The Message of Joshua

David G. Firth

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780830899777
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Preaching 's Survey of Bibles and Bible Reference winner

The book of Joshua recounts the momentous events of Israel's entry into Canaan, the promised land: Joshua's commission and reassurance, crossing the Jordan river, the capture of Jericho and Ai, the grand covenant renewal ceremony at Mount Ebal, the curious treaty with the Gibeonites, and a rapid overview of the campaigns in the south and the north. The second half of the book gives extensive details of the allotment of the land to each tribe, before resuming the conquest story and concluding with farewell speeches and burial notices.

It is an action-packed story—but perhaps more than any other, Joshua is the Old Testament book that most troubles contemporary readers, whether Christians or critics: Isn't there too much violence, and isn't this inconsistent with the rest of Scripture, and the gospel?

David Firth begins his excellent exposition with a careful and helpful response to this issue. However, while addressing the problems is undoubtedly important, we must also consider how the book continues to speak to us today as God's word. Firth's basic contention is that we have to read Joshua as part of God's mission, which for much of the Old Testament centered on Israel, but finds its ultimate focus in Jesus Christ. The book challenges those who have read it down through the ages to recognize that God not only includes those who join him in his mission, he also excludes those who choose to set themselves against it.

Joshua 1:1–18
1. New leader, new land, same God

As the book of Joshua opens, the people of Israel are at a key transition point as they begin to consider life without their charismatic leader. Moses’ death is narrated in Deuteronomy 34, and Joshua 1 follows immediately after this. Thus, when we read straight through from Deuteronomy to Joshua we begin to feel something of the challenge that was faced by Israel. They had not yet entered the Promised Land, and now they no longer had the one who had been their leader throughout the wilderness period. But they did have the promises of God, especially that he would give that land to them. And that was the crucial factor. Although there is a natural human temptation to assume that God’s promises are fulfilled through a particular leader, Joshua stresses that the promises of God do not depend upon any human figure. What God had done in the past through his chosen leaders, he would continue to do through the next generation, though he might do so in different ways from before. What mattered were God’s promises, and these were as sure as they had ever been. However, they still required the obedience of all his people. Joshua 1 makes clear that God’s people could still go forward because God was the one who was leading them.

1. From Moses to Joshua (1:1–9)

a. Change of leadership (1:1)

Although Moses’ death has just been recounted in Deuteronomy 34, we have known for some time that Joshua would succeed Moses. This first became clear when Moses was directed to commission Joshua as his successor in Numbers 27:12–23, a passage that particularly stresses the presence of Yahweh’s Spirit in Joshua.1 This in turn refers back to the anointing of the seventy elders,2 when Yahweh had given his Spirit to the elders, including two whose activity had so troubled Joshua that he asked Moses to stop them ‘prophesying’ (probably understood as an ecstatic experience), only for Moses to express the wish that Yahweh would place his Spirit on all his people. Whatever lack of understanding that had shown in Joshua, he was at that time already known as Moses’ ‘assistant’, the same term that is used for him here. The account of Moses’ death also noted that Joshua was filled with ‘the spirit of wisdom’3 because of Moses’ having laid hands on him. This is probably not another reference to God’s Spirit, though the wisdom Joshua apparently displayed was perhaps evidence of God’s Spirit. The book of Joshua never mentions God’s Spirit, unlike Judges and Samuel, which have a number of significant passages referring to God’s Spirit. One reason for this is that Joshua has previously been marked out by the Spirit as a leader among God’s people, and the book of Joshua is recounting only a particular period of Joshua’s leadership – albeit one in which he takes on a more significant role than before.4

That Joshua has already exercised significant leadership is clear also from the account of the spies in Numbers 13 – 14. There, he is initially introduced under the name ‘Hoshea’,5 though we are also told that Moses renamed him ‘Joshua’.6 Although this is not particularly apparent in English, both names are related to the word meaning ‘salvation’, with ‘Joshua’ more specifically meaning ‘Yahweh saves’.7 His renaming by Moses makes clear a key theological theme that only Joshua and Caleb among the spies grasp when they point out to the people that, in spite of the apparent military advantages of the occupants of the land, Yahweh will indeed give the land to them.8 Joshua thus exemplified his name. However, there is always a clear distinction between Joshua and Moses, a distinction that is maintained here in that Moses is consistently called Yahweh’s servant, whereas Joshua is always Moses’ assistant until his death, after which he too is called Yahweh’s ‘servant’.9 By contrast, Moses is called Yahweh’s servant sixteen times in Joshua, a title used elsewhere of David and of the enigmatic Servant of Yahweh in Isaiah.

