Books of the Bible

The Book of Joshua

Old Testament · History · Genre: History · Author: Not named in the text; traditionally associated with Joshua · Chapters: 24

Joshua tells how God brought Israel into the land he had promised Abraham, crossing the Jordan, taking the land, and dividing it among the tribes. It is a book about a God who keeps his word across centuries and who calls his people to courageous, obedient trust.

Start reading: Joshua chapter 1

A key verse

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.Joshua 1:9 (KJV)

The setting and background of Joshua

Joshua is the first of the books the Hebrew Bible calls the Former Prophets and that Christian tradition groups as the historical books. It carries the story forward from the death of Moses into the life of Israel in the land, and it is named for Moses' successor, the military and spiritual leader who brings the people across the Jordan. The book itself does not name its author, and tradition has associated it with Joshua while recognizing that it reached its final form later.

The book divides neatly in two. The first half narrates the entry into the land and the campaigns of conquest, from the crossing of the Jordan and the fall of Jericho to the defeat of the southern and northern coalitions. The second half turns from war to inheritance, carefully allotting the land tribe by tribe, and closes with Joshua's farewell and the great covenant renewal at Shechem, where he calls the people to choose whom they will serve.

Joshua was written to show that God keeps his promises, giving to Israel the land he had sworn to Abraham centuries before. It raises hard questions about the judgment on the Canaanite nations, which Scripture presents as long-delayed justice on entrenched wickedness. In the sweep of the Bible, its picture of entering into rest becomes a rich image, and the New Testament reads that rest as a shadow of the greater rest Christ gives.

The story and structure of Joshua

Joshua opens after the death of Moses, with a new leader and a fresh commission. God charges Joshua to be strong and of good courage, promising that as he was with Moses, so he will be with Joshua wherever he goes, and that success will come through meditating on and obeying the book of the law.

The first half of the book is the entry and conquest. Spies are sent to Jericho and sheltered by Rahab, whose faith saves her. The people cross the Jordan on dry ground, as their parents crossed the sea, and stones are set up as a memorial. Jericho falls not by siege engines but by marching and shouting in obedience, and the sin of Achan shows that disobedience within the camp brings defeat.

The campaigns that follow are sobering, describing the long-delayed judgment on the Canaanite nations, whose wickedness God had patiently borne for generations. Israel is warned to trust and obey rather than to presume, and victories come by God's power, not military might, while defeats come whenever the people act without him.

The second half of the book divides the land among the tribes, tribe by tribe and boundary by boundary, fulfilling the promise made to Abraham long before. Cities of refuge are appointed, the Levites are given their towns, and the eastern tribes return home, the whole land now allotted as an inheritance.

The book closes with Joshua old and full of days, gathering the people to renew the covenant at Shechem. He rehearses all God has done, warns them to serve the Lord and not the idols of the nations, and lays down his own resolve in words that have echoed ever since: as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

The great themes of Joshua

Key passages in Joshua

Joshua in the sweep of Scripture

Joshua completes the story begun with Abraham and continued through the exodus, showing God settling his people in the land of promise. It stands as a testimony that God finishes what he starts, and its picture of entering into rest becomes a rich image in later Scripture. The New Testament warns that Israel's rest under Joshua was only a shadow of a greater rest still to come, and lifts up Rahab, a Canaanite outsider, as an example of the faith that saves, a sign that God's grace was always reaching beyond one nation.

Where Christ is in Joshua

Joshua bears the same name as Jesus in Hebrew, both meaning the Lord saves, and his leading of the people into the land foreshadows the greater Joshua who leads his people into an eternal inheritance and rest. Rahab, saved by faith and grafted into Israel, appears in the ancestry of Jesus, a early sign that the Saviour comes for all who trust him, whatever their past or nation.

How to read Joshua well

Read Joshua for courage, noticing that God's presence, not the people's strength, wins every real victory. Let the repeated command to be strong and of good courage steady you in your own callings, and let Rahab remind you that no one is beyond the reach of saving faith. Above all, let Joshua's closing choice challenge your own: to serve the Lord wholeheartedly rather than the comfortable idols of the surrounding culture.

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