PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

Once again we find ourselves in a setting where Joshua and the high priest were responsible for dividing the land for the Israelite tribes.  It is really helpful to have  the map in front of you that I provided a few chapters back.  If nothing else it provides you with an opportunity to see how each of the tribes received their land.

Did you notice that Joshua received his own land irrespective of what his tribe received?  That was nice.  Kind of a reward for all of his hard work.  The chapter ends with the statement that the division of the land had been accomplished, it had been finished.  So it leaves us with the question of what is next?  I guess there will probably be more conquests since the division of the land is complete.  Let’s see.

Did I mention that Levi does not get a land inheritance?  This is mentioned once again.  We find this chapter once again going over the inheritance of the land to the tribes, but we find a frustrated Joshua because the people of Israel had not started to claim the land that they were given by the Lord.  Joshua says to them: “How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord…has given you?”  You must hear some frustration in that comment.  As a result we find that the people of Israel are charged by Joshua to get up and go and claim the land.  We find in vs.8 that this actually happens.  I do notice that the people seem to listen to Joshua much more than they did to Moses, and the complaints seem to be kept to a minimum, nothing at all like what Moses experienced.

Hopefully that weeding out process actually did what it was supposed to do.  You know, that process whereby all of their parents had to die off before they were allowed to enter the promised land.  That should have been remembered by the current residents.  Not something you would ever forget.

It is not often that you read about daughters who approach the leader at the time, that would be Joshua, and demand that they receive what was promised to them from their father.  We find that the daughters of Machir, who was the son of Manasseh, approached both the chief priest and Joshua and said that they were promised by Moses himself an inheritance along with their brothers.  They went all the way back to Moses to draw from his authority, and not from Joshua.  I wonder if there was a bit of bad blood between Joshua and this family.  We find them coming to him again because they were so numerous and the land that they were given was so small compared to the number of people that they were.  But if you look at the map you will see that they are on either side of the Jordan and their territory extended all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.  

But Joshua agrees to give them the forest that they could clear and settle in that area.  I love that detail of the daughters.  Being a father of daughters I would want my children to stand up and speak up if they felt that it was called for.  Strong Scripture here, not a normal one, but a strong one.  The heroes of Joshua in this chapter are Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.  

This is the second time in a row that we find that one of the tribes doesn’t drive out the residents of the land.  They conquer the land, but they allow the residents to live there.  We saw that with the Jebusites and Jerusalem, and now we see it with the Canaanites in Gezer.  Notice how previously we had the Gibeonites who tricked the Israelites and as a result were allowed to stay in the land, but they had to do menial tasks.  We don’t hear what kind of work the Jebusites were allowed to do, and here the Canaanites were enslaved, or as Scripture states, they were made to do forced labor.  So if you manage to get over on the Israelites in the OT you future is a bit sketchy.

Notice that there is some confusion with the tribe of Joseph (please, don’t read this as the father of Jesus, we are talking Old Testament here people).  The confusion lies in that each tribe was allotted one allotment, but Joseph’s tribe seems to be divided into two between Manasseh and Ephraim.  Look at the map below and you will find the division visually among all the families.  Hopefully this helps as you read through it all.

In the midst of the battles we find a love story and a story of sheer determination.  Achsah was the daughter of Caleb who was promised as the first trophy wife for anyone who might defeat Kiriath-sepher.  So, Caleb’s brother won the battle and claimed his niece as his trophy wife.  But she also had an agenda and that was that she would be able to live in much more comfort than she did before and so demanded of her father a land with springs for her now husband, Othniel.  So the story ends with Achsah being given in marriage as a trophy wife but she gets the last laugh with her choice of spas.

Sheer determination comes in the form of Jebusites who did not back down and so the people of Judah had to live with them in the territory that Joshua had given them.  We find that it isn’t until later, when David comes around, that Israel is able to take that land.  See, it isn’t all blood and gore in this chapter.

I can’t help but favor those chapters that end with the words: “And the land had rest from war.”  This is one of those chapters.  Joshua is so filled with instances of war and times when the people of God are following the directives of God which included the complete extermination of the people and the lands which were in the way of them and the promised land that they were promised earlier.  It is interesting that it seems like we are now living in a time which is so much more like the Old Testament than the New Testament.  I can’t support any policy or any ideology which brings us closer to war.  If there are Christians who say that God calls us to war, I simply find it hard to support.  Yes, you can point to Joshua and a myriad of other Scripture in the Old Testament, but I would redirect your gaze to our Savior Jesus who had such a different perspective than what we read about in these chapters.  As a result I’m glad when I read: “And the land had rest from war.”

We enter into territory which can be called monotonous if this is all that you are reading.  There is repetition.  For example, did you know that the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance?  You see that mentioned in vs.33 and  in vs.14, with 14 telling us why that is.  They are the priestly class, they are the ones who are responsible for overseeing the temple and all that takes place in it so their area, or their residence will always be around the temple, or where the presence of the Lord is seen.  Their gift from God are the offerings which the people provide to the Lord which should be plenty to live on.  I love the way this chapter ends in respect to the Levites…, “The Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, as he said to them.”  God is our inheritance, we know that one day we will be inherit, we will be left as a legacy, God Himself.  I think I’m going to sing.  

SCOREBOARD!!!  So that is what you say when you are way ahead and someone who is losing badly tries to talk trash to you.  It should direct their gaze to the score, which ought to reflect that you have a huge lead.  Here we find a listing of all the kings that Joshua defeated.  There are 31 in all.  That is a lot of kings and that represents a whole lot of battles.  

It seems like vs.1-6 reflects the kings that Moses defeated.  The remainder  are the ones that Joshua defeated.  Again, all of this is to show how God is able to carry out God’s promises.  

At the end of this chapter, finally, we have a rest from war.  But before we get to the end of this chapter we see a whole lot of war still in front of us.  We find another alliance of enemies who tried to join together to defeat Israel, but once again the Lord was with Joshua, and let him know.   This time, instead of throwing rocks from heaven, the horses were hamstrung and their chariots were set on fire.  Keep in mind, that those who had chariots back in those days had a distinct advantage.  So, at face value the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites all had a distinct advantage over the Israelites because they were countries with chariots.  But no matter how much of an advantage people may think they have, if they are going up against the Lord, your advantage becomes a disadvantage.

We see that once Joshua really begins to win battle after battle you would think that people would surrender and that some kind of truce or treaty would be created.  But just like God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so he hardens the heart of the kings of the lands that Israel overtakes.  This was done to Egypt so that the glory of God could be revealed.  This was done here, it says in vs. 20 so that these nations would be: “exterminated”.  This is what we would call genocide.  It is frowned upon today.  For good reason.  I am so glad I serve a risen Savior who says: “Love your enemies”.  I think I would do better loving my enemy than exterminating them.  I’m not good at exterminating people.  

The chapter begins at least with Joshua merely acting on behalf of his allies, the Gibeonites, remember those who had tricked Joshua but to whom Joshua remained loyal.  The Gibeonites were being attacked by 5 kings and Joshua was sworn under oath to protect the Gibeonites, and he does.  But things then get a little out of hand.  Not only do the Israelites defeat the five kings and their armies, but he also assassinates the five kings who were hiding in a cave.  But wait, there is more.

From there he continues and goes into the lands of these five kings and lays utter waste to their countries and takes over all of them and more on top of that.  So what began as a defensive battle to help an ally, turned into a full assault making sure that none of those in the land would ever doubt who was king.  There could be no doubt that God was on Joshua’s side especially since in vs.11 we see huge stones which fell from heaven, so that more were killed from the stones than those that the Israelites defeated.  That is really a bit of a lopsided victory and not really fair, but it was once again an object lesson of what it means to trust in the Lord.

We have these verses starting in vs.12 and following where we see that Joshua was able to command the sun and in battle he was able to visible have the Lord on his side.  It seems like the promise of chapter 1 is coming to fruition.  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

Here is a clip that I thought might be of interest for you, what with the stones from heaven etc.