JOSHUA
The first book of the 12 Historical Books
The Hebrew title
“Yehoshua” or “Y’hoshua” Moses changes his name from Hoshea ( Hosea) “Salvation” (Numbers 13:16) to Yehoshua “Jehovah is salvation”. Yeshua is a shortened form of Yehoshua.
The Greek title
“Iesous Naus” or “Joshua the son of Nun” The Hebrew name Yehoshua is the Greek equivalent of Iesous (Jesus).
The Latin Vulgate title
“Liber Josue” Means “The book of Joshua”
This book forges a link between the Torah (Pentateuch) and the remainder of Israel’s history.
Through three major military campaigns involving more than 30 enemy armies, the Israelites learned a crucial lesson......
Victory through faith in God and obedience to His word, rather than through military might or superior numbers.
May we all remember that today!
Chapter Summary of the Book to Joshua
Chapter 1 - God commissions Joshua as leader of Israel people choose to follow Joshua
Chapter 2 - Joshua sends two spies into Jericho, Rahab the harlot hides them
Chapter 3 - God divides flooded Jordan river for Israel to cross over in sight of Jericho
Chapter 4 - Joshua commands 12 boulders be placed in riverbed as reminder of God's miracle
Chapter 5 - All Israel circumcised; Commander of God's Host appears to Joshua
Chapter 6 - Israel marches around Jericho, walls fall flat. city completely destroyed and burned
Chapter 7 - Israel defeated at Ai; Achan's sin the cause; execution of Achan and family
Chapter 8 - At God's command, Israel destroys Ai; Joshua reads the Law to the people
Chapter 9 - Deceit of the Gibeonites; Gibeonites made slaves to Israel for their treachery
Chapter 10 - Five kings attack Gibeonites; Joshua commands sun to stand still for 24 hours
Chapter 11 - Israel defeats a mighty coalition of Canaanite kings, destroys their cities
Chapter 12 - List of kings and cities conquered by Israel under Moses and Joshua
Chapter 13 - Joshua commanded to divide the land of Canaan among the tribes
Chapter 14 - Caleb given city of Kirjath-Arba (Hebron); land has rest from war
Chapter 15 - Boundaries and cities given to tribe of Judah
Chapter 16 - Boundaries and cities of Joseph's children, Ephraim and Manasseh
Chapter 17 - Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh complain their territory is too small
Chapter 18 - Boundaries and cities of tribe of Benjamin
Chapter 19 - Boundaries and cities of Simeon, Zebulon, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan
Chapter 20 - Cities of refuge established in Israel and east of Jordan river
Chapter 21 - Cities given for exclusive use of priests; Levites given cities for livestock care
Chapter 22 - Joshua blesses, sends men of Reuben, Gad and half-tribe of Manasseh home
Chapter 23 - Joshua prepares to die; warns Israel to not fall away from God after his death
Chapter 24 - Joshua rehearses Israel's history from Egypt to present; death of Joshua
JOSHUA 1:1-9
1 AFTER the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying:
2 "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them the children of Israel.
3 "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.
4 "From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and 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; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.
6 "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.
7 "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.
8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
God tells Joshua to follow His laws and nothing will be impossible for him. Note that He tells Joshua to be strong, and courageous. This requires faith, especially in the face of superior numbers of enemy forces which he would later encounter. We need to remember this in our lives today when we are faced with worldly cares or tests. With God behind us, who can stand before us? As the apostle Paul stated to Roman believers;
ROMANS 8:31
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
But this also requires that we face our enemies head-on, going forth in faith that we will have the victory through God.
JOSHUA 1:10-11
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
11 "Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess.'"
Joshua rallies the people to prepare to enter Canaan and conquer the Promised Land. They are to be ready to move and have enough food ready for the crossing of the Jordan River when commanded.
JOSHUA 1:12-15
12 And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying,
13 "Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.'
14 "Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them,
15 "until the LORD has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD's servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise."
Joshua reminds those settling outside of the promised land that they are going with the rest of the Israelites to conquer the land as per their promise to Moses. They are not to return to their families until ALL the tribes have possession of their new lands. This would require faith on their part also, for they were leaving their loved ones alone and unprotected in a land surrounded by hostile nations.
JOSHUA 1:16-18
16 So they answered Joshua, saying, "All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
17 "Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses.
18 "Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage."
The people bind themselves to obey Joshua and the Lord in all things commanded of them, with death decreed for rebellion.
JOSHUA 2:1-6
1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.
2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country."
3 So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country."
4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
5 "And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them."
6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)
Acacia trees run rampant in the Jordan valley, creating a dense tangle of growth that in ancient times sheltered wildlife, and oftentimes contained the dens of lions.
The spies were clever in coming to Rahab, as it would not seem strange in the eyes of those in the city to see strangers entering her house, considering her profession. In ancient times, city or court officials would sit at the gates of the city watching who came in and out and would regularly report any unusual activity or suspicious persons to the city guard.
Something (probably their clothing) gave the spies away as Israelites, causing someone to report their presence to the king of Jericho. It is interesting that the king of Jericho knew their intentions, so the promise of God to Israel that they would inherit Canaan must have already been known to the Canaanites.
Drying crops on the rooftops of a house was a common occurrence during ancient times. In this way the crops could be dried without cluttering up the house and would put them in direct sunlight during the day. The roofs were flat and used like an additional floor of the house, allowing people to dry grains, wash and dry clothing, bathe, and on hot nights, sleep on the roof top. While still in the wilderness God had told the Israelites when they built their homes to put a railing (parapet) around the roof tops so nobody would fall off.
DEUTERONOMY 22:8
8 "When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.
JOSHUA 2:7
7 Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.
The city guard would reasonably assume that the spies would immediately go back to the Jordan crossing where they had come from. Considering that the men had arrived on foot, the guard, more than likely mounted on horses expected to capture them in short order.
JOSHUA 2:8-21
8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof,
9 and said to the men: "I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you.
10 "For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
11 "And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
12 "Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token,
13 "and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death."
14 So the men answered her, "Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you."
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall.
16 And she said to them, "Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way."
17 So the men said to her: "We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear,
18 "unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home.
19 "So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.
20 "And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear."
21 Then she said, "According to your words, so be it." And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.
I find it fascinating that a harlot would have more faith in God than the people of the city. This shows the mercy of God in that He does not see anyone as beyond redemption, something we need to remember in our own lives!
Fortified cities many times had houses built into the walls which added another bulwark against attackers. Apparently her house was attached to the city wall and had a hole cut through the wall to allow light and fresh air into the house.
The fact that she let the spies down the wall with a rope shows that her house was elevated, probably giving her a good view of the countryside. Normally only the rich could afford such a house, so she must have been rich in her own right.
Rahab, knowing the routine of the city guard tells the spies to flee to a nearby mountain as the guard would not expect to look there for them as they would concentrate their search to the Jordan area. Rahab also tells them of the fear of their God that has come over all the land of Canaan just as God had promised He would do.
DEUTERONOMY 11:22-25
22 "For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him
23 "then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.
24 "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.
25 "No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.
Apparently the Canaanites had heard of the exploits of Israel and their God and were in terror of Israel. Yet oddly enough, they didn't seek Israel's God as one would think. Therefore one must admire Rahab for seeking Israel's God and putting her trust in Him. And like Abraham, God would count her belief and faith as righteousness, apart from the Law.
JOSHUA 2:22-24
22 They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them.
23 So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them.
24 And they said to Joshua, "Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us."
Notice that this time the spies didn't rally the people in fear, but they had faith and believed in God's promise.
JOSHUA 3:1-4
1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over.
2 So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp;
3 and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.
4 "Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before."
2000 cubits is 0.57 miles. There were so many people in Israel that if they crowded around the Ark those farther away couldn't see where it was located and could follow the wrong direction. And remember, ONLY the priests and designated Levites could touch the Ark. If the people were too close someone could accidently touch the Ark and would die.
JOSHUA 3:5-17
5 And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."
6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
7 And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
8 "You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.'"
9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God."
10 And Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:
11 "Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan.
12 "Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe.
13 "And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap."
14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,
15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest),
16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.
