After the death of Moses it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua saying, “Moses My servant is dead. Arise and go over this Jordan, you and all the people to the land which I am giving them. Every place that the sole of your feet will tread upon, I have given to you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you, all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go; :1-9
Joshua tells the people to prepare provisions for in three days they would cross over the Jordan and be reminds the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manesseh of the commandment of Moses to pass before their brethren armed , all their might man of valor to help them. And they answered Joshua, “All that you command us we will do and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses. Whoever rebels against you shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage; 10-18.
Joshua sent two men to spy secretly, to view the land especially Jericho, so they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there. It was told to the king of Jericho, so the king sent to Rahab saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house; they have come to search out all the country”. Then she took the two men and hid them and said “Yes the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from; and as the gate was being shut when it was dark that the men went out. Where I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them”. She had hidden them on the roof with the stalks of flax. The men of Jericho pursued them by the road to the Jordan. As soon as the men had gone out they shut the gate. She came to the spies on the roof and said, I know that the Lord has given you the land; that the terror of you has fallen on us, and all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. They had heard of the great sign at the Red sea when they came out of Egypt and of the two kings of the Amorites on the other side of the Jordan, who they had utterly destroyed. As soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted, neither remained there any courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God, in heaven above and on the earth beneath.” “Now I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have and deliver our lives from death; 1-13.
So the men answered her, “Our lives are yours if none of you tell this business of ours, it shall be when the Lord has given us this land that we will deal kindly and truly with you”. Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall. “Get to the mountains, lest the pursuers meet you, hide there three day until the pursuers have returned; afterward, go your way.”
We will be blameless of this oath you made us swear unless when we come into the land you bind the line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and bring your father , mother, brothers and all your father’s household to your home. Whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street his blood shall be on his own head, but we shall be guiltless; whoever is in the house with you his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. And if you tell this business of ours, we shall be free from the oath which you made us swear. She said, “According to your words, so be it”. They went to the mountain and stayed three days. When they returned to the camp, they came to Joshua and told him all that had befallen them. Joshua said, “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands; 14-24.
Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel and lodged there before they crossed over. After three days the officers went through the camp and commended the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priest, the Levites bearing it then you shall set out from your place and follow it. There shall be a space between you and it, about 2000 cubits. Do not come near it that you may know the way by which you must go for you have not passed this way before”. Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you”. The Lord said to Joshua, who said to the priest, “Take up the ark of the covenant and crossover before the people; :1-7.
The Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of the people of all Israel, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command the priests, who bear the art of the covenant, “When you come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan”. Joshua told the words of the Lord to the children of Israel and said by this you shall know that the living God is among you and He will, without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite and the Hittites and the Hivites, Perizzites and the Girgashites, and the Amorites and the Jebusites. Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. It shall come to pass that as soon as the soles of the feet of the priest who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters shall be cut off, the waters that come from upstream, and they shall stand in a heap; :7-14.
And as those priest who bore the ark of the covenant came to the Jordan and the feet of the priest dipped in the edge of the water that the waters which came from upstream , stood still and all of Israel crossed over on dry ground opposite Jericho. Then the priest stood firm on dry ground; :15-17.
When all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan the Lord spoke to Joshua, “Take yourselves twelve men of the people, one man from every tribe and command them saying, “Take for yourselves twelve stone from out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priest feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.” Joshua commanded them as the Lord has said, that it may be a sign among Israel and when you children as in time to come saying, “What do these stones mean to you?”, then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut of before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it crossed over the Jordan. These stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel, forever.
And the Children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan in the place where the feet of the priest who bore the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day. The priest who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua and the people hurried and crossed over. The when all the people had completely crossed over that the ark of the Lord and the priest crossed over in the presence of the people; :1-11.
And the men of Reuben; the men of Gad, and half of Manesseh, crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. Almost forty thousand men prepared for was crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. On that day the Lord exalted in the sight of all Israel and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.
The Lord spoke to Joshua saying, “Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan, thus Joshua did. And when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up from the midst of the Jordan and their soles touched dry land that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all the banks, as before; :12-18
They came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho and those twelve stones that they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come saying, ‘What are these stones?’, then you shall tell them, Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land for the Lord our God dried up the waters of the Jordan before us, until we had crossed over, that all peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God, forever; :19-24.
So it was when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until they had crossed over, that their hearts melted and there was no spirit in them any longer.
