The Book of Joshua

Entering into the Promise: The Book of Joshua

In the early part of the 15th century BC, after many years of slavery in Egypt and forty years in the desert, the Israelites were finally allowed to enter the Promised Land.  

The Book of Joshua tells how God led His people — as an army under the leadership of Joshua — to reclaim Canaan from the idolatrous nations that lived there.  He aided them in the enterprise and gave them conditional tenancy in His land in fulfilment of the covenant He had made with their forefathers.

Obedience, courage, and trust are recurring themes of the book, under the overarching motif of Yahweh’s covenantal faithfulness. In their struggle against enemies without and temptations within, the Israelites were to learn how to walk — and fight — together as a community belonging to God.  

As a people of God’s promise, the Church would do well to carefully consider the joys and responsibilities of actively “Entering into the Promise”.

 

Speaker: Ian Ma
Scripture: Johua 22:1-34
Date: 2022-06-26

Joshua 22:1-34 (NIV)

Eastern Tribes Return Home

22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded.

Speaker: Ian Ma
Scripture: Johua 13:1-8; 14:6-15
Date: 2022-06-19

Joshua 13:1-8; 14:6-15 (NIV)

Land Still to Be Taken

13 When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

Speaker: Ian Ma
Scripture: Johua 10:1-15
Date: 2022-06-12

Joshua 10:1-15 (NIV)

The Sun Stands Still

Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies.

Speaker: Guest
Scripture: Johua 8:3-9:27
Date: 2022-06-05

Joshua 8:3-9:27 (NIV)

So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at nightwith these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert.I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them.

Speaker: Ian Ma
Scripture: Johua 7:1-8:2
Date: 2022-05-29

Joshua 7:1-8:2 (NIV)

Achan's Sin

But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.