Joshua is first mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 17:8 when Moses told him to choose men to fight against Amalek. Joshua did as Moses told him, and he defeated him with the help of the Lord. Moses went up the mountain and prayed with the rod of God raised in his hand during the battle. If his hand started to drop, Amalek would get the upper hand. Moses kept his hand raised throughout the battle and the victory was Joshua’s. He destroyed Amalek, and his people.
Joshua is mentioned five more times in the Pentateuch before Moses sent the spies to enter into the land of Canaan. He and Caleb were two of twelve spies sent to spy. They were the only spies to give a good account of the land and the people. They trusted the Lord and knew He would deliver the land as promised. However, the other ten spies gave a bad account of the land and the people in it. The people of Israel listened to the ten spies and complained against God. He punished them for their lack of faith by not allowing them to see or enter the promised land. God marched the people of Israel around in the wilderness for forty years until that generation died off. God would only allow Joshua and Caleb to enter in because of their faithfulness to Him. God would allow the new generation of Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua,
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to enter the promised land. Joshua, Son of Nun, was born Hoshea. Moses changed his name to Joshua when he was chosen as one of the twelve spies in Numbers 13:8, 16 (NKJV 1985). Hoshea means "Salvation" and Joshua means "Yahweh is Salvation". His original name is Hoshea, "Salvation" (Num. 13:8); but Moses evidently changes it to Yehoshua (Num. 13:16), "Yahweh is Salvation." He is also called Yeshua, shortened form of Yehosua. This is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Iesous (Jesus). Thus, the Greek title given to the book is the Septuagint is Iesous Nas, "Joshua the Son of Nun" (NKJV 1985). Joshua was an assistant, or a minister, to Moses when he went up Mount Sinai. Joshua was witness to many of God's miraculous events to strengthen his faith and obedience to God. Being an assistant or a minister to Moses, Joshua might have seen what happened to Nahab and Abihu when they offered the profane fire to God and were consumed. Fortifying his faith, courage and obedience to God no matter what other people said or did. God's punishment for disobedience was swift and His blessings were eternal to those that obeyed Him. Joshua was a man that stood outside the social pattern of acceptance. He did not care what others thought of him. He was strong in his faith, with courage and obedience to God. He did what God wanted all of His people to do. That is to be separated from the world. This is a foreshadow of what God wants all of us to do, to be separated from the world. These actions of faith, obedience and courage to follow God were shown to us when Joshua and Caleb stood against the other spies with their assessment of the promised land. They both had faith in God and knew He would be with them when they took the land. Joshua was about forty years old when he was selected, by Moses, to spy out Canaan. God told Moses to choose twelve men, leaders of their tribes, to spy out the land which God had promised Israel. Moses gave specific instructions on the route they needed to take to enter Canaan; and more specific instructions on what to report on and what to bring back to him. Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes (Numbers 13:17-20 NKJV 1985). The route the twelve spies took through Canaan took them through to survey the land, the cities, fortification points, the valleys, the people, the crops, and vineyards. They took grapes, pomegranates, and figs; just as Moses instructed. The journey through Canaan took the men forty days to complete (Numbers 13:21-25 NKJV 1985). The assessment of the land, people, and vegetation was a disappointed report when the twelve returned to Moses and the congregation. Ten of the twelve spies reported a land they did not want to inherit, the people were large and strong with stronger fortifications that no city could be over-taken; and the vegetation was not worth anything. However, two men, Joshua and Caleb reported a different assessment of the land, people, and vegetation. Joshua and Caleb reported the land was truly running with milk and honey; the people could be conquered, the fortifications were weak, and the vegetation was plentiful with good soil for planting. Due to the weak assessment of the ten spies, the congregation lost all faith in God and did not trust Him to deliver the land He promised them. The congregation was fearing what they heard versus what God had already shown them. They were afraid of something they could not see. Faith is believing in things not seen, they could not see their triumph over the land and the people with God. The congregation lost all faith in God because ten men convinced them the land and people could not be conquered, and the land was not livable. The people of Israel complained to Moses and Aaron to give them a leader to lead them back to Egypt.
God punished the people for their lack of faith. They would never see the land flowing with milk and honey; only Joshua and Caleb would enter in. Joshua and Caleb would have to endure the punishment with the Israelites; however, they would be allowed entrance into Canaan after that generation had died out. The punishment for their disbelief in God was to wander in the wilderness for forty years. This generation would die in the wilderness and a new generation would enter into Canaan. Joshua and Caleb rebuked Israel for their lack of faith and fear that God would not be with
them. As a result of the fear and lack of faith the 10 cowardly men instilled into the people, the Israelites wanted to return to Egypt. Joshua and Caleb were grief stricken and cried out to the congregation, “Only do not rebel against the LORD. … The LORD is with us. Do not fear them.” But the result was a further angry response, even a threat to stone Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 14:910) (Van Belkum 2015).
