It’s a Long History

Joshua 1:1-5

¹After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. ³ Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. ⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. ⁵ No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

This history of the Jews has forever centered around the geographic space now known as Israel. The ownership of this piece of land, not much larger than the state of New Jersey in the U.S., has been hotly contested for millennia. The Book of Joshua is a part of that long and violent story. But more than a story of wars and conquest, Joshua is integral to the story of God saving us through His Son, Jesus. While the sinful ways of people have long stood in God’s way, His plan continues forward without fail. Joshua is a part of that path.

The history of the Jews in Israel is fascinating and complicated. It’s along story, dating back to that ancient patriarch, Abraham, who lived just under 700 years before the time of Joshua. (And if you want to be technical, the story dates back to Adam and Eve!) In the book of Genesis, we find Abraham, a man who lived first in what is now Iraq, called by God for no apparent reason other than God chose him. He obediently leaves his homeland and eventually ends up in what we now know as Israel. Abraham never actually owns any of Israel other than the grave in which he and his wife are buried. But his descendants eventually make it to The Promised Land to possess God's promise. That happens with Joshua in leadership.

Joshua’s portion of the story begins with the death of Moses. Because of the faithlessness of the Children of Israel, they had been forced by God to wander in the wilderness of the Sinai for 40 years rather than inheriting the land just after they were freed from Egyptian captivity. The 40 years are over, and it is time for the next generation of God’s people to enter into The Promised Land. That is where Joshua takes up the story. (Joshua and Caleb were the only two people of those actually born in Egypt to enter the promised land. This was God’s judgement upon the people for their unbelief. Joshua and Caleb trusted God and thus were allowed to enter.)

Joshua was born during the bitter years of slavery in Egypt, perhaps in the 1480s bc. (since he is a contemporary of Caleb, who was born in 1484 bc.). Joshua lived 110 years (Josh 24:29; Judg 2:8), and those years can be divided into three chapters: about forty years in Egypt, forty years in the desert, and about thirty years in the promised land. It seems that the last thirty years consisted of seven years of conquest and then about twenty-three years at his allotment in Timnath-serah.

Harstad, A. L. (2004). Joshua (p. 12). Saint Louis, MO: CPH.

As the Children of Israel stood on the east side of the Jordan, preparing to receive God’s promised homeland, one can only speculate as to how they felt. Certainly scared, but I want them to be hopeful too. As we stand on the brink of a new study, I pray you are ready to grapple with some difficult concepts (like war and the death of thousands) and to see how God remains faithful to His promises, despite our ability to stand in His way.