There are some important themes about the nature of leadership which thus emerge from these opening verses. First, although the Old Testament has considerably less to say about God’s Spirit than does the New Testament, it fully embraces the idea that empowerment by the Spirit is a crucial aspect of leadership. In saying this, we should note that although the Old Testament is consistent with the Trinitarian theology of the New Testament, it is not itself Trinitarian. Thus, some of the themes that the Old Testament applies to God’s Spirit the New Testament in turn applies to Christ, though the most common development is indeed into the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Put at its simplest, however, the Old Testament recognizes that those who are called to lead God’s people will show evidence of the power of God at work in their lives. The means by which this evidence is seen will vary, though in Joshua’s case it was notable in both his faithfulness to God’s promises and his godly wisdom. However, it was also confirmed to the people of God through public affirmation and the presence of God’s Spirit. It is clear, therefore, that leadership is something that is both initiated through God-given giftedness and recognized by God’s people as they see evidence of it in practice. Second, we can also note that the nature of leadership roles will vary. Moses’ leadership is clearly distinct from that of Joshua, so that even though Joshua becomes the principal leader after Moses’ death he never takes on all the roles that Moses had fulfilled. Although finding appropriate leaders is important, we must also recognize that different phases in the life of God’s people require different leader-ship structures. Moses would not be completely replaced because of his unique role, though neither would Joshua. God continues to raise up and empower leaders, but their giftings and roles are related to the particular needs that God’s people then face.

Joshua is thus the leader designated for Israel as they prepare to enter the land that God had promised, but his leadership is dependent upon the promises that God has given. Joshua is not free to lead the people in any direction he wants, but only towards the fulfilment of what God has already promised. An important tension in the book of Joshua is that although Yahweh is giving the land to Israel, Israel must also claim it. To use a rather simple analogy, just as we know that a Christmas present addressed to us is ours while it sits under the tree, but it only truly becomes ours when we open the parcel, so also throughout Joshua the land is something that Yahweh is giving to Israel, but it is only fully theirs when they have taken it. This tension recognizes both that the land is a divine gift to Israel and that it requires faithfulness on Israel’s part if the gift is to be realized. What is crucial is that the land belongs to Yahweh – it is always his to give. The same, of course, is true of the gospel message, where life and forgiveness in Jesus are both something that God is giving to us and something that we have to accept if the gift is to become real in our experience. So in Joshua, Yahweh is giving the land to Israel, but they have to go forward in faithfulness to him to receive it. There is both divine initiative and human response; but throughout, as Howard observes, ‘God was the giver and guarantor of the process.’10

b. Moving to the land (1:2–5)

The importance of divine initiative and human response is apparent from the fact that the whole of verses 2–9 are presented as a speech from Yahweh to Joshua. Throughout, Yahweh is both directing and encouraging Joshua, doing so with words that are largely drawn from different parts of Deuteronomy.11 The giving of the land, and of the Torah, comes from Yahweh’s initiative, though Joshua can then appropriate the blessing of what Yahweh is giving through his own faith-fulness. However, these gifts are then particularly understood through reading and reflecting on the Torah, a point that is reinforced through the allusions to Deuteronomy throughout this speech.

Yahweh’s speech can be broken down into two basic sections. In verses 2–5 the focus is on preparing the people to enter the land with confidence in Yahweh’s promises. This confidence starts with Yahweh’s command, as the speech opens with two imperatives, arise and go over (2). Everything else in this speech is dependent upon these two commands. The blessings of which Yahweh speaks all begin with obedience to him, and though Joshua is called to be leader of God’s people he is immediately reminded that all leadership is under God’s authority. Nevertheless, although these two imperatives are addressed directly to Joshua, they also affect the people as they too must cross the Jordan.12 They are to cross the Jordan in the confident hope given by Yahweh’s promise that he is indeed giving the land to them. But Israel is not free to take just any land. Although Yahweh assures them that he will give them every place they walk on (3), the boundaries of the land are carefully defined. Israel is not to walk just anywhere, but to the particular region bounded by the wilderness to the south and the Lebanon (roughly modern Lebanon) to the north, the Euphrates to the east and the Mediterranean to the west, defined here as the land of the Hittites,13 though they stand here for all the peoples already in the land. As boundaries, these are only approximations, especially as the Euphrates is only really a north-eastern boundary; but they provide a general guide. It is into this territory, which roughly equates to the boundaries Yahweh had promised Abraham,14 that Israel is to walk. In doing so they would effectively follow what appears to have been an ancient custom for marking a transfer of land, in which the land was walked by those who now owned it,15 with a sandal exchanged to mark the transfer. In this case, Yahweh has already outlined the territory to be claimed, and it is here that Israel is to walk in the confidence that no-one will be able to resist them (though the rest of the book will show plenty who try). Just as Yahweh was with Moses, so now he will be with Joshua as he leads the people on this journey. Such promises are given by God when his people face challenges – such as when Yahweh had sent Moses to Pharaoh16 – so that his promises themselves become a sign of grace. For Christians, this promise is shown to be of importance as we seek to live out the ethical demands of the gospel, as God’s assured presence assists us in the challenges we face.17

