Joshua: Conquering Canaan
An Overview Study & Questions from Joshua 6-12
Introduction
In our last two lessons, we introduced the Bible character of Joshua and then covered the beginnings of his leadership with Israel. They spied out the land, prepared themselves, crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, and celebrated the Passover. The large section that we cover tonight follows the conquering of Canaan and some of the challenges that were faced. Joshua learns several lessons along the way, and each one is instructive to us.
1. Courage When God Leads the Way: The Fall of Jericho (Joshua 6:1-27)
The battle is given to Joshua by the Lord (6:2). Jericho in its glory days boasted a population with a defensive wall around the settlement … perhaps the world’s oldest walled city (Creach). This story does not indicate that Joshua sought the Lord’s advice about going to war… on the contrary, the story begins with God giving Joshua an unsolicited word about his success. Hence the reader is not led to see Joshua planning an attack strategy; instead, Joshua is prompted and led by God at every turn. (Creach)
Strange instructions given to Joshua (6:3-5). He then has to give these instructions to the people. Why do you think God chose such an unorthodox way to defeat Jericho? What are some unorthodox things that God asks of us? Faith requires us to believe beyond what we can see. What are some things that we cannot see but we trust are true? What do you think the Jericho inhabitants thought when they saw Joshua’s army walking around the city blowing trumpets? The trumpets: The Hebrew word for the priests’ horn is shofar, a ram’s horn, which was used as a signal for warfare (Job 39:25) but also played a prominent role in worship (2 Chr 15:14). (Creach) What do you think was going through their minds as they marched around the city once and went back to their camp?
It’s important for us to obey even when we do not see any results. Are there some things we do that seem to be without effect, but we keep on because God asked us to?
Who is to be spared in the defeat of Jericho? (6:17-18) What is your observation about God rescuing one family from Jericho?
What important instruction is given that could influence the future all of Israel? (vs 18)
Joshua’s fame spread throughout the land (6:18). What was the impact of this on the kings around? What was the impact of this on Joshua?
2. Humiliation When We Choose Our Own Way: Achan’s Sin (Joshua 7:1-26)
What assumption led Joshua to make a tactical error in the first approach to Ai? (7:3)
What was Joshua’s concern when Ai defeated Israel? (7:8-9)
The Lord revealed that someone took some of the “devoted things”, stolen, and lied (7:10-12) and that is why Ai prevailed in the battle. In trying to discover who had stolen some items during battle, Joshua had to work his way through several groups, finally talking to Achan - at which point Achan confessed (7:20-21).
In what ways does this remind you about how we commonly deal with guilt?
Why did Joshua and Israel respond with deadly force to Achan’s actions? (7:25-26)
How does individual sin sometimes influence a wider circle of people?
Richards: But why was Achan’s sin deserving of the death penalty? Because like other sins that merited death under the Law, this one endangered the survival of Israel as a theocratic community. In Achan’s case, the defeat might have so reduced the terror of the people of the land that they would gather against Israel (cf. Josh. 7:9). Perhaps more important, 36 men of Israel had died needlessly in the battle against Ai. The sin of Achan had caused the death of some of his companions.
3. Victory When We Give God the Reigns: The Destruction of Ai (Joshua 8:1-35)
The second attack of Ai was successful due to the Lord’s help. What instruction did God change this time? (8:1-2). How was Joshua’s battle plan different than his first? (7:3; 8:3) Why do you think he used a different strategy?
After their victory, Joshua built an altar to the Lord. He built it according to the pattern written in the Book of the Law of Moses (8:30-31). They offered sacrifices and offerings. Joshua re-created on stone the Ten Commands. Joshua read the Law of Moses to all the children of Israel, and the foreigners who lived among them. Why do you think this was a fitting action following the defeat of Ai?
4. Deception When We Listen to the Wrong Voices: The Gibeonite Deception (9:1-27)
Two responses to the success of Joshua. What were they and why? (9:1-4) What were the lies that the Gibeonites told to Joshua? (9:4-13) What mistake was made by Joshua? (9:14) When they learned that they had been deceived, why didn’t Joshua attack the Gibeonite? (9:15, 18-19) Instead of being attacked, what was the response? (20-27) What do we learn about the Gibeonites in 10:2?
In 2 Samuel 21:1-10 there is an episode involving the Gibeonites. The promise of Joshua was a lasting one.
K. Lee -Thorp: Their city was assigned to the priestly family of Aaron (see 21:17), so it became a center for training in God’s Word and worship. When Solomon became king, the tabernacle was at Gibeon (see 2 Chronicles 1:3, 5). One of David’s close friends was a Gibeonite (see 1 Chronicles 12:1, 4). When the Jews returned from exile in Babylon, the list of those who could prove Jewish heritage included Gibeonites (see Nehemiah 7:25). Gibeonites helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 3:7). Thus, it seems that the Gibeonites were eventually absorbed into the covenant people because, like Rahab, they transferred their allegiance to the Lord.
