Sermon Tone Analysis

This is a great passage.

Let me try, up front, to persuade you about this.

It's super helpful for understanding Joshua as a whole.

There's little hints scattered throughout this section about the Nephilim, if you're into that sort of thing.

And the passage points us to God, and his faithfulness, for times when we feel overwhelmed or inadequate.

So let's start!

Joshua 12:1, reading through verse 6:

(1) And these are the kings of the land who the sons of Israel struck,

and they took possession of their land beyond the Jordan, toward the east from the wadi of Arnon up to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east:

(2) Sikhon king of the Amorites living in Heshbon, (deep breath)

the one ruling from Aroer which is on the edge of Arnon, and from the middle of the wadi and half of Gilead up to Yabbok the wadi the boundary of the sons of Ammon, (3) and the Jordan Valley up to the sea of Kinnereth to the east and up to the Sea of the Arabah the Sea of the Salt to the east on the way of Beth Jeshimoth and from the south under the slopes of Pisgah (deep breath)

(4) and the territory of Og the king of Bashan from the remnant of the Rephaim,

the one dwelling in Ashtaroth and in Edrei

(5) and ruling in Mount Hermon and over Salecah and over all the Bashan up to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacthites and half of Gilead the boundary of Sikhon the king of Heshbon (deep breath).

(6) Moses the servant of Yahweh and the sons of Israel struck them,

and Moses the servant of Yahweh gave it as a possession to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

The first six verses in this chapter are about Moses.

What about him, specifically?

Moses' fighting took place in the land on the east side of the Jordan River, in the land that wasn't originally part of the land God promised to his people.

These verses describe what Moses accomplished.

What did Moses accomplish?

Let's reread verse 1:

(ACCOMLPISHMENT #1) And these are the kings of the land who the sons of Israel struck,

(ACCOMPLISHMENT #2) and they took possession of their land beyond the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun from the wadi of Arnon up to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east:

The promised land east of the Jordan River was controlled by two kings, both of whom are descendants of the Nephilim.

Moses put both of these kings in body bags (size XXL).

This was his first accomplishment.

The killing of Og and Sikhon is a "big" deal.

Moses' second accomplishment was that Israel took possession of their land.

We tend to think that the conquest is only about Moses' second accomplishment.

That all of this is just about giving Israel a home.

But AJ actually focuses far more on Moses' first accomplishment.

Killing off the Nephilim is a critical part of what Yahweh, and Israel, are accomplishing.

So that's what Moses accomplished.

He bagged two Nephilim, and he took possession of the land on the wrong (East) side of the Jordan.

Verses 7-24 describe what Joshua accomplished:

(7) And these are the kings of the land who Joshua struck, with the sons of Israel, beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon and up to Mount Halak, the one going up toward Seir,

and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their tribes,

Let's pause here.

What Moses accomplished, and what Joshua accomplished, are not described the same way.

In 12:1, we read that Moses "struck" the two kings, and "dispossessed/took possession" of the land.

In verse 7, we read that Joshua "struck" the kings of the land, but AJ doesn't tell us that Joshua "dispossessed" them.

There is a missing verb.

It's true that Joshua gave the land to the tribes as a possession-- but what this actually means, isn't what we think.

This will be explained differently as we keep reading, and get to chapter 13.

This is really important.

People misunderstand the entire book of Joshua, because they don't realize that Israel doesn't actually possess the whole land.

So let's restart at verse 7:

(7) And these are the kings of the land who Joshua struck, with the sons of Israel, beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon and up to Mount Halak, the one going up toward Seir,

and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their tribes,

in the hill country and in the Shephelah and in the Jordan Valley and in the slopes and in the desert and in the Negev:

the Hittites, the Amorites and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites,

(9) the king of Jericho, one, the king of Ai which is on the side of Bethel, one, (10) the king of Jerusalem, one, the king of Hebron, one, the king of Yarmuth, one, the kind of Lachish, one, (12) the king of Eglon, one, the king of Gezer, one, the king of Devir, one, the king of Geder, one, the king of Hormah, one, the king of Arad, one, the king of Libnah, one, the king of Adullam, one, the king of Makkedah, one, the king of Bethel, one, the king of Tappuah, one, the king of Hepher, one, the king of Aphek, one, the king for the Sharon, one, the king of Madon, one, the king of Hazor, one, the king of Shimron Meron, one, the king of Acshaph, one, the king of Taanach, one, the king of Megiddo, one, the king of Kedesh, one, the king of Jokneam for the Carmel, one, the king of Dor for Naphath Dor, one, the king of Goiim for Gilgal, one, the king of Tirzah, one,

all the kings, thirty-one.

Notice that AJ's focus here is on the kings.

Look at the beginning of verse 7: "And these are the kings of the land who Joshua struck."

Then, we get this massive list of kings that starts in verse 9.

Killing these (Nephilim) kings is the important thing here.

These kings had to die (cf.

Deut.

25:17ff).

And Joshua bagged 31 of them.

With this, we are now in chapter 13:

(13:1) And/Now Joshua [was] old.

He was long in the days,

and Yahweh said to him,

"You [are] old.

You are long in the days,

while very much of the land remains to take possession of it.

If we've been reading carefully (and following Heiser), the beginning of chapter 13 shouldn't surprise us.

We understand that there is a difference between what Moses accomplished, and what Joshua accomplished.

There's a lot left to do.

This doesn't mean that Joshua failed, or that Joshua was less of a leader than Moses.

Joshua took care of the most important business-- he killed off 31 Nephilim kings.

But now Joshua's old, and very much of the land remains to take possession of it.

Someone else is going to have to finish the job.

Starting back up in verse 2:

This is the remaining land:

all the region of the Philistines and all of the Geshurites.

(3) From the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, and up to the boundary of Ekron toward the north, as Canaanite it is considered.

The five rulers of the Philistines, the Gazites and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites and the Ekronites, and the Avvim.

(4) from the south, all the land of the Canaanites and Mearah that is for the Sidonians up to Aphek, up to the boundary of the Amorites,

(5) And the land of the Gebalites and all of Lebanon toward the east from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon, up to Lebo-Hamath.

(6) All the inhabitants/dwellers/settlers of the hill country from Lebanon up to Misrephoth Maim, all of the Sidonians.

I , I shall dispossess them1 out from before the sons of Israel.

Only2, allocate it to Israel as an inheritance just as I commanded you.

(7) And, so then, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh.

Joshua is old.

He's not going to be able to do everything that Yahweh wants done.

So who will finish this task?

Who will drive out these people?

Who will give Israel the land?

Yahweh says, I got this.

Verse 6:

I , I shall dispossess them3 out from before the sons of Israel.

Joshua can take comfort in this.

Joshua did his best-- he lived faithfully for Yahweh.

He demonstrated courage and obedience to Yahweh throughout his life.

And Joshua can leave this world in peace, knowing that God will finish what he has started.

In the last line of verse 6, we read this: