INTRODUCTION
TO JOSHUA
Why
read Joshua: There
are good and bad sides of reading Joshua and in accord with the
aims of these Frameworks, trying to absorb what is here.
The
good side is that, as the Contents below shows, the overall structure
is simple – getting ready to enter the land, entering the land,
allocating the land to the twelve tribes and then saying farewell
to Joshua.
The
not-so-good side of Joshua is that once you come to Part 3 there
are multitudes of place names, some of which no longer exist,
and some of which scholars are uncertain as to their identity
or even location. Perhaps, to be strictly honest, we need to see
there are quite a lot of such places in Part 2 as well.
So
why read it? Well the simple answer is you probably won't read
all of it, you'll skim over Part 3 at least, but if you do, try
and catch the sense of what is going on anyway.
Part
1 is pure drama, the stuff
films are made of. It is all action that is easily followed and
lessons are there for the open heart.
Part
2 – the first four chapters
tend to follow this drama style but now it is about ups and downs
and the lessons are even more obvious. The latter three chapters
may slow you down with all the place names and we have sought
to add sufficient notes to help you catch where they are going
and what they are achieving.
Part
3 is slightly confusing
for the new reader with all the place names and you may wonder,
why bother? The answer is that even if you only skim over it,
you will see how the Land was portioned out to the twelve tribes
and how the Land fell into two parts [which we often miss], of
that to the east of the Jordan and the main part to the west of
the Jordan. i.e. who got what, and why.
Part
4 , the final two chapters
are really Joshua's challenge to Israel before he dies, seeking
to keep them on track after he has gone.
The
Context of Joshua: Joshua
is all about the long awaited taking of the Promised Land which
has been referred to again and again in the previous four books.
It is therefore a book of fulfilment of the plan of God, in that
it is getting the nation of Israel into the land of His promise.
But
if the previous four books lead into Joshua, the following book,
Judges, leads out of it as it goes on to show how the nation,
now in the land, continue in the following years, how they cope
and how they don't cope – and WHY. Joshua is, therefore, a very
real link between the Pentateuch and the historical books that
follow on. Yes, there is a lot of administration, laying out who
gets which part of the land and why, but there is also sufficient
amount of drama in the first third of the book to make it compelling
reading which, as ever, reveals a lot about God and a lot about
Israel.
In
the Contents that follow, if you wish to go from here directly
to any chapter, simply click on the chapter number.
CONTENTS:
Part
1: Ch.1-5: Preparation & Entry
Ch.1
- Joshua installed as Leader
Ch.2
- Rahab and the Spies
Ch.3
- Crossing the Jordan
Ch.4
- Establishing a Memorial
Ch.5
- Circumcision & Passover
Part
2: Ch.6-12: Taking the Land
Ch.6
- Taking Jericho
Ch.7
- The Failed Attack on Ai & Achan's
Sin
Ch.8
- Taking Ai & the Covenant on
Mount Ebal
Ch.9
- The Sneaky Gibeonites
Ch.10
- Southern Kings Defeated
Ch.11
- Northern Kings Defeated
Ch.12
- Summary List of Defeated
Kings
Part
3: Ch.13-22: Allocating the Land
Ch.13
- Land still to be taken & Land
east of the Jordan
Ch.14
- Main Land Allocations & Caleb's
land
Ch.15
- Land Allocations for Judah (&
Caleb)
Ch.16
- Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh
Ch.17
- Allotment for Manasseh (Cont.)
Ch.18
- The Seven tribes & Benjamin
Ch.19
- Allotments for the other
Six Tribes
Ch.20
- Cities of Refuge
Ch.21
- Towns for the Levites
Ch.22
- Eastern Tribes Return Home
Part
4: Ch.23,24: Finale of Joshua
Ch.23
- Joshua's Farewell to the Leaders
Ch.24
- The Covenant Renewed at Shechem