J. Ridges
Publisher Cedar Fort,
Springville, Utah
The Book of Joshua
Joshua 1 -12 – The conquest of
Canaan by the Israelites
Joshua 1 - "Be strong and of
a good courage"
After the death of Moses the LORD
speaks to Joshua saying, “. . . arise,
go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give
to them, even to the children of Israel" (v. 1:2). And he promises Joshua, "There shall
not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was
with Moses, so I will be with thee: I
will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" (v. 1:5).
In the next verses, the Lord
twice admonishes Joshua. "Be strong and of a good courage: (1) for unto this people
shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers
to give them;…(2) that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law [scriptures];…turn not from it to the
right hand or to the left;—In other
words, don’t deviate from all the knowledge and guidance that you have been
given (Ridges, pt. 2, p. 294); (3)
that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest" (vv. 1:6-7). Joshua is counseled that if he lives and
mediates according to the "book of the law" the children of Israel
will "have good success." Again Joshua is told, “Be strong and of
a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy
God is with thee whithersoever thou goest (see hymn # 85, "How Firm a
Foundation, third verse) (v. 1:9).
And the children of Israel
covenanted with Joshua: "All that thou commandest us we will do, and
whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken
unto thee; only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses;" any
who rebels against Joshua's word, will be put to death (vv. 1:16-18).
Joshua 2 - Israel's spies are saved
by Rahab
Joshua sends two spies into
Jericho to secretly scout out the area.
While inside the city they find the woman Rahab who was a harlot [sometimes described as an innkeeper, Ridges,
pt. 2, p. 295]. She hides the two
spies from the king’s messengers on the roof under stalks of flax and they are
saved. Rahab tells the spies, “I know that the Lord hath given you the land,
and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the
land faint because of you” (vv. 2:1-9).
In return for her kindness, she
asks and receives a promise of protection for her and her family when Israel
invades Jericho. She is told to put a
red [scarlet] cloth on the window so
the army of Israel will know which house is hers, that it can be spared (see
Joshua 6:17, 25). Then Rahab "let them down by a cord through the window:
for her house was upon the town wall." And she told them to hide three
days in the mountains before they return to camp so their pursuers will have
already returned to Jericho. And the two spies did as she told them and they
returned to Joshua after three days and reported to him, "Truly the LORD
hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the
country do faint because of us" (vv. 2:12-15; 23-24).
Joshua 3-4 - The Jordan parts/A
memorial is built
Now, Joshua and all the children
of Israel are lodged next to the Jordan.
As they prepare to cross the river, Joshua commands the people, saying,
"Sanctify yourselves; for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among
you" (vv. 3:1; 5).
The children of Israel prepare to
move across the Jordan River and into the promised land. And the LORD said unto Joshua, "This day
will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know
that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee” (v. 3:7). When the priests carrying the Ark of the
Covenant reached the Jordan which was overflowing its banks at harvest season,
the waters “stood and rose up [backed up]
upon an heap". . . and the people "stood firm on dry ground in the
midst of the Jordan" and passed over "right against [across from] Jericho” (vv. 3:13-17).
13 "And
it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that
bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the
waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut
off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall
stand upon an heap.
14 And it came to
pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the
priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;
15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and
the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water,
(for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose
up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside
Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the
salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over
right against Jericho.
17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of
the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the
Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean
over Jordan" (Joshua 3:13-17).
Joshua commands one man from each
tribe to carry a boulder from the bottom of the riverbed and take it beyond the
river. These rocks were to build a memorial for all the generations to be taught
the miracle the Lord performed for the Israelites when they crossed the river
Jordan. "And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the
place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood;
and they are there unto this day" (v. 4:2-9).
"On that day the LORD
magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they
feared Moses, all the days of his life" (v. 4:14). And Joshua spoke to the children of Israel,
saying, "When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come,
saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying,
Israel came over this Jordan on dry land…as the LORD your God did to the Red
sea.…That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD that it
is mighty; that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever" (vv. 4:21-24).
Joshua 6 - The battle of Jericho
The Lord tells Joshua that he has
given him Jericho, the king and all the mighty men. And he tells him what to do so that they can
take the city. The Lord's plan is to
have the army of Israel march directly toward Jericho. Following the army is seven priests blowing
their ram’s horn trumpets. Behind them
is the Ark of the Covenant carried by other priests and at the rear is a
special guard. They make one complete
circle around Jericho and march back to their camp. This same exercise is repeated for six
consecutive days. On the seventh day the
group circled the walls of Jericho seven times in the same manner. When the seventh circle was completed they
stopped, faced the walls with swords drawn, and the ram’s horn sounded a loud
signal. Then Joshua told the people,
"Shout for the LORD hath given you the city." And the city and all
therein shall be "accursed" to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and
all that are with her shall live, because she hid the messengers that were
sent. Joshua warned the people not to
take any accursed thing out of the city or they themselves and all Israel would
be accursed (vv. 6: 2-18).