The city of Adam was located about 15 miles north of Jericho and is situated at the junction of the Jordan and Jabbok rivers. The waters being stopped there would have given Israel plenty of room to cross over the valley floor and the Jordan riverbed in front of Jericho. It would also serve as a terrifying sight to the inhabitants of Jericho for they had already heard of the power of Israel's God, and here was graphic proof that everything they had heard was true.
Many explanations have been made to try to explain the river waters standing in a heap, but there is no physical explanation that can account for this. Some have postulated that a major earthquake occurred which caused the ground upstream to sink, causing the Jordan to flow backward as the Mississippi river did during the 1888 New Madrid earthquake.
During this earthquake parts of the Mississippi river bed sank rapidly, causing parts of the river to flow backward briefly as the river water backfilled the depressions, but that was only momentary. Israel crossing over the Jordan river would have taken many hours, perhaps the most part of a day. So again, this event could only have been through the power of God
JOSHUA 4:1-9
1 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying:
2 "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe,
3 "and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.'"
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe;
5 and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
6 "that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'
7 "Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever."
8 And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.
It would be interesting to see if the stones that Joshua placed in the Jordan riverbed are still there today, although chances are pretty good that after 3,500 years the currents of the river have either scattered and buried them or moved them into the Dead Sea.
Remember that the Jordan was in flood stage at this point when Israel crossed over. Therefore it is even more of a miracle in the Jordan drying up for the children of Israel. One has to wonder if Rahab saw what was happening, seeing as her house was built into the wall of the city, and probably had a good view of the countryside, depending on which way her window faced.
The reason for placing twelve stones was to remind the children of Israel in later years what had happened there, indicating that the heap of stones would be visible during parts of the year, probably during the summer season. The heap of stones on the shore would be a permanent reminder of Israel's miraculous passage over the flooded river.
JOSHUA 4:10-18
10 So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over.
11 Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.
12 And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.
13 About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho.
14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.
15 Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
16 "Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan."
17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, "Come up from the Jordan."
18 And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before.
It's hard to imagine the terror of the inhabitants of Jericho who saw this event! Here were 40,000 armed warriors crossing the Jordan river to besiege the city, and the rumors that they had heard concerning God's judgments on Egypt and the Amorites were confirmed in Israel's miraculous crossing of the Jordan! They must have been praying mightily to their demon gods for deliverance!
It can be assumed that men of the tribes which chose to stay on the eastern side of the Jordan (Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh) left their families behind when they went to fight against Jericho, trusting God to protect them.
One would think that they would send peace emissaries to Israel, seeking peace and seeking the God of Israel after what they had seen, but like Pharaoh, God had hardened their hearts that He might show His power and judgments in them. Jericho was one of the prime Canaanite royal cities and was heavily fortified. The destruction of Jericho by Israel would further spread terror throughout Canaan, weakening the resolve of the Canaanites to resist.
JOSHUA 4:19-24
19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.
20 And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.
21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?'
22 "then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land';
23 "for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over,
24 "that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever."
Gilgal is slightly northeast of Jericho, on the banks of a small seasonal stream that feeds the Jordan river. Joshua probably set the stones here to ensure that future flooding of the Jordan wouldn't bury or scatter the memorial stones.
JOSHUA 5:1
1 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.
Word spread fast concerning the Israelites' arrival! Note that even the Canaanites by the sea (the Philistines) heard about what had happened! This was in fulfillment of God's words when He said;
DEUTERONOMY 11:22-25
22 "For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do--to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him--
23 then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.
24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.
25 No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.
JOSHUA 5:2-7
2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time."
3 So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt.
5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised.
6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD to whom the LORD swore that He would not show them the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, "a land flowing with milk and honey."
7 Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
This may seem odd that the Israelites in the wilderness weren't circumcised, seeing that the Lord had commanded that this be done in all of their generations. The only reason I can think of for this is with the circumcision they were divesting themselves of the sins of their fathers and were sealing themselves again to the Lord as a people of His Covenant.
JOSHUA 5:8-9
8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed.
9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
God confirms to Joshua that with their circumcision the sins of Israel and their bondage in Egypt has been removed. It is interesting that the name "Gilgal" means "rolling", symbolizing the rolling away of their reproach.
JOSHUA 5:10-15
10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho.
11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day.
12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?"
14 So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"
15 Then the Commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.
The man who appeared to Joshua identified Himself as the Commander of the Lord's army, meaning that He was the Commander of God's army, for in referring to the Lord's army He was referring to One greater than Himself.
This fits perfectly with the concept of Jesus Christ, who was pre-existent with the Father, having been elevated to be equal with the Father as God, but the Father by authority being greater than He. The fact that Joshua worshiped Him indicates that this was not an angel, for angels are not worthy of worship, being created beings themselves.
JOSHUA 6:1-5
1 Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.
2 And the LORD said to Joshua: "See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.
3 "You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days.
4 "And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
5 "It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him."
On the surface, this would seem pretty incredulous, but with what Israel had seen of God's power, Joshua and all Israel believed that it could happen. In this way also, it would be shown that it was God who destroyed the city by His power, not Israel by their own might.
JOSHUA 6:6-14
6 Then Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD."
7 And he said to the people, "Proceed, and march around the city, and let him who is armed advance before the ark of the LORD."
8 So it was, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the LORD advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.
10 Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, 'Shout!' Then you shall shout."
11 So he had the ark of the LORD circle the city, going around it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp.
12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
13 Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.
14 And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days.
Actually this wasn't so unusual. In ancient times it was customary to put on a display of military might when besieging a city to weaken the inhabitants' resolve to defend themselves. Besiegers would shout threats and insults to the city inhabitants, or would promise leniency if they opened their gates to the attackers. Sometimes the city would surrender and open its gates to the besiegers to prevent the slaughter of its inhabitants.
The only odd thing that the Canaanites would note was the absolute silence of the army as they marched around the city. They would hear the trumpets, but would hear no talking from the people.
JOSHUA 6:15-20
15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times.
16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: "Shout, for the LORD has given you the city!
17 "Now the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18 "And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19 "But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD."
20 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
Several points of interest here.
God's commandments to Joshua were actually good strategy, for Joshua and Israel would have remained out of range of the weapons of the Canaanites as they marched around the city. Therefore no one would have been killed by the falling walls.
The warriors of the city would have been manning the walls to repel any besiegers who might try to scale or undermine the walls, therefore when the walls fell, most if not all of the mighty men of the city would have been killed.
Archaeology has determined that the city of Joshua's time had been built on a mound of rubble and debris from previously destroyed cities that stood on the same site. (It was a common practices that when a city was destroyed, the surviving inhabitants merely rebuilt on the ruins.). Therefore the walls, although 30 feet thick and made of burnt brick, were built on an elevated mound of rubble. When the walls fell outward, they formed natural ramps into the city, therefore as Scripture correctly states, every man went up before him, into the city. They ran up the ramps and destroyed what was left of the city and it's inhabitants.
Archaeology has confirmed that the city was totally destroyed by fire during the time of Joshua just as the Scriptures have stated. Burnt granaries have been found showing that even the food of the city was not taken, but was burnt at Joshua's command. Joshua warns Israel to not take any plunder for themselves but they were to give all metal objects to the Lord's treasury and burn everything else. This would be a sort of first fruits of the treasure of the land to the Lord. The burning of the city and it's burnable goods would remove the legal right of the city's demons to remain there and would keep Israel from being oppressed by demons whose property the Israelites had taken.
What caused the walls to fall? No one knows for sure, but there has been speculation that an earthquake shook the area causing the rubble under the city to shift leading to the destruction of the walls. This isn't an unreasonable idea for the entire Jordan valley is a part of the Great African Rift, a very active tectonic fault formed when Africa began splitting from Saudi Arabia during the destruction and reshaping of the planet during the Flood, opening the Red Sea and drowning the Pishon river that flowed south from Eden (as explained in the Genesis study, chapter 2:9-12).
The fact that no earthquake was recorded isn't unusual either, for archaeologists have discovered cities that were leveled by earthquakes (such as the Canaanite coastal city of Dor, after Israel had invaded the land) with no mention being made in Scripture of the event.
JOSHUA 6:21-27
21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
22 But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, "Go into the harlot's house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her."
23 And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel.
24 But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
25 And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26 Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, "Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates."
27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country.
Joshua commands the two spies to get Rahab and her relatives, as the spies would know which house was hers. This is also fascinating, for even though her house was built in the city wall, apparently it didn't crumble and fall when the city walls were destroyed, showing God's mercy on her and those with her.