The story of Rahab begins when Joshua, after receiving God’s command to enter into the Promised Land, sends two spies into Jericho and the surrounding areas to “view the land” (Joshua 2:1). The two spies are discovered in Jericho as they enter Rahab’s harlot house. The king of Jericho, being alerted to their presence, sends for the spies. Rahab hides the two spies on her roof under some flax and sends the guards out of the city on a wild goose chase. Rahab then tells the spies that everyone in the land is afraid of their power and that she knows that their God is the One true God. In return for the kindness she showed them Rahab asks for their promise of safety for her family when the Hebrews attack Jericho. The spies promise and escape through Rahab’s window in the city wall and descend down a scarlet rope that is used to signal the Israelites to the location of her home.
Metanarrative Essay The Biblical metanarrative can be explained by a Christian as the true and triumphant story from the beginning in Genesis until the future is prophesied in Revelation. Others who may not be a Christian do not understand the true power and love God has over us and for us and may just simply see it as a story or a rule book that they don’t want to follow. They see the Bible and all the things and plans God has for us and our lives and just think they don’t want any part of it and instead they live in sin. It is important that these people not only learn the true story but understand it as well.
Jericho was an important city in the Old Testament. The city was overtaken and devastated several times. However, it was always reoccupied -- sometimes quickly and other times very slowly. Herod the Great, Cleopatra, and Augustus are some of the mighty rulers that once took claim of some or all of Jericho. Many Galileans would travel through the Jordan valley and go by Jericho on their route to Jerusalem. By taking this course, they could avoid passing through Samaritan territory (Metzger and Coogan, 1993).
Moses says that God also became angry with him and condemned him to die in the desert by not allowing him to fulfill the dream of knowing the longed-for Promise Land (Deut 1: 37 – 38). God 's anger was so great that He, thirty-eight years later, when they arrived in Canaan, and all the Israelites had already been punished, Moses attempted to ask God to let him in, thinking that his anger had passed, but God answered with a definite no. God said to Moses, "‘Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter" (Deut. 3: 23 – 28). He could not convince God to allow him to put a foot in the Promised Land. The question here is: why was God angry with Moses? What did he have to do with this story? Scholars have come with different theories, but they do not find a definitive answer. Some of them attempt to find something to blame Moses for, but apparently their attempt is inconclusive. Other think that this consisted of sending the spies to explore the country instead of trusting in God. Other believe that it was not to have accompanied the explorers. Another group thought that it was because he did not know how to pacify the Israelite rebellion as a good leader would
Even though Moses, was raised as an Egyptian, he knew that he was truly Hebrew. After seeing an Egyptian taskmaster cruelly beating a Hebrew, Moses became so furious that he murdered the Egyptian. Fearing that the Pharaoh would find out what he had done, Moses fled to the wilderness, “the eternal safe retreat of outcasts from ancient society and of those in revolt against authority.” Moses found himself in the Sinai Desert amongst other ...
Once Joshua started to communicate with the children, and got to know them better the adults were amazed at how Joshua related to the children so well. He knew their names right from the second he met them, he played their games, and he even let himself lose at them too. Eventually the adults in the town began to realize that whoever this Joshua really was, he was a role model for each and every one of them.
One day God spoke to Abraham with an intention of making a covenant with man whom he chose as his partner. Abraham was told by God to leave his home to a different land since the people of Ur worshipped idols of wood and stone. The covenant made between them had a lot of promises. Abraham left with his wife Sarai, Lot his nephew,
The book of Judges is the sequel to Joshua. It is the seventh book of the Old Testament. It recounts stories and events from the death of the hebrew leader and prophet Joshua to the birth of the hebrew Samuel. That is roughly, from the end of the Israelite conquest of Canan in the 13th Century B.C to the begining of the monarchy in the 11 th century B.C. It tells about the hebrews from Joshua’s Death to the time of Samuel. It was written in about 550 BC, on tablets named the Ras Shamra tablets. The Ras Shamra tablets where later discovered in the early 20th Century, even though the stories and acountings of the judges where already known and written. The book of Judges belongs to a specific historical tradition which is called the Deuteronomic history. The author of the book of Judges, was in exile in Babylonia. While in exile he was deeply concerned with foreign domination. So he wrote many of his stories on the migration of the tribe of Dan to the North and the sins of the Benjamites. The author emphasized that Israel was being influenced by foreign powers and the loss of freedom and prosperity. Recurring throughout the book is the stereotyped formula: "The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the lord." Then after each period or subjection the author introduces another formula: " But when the people of Israel cried the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people. Through-out the book, the book of judges tells about prophets, rulers and influencial people such as: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tilian and Samson. There are also many more minor people.
