Introduction

Good morning everyone. I’m going to speak about Joshua. We won’t be able to go through everything, so we’ll focus on the time around the Israelites entry into Canaan.

Joshua one, verses six and seven: “I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” (Joshua 1:6)

“Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7)

If you have been following the daily readings, you will probably have been reading Joshua recently. Joshua may seem like a fearless man of God – a faithful of old – a man doing the impossible for God.

1.      Who was Joshua?

2.      What was it about him that is so special?

3.      What did he do?

1.      How did he cross the Jordan? (also the manna stopped – they ate the produce of the land)

2.      What happened with Rahab?

3.      What happened at the battle of Jericho?

4.      How would you summarise these happenings?

Who Was Joshua? (and what makes him so special?)

Joshua was the son of Nun. In Hebrew, Joshua means “Yahweh is salvation”. He was the man who brought Israel into the promised land. He took over after Moses’ death. He was also a great man.

To start off with, he had a good role model – i.e. Moses. Being a role model is something that anyone of us can do, and the longer you’re alive, the more people you will be a role model for. Of course, Jesus is the perfect role model, showing us the way to live. Don’t underestimate the power of your own example[1].

Probably due to the good influence of Moses, he was a great leader, but initially, he was followed because Moses and God instated him.

What Did Joshua Do?

I’d like to take us through some of Joshua’s life.

One of the first mentions of Joshua is in Exodus 17:8-16. Here, Moses selects Joshua to take some men and fight with Amalek, who had come and fought with Israel. In the battle, the Israelites prevailed when Moses held up his hands (and the rod of God), but Amalek prevailed when Moses let down his hands. Moses’ hands became heavy, so Aaron and Hur got a stone for Moses to sit on, and they held up Moses’ hands – one man on each side. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Here’s an interesting side-note about Moses. Just as his arms grew tired during the battle, in the next chapter, Jethro (Moses’ father) comes and finds Moses judging the people all by himself. Jethro’s advice is to find other God fearing men, and appoint them to help judge the people, so that Moses didn’t get worn out. It’s a good thing to do the work of God, but you should not wear yourself down by doing it alone.

So when the Israelites get close to the land of Canaan, Moses dies. Joshua is the next one to lead Israel. How would you be, growing up with the man Moses, whom God spoke with face to face, and who did all that God did with him to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt? I would be overwhelmed when Moses died. However, Moses had prepared Joshua, and as it says in Deut 34:9, Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him.

Then we get to Joshua Chapter one. God commands Joshua to get up (with Israel), and go over the Jordan to the land He was giving them. At this time, God says to Joshua that no man will be able to withstand him while he is alive. God says to Joshua – “I will not leave you nor forsake you.” How wonderful is that!? It reminds me of Romans 8:38-39, and just a bit earlier, in Romans 8:31, which says: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” God also says “Be strong and of good courage.” three times in Joshua one.

How Did They Cross the Jordan?

So Moses has just died, Joshua is in his place, and God has told them to cross the Jordan. Without getting into too much detail, Joshua gets the men of war and many of the women and children ready to cross the Jordan. But before they cross, they send two spies over to report on the land, especially Jericho.

Rahab

The two spies went to Jericho, and stayed with Rahab. At this time, the people of the land were living in fear of the Israelites, because of all they had heard that God had done with, and through them. Rahab recognised this, and she takes care of the two Israelites. Because of her actions, the two men say that they will look out for her (and her family). Had Rahab not made the decision to help the two men, she would have died with the rest of the people in Jericho. But because she made the decision and carried it out, God was with her during the battle of Jericho.

The two spies are thus able to report back to Joshua that “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.” (Joshua 2:24)

God then spoke to Joshua, and told him what He would do. God told him that He would be with him and exalt him in the sight of Israel. So when the Israelites went out to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark out in front, and they stood in the Jordan. Then, the waters piled up in the distance, and the people crossed on dry ground, opposite Jericho.

So just as the Israelites crossed the Red Sea with Moses, the Israelites crossed the Jordan with Joshua. This seems to me that God is saying – listen to Joshua like you did for Moses. While they did this, God commanded Joshua to take twelve men and take twelve stones from where the priests stood with the ark, and they used the stones to make a memorial to the Lord in Gilgal.

Circumcision

Once they had crossed over, they circumcised the sons of Israel (under God’s command). They did this because a whole generation had passed while they wandered in the wilderness, because they had not obeyed the voice of the Lord. They, in effect, re-dedicated themselves to God.