Because of their abominable religious and social practices in obedience to God's command everyone in the city (except Rahab and her family) was killed. The animals were slaughtered also, for most if not all of them were dedicated to demon gods, and as the New Testament shows, demons can inhabit animals if necessary. Killing the animals would prevent this from happening.
Joshua then curses the city, stating that whoever rebuilds the city would lose his firstborn and his youngest son in the process. This terrible curse was fulfilled when the city was rebuilt.
I KINGS 16:34
34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.
Notice that Rahab and her family were allowed to dwell with Israel even though they were Canaanites. Mercy was returned for mercy, for she had mercy on the spies who came to her, and God showed her mercy in return, showing that God looks at the heart, not at the nationality of a person.
JOSHUA 7:1
1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel.
Ah, greed. This has led to the downfall of so many people, and unfortunately many innocent victims suffer because of the greediness of others. Money is not the root of all evil, it is the love of money that is evil.
Money can buy many things, but it cannot buy you happiness and peace. It is not called "cold cash" for nothing. It can't love you in return and in the end you are left bitter and alone. As one rap star recently lamented, he didn't know whether the girls he dated loved him for himself, or for the fact that he was a rich and popular rap artist.
Better to be rich in God than to be rich without Him.
JOSHUA 7:2-6
2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, "Go up and spy out the country." So the men went up and spied out Ai.
3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few."
4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.
5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
The greediness and disobedience of one man caused the deaths of thirty six others. Joshua and all Israel had assumed that Israel had obeyed God's command to not take any plunder for themselves but Achan had, and God had seen it.
It is easy to condemn Joshua for not consulting with the Lord before attacking Ai, but who are we to judge? In his place, would we have done any differently? He had no clue as to what Achan had done and considering God's miracles in crossing Jordan and the destruction of Jericho it would be easy to assume that the people had obeyed God's commandment.
JOSHUA 7:7-15
7 And Joshua said, "Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!
8 "O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies?
9 "For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?"
10 So the LORD said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?
11 "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.
12 "Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.
13 "Get up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the LORD God of Israel: "There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you."
14 'In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes shall come according to families; and the family which the LORD takes shall come by households; and the household which the LORD takes shall come man by man.
15 'Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.'"
God reveals the reason for Israel's failure before Ai. The Lord was doing the choosing by narrowing down the entire congregation (possibly by casting of lots) until the guilty man was revealed.
JOSHUA 7:16-23
16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.
17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken.
18 Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19 Now Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me."
20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, "Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done:
21 "When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it."
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.
23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.
Lots were frequently used to determine the outcome of a dispute or to prove guilt or innocence. In this manner, if lots had been used, God would have shown that He would control the casting of lots, shown by the accurate selection of Achan as the guilty party.
Achan admitted his guilt in the matter having coveted a Babylonian cloak, silver coins and a wedge of fine gold (probably from Ophir, where such high quality gold was smelted, purified and molded into wedges for commerce).
JOSHUA 7:24-26
24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
26 Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.
Achor "Trouble". One man's greed caused the deaths of thirty six Israelite soldiers and the deaths of himself, his family and all of their livestock. Was it worth it, knowing that the destruction of future cities would provide plunder aplenty for Israel?
Fire is God's cleanser and burning everything and everyone with fire would cleanse the evil brought upon Israel by Achan and any demons that might have caused him to covet forbidden things. It was also a graphic example of the price of disobedience to God's commandments to Israel.
JOSHUA 8:1-9
1 Now the LORD said to Joshua: "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
2 "And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it."
3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.
4 And he commanded them, saying: "Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.
5 "Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before them.
6 "For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, 'They are fleeing before us as at the first.' Therefore we will flee before them.
7 "Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
8 "And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the LORD you shall do. See, I have commanded you."
9 Joshua therefore sent them out; and they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people.
With the deaths of Achan and his family the curse was removed from Israel. Notice this time that Joshua went against Ai with all of the armed men of Israel instead of three thousand as previously.
Ai was a city situated on a low ridge about 10 miles north-northwest of Jericho. The inhabitants must have known what happened to Jericho, but after Israel's defeat several days before they apparently had no fear of Israel.
This time Joshua sends 30,000 men for the attack. Some would go over the ridge to the western side of the city while Joshua and the rest of Israel attacked from the other side of the valley. By feigning defeat again, the men of Ai would eagerly pursue Israel leaving the city open for the men in ambush to attack. By having the ambushers wait on the western side of the city this would also prevent Ai from receiving reinforcements from the city of Bethel just a mile to the northwest.
JOSHUA 8:10-17
10 Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
11 And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near; and they came before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley lay between them and Ai.
12 So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
13 And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.
14 Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
16 So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel.
Ai apparently sat about 800-1000 feet above where Joshua and Israel were camped. Joshua had moved northward along the edge of the Jordan valley, keeping the valley between them and the city. By pretending to flee in fear from the men of Ai they would draw the men of Ai down into the valley removing the advantage of being on high ground from them. Thus Israel would be in a better position to attack.
JOSHUA 8:18-23
18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand." And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city.
19 So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire.
20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.
21 Now when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.
22 Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape.
23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
This is a fantastic strategy for attacking Ai. When the men of Ai pursued Joshua and Israel, Joshua fled eastward up the other side of the valley toward the Jordan river. Thus they were ascending as the men of Ai were descending their side of the valley in pursuit. The men of Ai had been so intent on watching Israel to the north, it never crossed their minds that another force might lay in wait elsewhere. Therefore the ambushers easily entered the undefended city from the west, then set the city on fire as a signal to Joshua and the rest of Israel.
When the men of Ai looked back they realized what had happened, and their precarious position. They were now at the bottom of the valley with Israel (under command of Joshua) above them on the eastern side of the valley, and the rest of Israel on the high ground above them on the western side of the valley. They were trapped, had nowhere to flee to, and were quickly destroyed.
JOSHUA 8:24-29
24 And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
25 So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand all the people of Ai.
26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.
28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day.
29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day.
As per God's command to Israel, the king of Ai was hung on a tree and buried at sundown.
DEUTERONOMY 21:22-23
22 "If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
23 "his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.
Ai was never rebuilt, but remained a heap of ruins. Archaeologists even today aren't certain of it's exact location due to the fact that successive inhabitants and conquerors (Persians, Greeks, Romans, etc) have used the stones as material for building other cities and villages. The Romans were as with almost everything else very efficient in this, scraping areas they wanted to build on down to bedrock, destroying any evidence of previous cities being on the site.
JOSHUA 8:30-35
30 Now Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal,
31 as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: "an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool." And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
32 And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
33 Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.
34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.
35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.
Some years ago, a carved altar was found on Mount Ebal, and archaeologists speculated that it may have been made by Joshua. But careful reading of Scripture indicates that as per God's commandment, He built the altar of whole, undressed (uncut, unshaped) stones. Therefore the altar they found could very well have been a pagan altar built by Canaanites or idolatrous Israelites of Israel during times of idolatry.
It is likely that Joshua wrote the 10 commandments on the stones of the altar, as the stones would not have been able to contain all of the words of all of the Law of Moses. However he did read from the written Law that Moses created before his death as a reminder to the people of what was required of them now that they were in Canaan.
JOSHUA 9:1-2
1 And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite heard about it,
2 that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.
The Canaanites realized that their only hope of defeating Israel was to band together under a unified command and assault Israel as one unit. This shows their fear of Israel especially after the destruction of a mighty royal city like Jericho.
JOSHUA 9:3-16
3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
4 they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended,
5 old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy.
6 And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us."
7 Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?"
8 But they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." And Joshua said to them, "Who are you, and where do you come from?"
9 So they said to him: "From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt,
10 "and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
11 "Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us."'
12 "This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy.
13 "And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey."
14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD.
15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them.
Actually this was a very clever tactic by the Gibeonites. But again, the Lord was not consulted concerning the issue of the messengers from Gibeon. The Gibeonites apparently knew that the Lord had commanded Israel to utterly destroy only the Canaanite cities and their inhabitants, so they said that they were from a far land and Israel made a covenant with them.
This again shows the terror of the Canaanites in that they were in such fear of Israel that they had to resort to such a deception, as Gibeon was one of the heavily fortified royal cities and was slightly smaller than Jericho.