Chapter 7 of Joshua deals with the sin in Canaan. Even though the people had crossed the Jordan, they were still prone to sin. We have one person’s sin who affects all of Israel. The sin of Achan, who is referred to as “Achar” the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the accursed (1 Chronicles 2:7). (1) This sin caused Israel to be defeated in Ai as well as caused Joshua humiliation and prays of the sad disaster to God.
he killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite worker. Terrified, Moses fled to Midian where he met a priest named Jethro. Moses married his daughter and began a new life as a shepherd. God was still concerned with the suffering Israelites and appeared to Moses as a burning bush (3:2). God spoke to Moses and told him of this plan to return the Israelites to Canaan, which God describes as “a land flowing with milk and honey” and sent Moses to accomplish this task (3:8).
As a one reads through the Old Testament, he will find the story as it unfolds of the children of Israel. Beginning in the book of Exodus the children of Israel are in Egyptian bondage and being forced to work as slaves. God appears to Moses in a burning bush and tells him that He [God] has heard His people and He is going to deliver them out of bondage. God at that time tells Moses that He has chosen him to be the leader of this people. After God brings ten plagues against Egypt the children of Israel are driven out of the land, and God promises to lead them to a land “flowing with milk and honey.” On their way to the “Promised Land” they cross the Red Sea in which Pharaoh and the Egyptian army is defeated by God. Then they go to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. After receiving the law they then go to the Promised Land, and there Moses sends twelve spies into the land. Ten of these spies come back and give a bad report to Moses and the children of Israel. Since they did this Israel was punished by God and made to wonder in the wilderness for forty years during which time all who were over the age of twenty perished. The only two that did not die was Caleb and Joshua who had come back with a good report, and told Moses and the children of Israel to go up at once and take the land. Once they had completed the wilderness wondering they returned to the Promised Land and took the land under the new leadership of Joshua. However, Israel did not drive out all the inhabitants as the Lord God had commanded them, thus the inhabitants that were not driven out would be a snare to them. Once they had established themselves in the land they began to chase after the gods of the inhabitants before them. God then sent judges to deliver them which ...
The Book of Exodus encompasses several of the most significant individuals, as well as events. In the Book of Exodus, Moses was a prominent character that was discussed seemingly throughout the text (Harper 's Bible Dictionary 1952, 655). The Book of Exodus is a segment within the Pentateuch, which covers the first five accounts of the Old Testament. There are three noticeable premises that are accentuated in Exodus, which are deliverance, the covenant, and the Promised Land. The opening section of the Book, which is separated into two parts, is the first eighteen chapters, which review Moses’ lifetime, the dilemmas that the Israelites’ met whilst in Egypt, and the events and plagues that drove the Israelites’ to ultimately depart from Egypt.
The land of Canaan where the Canaanites dwelt was the land promised by God to the Israelite people. Canaan was the name of a large and prosperous country which coincides roughly to present- day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel. In some passages in the Bible, the Canaanite people were specifically referred to as the people of the lowlands and plains of Canaan. In other Bible passages, Canaanites is used in a broader way to refer to all the inhabitants of the land, including the Hivites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Hittites, and Perizzites (Judges 1:9,10).
The point the author would want us to understand from the Joshua 2, salvation of Rahab narrative, is that if this ungodly prostitute from an ungodly nation can become an ancestor of Jesus, then there is hope for all of us. Far from being ashamed of her, she is an ancestor to be proud of, because when she saw God's kingdom coming she decided where her allegiance lay. She acted on that decision which made her a traitor to her world and she put her trust in God to save her. This is exactly the same way that God deals with us today.
Before Moses led his people from Egypt into the desert, Aaron is said to have given speeches, and performed miracles because Moses was not yet ready to do so. Aaron is said to have aided in the construction of the Golden Calf when Moses climbs the mountain to receive the laws of God. In Exodus, Aaron losses faith in God when he melts the gold to cast the false idol. When Moses implores the Pharaoh to release the Israelites for the first time, he brings no signs and performs no miracles. Pharaoh’s sorcerers do not repent in the eyes of God and attempt perform their own miracles to show the strength of the Egyptian deities. Ultimately in Exodus the Pharaoh drowns when Moses parts the sea without repenting. Aaron as portrayed in the Quran, was considered God’s messenger. Aaron was an answer to Moses’s prayer for human support within his family. Moses holds Aaron’s speaking abilities in high regard, and values his coherency. Aaron does not aid in the construction of the Golden Calf in the Quranic version. Being a holy messenger, Aaron speaks out against the Calf’s construction as he is considered to be representing Moses in his absence. Aaron warns the Israelites that God will be angry but they do not listen and worship the false idol regardless. When Moses demands the release of the Israelites from Pharaoh’s servitude, the Quran says the sorcerers repent when witnessing the signs of God.