A Case for the Bible: Basic Answers for the Book of Joshua – Introduction and Background

Answers for a study in the book of Joshua” is a weekly post in addition to the regular “apologetics” posts on the weekend where the original questions can be found at the bottom of the study, and then answers appear here mid-week. This gives you time to do your own research, and then check your answers. Keep in mind these will be basic answers with a little depth, but you can go much deeper for discussion if you’d like.

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

1.  Review of Class Topic:  Before getting into the Bible study questions, discuss today’s class presentation by summarizing what you learned, commenting or asking any questions.

Answers will vary…

Using a study Bible, or commentary (that you have vetted), answer the following questions from our hermeneutical format for a survey study of the book of Joshua:

Bible Study Survey Format

Old Testament

Category:         History Books                          

Book:               Joshua                                     

1. Author: Who wrote the book and when? (Include anything you can find about the author and when it was written)

Joshua is the author, except for the ending which may have been written by the high priest, Phinehas, an eyewitness to the events recounted there.

Note: Throughout the Old Testament we will see the importance of the Levitical Priests as Scribes and protectors of the Scriptures. This will continue on through the time of Jesus and the Apostles.

Dating: Joshua records the events that happened at the end of the forty-year period of desert wandering after the exodus from Egypt, ca. 1406 BC; and the book was probably finished after the conquest of the Promised Land, ca. 1375 BC, as the period of Judges began.

Why was Joshua uniquely qualified to now lead the Nation? Because Joshua had assisted Moses for many years, he was prepared to take over the leadership of the Nation. He was also chosen by God to succeed Moses, and we learn in this book that the people came to respect his authority because God spoke and acted through him as He did Moses.

Note: Joshua is one of only a few Old Testament figures in which nothing bad is reported about him, making him one of the foreshadows/pictures of Jesus, the Messiah and Savior to come. (Joseph and Daniel are two other examples).

2. Audience: Who was it written to? (Include anything you can find about the people, the culture or societal norms, of that time period)

• The Nation of Israel is the intended audience, and this historical narrative (the genre) was to be passed on for the generations to come.
• The setting was in Canaan, also called the Promised Land, which occupied the same general geographical territory of modern-day Israel.
• The people of Israel were nomadic at the time, and would move from place to place until they were given their allotment of land in Canaan by tribe where they would settle and begin to work the Land (second half of this book).

3. Purpose: Why was it written? (Include anything you can find about their circumstances and what was, or had been, going on)

• The purpose of the book is to give the history of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land (a partial fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant) after their forty years of wandering in the desert following their exodus from Egypt.
• This book was to be used to teach the people of God for generations to come, so they would remember what God had done for them, as well as what God had expected from them as His people (the protection clause of the Mosaic Covenant: Obedience vs. disobedience and the consequences as laid out in the Law).

BACKGROUND: It is important to first cover the historical background leading up to the events recorded in this book before getting into the content. Prior to the events in Joshua, we have the historical narrative that flows from the Torah as written by Moses:

The Books of Moses (Torah/Pentateuch)

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

• These books lay the foundation for human history including God’s Covenant Promises, the importance of the Nation of Israel, the and the blessing (Jesus):
  • Creation (Adamic Covenant: Part one – Edenic Covenant) Gen. 1-2
  • Fall – (Adamic Covenant: Part two – Covenant of Redemption – Gen. 3:15)
  • Flood – (the Noachian Covenant) Gen. 6-9
  • Tower of Babel (confusion of languages and the dispersion of the people) Gen. 11
  • The Patriarchs: Abraham – Isaac – Jacob – 12 Tribes of Israel (the Abrahamic Covenant) Gen. 12-50
  • The enslavement of Israel in Egypt begins in the book of Exodus
  • Moses, the Exodus, and the giving of the Law to the Nation of Israel (the Mosaic/Sinai Covenant) Exodus through Deuteronomy

The Torah’s storyline flow…

• God gives Moses the story of creation; the fall of man; the judgment flood of Noah’s time and the subsequent start of a new world through Noah’s descendants (Shem, Ham and Japheth).
• At the Tower of Babel (after the flood) we see the defiance and pride of man take hold again (as they had been told to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth), so God scatters the people with a change of language.
• The narrative turns at this point to follow a specific line through Shem to the person of Abraham, through whom God promises (makes a Covenant) a nation, a land, and a blessing.
• The Covenant begins to be fulfilled through Abraham’s lineage: Isaac, Jacob (renamed Israel) and his 12 sons.
• These 12 sons (tribes of Israel) grow in number to become a large nation of people and are eventually put into slavery in Egypt where we get the story of Moses and the Exodus.
• The rest of the Torah includes specific Laws and requirements for the Nation of Israel (Mosaic Covenant) to follow in order to be protected by God, and be distinct from the other nations as representatives of God.
• These books also narrate the downfall of the people over and over through disobedience; but we also see God’s hesed (unconditional love, mercy and grace) as He reconciles them to Himself when they repent.
• These books leave off with the death of Moses and the planning of the entrance into the Promised Land under the new leadership of Joshua.

Next week we will begin to look at #4 of the hermeneutical format which is the content of the book of Joshua. We will do this by reading and studying chapters 1-4.