At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself and circumcise the sons of Israel again for the second time. So Joshua made flint knives for himself and circumcise the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the reason why: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. For all the people who cam out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. The children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness till all the people who were men of war, which came out of had been consumed (died), because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers, that He would give to us, “a land flowing with milk and honey”; :1-6.
Sidebar: To all those so called “gentiles” who feel that they have no need to become circumcised, please pay very close attention to the fact that the men of Israel were not allowed to enter into the “promised land” without observing the covenant of the circumcision.
Then Joshua circumcised their sons, whom the Lord raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. When they had finished circumcising all the people, they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. The children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. They ate the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day; :7-11.
Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked and behold a man (Angel) stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”. The Angel said, “No, but as the Commander of the army of the Lord!” Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to him, “What does my Lord say to his servant?”. The Commander of the Lord’s army said, “Take you sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy”, and Joshua did so; 12-15.
Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. The Lord said to Joshua, “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king and the mighty men of valor, you shall walk around the city once. This you shall do six days and seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram’s horn, before the ark. But the seventh day you march around the city seven times and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horns and when you hear the sound of the trumpet that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. The people shall go up every man straight before him; :1-5.
Joshua, the son of Nun, called the priests and said, “Take up the Ark of the Lord.” He said to the people “Proceed and march around the city, and let him who is armed advance before the art of the Lord.” So it was when Joshua had spoken to the people that the seven priests, bearing the trumpets of ram’s hors before the Lord, advanced and blew the trumpets, and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priest continued blowing the trumpets. Now Joshua commanded the people saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth until the day I say to you ‘Shout!’ then you shall shout”. So he had the Ark of the Lord to circle the city going around it once. Then they came into camp ; :6-11.
And Joshua rose early in the morning and the priests took up the Ark of the Lord. The seven priest bearing seven trumpets of ram’s horns went before the Ark of the Lord, went on continually and blew the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. The rear guard came after the Ark of the Lord, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. The second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days. On the seventh day they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times.
The seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets that Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! Now the city has been doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. An you, by all means, abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord, they shall come into the treasury of the Lord”; :12-19.
So the people shouted when the priest blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpets and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him and they took the city. They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old; ox, sheep, and donkey with the edge of the sword. Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the country, “go into the harlot’s house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her. So the young men went in and brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. They burned the city and all that was in it by fire. Only the silver and gold and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. Joshua spared Rahab, the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. She dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers.
Joshua charged them at this time saying, “Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city, Jericho; he shall lay it foundation with his firstborn, with his youngest he shall set up its gates”. So the Lord was with Joshua , and his fame spread throughout the country; :20-27.
The children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel. Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is on the side of Beth Aven on the east side of Bethel and said, “Go up and spy out the country.” So they went and spied out Ai.
They returned to Joshua and said, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, the people of Ai are few. About three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the people of Ai. The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men; they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the Ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. Joshua said, “Alas Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh that we had been content and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it and surround us and cut off our name from the earth, then what will happen to Your great name?”; 1-10.
Sidebar: Are you noticing that because of one man’s sin the whole nation was subjected to the anger of the Lord?! No one was aware of his sin yet everyone received the consequences of it. Thirty-six men lost their lives because of it. We should pay close attention to God’s retribution. Think of the sins being committed in our modern day churches. FOOD for THOUGHT.
The Lord said to Joshua, “Get Up! Why do you lie on your face? Israel has sinned and they have also transgress My covenant which I commanded them. They have even taken some of the accursed things and have both stolen and deceived and have also put it among their own things. Therefore, the children of Israel could not stand against their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because the have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. Get up, sanctify the people and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord God says, “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you. In the morning you shall be brought according to your tribes. The tribe that the Lord takes will come according to families; and the family that the Lord takes will come according households; the household that the Lord takes shall com man by man; :10-14.
Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with the fire, he and all he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel. Joshua rose early in the morning and did as the Lord had commanded. Upon bringing the households man by man, Achan of the tribe of Judah was taken.
Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel; make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done, do not hide it from me.” Achan answered, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel; this is what I have done:
Joshua sent messengers who rant to the tent, there it was hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. They took them from the midst of the tent brought them to Joshua and all Israel and laid them out before the Lord. Then Joshua, and all Israel wit him took Achan the silver; garment; the wedge of gold; his sons and daughters; his oxen, donkeys, sheep, tent and all that he had and brought them to the Valley of Achor. Joshua asked, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you, this day.”
So all Israel stoned him with stones and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. They raised over him a great heap of stones still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger; :15-26.
0 Responses to “JOSHUA Chapters 1 – 7”