JOSHUA 9:17-27
17 Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim.
18 But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.
19 Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them.
20 "This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them."
21 And the rulers said to them, "Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them."
22 Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, "Why have you deceived us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you dwell near us?
23 "Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves, woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God."
24 So they answered Joshua and said, "Because your servants were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.
25 "And now, here we are, in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us."
26 So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them.
27 And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which He would choose, even to this day.
This put Israel in a quandary, for they had been commanded by God to utterly destroy the inhabitants of Canaan, yet they had sworn to the Gibeonites they would let them live. Joshua, already having given his word to let them live then cursed them to be forced laborers (slaves) for all their generations because of their deception. Apparently the Gibeonites figured better to be slaves, than dead.
JOSHUA 10:1-5
1 Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
2 that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
3 Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying,
4 "Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel."
5 Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon and made war against it.
The Canaanites were definitely frightened now that Gibeon had made peace with Israel. Therefore they figured to make Gibeon an example of what would happen to any other Canaanite city that thought to do the same. Note that it took five kings and their armies to besiege Gibeon, showing the might of the city.
JOSHUA 10:6-14
6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, "Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us."
7 So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.
8 And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you."
9 Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal.
10 So the LORD routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
11 And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.
12 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel:"Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon."
13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies.Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.
14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.
The Gibeonites could have been playing a double game here, calling Israel for help against the five kings arrayed against them. If Israel was beaten, the Gibeonites could have smooth-talked their way out of trouble. If Israel won, the Gibeonites would not have to lift a hand in their defense.
The true power of the Lord is seen again here, in the fact that He caused a heavy hailstorm with hailstones so heavy that they killed the fleeing Canaanites.
As for the Earth stopping it's rotation for about 24 hours, this has to be one of the most incredible miracles outside of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Bible. Ask a physicist about suddenly stopping the rotation of the Earth with no harm done to the planet, and he'll be making reservations for the Rubber Room for you. He would say that it can't be done.
The Earth rotates from west to east at about 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, and about 700 mph at the poles. We are also talking about trillions of tons of mass spinning at this velocity. And there is no force or power on Earth that can suddenly stop the inertia of a mass as big as the Earth from rotating.
The crust of the Earth floats atop the mantle, a semi-liquid mass of rock with the consistency of soft plastic which extends down almost to the core, which is made of semi-solid iron and nickel. So even if something could suddenly stop the crust from following the Earth's rotation, the inertia in the mantle and core would cause them to continue spinning. The resulting friction between the stationary crust and the still-spinning mantle and core would tear the crust apart, destroying all life on Earth.
Another thing to consider. Everything on the surface of the Earth is moving as fast as the crust upon which it rests. But with the size of the Earth and the fact that we are moving at an equal velocity as the crust upon which we stand, it seems that we are standing still. Only the movement of the sun during the day and the stars at night show that the Earth is rotating.
As anyone who has been in an auto accident can attest, upon impact the car may suddenly stop moving but everything within it does not. Everything (and everyone) in the car keeps moving at the same velocity the car was traveling when the impact occurred.
The same with everything on the crust of the planet. The oceans and atmosphere would immediately rush eastward as well as everything on the surface of the Earth. Again, the result would be the destruction of all life on the planet.
Finally, the stopping of the Earth's rotation would cause the sun to heat one side of the Earth for a longer period than usual which would cause elevated heating of the side facing the sun. Conversely the dark side would lose heat to the cold of space and would cool rapidly.
One result would be that major storm systems would develop because of the extended heating of the land and oceans on the sunward side. The dark side wouldn't be affected as much as previous ground and ocean heating would help mediate the cooling effect of the extended darkness.
I could go on, but I think the main ideas have been expressed here. God stopped the rotation of the planet without harm to anything on Earth so that the Israelites could destroy the Canaanite armies before sundown.
JOSHUA 10:15-27
15 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
16 But these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in a cave at Makkedah.
17 And it was told Joshua, saying, "The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah."
18 So Joshua said, "Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them.
19 "And do not stay there yourselves, but pursue your enemies, and attack their rear guard. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand."
20 Then it happened, while Joshua and the children of Israel made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they had finished, that those who escaped entered fortified cities.
21 And all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah, in peace. No one moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.
22 Then Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings to me from the cave."
23 And they did so, and brought out those five kings to him from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
24 So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, "Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings." And they drew near and put their feet on their necks.
25 Then Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight."
26 And afterward Joshua struck them and killed them, and hanged them on five trees; and they were hanging on the trees until evening.
27 So it was at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees, cast them into the cave where they had been hidden, and laid large stones against the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day.
Joshua having the captains of the army put their feet on the necks of the kings was a good psychological ploy. It would instill courage in the minds and the hearts of the captains, which in turn would benefit those under their command.
As the Canaanites were accursed before the Lord, Joshua had them hung on trees in obedience to God's commandment to Israel;
DEUTERONOMY 21:22-23
22 "If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
23 "his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.
JOSHUA 10:28
28 On that day Joshua took Makkedah, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, all the people who were in it. He let none remain. He also did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
Makkedah was about 15 miles south-west of Jerusalem as the crow flies. We must remember that this wasn't a simple trip to these places, the area is quite rugged with many ridges and valleys to cross. But Joshua was intent on destroying all of the royal fortified cities in Canaan first, which would make the mop-up of the small villages easier.
JOSHUA 10:29-30
29 Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah; and they fought against Libnah.
30 And the LORD also delivered it and its king into the hand of Israel; he struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword. He let none remain in it, but did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.
Libnah was about 5 miles southwest of Makkedah. It may seem odd that there would be two royal cities that close to each other, but we tend to think of cities today, which are large, covering many square miles. Fortified cities in ancient times (with the exception of major cities like Babylon, Nineveh and others) usually covered several hundred square acres and had at the most several thousand inhabitants.
JOSHUA 10:31-32
31 Then Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish; and they encamped against it and fought against it.
32 And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, who took it on the second day, and struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah.
Lachish was about 8 miles south of Libnah. Joshua was effectively cutting Canaan in half.
JOSHUA 10:33
33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck him and his people, until he left him none remaining.
This is interesting as Gezer is about 13 miles north of Lachish. Perhaps the king of Gezer thought to put Israel in a vise with the armies of Gezer coming from the north and Lachish from the south.
JOSHUA 10:34-35
34 From Lachish Joshua passed to Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it and fought against it.
35 They took it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; all the people who were in it he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.
Eglon is about 6 miles southwest of Lachish. Note that they destroyed it in the same day. Apparently it was a minor city.
JOSHUA 10:36-37
36 So Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, to Hebron; and they fought against it.
37 And they took it and struck it with the edge of the sword, its king, all its cities, and all the people who were in it; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon, but utterly destroyed it and all the people who were in it.
Joshua now turns east, marching over 20 miles to attack Hebron and it's satellite cities, destroying all of the villages along the way. Note that Hebron was a royal city.
JOSHUA 10:38-39
38 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and they fought against it.
39 And he took it and its king and all its cities; they struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed all the people who were in it. He left none remaining; as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had done also to Libnah and its king.
Joshua turns southwest again, marching about 12 miles to conquer the royal city of Debir.
JOSHUA 10:40-43
40 So Joshua conquered all the land: the mountain country and the South and the lowland and the wilderness slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded.
41 And Joshua conquered them from Kadesh Barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even as far as Gibeon.
42 All these kings and their land Joshua took at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.
43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
This is the first Canaanite campaign for Joshua and Israel. As they conquered cities from deep in the Sinai Peninsula to Gibeon in central Canaan, I suspect that the battles listed above were a brief synopsis of the true series of battles they fought. A look at a map of the area during the time of Joshua will show many cities and villages in the areas he swept through. I suspect only the major cities and battles are listed in the description above.
JOSHUA 11:1-9
1 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard these things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,
2 and to the kings who were from the north, in the mountains, in the plain south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west,
3 to the Canaanites in the east and in the west, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the mountains, and the Hivite below Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
4 So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots.
5 And when all these kings had met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
6 But the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire."
7 So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them.
8 And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to Greater Sidon, to the Brook Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining.
9 So Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
The Canaanites to the north apparently decided that to defeat Israel they would all need to band together and fight Israel as one. And it is ironic that the place they chose to fight was in the northern valley of Jezreel, the site of the future battle of Armageddon.