It is important to remember that the promises given here to both Joshua and Israel were specific to the circumstances they were facing. The promise about claiming the land by walking it was specific to the land of Israel. It does not apply to any land that Christians today might want to claim for the gospel, especially as the church is not restricted to any one land. Rather, promises such as these must be appropriated by us today in terms of the things that Jesus has promised concerning his church. Most obviously, as we join Jesus in God’s mission we are assured of his presence with us no matter the circumstances we might face.18 We must also note that the land was already occupied; Israel was not going to an empty land – something that they fully recognized, in contrast to the history of European colonialism which tended to operate on the principle that the lands they claimed were effectively empty. Such an approach denies the validity of the experience of native peoples, and can make reading a text like Joshua painful for them today when they identify with the Canaanites as people about to be displaced. Here we must openly acknowledge the problems caused by colonialism (even when well intentioned) in many parts of the world, but also recognize that using a text like Joshua to claim those lands misses the point of the text.19 Much suffering has been caused by a misuse of the text, and it is right to acknowledge this, while also noting that all land ultimately belongs to God. Much of it has historically been taken by force, but that is not the pattern provided here. Rather, Israel is being given the land because the peoples already there stood under the judgment of God. Given that the church as a pan-national expression of God’s people radicalizes all national claims, the same cannot be true of any nation since the time of Jesus.

c. Faithfulness first (1:6–9)

Yahweh’s speech continues by addressing Joshua alone,20 though still drawing on the language of Deuteronomy, especially from Joshua’s commissioning in Deuteronomy 31. Joshua is told three times by Yahweh to be strong and courageous,21 words of encouragement that are needed precisely because Israel is about to encounter a great challenge in claiming the land. Where the first part of Yahweh’s speech had emphasized the divine initiative, Yahweh now emphasizes human response. Anyone faced with a threat is likely to retreat, so it is this danger that Yahweh addresses as he encourages Joshua to be strong and courageous, assuring him that he will cause the people to possess the land he promised to their ancestors. But courage here takes on a specific form; it is not a matter of Joshua screwing up his nerve to an act of daring in battle, even though that is the more typical use of such language. Rather, it means living a life that is shaped by Yahweh’s instruction. For Joshua, the act of daring is to live wholly by all that Yahweh has revealed in his Torah. Although the extent of allusion to Deuteronomy in this speech makes it almost certain that it is the Torah to which Yahweh refers, this is much more than the traditional translation of law might suggest. Deuteronomy is considerably more than just law – it is a pattern for the whole of life, giving shape to what it means to live for Yahweh. Of course, in the context of the conquest this can also mean a more specific concern with those passages particularly pertaining to taking the land and battle,22 but the focus here is much broader. It is the whole of Yahweh’s instruction that is required for success, not just those passages which are seemingly most appropriate for the coming battles. This is particularly important for the book of Joshua, which asserts both that Joshua did what Yahweh had commanded and also that he did not destroy all the peoples already in the land, even though Deuteronomy 7 would require this. It is not, as some have suggested, that there is a basic contradiction within the book which would seemingly claim complete obedience while showing the opposite,23 but rather that through Deuteronomy there is a deep understanding of the missional impulse of Israel as the means by which Yahweh is reaching the nations.24 Where Joshua would need courage was in the often challenging task of understanding exactly how it was that he was to apply the Torah, though this was vital to the fulfilment of his role as the one who would lead the nation to occupy the land Yahweh was giving them. Indeed, possession of the land would only continue to be legitimate when shaped by obedience ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Short Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• General preface
• Author’s preface
• Abbreviations
• Select bibliography
• Introduction
• 1. New leader, new land, same God (1:1–18)
• 2. New light from a lady of the night (2:1–24)
• 3. Crossing the Jordan and remembering (3:1 – 4:24)
• 4. Faithfulness first (5:1–12)
• 5. Yahweh fought the battle of Jericho (5:13 – 6:27)
• 6. Yahweh at war against sin (7:1 – 8:29)
• 7. As Moses commanded: law and blessing in renewal (8:30–35)
• 8. Who’s in, who’s out? Gibeon’s deception and covenant (9:1–27)
• 9. Faithful to the promises: the southern campaign (10:1–43)
• 10. Obedient to God: the northern campaign (11:1 – 12:24)
• 11. Living the promise (13:1 – 14:15)
• 12. Judah’s allotment (15:1–63)
• 13. Joseph’s allotment (16:1 – 17:18)
• 14. Seven more allotments at Shiloh (18:1 – 19:51)
• 15. Taking God at his word: cities of refuge and the allotment for Levi (20:1 – 21:45)
• 16. Keeping together (22:1–34)
• 17. Parting words (23:1–16)
• 18. Confessing faith anew (24:1–33)
• Notes
• BST Old Testament series
• BST New Testament series
• BST Bible Themes series
• About the Author
• More Titles from InterVarsity Press
• Copyright Page