Day 6 – Tuesday -- The Book of Joshua

Day 6 – Tuesday

The Book of Joshua

Moses dies and God appoints Joshua to take the lead. Just as the people had to cross the sea to escape enslavement, now they have to cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. The crossing of the river has become a metaphor for death in Western culture. A number of Black Spirituals use this metaphor, such as “Deep River” and “Roll, Jordan, Roll.”

This book is about conquest—taking the land by force. Once again the principle of herem, also called “the ban,” is followed: complete destruction of the Canaanites. Christians will later follow the concept of holy war during the Crusades of the twelfth through thirteenth centuries. Have we grown beyond any idea of a holy war?

In the sixth chapter we find the story of a prostitute named Rahab who helped the Israelites capture the city of Jericho. In the eleventh chapter of the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews, Rahab the prostitute is named as a member of the “Hall of Faith.”

Remember hearing about the day that the sun stood still? Well, that is in the Book of Joshua, chapter 10. It is part of the account of the Israelites defeating the five Amorite kings. Joshua commands the sun and moon to stop in the heavens, and God makes it happen. We all know that stories about heroes commonly give the hero special powers and end up exaggerating heroic abilities. We also know that the sun does not revolve around the earth as Joshua’s story implies. Ancient tales are not meant to be read or heard as exact reporting on what happened. We are not being unfaithful to Scripture if we don’t take all of these tales literally. Rather, we are using good common sense and being informed by literary forms.

When do you remember something that happened to you when it seemed that “time stood still”?

Probably the most well-known verse in Joshua is toward the end where Joshua says, Choose this day whom you will serve (24.15). Once again the covenant (the partnership) is being renewed. In Deuteronomy, Moses said, Choose life. Joshua says, Choose… Part of the Biblical message is that we are free to make choices, which also gives us responsibility.

What choices have you made that you would change if you could?

In spite of the past, how—by the grace of God—will you choose to go forward?