People may wonder why God ordered Israel to hamstring the horses and burn the chariots. But if Israel began using horses and chariots, they would quickly fall away from God and would begin to think that they had conquered these great armies by their own power. God was ensuring that they would rely on Him alone for their strength and victories.
JOSHUA 11:10-13
10 Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms.
11 And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was none left breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.
12 So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.
13 But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, which Joshua burned.
Hazor is about 10 miles due north of the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Kinneret). Archaeologists have uncovered the burnt ruins of Hazor from Joshua's time and found that when he burned the city the heat of the fire was so great that the clay bricks of the city literally melted in the intense heat and ran like lava through the streets.
Remember that the clay bricks of that time were mixed with straw stubble for strength and the walls were studded with wooden beams for support. So the straw and wood could easily have elevated the intensity of the fire to the proportions discovered in the ruins of Hazor.
Note in verse 13 that it speaks of the cities "that stood on their mounds". Previously in chapter 6, I said that when a city was destroyed, usually a new city was built upon the rubble. This is shown in this verse also, for the "mounds" spoken of here is the debris pile left from previous ruins of the cities when they were destroyed by others, or by earthquakes.
JOSHUA 11:14-18
14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the children of Israel took as booty for themselves; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing.
15 As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
16 Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan plain, the mountains of Israel and its lowlands,
17 from Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, even as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings, and struck them down and killed them.
18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
The description above shows that Joshua swept through the entire countryside of Canaan, from deep in the Gaza peninsula in the south to Lebanon in the north and from the central highlands to the Jordan valley to the east. For some reason, he never fought with the Philistines who inhabited the coastal areas to the west.
JOSHUA 11:19-23
19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle.
20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
21 And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.
22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.
23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land rested from war.
Even though verse 23 says the land had rest from war, not all of the Canaanites had been destroyed. Joshua wasted the major power centers and royal cities, and then divided the land to Israel by lot as God commanded. He then left the mop-up of the rest of the land to the individual tribes. Note also that Scripture says that Joshua destroyed all of the giants (Anakim) with the exception of those in the cities of the Philistines.
JOSHUA 12:1-6
1 These are the kings of the land whom the children of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed on the other side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the eastern Jordan plain:
2 One king was Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon and ruled half of Gilead, from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, from the middle of that river, even as far as the River Jabbok, which is the border of the Ammonites,
3 and the eastern Jordan plain from the Sea of Chinneroth as far as the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), the road to Beth Jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.
4 The other king was Og king of Bashan and his territory, who was of the remnant of the giants, who dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,
5 and reigned over Mount Hermon, over Salcah, over all Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and over half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
6 These Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel had conquered; and Moses the servant of the LORD had given it as a possession to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.
This lists the territories east of the Jordan river conquered by Israel, from Mount Hermon just south of Lebanon southward to the river Arnon which feeds into the middle of the Dead Sea (the Sea of Arabah) which defined the border of Moab.
All of this territory was given to the tribes of Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh (half of Manasseh settled east of the Jordan, half settled in Canaan.)
JOSHUA 12:7-24
7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel conquered on this side of the Jordan, on the west, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon as far as Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, which Joshua gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions,
8 in the mountain country, in the lowlands, in the Jordan plain, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the South the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:
9 the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;
10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;
19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
20 the king of Shimron Meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
23 the king of Dor in the heights of Dor, one; the king of the people of Gilgal, one;
24 the king of Tirzah, one all the kings, thirty-one.
This is the list of the cities and their kings in Canaan itself that Joshua and Israel conquered, from north to south. Note that the kings destroyed by Israel under Moses and the kings destroyed by Joshua in Canaan are listed separately.
JOSHUA 13:1-6
1 Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the LORD said to him: "You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.
2 "This is the land that yet remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Geshurites,
3 "from Sihor, which is east of Egypt, as far as the border of Ekron northward (which is counted as Canaanite); the five lords of the Philistines the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites;
4 "from the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorites;
5 "the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath;
6 "all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the Brook Misrephoth, and all the Sidonians them I will drive out from before the children of Israel; only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you.
We tend to forget that sometimes a great amount of time passes between events in the Bible. Figuring that Joshua was about 40 years old when Israel came out of Egypt, he would have been 80 when they entered the land of Canaan. And after several years of fighting the Canaanites he could have been at least 85-90 years old when God spoke to him here.
The major cities and power centers of Canaan had been destroyed (with the exception of the Philistines), but there was still much land left to conquer before Israel would realize it's full inheritance. God is now giving Joshua rest, by having him divide the land by lots to the 9 1/2 tribes who would settle in the Promised Land.
JOSHUA 13:7-14
7 "Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh."
8 With the other half-tribe the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses had given them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the
LORD had given them:
9 from Aroer which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and the town that is in the midst of the ravine, and all the plain of Medeba as far as Dibon;
10 all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the children of Ammon;
11 Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salcah;
12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants; for Moses had defeated and cast out these.
13 Nevertheless the children of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maachathites, but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.
14 Only to the tribe of Levi he had given no inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as He said to them.
Maachah and Geshur were to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Kinneret) just below Lebanon and southwest of Syria. (This would have been the northern territory of Manasseh.)
JOSHUA 13:15-23
15 And Moses had given to the tribe of the children of Reuben an inheritance according to their families.
16 Their territory was from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the ravine, and all the plain by Medeba;
17 Heshbon and all its cities that are in the plain: Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon,
18 Jahaza, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
19 Kirjathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the mountain of the valley,
20 Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth
21 all the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses had struck with the princes of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, who were princes of Sihon dwelling in the country.
22 The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by them.
23 And the border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their villages.
Reuben possessed the Amorite lands east of the Jordan river from the river Arnon in the south (which feeds into the center of the Dead Sea) which formed the northern border of Moab, northward to Beth-Peor about 5 miles north of the Dead Sea itself, an area of roughly 400 square miles.
JOSHUA 13:24-28
24 Moses also had given an inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad according to their families.
25 Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, which is before Rabbah,
26 and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir,
27 and in the valley Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as its border, as far as the edge of the Sea of Chinnereth, on the other side of the Jordan eastward.
28 This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and their villages.
Gad occupied most of the countryside east of the Jordan river in the central part of the Jordan valley from the northern border of Reuben in the south to Zaphon to the north to about 20 miles east which formed the border of the Ammonites, an area of roughly 600 square miles.
JOSHUA 13:29-33
29 Moses also had given an inheritance to half the tribe of Manasseh; it was for half the tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their families:
30 Their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair which are in Bashan, sixty cities;
31 half of Gilead, and Ashtaroth and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the children of Machir according to their families.
32 These are the areas which Moses had distributed as an inheritance in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward.
33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses had given no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as He had said to them.
The eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh occupied an area from the northern border of Gad to the south, northward to the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Kinneret), an area of roughly 800 square miles.
The tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh would fight for and remain in possession of these lands until Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III conquered them in 733 B.C.
JOSHUA 14:1-15
1 These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel distributed as an inheritance to them.
2 Their inheritance was by lot, as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe.
3 For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of the Jordan; but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them.
4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. And they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for their livestock and their property.
5 As the LORD had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the land.
6 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: "You know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.
7 "I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.
8 "Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God.
9 "So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.'
10 "And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old.
11 "As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.
12 "Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said."
13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.
14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.
15 And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). Then the land had rest from war.
We now know that Caleb was 40 years old when the spies went to Canaan and brought back their report. Considering that Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness before coming into Canaan and Caleb was now 85, the wars of Canaan at this point had lasted for 5 years. If Arba had been the greatest among the Anakim (giants) he must have been a mighty man indeed!
JOSHUA 15:1-12
1 So this was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families: The border of Edom at the Wilderness of Zin southward was the extreme southern boundary.
2 And their southern border began at the shore of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward.
3 Then it went out to the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, passed along to Zin, ascended on the south side of Kadesh Barnea, passed along to Hezron, went up to Adar,
and went around to Karkaa.
4 From there it passed toward Azmon and went out to the Brook of Egypt; and the border ended at the sea. This shall be your southern border.
5 The east border was the Salt (Dead) Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan. And the border on the northern quarter began at the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.
