Category: Joshua (Page 1 of 2)

Joshua 24 is the final chapter of the history of Israel’s conquest and possession of the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership. But it’s more than a story of human conquest; it’s a story of God’s faithfulness to his Word to his people. I think it’s important to do a quick recap of the entire book here before we dive into this final chapter.

Last week in Joshua chapter 22 we witnessed Joshua sending the two and a half tribes back over to the west side of the river with a command to love, obey, cling to and serve God wholeheartedly. As these tribes settled in at home they built an altar of remembrance out of their zealous desire to obey this command and ensure that future generations knew about their commitment to the Lord.

In the context of the book of Joshua we have the nation of Israel entering into the Promised Land, conquering her enemies and taking possession of the land (even though she never fully possesses her complete inheritance).

Joshua 21 – 22 is a fascinating portion of text (go here to read the passage). The first thing that happens here is the Lord speaks to Joshua and he instructs him to go to the people of Israel and instruct them to designate six cities of refuge for people who commit accidental manslaughter (vss. 1 – 6).

These four-and-a-half chapters of Joshua cover a significant portion of the distribution of the Promised Land to Israel. I have chosen portions of the text to look at today but I would encourage you to read this text in its entirety as you are able. Let’s start in Joshua 15…

As we turn our attention to this passage today we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the center section of the book of Joshua. For the most part this section (Ch. 13 – 22) is a slightly boring and hard to read section of scripture.

Joshua 13 is a description of Israel’s physical inheritance of the Promised Land. Two and a half tribes receive the land that is on the Eastside of the Jordan River and nine and a half tribes receive a plan for the distribution of the land on the Westside of the Jordan River. So the Eastside receives the land and the Westside receives a plan.

Joshua chapter 12 is basically a transitional chapter in the book that helps to move the narrative from one major section of the story to the next. It’s kind of like a bridge from one main body of land to the next main body of land. It can be helpful if you can envision yourself standing on the middle of that bridge looking back at the land you just left with an eye towards not only what lies behind you but also what lies ahead of you.

The book of Joshua is an exciting book that is full of stories about war. Reading this book can be similar to watching a movie like Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers or Pearl Harbor or even the Lord of the Rings.

The Christian life is about spiritual advancement in a physical reality. One author says that, “there are no spiritual advances, personally or corporately, (that will happen) without challenge and conflict” (Jackman 2014: 104). In other words, if you want to follow Jesus in this world then you should expect to face opposition and deception.