Jericho

Following on from this (they had to heal – Josh 5:8), a man with a drawn sword comes to Joshua when he is near Jericho. When Joshua asks whether he’s an Israelite, or an enemy, he says “Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” (Josh 5:14). Joshua then bows down and worships him! Why did he trust him like that? Anyone could have said that, and it doesn’t say the man was glowing or had wings. Whatever it was, Joshua believed what he said. God tells Joshua that He has given Jericho into their hand. All you have to do is get the warriors and seven priests with trumpets, to march around the city with the ark once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day, march around seven times. Then make a long blast on the trumpets and get the people to shout. Then the walls will fall down flat! If you look at this at face value, you might think that it’s crazy, and that they’ll just get laughed at by the inhabitants of Jericho. Joshua, however, believes the Lord, and goes ahead. They must have either felt really silly marching around the wall, or else fairly confident. And, it works! Joshua says that the city and all that is in it is devoted to the Lord for destruction. Joshua commands them to keep away from the things devoted to destruction, but the silver, gold, bronze and iron is all to go to the treasury of the Lord (Josh 6:19). But Rahab and her family are saved.

Why were the people commanded not take any spoil from Jericho? In Deut 7:24-26 we read that they should not take any gold or silver from carved images of those that they conquer, because they might be snared by it. It is an abomination. They are told to utterly detest and abhor it – they are doomed to destruction. I think these words would have been in Joshua’s mind when he said “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction.” (Josh 6:17). God would primarily have wanted to remove all remnants of the sinful people – as punishment and so that they didn’t antagonise Israel later on, and so that the people weren’t drawn away to worship their idols. Also, why did He relax this law after they conquered Jericho? What we have found is that primarily, God instructed them this way to help the people remain loyal. But I think that there may (probably) have been a second reason.

There have been several archaeological excavations of Jericho. It seems that some parties were neutral, others wanted to prove the Biblical record, and others wanted to disprove it. Here’s a time-line of the archaeological activities at Jericho:

1.      Preliminary excavations by a British engineer named Charles Warren in 1868;

2.      The first scientific excavation was by a German team between 1907 and 1909, and then again in 1911 (Carl Watzinger and Ernest Sellin); They originally supported the biblical interpretation of Jericho’s destruction, but then decided that they were wrong.

3.      Following this, British archaeologist John Garstang carried out excavations from 1930 to 1936; In contrast to the German team, He confirms the biblical account, which dates the most recent of the walls (there were several) to 1400 BC (this is the biblical date of Jericho’s destruction).

4.      British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyan went on an expedition from 1952 to 1958; She dated the last walls to 2300 BC. Her theory is that Jericho was a ruin while Joshua was alive.

5.      Then we have Bryant Wood, who did additional work in 1990. He reevaluated Kenyan’s work, and found that it supported the Biblical record.

Since then, the controversy has been debated extensively, and Wood’s work has been largely dismissed. There are, however, some very interesting facts:

l        The walls seem to have fallen outwards and downwards;

l        One part of the wall didn’t collapse – this is where Rahab could have been;

l        There were houses built against the wall that didn’t collapse;

l        There was a layer of ash one metre thick – which supports that the Israelites burnt the city;

l        There were large jars of charred grain left in the ruins.

This last point is very interesting, because:

l        Grain would usually be plundered if there was any – it was quite valuable (especially to a hungry army);

l        If a city is conquered after a siege, the food is eaten by the end;

l        We are told that the harvest had just been taken (Josh 2:6; 3:15);

l        The siege was short (Josh 6:15);

l        The city was not plundered (Josh 6:18).

This is all amazing evidence. On the other side, the discussion about the age of Jericho included examining the different types of pottery found at the site, and different results from Carbon dating materials found at the site. While I can’t be sure about the veracity of the non-biblical dating methods, the aforementioned points seem like very strong evidence for the Biblical account of the destruction of Jericho.

What I’m getting at is that I think God had a secondary reason to instruct the Israelites not to take any spoil; and that was: to leave a witness for us.

Looking Back on it All

There’s much more that Joshua and Israel did during the move into Canaan, but that will have to wait for another day.

If you believe what I’ve been saying, I think it supports the following observations:

Firstly, God is far more thoughtful than we would be. Who would have planned events so that over three thousand years later, the site of Jericho could be dug up and show us these things?

Secondly, when God says to do something, you should do it, because God’s word will come to pass. We know that they crossed the Jordan, and that the walls of Jericho fell but the house of Rahab was saved.

In all of this, Joshua, Rahab and Israel trusted in the Lord, even if the orders were strange. Because of this, they met success. We should follow the Lord; in doing so, we will meet with success – true success. So, I urge you now: “be strong and courageous.”

Jonathan Johansen

Notes

l        Deut 7:1-11 is clear to us. The second part is very beautiful.

l        Joshua is mentioned in:

       Exodus 17; Numbers 14 & 32; Deuteronomy 1-3 and 32;

       The book of Joshua;

       Acts 7:45; Hebrews 4:8.

l        Hebrews 13:5-6 says to not be covetousness, and to be content with what we have. For God Himself has said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”

l        Be strong and bold:

       Deut 31:23

l        Archaeological Study of Jericho:

       Neutral: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/middle_east/jericho.html

       For: http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i2/jericho.asp

       For: http://christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a011.html

       Against: http://www.netours.com/jrs/2003/jericho-debate.htm.