6 The border went up to Beth Hoglah and passed north of Beth Arabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.
7 Then the border went up toward Debir from the Valley of Achor, and it turned northward toward Gilgal, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley. The border continued toward the waters of En Shemesh and ended at En Rogel.
8 And the border went up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom to the southern slope of the Jebusite city (which is Jerusalem). The border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the Valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the Valley of Rephaim northward.
9 Then the border went around from the top of the hill to the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and extended to the cities of Mount Ephron. And the border went around to Baalah (which is Kirjath Jearim).
10 Then the border turned westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, passed along to the side of Mount Jearim on the north (which is Chesalon), went down to Beth Shemesh, and passed on to Timnah.
11 And the border went out to the side of Ekron northward. Then the border went around to Shicron, passed along to Mount Baalah, and extended to Jabneel; and the border ended at the sea.
12 The west border was the coastline of the Great Sea. This is the boundary of the children of Judah all around according to their families.
It would be best to look at a map of the division of Canaan among the tribes to get a better understanding of the area given to Judah. The area of Judah covered from the central part of Canaan just below Jerusalem, south along the desert border with Edom into the Sinai Peninsula, and from the border of the Dead Sea to the east to the Mediterranean Sea to the west.
Judah received the largest single partition of all the tribes, with only Manasseh having more territory because of the tribe being split on both sides of the Jordan River.
JOSHUA 15:13-14
13 Now to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a share among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, namely, Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).
14 Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from there: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.
It is interesting that Caleb drove out the sons of Anak, but didn't destroy them.
JOSHUA 15:15-19
15 Then he went up from there to the inhabitants of Debir (formerly the name of Debir was Kirjath Sepher).
16 And Caleb said, "He who attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife."
17 So Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.
18 Now it was so, when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. So she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you wish?"
19 She answered, "Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water." So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
Achsah and Othniel would have been first cousins which was not forbidden by the Law. Apparently such a bargain wasn't uncommon in the Old Testament. Arranged marriages were very common back then and still happens in some cultures today. And even then, as now, water was a critical resource.
JOSHUA 15:20-63
20 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families:
21 The cities at the limits of the tribe of the children of Judah, toward the border of Edom in the South, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,
22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,
23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan,
24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,
25 Hazor, Hadattah, Kerioth, Hezron (which is Hazor),
26 Amam, Shema, Moladah,
27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet,
28 Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Bizjothjah,
29 Baalah, Ijim, Ezem,
30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,
31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,
32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty-nine, with their villages.
33 In the lowland: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,
34 Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam,
35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,
36 Sharaim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim: fourteen cities with their villages;
37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad,
38 Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel,
39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,
40 Cabbon, Lahmas, Kithlish,
41 Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities with their villages;
42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan,
43 Jiphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,
44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages;
45 Ekron, with its towns and villages;
46 from Ekron to the sea, all that lay near Ashdod, with their villages;
47 Ashdod with its towns and villages, Gaza with its towns and villages as far as the Brook of Egypt and the Great Sea with its coastline.
48 And in the mountain country: Shamir, Jattir, Sochoh,
49 Dannah, Kirjath Sannah (which is Debir),
50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,
51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities with their villages;
52 Arab, Dumah, Eshean,
53 Janum, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah,
54 Humtah, Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron), and Zior: nine cities with their villages;
55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,
56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,
57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities with their villages;
58 Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor,
59 Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages;
60 Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim) and Rabbah: two cities with their villages.
61 In the wilderness: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah,
62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En Gedi: six cities with their villages.
63 As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
Note that the cities of the Philistines (Ekron, Ashdod, Gaza) were included in the list above. Ashkelon and Gath were included with Ashdod). And Dimonah (present-day Dimona) is the site of Israel's only nuclear reactor.
It is also interesting that even though the city of Jerusalem (Jebus) fell within the territory of Benjamin, it says that the tribe of Judah could not drive them out. It wasn't until King David captured the city approximately 500 years later that the city would finally belong to Israel.
JOSHUA 16:1-10
1 The lot fell to the children of Joseph from the Jordan, by Jericho, to the waters of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goes up from Jericho through the mountains to Bethel,
2 then went out from Bethel to Luz, passed along to the border of the Archites at Ataroth,
3 and went down westward to the boundary of the Japhletites, as far as the boundary of Lower Beth Horon to Gezer; and it ended at the sea.
4 So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
5 The border of the children of Ephraim, according to their families, was thus: The border of their inheritance on the east side was Ataroth Addar as far as Upper Beth Horon.
6 And the border went out toward the sea on the north side of Michmethath; then the border went around eastward to Taanath Shiloh, and passed by it on the east of Janohah.
7 Then it went down from Janohah to Ataroth and Naarah, reached to Jericho, and came out at the Jordan.
8 The border went out from Tappuah westward to the Brook Kanah, and it ended at the sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families.
9 The separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
10 And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers.
The inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim was located in central Canaan and was completely land-locked, stretching from Jericho to the east to about 10 miles from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the west (about 20 miles total width), and from Gezer in the south to Mount Gerizim to the north (about 15 miles in depth).
Ephraim didn't destroy the inhabitants of Gezer as God had commanded, but made slaves of them instead.
The half-tribe of Manasseh was immediately north of Ephraim, and occupied much more territory, Their boundaries were the border of Ephraim to the south, with a spur that extended south to Jericho, and the eastern boundary was the Jordan valley to the Mediterranean Sea on the west. The northern boundary was somewhat odd-shaped, extending northward to just north of Beth-Shean (Beth-Shan) in the east, and in the west to just north of mount Carmel. The territory reminds me of a piece to a jigsaw puzzle.
JOSHUA 17:1-2
1 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph: namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war; therefore he was given Gilead and Bashan.
2 And there was a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, the children of Helek, the children of Asriel, the children of Shechem, the children of Hepher, and the children of Shemida; these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.
Remember, this is the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, brother to Ephraim. Jacob had adopted both Ephraim and Manasseh as sons, promising them inheritances as tribes in Israel. Thus Joseph received two portions in the inheritance through his sons. This was the half-tribe that settled east of the Jordan river, outside of Canaan.
JOSHUA 17:3-6
3 But Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters. And these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
4 And they came near before Eleazar the priest, before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the rulers, saying, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers." Therefore, according to the commandment of the LORD, he gave them an inheritance among their father's brothers.
5 Ten shares fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan,
6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead.
Note carefully here that the land of Gilead and Bashan which was east of the Jordan didn't count against the half-tribe of Manasseh which decided to dwell within the land of Canaan. And note also that the inheritances were first decided by lot for territory, then the territory was subdivided by lot between the major families within the tribes.
JOSHUA 17:7-10
7 And the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, that lies east of Shechem; and the border went along south to the inhabitants of En Tappuah.
8 Manasseh had the land of Tappuah, but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.
9 And the border descended to the Brook Kanah, southward to the brook. These cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook; and it ended at the sea.
10 Southward it was Ephraim's, northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea was its border. Manasseh's territory was adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.
En Tappuah and Tappuah were adjacent cities about 5 miles northwest of Shiloh. It is interesting that the tribe of Ephraim possessed the city of Tappuah, but Manasseh possessed the land from the northern edge of the city northward, which would include the city of En Tappuah.
As both cities were on the northern edge of a seasonal brook (called Kanah), both would have possessed land containing the brook, but Ephraim would have possessed the greater length of the waterway. Manasseh's territory within Canaan would have been roughly 1200 square miles.
JOSHUA 17:11-13
11 And in Issachar and in Asher, Manasseh had Beth Shean and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of En Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, three hilly regions.
12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.
13 And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.
We tend to think of the borders in Israel as being set, but apparently there was some slight overlap, with Manasseh possessing some small areas that were given to Issachar and Asher. And it seems that the tribe of Manasseh began to either tire of fighting, or began to lose heart (and faith) for they didn't drive out the Canaanites as God commanded, but made slaves of them instead.
JOSHUA 17:14-18
14 Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, "Why have you given us only one lot and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the LORD has blessed us until now?"
15 So Joshua answered them, "If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you."
16 But the children of Joseph said, "The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are of the Valley of Jezreel."
17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph to Ephraim and Manasseh saying, "You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot,
18 "but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots and are strong."
Here we see the key to Israel's failure to conquer the Canaanites. Despite their victories over the Canaanites to that point, they still feared and were in unbelief. And as a result, God withheld victory from them for their unbelief.