All the people shouted with a
great shout; and the wall [around Jericho]
fell down flat and the people went into the city to take it (v. 6:20). The spies, hidden by Rahab, were sent to take
her and all her kindred out of the city.
Then, the city and all its inhabitants were destroyed and burned as the
Lord had commanded. And Rahab dwelt with the Israelites "even unto this
day." Only the silver, gold, and vessels of brass and iron were saved and
consecrated for the treasury of the LORD.
"So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout
all the country" (vv. 7:20-27).
Joshua 7 - An "accursed" thing
taken from Jericho
Now the Lord's anger was kindled
against the children of Israel because a man of the tribe of Judah named Achan
had taken an “accursed thing” from the city of Jericho—as the Lord commanded them not to do (see v. 6:18). Consequently, when Joshua sent three thousand
men to Ai to take that area on the east side of Bethel, they were soundly
defeated as the Israelites ran from their enemy (vv. 7:1-5). Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth
before the ark and prayed to the Lord, "wherefore hast thou at all brought
this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to
destroy us? O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before
their enemies?" (vv. 7:6-8).
The Lord told Joshua, “Israel
hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded
them; for they have even taken of the accursed thing" [from Jericho] (v. 7:11).
For this reason, "the children of Israel could not stand before
their enemies…because they were accursed; neither will I be with you any more,
except ye destroy the accursed from among you." Joshua was instructed to call an assembly the
next day according to their tribes, families, and households when the Lord
would reveal who the guilty person was (vv. 7:14-15). From all the tribe of Judah, it was narrowed
down to one man, Achan (v. 7:18). He had
taken a “Babylonish garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold
of fifty shekels” and hid them in the earth in his tent (v. 7:24). Therefore, the Lord demanded the ultimate
penalty of stoning. Achan, his sons and
daughters, and all his possessions (oxen, asses, sheep, tent, and all) were
taken to the valley of Achor and all Israel stoned and burned them with fire
after they were stoned (v. 7: 25). "So the Lord turned from the fierceness
of his anger…" (vv: 7:9-26).
Joshua chapters 8 through 12 detail the conquest of the nations [city-states] of Canaan for the
children of Israel to inhabit.
Joshua
13 instructs the people concerning the lands not yet possessed.
Joshua 14 - The land is divided
among the tribes
1 "And these are the countries which
the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the
priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes
of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.
Caleb is given
Hebron because of his faithfulness
6 "Then the children of
Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite
said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses
the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.
7 Forty years old was I when Moses the
servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to espy out the land;
and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.
8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the
heart of the people melt [fear]: but
I wholly followed the Lord my God.
9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land
whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s
for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God.
10 And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as
he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this
word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the
wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five
years old.
11 As yet I am as strong this day as I
was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then,
even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to
come in.
12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof
the Lord spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the
Anakims [giants] were there,
and that the cities were great and fenced:
if so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to
drive them out, as the Lord said.
Caleb of the tribe of Judah
eloquently pleads with Joshua for an inheritance promised to him by the Lord as
he and Joshua were the only two faithful of that [original] generation when Moses was in Egypt who would live to enter
Canaan (see Num. 14:30) (14:6-13).
Joshua 15 - 19
Chapter 15 - Judah's inheritance
in Canaan;
Chapter 16 - Joseph's (Ephraim
and Manasseh) inheritance;
Chapter 17 - Ephraim and Manasseh
receive additional inheritance;
Chapter 18 - Benjamin receives inheritance. The tabernacle is set up at Shiloh;
Chapter 19 - Simon, Zebulon,
Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan receive their inheritances.
These chapters outline the
division of the land among the tribes of Israel not including the Levites whose
inheritance was their service to the Lord. Joshua divided the land by casting
lots “before the Lord” (vv. 18: 6, 8, 10; 19:51) which was acceptable to
God. Partly because of Caleb’s
inheritance, the large tribe of Judah was given the southern part of
Canaan. The next largest tribe was
Joseph, which included both the tribe of Manasseh and Ephraim, who were given
different sections of the central part of Canaan. Joshua told them they would have to “drive
out the Canaanites, though they [their
enemies] have iron chariots, and though they be strong” (vv. 17:17-18). The remaining seven tribes did not seem
anxious to leave Shiloh and move into their inheritances (v. 18:3). Joshua commands these tribes to enlist three
men from each tribe to survey the land allocated to Israel and divide it into
areas that could be given by choosing lots.
“And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by
cities into seven parts in a book and came again to Joshua. . . .And Joshua
cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord: and there Joshua divided the land
unto the children of Israel according to their divisions” (vv. 18:9-10). This was the end of dividing the land for the
inheritances of the tribes of Israel (v. 19:51).
Joshua 20 - 22
Chapter 20 - Six cities of refuge
are appointed;
Chapter 21 - Levites are given
forty-eight cities;
Chapter 22 - Two and a half
tribes given land beyond the Jordan are dismissed.
