Grace Institute: The Torah :Joshua Introduction

Joshua

Survey of the Old Testament: The Torah

Fall 2004

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Introduction

Background

Name: Joshua , named for the principle leader of Israel as they enter the Promised Land. The Hebrew name for the book, Yehoshua, is the Hebrew name as that of our savior, Jesus .

Author: The author is not disclosed within the book. The author was an eyewitness to the events described in the book ( Joshua 5:6), and would have written the book shortly after the events (see Date Written below). Most evangelical scholars assume Joshua to be the primary author (24:26), with certain passages added after his death.

Date Written: 1400 – 1350 BC. The book was written within the lifetime of Rahab ( Joshua 6:25). Since the exodus took place in 1442 BC (see Introduction to Exodus), subtracting 40 years for the desert wanderings, the entrance into the Promised Land would have been around 1400 BC. The date of the writing must have therefore been within a generation of 1400 BC.

Audience: The generation of Israelites newly settled in the Promised Land, who were on the verge of forsaking the covenant as they began the time of the Judges.

Structure

Joshua is divided into three primary sections: Entering, conquering and allocating the promised land. Following the allocation, Joshua 's farewell address and challenge finish the book, along with the description of his death. The predominance of he book is the allocation of the land, covering over one-third of the book

Entering the Land				Conquering the Land				Allocating the Land				Epilogue
Joshua Encouraged	Rahab Protects Spies	Crossing the Jordan	Israel Obeys the Covenant	Jericho	Ai	Amorites	Confederation of Kings	Large Tribes	Small Tribes	Levites	Return to the TransJordan	Joshua 's Farewell Address	Joshua 's Confrontation
1	2	3-4	5	6	7-8	9-10	11-12	13-17	18-19	20-21	22	23	24

Purpose

To describe the allocation of the land. This is crucial in the laws of Israel , for every Jubilee the land would be returned to the originally allocated owners (Leviticus 25). This necessitated a clear demarcation of the borders (Chapters 13-22)
To remind the Israelites that the land in which they now lived was given to them by God. The nation did not conquer the land by their own strength, but through the strength of their God (Chapters 6-12).
To remind Israel that Yahweh had been faithful to his covenant with them, to encourage them to remain faithful on their part of the covenant (Chapter 23), and to remind them of the promise they made to keep the covenant (Chapter 4).
To call Israel to forsake their worship of other gods and become devoted to Yahweh alone (Chapter 24).

Theme

The faithfulness of God to his covenant by providing the nation of Israel with the Promised Land.

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