Considering that the combined territory of Ephraim and Manasseh was over 1800 square miles, I find it somewhat surprising that they complained that their allotted shares were considered to be too small for them, especially since the half-tribe of Manasseh was granted more territory that the entire tribe of Ephraim.
(Remember, Jacob blessed Joseph's younger son Ephraim before his older brother Manasseh and prophesied that Ephraim would be greater than Manasseh. After the tribes split into the northern and southern kingdoms after the death of Solomon, the 10 northern tribes were collectively called "Ephraim", and the southern two tribes were called "Judah".)
Note that Joshua, instead of reallocating shares, essentially told Ephraim and Manasseh, "Conquer territory for yourselves, instead of complaining to me about the issue. "Thus Joshua put the responsibility squarely back into the laps of the two tribes, where it belonged.
JOSHUA 18:1-7
1 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them.
2 But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance.
3 Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: "How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you?
4 "Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them; they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me.
5 "And they shall divide it into seven parts. Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north.
6 "You shall therefore survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.
7 "But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them."
The people had become so dependant on Joshua to make their decisions for them, that they didn't take any initiative on their own to scout out their allotted territories and drive out the inhabitants. Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh had claimed their territories, but the rest of the tribes (with the exception of Gad, Reuben and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh who remained east of the Jordan river) had not.
JOSHUA 18:8-9
8 Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to survey the land, saying, "Go, walk through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh."
9 So the men went, passed through the land, and wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities; and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.
Apparently the divisions of the land by tribe were already known, but the allocations within the territories by families had not been settled by lot as yet.
JOSHUA 18:10-28
10 Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.
11 Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
12 Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward; it ended at the Wilderness of Beth Aven.
13 The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz (which is Bethel) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side of Lower Beth Horon.
14 Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward; and it ended at Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.
15 The south side began at the end of Kirjath Jearim, and the border extended on the west and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.
16 Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of the Rephaim on the north, descended to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to En Rogel.
17 And it went around from the north, went out to En Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.
18 Then it passed along toward the north side of Arabah, and went down to Arabah.
19 And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hoglah; then the border ended at the north bay at the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.
20 The Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, according to their families.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,
22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
23 Avim, Parah, Ophrah,
24 Chephar Haammoni, Ophni, and Gaba: twelve cities with their villages;
25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
26 Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah,
27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
28 Zelah, Eleph, Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
This may seem like a large amount of land, but the actual territory of Benjamin was about 100 square miles, and was densely packed with cities and villages, including the royal Canaanite city of Jebus (Jerusalem), the smallest of all of the inheritances.
JOSHUA19:1-9
1 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. And their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah.
2 They had in their inheritance Beersheba (Sheba), Moladah,
3 Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem,
4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,
5 Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah,
6 Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen: thirteen cities and their villages;
7 Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan: four cities and their villages;
8 and all the villages that were all around these cities as far as Baalath Beer, Ramah of the South. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.
9 The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children of Judah, for the share of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of that people.
The inheritance of Simeon was entirely surrounded (and was later absorbed) by Judah, as apparently Judah's inheritance was too large for them. The exact boundaries are hard to determine as the locations of the villages described are unknown or uncertain, but it seems their territory was about 300 square miles.
JOSHUA19:10-16
10 The third lot came out for the children of Zebulun according to their families, and the border of their inheritance was as far as Sarid.
11 Their border went toward the west and to Maralah, went to Dabbasheth, and extended along the brook that is east of Jokneam.
12 Then from Sarid it went eastward toward the sunrise along the border of Chisloth Tabor, and went out toward Daberath, bypassing Japhia.
13 And from there it passed along on the east of Gath Hepher, toward Eth Kazin, and extended to Rimmon, which borders on Neah.
14 Then the border went around it on the north side of Hannathon, and it ended in the Valley of Jiphthah El.
15 Included were Kattath, Nahallal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages.
16 This was the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.
Zebulun was squeezed between Issachar, Naphtali and Asher, in the far north, into an area of about 400 square miles.
Note carefully that the town of Bethlehem was not the city where the Messiah was to be born. There were actually two towns of Bethlehem (Hebrew: Beth Lechem, House of Bread), Bethlehem to the north in Zebulun and Bethlehem Ephratah (Hebrew: Ephratah, Fruitfulness) in Judah. It was in Bethlehem Ephratah in Judah that Jesus would be born.
JOSHUA19:17-23
17 The fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families.
18 And their territory went to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem,
19 Haphraim, Shion, Anaharath,
20 Rabbith, Kishion, Abez,
21 Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez.
22 And the border reached to Tabor, Shahazimah, and Beth Shemesh; their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.
23 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.
The territory of Issachar appears to have been about 144 square miles, northeast of Manasseh, south of Naphtali and southeast of Zebulon.
JOSHUA 19:24-31
24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.
25 And their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,
26 Alammelech, Amad, and Mishal; it reached to Mount Carmel westward, along the Brook Shihor Libnath.
27 It turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon; and it reached to Zebulun and to the Valley of Jiphthah El, then northward beyond Beth Emek and Neiel, bypassing Cabul which was on the left,
28 including Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.
29 And the border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and ended at the sea by the region of Achzib.
30 Also Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob were included: twenty-two cities with their villages.
31 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.
The northern border of Asher extended to the Phoenician royal city of Tyre in Lebanon, and encompassed about 400 square miles, and had Naphtali on its eastern border with the Mediterranean Sea as it's western border and Zebulon to the south.
JOSHUA 19:32-39
32 The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali according to their families.
33 And their border began at Heleph, enclosing the territory from the terebinth tree in Zaanannim, Adami Nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; it ended at the Jordan.
34 From Heleph the border extended westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there toward Hukkok; it adjoined Zebulun on the south side and Asher on the west side, and ended at Judah by the Jordan toward the sunrise.
35 And the fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,
36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,
37 Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor,
38 Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh: nineteen cities with their villages.
39 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.
Naphtali was located in the far north, squeezed between the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee (Hebrew Kinnereth, meaning harp-shaped) to the east, Issachar to the south, Zebulon to the southwest, Asher to the west and Lebanon to the north, an area of approximately 440 square miles.
JOSHUA 19:40-48
40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families.
41 And the territory of their inheritance was Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh,
42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Jethlah,
43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron,
44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,
45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon,
46 Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the region near Joppa.
47 And the border of the children of Dan went beyond these, because the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem and took it; and they struck it with the edge of the sword, took possession of it, and dwelt in it. They called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.
The original allotted territory of Dan was supposed to be on the west coast which was occupied by the Philistines. The tribe of Dan could not conquer them, so they later moved to the far north, astride the Jordan Valley, east of Naphtali and north of the Sea of Galilee (Kinnereth)
JOSHUA 19:49-51
49 When they had made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.
50 According to the word of the LORD they gave him the city which he asked for, Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim; and he built the city and dwelt in it.
51 These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country.
Joshua was given a city for himself and his family in the rolling hills of the southern border of Ephraim, about 12 miles north-northeast of Jerusalem
JOSHUA 20:1-6
1 The LORD also spoke to Joshua, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
3 'that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 'And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
5 'Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand.
6 'And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.'"
The Lord had commanded that in cases of accidental death (manslaughter), six cities were to be set aside as cities of refuge where the person involved in the accidental manslaughter could flee.
In ancient times, the judges and elders of the city would sit at the entrance of the city gate and would hear all manners of complaints and lawsuits and would render judgments there. But in a case such as this, the entire city would hear the case and judge.
If the person was deemed to be guilty of murder, then the killer was to be turned over to the avenger for execution. If not, he was to remain in the city and be protected from the avenger. He was to remain there until the death of the current High Priest, more than likely to allow the vengeance-seeker time to "cool off" and leave off his hunt for the offender.
JOSHUA 20:7-9
7 So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the mountains of Judah.
8 And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.
9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.
Three cities were assigned west of the Jordan river, and three east of the Jordan.
JOSHUA 21:1-2
1 Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.
2 And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common lands for our livestock."
This may seem like a violation of God's commandment that the Levites were to have no inheritance in Israel, as the service of the Lord was their inheritance. But these cities were common to the entire tribe of Levi, and were scattered in Israel according to Jacob's prophecy of;
GENESIS 49:5-7
5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6 Let not my soul enter their council; let not my honor be united to their assembly; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
As prophesied, the territory of Simeon was completely surrounded and later absorbed by Judah, and the Levites were scattered in cities throughout Israel.
JOSHUA 21:3-12
3 So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their common-lands:
4 Now the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin.
5 The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6 And the children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.
8 And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses.
9 So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are designated by name,
10 which were for the children of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for the lot was theirs first.
11 And they gave them Kirjath Arba (Arba was the father of Anak), which is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah, with the common-land surrounding it.
12 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.
This gave the Levites 48 cities and their surrounding lands for their dwellings and the keeping of their livestock. But Caleb, like Joshua, was given his own possession as an honor of being one of the two surviving spies that had scouted the land of Canaan.
JOSHUA 21:13-19
13 Thus to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Libnah with its common-land,
14 Jattir with its common-land, Eshtemoa with its common-land,
15 Holon with its common-land, Debir with its common-land,
16 Ain with its common-land, Juttah with its common-land, and Beth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes;
17 and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its common-land, Geba with its common-land,
18 Anathoth with its common-land, and Almon with its common-land: four cities.
19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their common-lands.
The direct descendants of the line of Aaron were given 13 cities for their exclusive dwellings from the tribes of Simeon, Judah and Benjamin. These cities were strictly for the priests and their families. The other cities were shared among the Levites.
JOSHUA 21:20-26
20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim.
21 For they gave them Shechem with its common-land in the mountains of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the slayer), Gezer with its common-land,
22 Kibzaim with its common-land, and Beth Horon with its common-land: four cities;
23 and from the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its common-land, Gibbethon with its common-land,
24 Aijalon with its common-land, and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: four cities;
25 and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with its common-land and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: two cities.
26 All the ten cities with their common-lands were for the rest of the families of the children of Kohath.
The Kohath branch of the Levites were given 10 cities for their dwellings, including a city of refuge (Shechem).
JOSHUA 21:27-33
27 Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), and Be Eshterah with its common-land: two cities;
28 and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its common-land, Daberath with its common-land,
29 Jarmuth with its common-land, and En Gannim with its common-land: four cities;
30 and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its common-land, Abdon with its common-land,
31 Helkath with its common-land, and Rehob with its common-land: four cities;
32 and from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Hammoth Dor with its common-land, and Kartan with its common-land: three cities.
33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their common-lands.
The Gershon branch of the Levites received 13 cities, including two cities of refuge (Golan and Kedesh in Galilee).
JOSHUA 21:34-40
34 And to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its common-land, Kartah with its common-land,
35 Dimnah with its common-land, and Nahalal with its common-land: four cities;
36 and from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its common-land, Jahaz with its common-land,
37 Kedemoth with its common-land, and Mephaath with its common-land: four cities;
38 and from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Mahanaim with its common-land,
39 Heshbon with its common-land, and Jazer with its common-land: four cities in all.
40 So all the cities for the children of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.
The Merari branch of Levites were given 12 cities, including one city of refuge (Ramoth Gilead).
JOSHUA 21:41-45
41 All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands.
42 Every one of these cities had its common-land surrounding it; thus were all these cities.
43 So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.
44 The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. The Lord had given Israel rest as He had promised, but He did not mean for them to believe that they were finished with their conquests. There were still parts of their territories that were still under Canaanite control that needed to be conquered.
The Lord kept His promises to Israel, now they needed to keep their promises to Him.
JOSHUA 22:1-6
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh,
2 and said to them: "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.
3 "You have not left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.
4 "And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.
5 "But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
The major wars for Canaan were finished. Now it was up to the individual tribes to "mop up" the rest of the Canaanites living in their allotted territories.
Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh had been obedient to Moses in that even though they had settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River, they had fought alongside their brethren in Canaan until Israel possessed the lands promised to them. Now they could finally go home to their families and dwellings.
JOSHUA 22:7-9
7 Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,
8 and spoke to them, saying, "Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren."
9 So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
Apparently much treasure had been taken by Israel during their wars with the Canaanites. Equal shares were divided and given to the men of Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and they went home.
JOSHUA 22:10-12
10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan a great, impressive altar.
11 Now the children of Israel heard someone say, "Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan on the children of Israel's side."
12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.
This may seem like a minor thing, but Israel saw it as a source of idolatry, and an occurrence which could split Israel apart, as the altar on the east side of Jordan could be seen as being in competition with the altar of the Lord in Shiloh.
This was also seen as a direct violation of God's commandment to Moses, when He said;
DEUTERONOMY 26:1-4
1 "And it shall be, when you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it,
2 "that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.
3 "And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, 'I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.'
4 "Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.
Therefore Israel, fearing the wrath of the Lord, was prepared to go over the Jordan in force and destroy the altar built there, and if so commanded, destroy those who had built it.
JOSHUA 22:13-20
13 Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead,
14 and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel; and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel.
15 Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,
16 "Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD: 'What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD?
17 'Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,
18 'but that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
19 'Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the LORD, where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God.
20 'Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'"
Phinehas and the elders of Israel with him made a very good point in verse 20. Achan alone had sinned in taking accursed treasure from Jericho after it was conquered, and 36 men died because of his treachery and disobedience. Phinehas and the elders were worried that God would again be angry with all of Israel if they let this issue stand.
JOSHUA 22:21-34
21 Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel:
22 "The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, He knows, and let Israel itself know if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the LORD, do not save us this day.
23 "If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the LORD Himself require an account.
24 "But in fact we have done it for fear, for a reason, saying, 'In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, "What have you to do with the LORD God of Israel?
25 "For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the LORD." So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the LORD.'
26 "Therefore we said, 'Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice,
27 'but that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, "You have no part in the LORD."'
28 "Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, 'Here is the replica of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.'
29 "Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn from following the LORD this day, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the LORD our God which is before His tabernacle."
30 Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.
31 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, "This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD."
32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them.
33 So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
34 The children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar, Witness, "For it is a witness between us that the LORD is God."
This must have been a tremendous relief for all of Israel, for the last thing they wanted to do was have civil war among themselves. And the tribes on the east side of the Jordan are to be commended in their foresight in the reasons for building the altar of witness to all of Israel.
JOSHUA 23:1-16
1 Now it came to pass, a long time after the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age.
2 And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them: "I am old, advanced in age.
3 "You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has fought for you.
4 "See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward.
5 "And the LORD your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
6 "Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,
7 "and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them,
8 "but you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.
9 "For the LORD has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day.
10 "One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you.
11 "Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God.
12 "Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations these that remain among you and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,
13 "know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.
14 "Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
15 "Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so the LORD will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.
16 "When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you."
Joshua, knowing that his time had come, reminded all of Israel concerning what God had done for them, and the disasters that would befall them if they fell away.
We have the grace of the Lord to see the fulfillment of those promises of both great blessing and terrible destruction that happened according to the words of Moses and Joshua. We need to remember these examples and fear the Lord today, so that such disasters do not befall us today!
JOSHUA 24:1-28
1 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.
3 'Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.
4 'To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
5 'Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out.
6 'Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.
7 'So they cried out to the LORD; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.
8 'And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you.
9 'Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
10 'But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.
11 'Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you, also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand.
12 'I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow.
13 'I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'
14 "Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!
15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
16 So the people answered and said: "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods;
17 "for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.
18 "And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."
19 But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
20 "If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good."
21 And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD!"
22 So Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses!"
23 "Now therefore," he said, "put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel."
24 And the people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!"
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
26 Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.
27 And Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God."
28 So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.
Joshua presents Israel with choices, either to serve God, or to serve the gods of the lands around them. The people chose God, and Joshua tells them to count the cost of choosing to serve the Lord, for the Lord is a jealous God and will not let sin go unpunished.
Jesus Christ Himself warned us of counting the cost of discipleship when He said;
LUKE 14:28-32
28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it
29 "lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 "saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 "Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 "Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
When the people agree to serve the Lord, Joshua commands that they rid themselves of any idols still left in their possession and to diligently follow the Law of Moses, that it might be well with them.
JOSHUA 24:29-33
29 Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
30 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.
31 Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.
32 The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.
33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.
Joshua died in a ripe old age. In obedience to Joseph's last words, they buried his bones with his father in the inheritance of Joseph's descendants. Phinehas, the High Priest of the Lord, was buried in the inheritance allotted to his son.
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