Joshua 23 - Be courageous and
keep the law of Moses
Now many years later the tribes have moved
onto their lands given to them by the Lord.
Joshua, "old and stricken in age" calls all Israel and again
commands the people to cleanse all the land; “And the LORD your God, he shall
expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall
possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you” (v. 23:5). He exhorts them, "Be ye therefore
courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of
Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom
to the right hand of to the left."
He tells them to stay completely away from the gods of those that remain
among them, "But cleave unto the LORD your God as ye have done unto this
day. For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong but
as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you [stop you, Ridges, pt. 2, p. 305) unto this day" (vv. 23:1-9).
Now, Joshua warns the people of
what will happen if they adopt the evils of the nations they were to drive out
(Ridges, pt. 2, p. 303). He specifically
warns of any marriage with a non-Israelite.
He tells them the Lord's help in driving out the nations depends on
their obedience otherwise "these nations…shall be snares and traps unto
you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from
off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you" (vv. 23:10-13).
Joshua knows he will soon be
"going the way of all the earth:" and he reminds them that the Lord
has not failed to give them all the good things that he promised them; that
"all are come to pass unto you."
And he again warns them "so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil
things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land…[if] ye have transgressed
the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and
served other gods.…[Then] shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you,
and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land…"(vv. 23:14-16).
Ridges
comments: "Under Joshua's leadership, as instructed by Jehovah, the Israelites
had destroyed a total of thirty-one city-states (generally referred to in the
Bible as 'nations') up to this point.
However the job was not yet complete.…Joshua reminds his people that
there were yet wicked cultures to be destroyed.…Don't forget that the nations
destroyed and yet to be destroyed were 'ripe in iniquity'" (p. 304).
From Ridges,
Leviticus 18: "[In this chapter] you will see many of the behaviors and
attitudes that lead a nation to [being ripe in iniquity]. You will see that many of these behaviors
have to do with open acceptance of sexual immorality, including homosexuality
and other sexual perversions" (p. 158).
Joshua 24 – Joshua's last sermon
to the children of Israel
Joshua gathers all the tribes of
Israel to Shechem where he delivers his last sermon. In the name of the Lord, he
speaks of the idolatry of their fathers (see Abraham 1:5) (v. 24:2).
Ridges comments on verses 24: 2-13 as follows:
"In
verses 2-13, Jehovah bears His personal testimony to the Israelites, bearing
witness of things reaching back to Abraham and his father, Terah. He reminds these people that they have been
eye witnesses to His blessings and help to them.
"You
will find 'I' at least seventeen times.
Thus, Christ bears specific testimony to the Israelites at least
seventeen times" [in these verses]
(p. 306).
Joshua continues, "Now
therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away
the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt
and serve ye the LORD." He warns,
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will
serve: whether the gods [idols] which your fathers served . . .
or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord” (24:14-15).
And the people answered,
"God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods."
And they speak of the God who brought them and their fathers out from bondage
in Egypt with the "great signs" which they saw; and preserved them in
their wanderings in the wilderness; and when the Lord drove out the Amorites
who dwelt in the land before them; and they again declare, "we will also
serve the LORD; for he is our God" (vv. 24: 16-18).
And Joshua said unto the people,
Ye cannot serve the LORD for he is an holy God [he must have a holy people, Ridges, p. 309]; he is a jealous God he
will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins." And the people said
unto Joshua for the third time, "Nay; but we will serve the
LORD" (vv. 24:19, 21).
And Joshua said, "Ye are witnesses
against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are
witnesses." Joshua warns them to
"incline your heart unto the LORD" [let the Lord constantly be the center focus of your loyalties,
thoughts, and feelings, Ridges, p. 309).
And for the fourth time the people answer, "The LORD our God will
we serve and his voice will we obey."
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a
statute and an ordinance in Shechem" (vv. 24:22-25).
"A monument is erected to
commemorate the making of this covenant.
The stone is to serve as a witness of the covenant" (Ridges, pt. 2,
p. 310). And Joshua set a stone under a
tree as a witness to all the words that were spoken that day. After all the people had departed, Joshua
dies at 110 years of age and he is buried in Timnath-serah in the mount Ephraim
on the side of the hill Gaash. "And
Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders
that overlived [outlived] Joshua, and
which had known all the works of the LORD that he had done for Israel"
(vv. 24:26-31).
And the bones of Joseph brought
out of Egypt with the children of Israel are buried in Shechem in the parcel of
ground purchased by his father, Jacob.
And Eleazar, the son of Aaron died and was buried in mount Ephraim
(24:29-33).
Ridges
comments: "Just before he died, at age 110, Joseph prophesied that the
children of Israel would someday be taken out of Egypt by the Lord. In conjunction with that prophecy, he
requested that his mortal remains be taken with the Israelites to the promised
land (Genesis 50:24-26). Now Joseph's
embalmed body was given a final resting place in Shechem" (pt. 2, p. 310).
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