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Chapter 1: We must first interpret the setting of the book. The land into which Joshua leads the people is not heaven, for the instruction to Joshua is to be strong and very courageous, and this because of the enemies who inhabited the land. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 2: Here in Joshua chapter two we find the well-known story of the harlot Rahab. It is a beautiful story, and it has featured in many a sermon and gospel message, but what has it got to do with our crossing Jordan to enter into our inheritance? READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 3: Now we come in chapter three to the account of the actual crossing of the Jordan, and we can see it is indeed very similar to the crossing of the Red Sea. Did our Lord not say before His Crucifixion, “I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straitened till it be accomplished?” READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 4: There is, of course, a memorial to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We call it communion, Mass, the Lord’s Supper, Eucharist, the breaking of bread. It is exemplified for us in Joshua chapter four and we should have been astonished if the chapter following the crossing of this Jordan had not mentioned the memorial thereof. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 5: “And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.” READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 6: “Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.” Where and what is Jericho? What lies ahead of us? What stronghold is this that bars our further progress, and how do we overthrow it? Just what does Jericho represent in our own lives? These are the questions that this chapter six of Joshua must answer for us. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 7: What does Jericho represent? It can represent many things. But to each one of us it is the end of the line, as we say. To Christ as He rode into Jerusalem it was the city of palms. To us it may be the final end of all our ambitions in this life. From here on in we will walk in newness of life as raised with Christ. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 8: And God tells Joshua, “Lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.” We may be harmless as doves, but we will also be cunning as serpents. And this time Joshua will take all the people to war with him, we will employ all our strength against Ai lest we lose the battle a second time. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 9: The enemy that faces Israel in chapter nine of Joshua is a subtle foe, a wily adversary, a cunning and crafty power, and unless we look well to distinguish this opponent we too may fall prey to this trickery. For the picture given to us here shows how the people of God have been tricked into defeat… READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 10: We come now to the well-known story of Joshua’s long day. In the previous chapter we saw Israel make a league with the Hivites of Gibeon, and here we find five kings of the Amorites combining together to fight against the Hivites of Gibeon. Let us look closely now at these five kings, and then see what Joshua does to them. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 11: It is not God’s will that the Canaanite, spiritual pride, should rule over His people. It is not God’s will that the Amorite, our desires for peace and love at all costs, should even get the better of us. Nor that the Hittite, our circumstances in life, should get us down. Neither is it His will that the Perizzite, natural thinking, should control us. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 12: As we look to God, eastward, toward the rising of the sun, we see nothing but victory from the river Arnon all the way to mount Hermon, from the time we received the baptism of the Holy Spirit till we learned to worship God in spirit and in truth. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 13: The latter half of the book of Joshua is largely taken up with the dividing up of the inheritance by lot unto the children of Israel. While we have already seen and met all our enemies and we have seen how Jesus has dealt with them, so we have already learned to follow Him and to do as He has done. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 14: In Joshua chapter fourteen we find Caleb’s part in the inheritance before we go on to the actual division of the land among the tribes. The first verse of the chapter is enlightening for we see that the land is divided up by Eleazar the priest and by Joshua the son of Nun. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 15: Now we come to the dividing up by lot of the inheritance. In other words, the inheritance is not yet won, but already our part and portion of it should become visible to us. This chapter 15 of Joshua lays out the portion of the inheritance that belongs to Judah. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 16: The tribe of Joseph is not far behind Judah in the administering of the inheritance. What is of Joseph is of the Lord, and Joseph has a special place in the things of God. To Joseph is given Bethel, and so we can understand that in a particular way Joseph is concerned with the house of God. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 17: As we saw in chapter 16 the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, were in charge of the house of God. Ephraim held no cities or strong points, for Ephraim was quiet and peaceable, but Manasseh was a warrior, a fighter. The lot of Manasseh in the land, therefore, fits in with the characteristics of this people. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 18: Seven tribes have still to inherit their portion of the land. On the other side of Jordan the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half Manasseh claim that land as their inheritance, and in Canaan itself on this side Jordan only Judah, Ephraim and half of Manasseh claim the inheritance as theirs. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 19: Those who belong to Simeon are those whose strength is in prayer, who can wrestle with the angel, so to speak, in order to get a blessing. Their part in the inheritance is to back up Judah with prayer support. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 20: Now we come to a short but important chapter concerning the cities of refuge. We may remember that Moses commanded that when the children of Israel were come into the land of Canaan they were to set aside six cities of refuge for the slayer that killed unwittingly. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 21: Now the Levites represent our speaking in the assembly, as we have seen previously, and in this great chapter of Joshua we need to see the cities of the Levites, if our speakings are to be acceptable before the Lord. The cities in fact signify what our speaking will be about in the assembly. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 22: Now it may well be that having followed with us into the inheritance and having come along with us all the way, that some will yet return to the land they formerly possessed, as we read in Joshua chapter twenty-two. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 23: As we near the end of the book of Joshua we see that Joshua as a man has faithfully performed and portrayed for us the role of the overcomer. Now in chapter twenty three the man Joshua is old and stricken in years, and his days on earth are numbered—“I go the way of all the earth,” he tells Israel. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
Chapter 24: “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve?” Fittingly, Joshua closes with the grand review of all the way that God has led us, right up to the present hour. What better way than for us to come to any decision one way or another? If we need to come to a difficult decision at any point in our lives let us sit down first and review our history. READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY …
