Joshua 1:1-9

Τελος carries the idea of “end, cessation, “the goal toward which a movement is being directed, end, goal, outcome”(BDAG, s.v. “τέλος,” 998). The section where this text is found is where Paul is addressing Israel.

Christ is the end of the Law, so why bother with the OT? We are a New Testament church.

Paul gives a reason for what we should study the OT in 1 Cor. 10:11. The church of Corinth was in a very pagan city.

D. Edmond Hiebert groups the letters to the Corinthians in the Soteriological Group (Salvation) which includes Galatians, and Romans.

The city of Corinth was a Gentile city. Kind–of across from Athens. “Corinth was an important city during the days of Homer, who spoke of it as ‘wealthy Corinth’” (Hiebert 1977, 103).

1 Corinthians 10:1–11 NASB95

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. 6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” 8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Τυπικως Adv. Serving as an example. Hapax Legomenon

νουθεσιαν – “counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct, admonition, instruction.” (BDAG, s.v. “νουθεσία,” 679).

Verses 12-33 focus on living correctly, based on who Christ is and we have an example of how not to live.

So the reason to study the books of Joshua is so that we can see Christ and know how not to live or how to stop improper behavior.

Introduction to Joshua

When you think of the book of Joshua, in what category would you put it in?

Protestant arrangement: Joshua is part of the Historical Books which is Joshua–Esther. What is the problem with calling them Historic books?

You expect it to be historical, while what it records is historical accurate, there are a lot of gaps in information.

How did they set up their camps,

When the men went out to fight, what were the women doing?

How were they taking care of teaching the law, and obeying the festivals.

You might overlook the theological importance of the book.

Jewish arrangement: Joshua is part of the Prophets (נביאים).

By placing the text as being part of the prophets, it gives the information more of a REVELATION importance. God would reveal to the prophet the message He wanted to communicate.

Eugene Merrill wrote that “Israel’s history is Heilsgechichte, a record not so much of words spoken and deeds done but of their meaning in terms of God’s ultimate design” (Merrill 2011, 273). The text is about God’s “sacred history” (Merrill 2011, 273).

There is a big different when you are developing the theology of the book if you base your idea that the text is revelation from God or just religion of man.

Who?

Who are we talking about? Who is this text about? The title is Joshua. Baba Bathra, in the Talmud attributes Joshua as the author (Merrill 2011, 272). Joshua the son of Nun. Joshua means “‘the Lord saves’ or ‘may the Lord save’” (Howard 1993, 60).

Nothing is known of the father

One of the twelve spies that went to spy out the land Num. 12-13.

Joshua 1:1 mentions Moses, and we know who Moses is, but is this Joshua fellow someone who really needs to have a book named after him?

Moses is the Lord’s servant, and Joshua is Moses’ servant, therefore Joshua is the Lord’s servant.

Joshua 1:2 the Lord spoke to Joshua to take Moses’ place.

But is this text just about Joshua? Is the book a leadership book on how to lead people and conquer nations?

The book is also about Israel. Specifically the it is about if Israel will obey God or disobey like we see in Deut. 11:26-28

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 NASB95

26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.

The book of Joshua also involves the people in the land, we can call them the Canaanites.

Continuity and Discontinuity:

As we look at this text, we need to look at this issue because we could accidently think at the end of the study that the whole text is about a continuity and we should go out an conquer the land:

Continuity:

God’s character

Man’s fallenness

Two ways available to people: Choose today whom you will serve.

Discontinuity

The church does not have the Law

The church does not have a geographical land given to us

The church is not supposed to go out and kill people

What?

If we take the book as merely a historical book, then we can think of it in terms of conquest of a land.

However, if we see this as a development in the theology of Deuteronomy, that God placed before them blessing and cursing.

Blessing if they obeyed

Cursing if they disobeyed

Then the text is about how God used Israel as an instrument to judge the people of the land, and when Israel disobeyed, then God used the people of the land to judge Israel.

The book of Judges reminds me of Robert Frosts poem “The Road Not Taken”

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken)

Israel is in a place to either obey God, or disobey. What I see in these narratives is that it shows us examples where individuals had to face the decision of either trusting God or trusting themselves. It makes me think of another poem by an author not so well known Ron Hamilton.

Two choices on the shelf

Pleasing your God

Or pleasing yourself

Everyday you win or loose

It all depends on the one you choose.

When?

Date of the entrance into the land. This is where we can get into some interesting theories. There are some liberal scholars that use this text as a posible etiology for Israel. A group of scholars got together and started inventing their “origin.” The liberation movement thinks that they see a handful of Egyptian slaves that escaped from Egypt. They arrived in the land of Canaan and since most of the Late Bronze period was dominated by Egypt, they lead liberating revolutions through out the land similar to:

Karl Marx

Joseph Stalin

Mao

Che Guevara and Fidel Castor

Hugo Chavez Frías

The best date (1406), the one that I will hold to, will be the 40 years after the exodus which occured in 1446 B.C. Based on 1 Kings 6:1 “Solomon began building the temple in the fourth year, some 480s after the exodus” (Gristanti 2011, 195). Solomon’s fourth year was 966 BC.

Don’t pay any attention to e Jephthah’s statement in Judges 11:26.

Where?

Land of Canaan, or is it the Land of Israel?

Joshua 1:2 says that God is going to give them the land. Therefore, the land must be God’s if He is able to give it.

Why?

The why question is a tough question to ask. Because God owns the whole world, could He not lead the people of Israel somewhere no one else lived, like Missouri, and given them the land. Then there would be no killing of innocent people.

In Genesis 15, God made a covenant with Abraham, it is where God actually cut the covenant with Abraham. Verses 12-16 God told Abraham the future of his descendants. He told them they would go down, be slaves but then the will released because God will work.

Genesis 15:16 NASB95

16 “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

How?

The how part is what we are going to discover. Israel is outnumbered, they have no military training, and they have no strategic place to defend themselves.

We live in a very hostil world. Our fight is a Spiritual fight! We might be tempted to give up before we even start. We cannot see the enemy, but we feel the effects. We have no training in Spiritual warfare, and there are more of the world than there are Christians.

Just like Israel needed to know God’s revelation and obey it. We need to know God’s revelation because as Paul said it is for our example:

1 Corinthians 10:11 NASB95

11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

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