5. Defeat Every Enemy When We Trust God’s Power: The Sun Stands Still (10:1-27)
Five Kings attacked Gibeon because of the treaty with Israel. How did Gibeon respond? (10:6) What was Joshua’s response? (10:7) What was the promise of God to Joshua? (10:8) How did God follow through on that promise? (10:11)
What was the complication of this battle and what miracle did God perform at Joshua’s request? (10:12-14)
Evans: Clearly, this was a miracle that required numerous supporting miracles. If the earth slowed its rotation, it would be catastrophic—unless the author of creation was multi-tasking behind the scenes to keep everything in order. And that’s what happened. Mother Nature is answerable to Father God.
How did Joshua deal with the five kings who attacked Gibeon? (10:26-27)
Conclusion: Southern and Northern Kings Defeated (10:28-12:24)
Notice that Moses is mentioned many times - giving continuity to the promises that God is fulfilling. Joshua has learned a lot in these chapters and teaches us:
We can be courageous when God leads the way.
We will experience humiliation when we lead our own way.
We will experience victory when we hand the reigns to God.
We will experience deceit when we listen to the wrong voices.
We will defeat every enemy when we trust God’s power.
Joshua leads Israel to conquer the land and now it must be divided among the tribes.
Note: Dr. Steven Hunter reflects on the violence of the book of Joshua.
I Dug Deeper and No Longer Believe Joshua is a Book About Genocide
Dr. Steven C. Hunter
For the longest time, I struggled with the Book of Joshua. I thought it was a book about genocide mainly because that’s how most people, even many Christians, described it. One of the most complex parts of the book is how violent it is and how this reflects on God’s character. After all, it was in Leviticus (19:18) that God commanded Israel to love their neighbor as themselves. Jesus reiterates this too, so how do we face the rampant violence in the book?
I am wholly unsatisfied with Reformed theology’s explanation of the matter–the sovereignty of God and how we shouldn’t question what he does. Well, even that’s not biblical. People throughout the Old Testament question God, not to challenge his authority, but to understand.
I’ve read that “God so loved the world,” and “God is love.” That doesn’t seem very loving at all. That’s the kind of thing Zeus or Mars would have done. That sounds like a schizophrenic person. The first thing I admitted was that God IS love and that I must be misunderstanding the matter. Rather than laying my emotions on God, I put them on myself and decided I was wrong. That led me to a deeper study.
First, if we consider that Abraham lived around 2100 BC, we can place the mercy and longsuffering of God within a 700-year period. God promised the land to Abraham, but when he did, the sins of the Amorites weren’t complete (Gen. 15:16). God’s judgment/conquest of the land wasn’t something that he just planned at the last minute. He, in his omniscience, knew it would come to this. Yet, 700 years should be enough time for people to get their act together (cf. Deut. 9:5). Sadly, they did not, so God ordered their utter destruction (Deut. 7:1–2; 20:16–18).
Second, we observe that God would preempt removing people from the land. He didn’t intend those folks’ complete extermination or annihilation, and Scripture states as much. God promised to send pestilence to the land before the conquest to drive them out little by little (Exod. 23:28–30; Deut. 7:22–24). He wanted to drive them out (Deut. 9:4), but if any remained, they would be destroyed.
Third, archaeology has demonstrated something: cities like Jericho and Ai weren’t civilian centers but military outposts. Archaeology also discloses that the towns and cities in Canaan were nearly uninhabited in the period we believe the conquest occurred—the thirteenth century. Plus, after the “conquest,” we observe Canaanites living among the Israelites. The book of Judges points out how this cohabitation was problematic for Israel.
Fourth, Israel was commanded to offer peace terms before battle (Deut. 20:10–13). Only the Hivites of Gibeon accepted the peace terms, but everyone else did not (Josh. 11:19).
Fifth, not everything we read should be taken literally. This is often an error when reading the Bible, but ancient battle narratives were not written like modern books of history. Ancient war narratives contained battle idioms. When someone says, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” we know not to take that literally. The understanding is that the rain is heavy. Another part of ancient battle narratives is an exaggeration. While we expect a level of accuracy that conforms to journalistic standards, ancient writers wrote for literary effect. We might think of it, sometimes, as talking trash. Another example is how Joshua uses language to state that they took all the land, defeated all the kings, and utterly destroyed the Canaanites. The point was that God had exerted complete control over the land. As you read through Joshua, he often says that Canaanites still lived in the land.
Link to original article HERE.
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