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SECTION OUTLINE
I. PREPARATIONS FOR INHERITING THE LAND (1:1–5:15)
1. Instructions for Inheriting the Land (1:1–18)
(1) God's Charge to Joshua (1:1–9)
(2) Joshua's Instructions for Breaking Camp (1:10–11)
(3) Joshua's Charge to the Transjordan Tribes (1:12–15)
(4) All Israel's Response (1:16–18)
2. A Foreigner's Welcome (2:1–24)
(1) Rahab's Faith in Action (2:1–8)
(2) Rahab's Faith in Words (2:9–14)
(3) Sealing the Agreement (2:15–24)
3. Crossing the Jordan (3:1–5:1)
(1) Instructions for Crossing: Stage One (3:1–6)
(2) Instructions for Crossing: Stage Two (3:7–13)
(3) The Miracle of the Crossing (3:14–17)
(4) Memorializing the Crossing: Stage One (4:1–10)
(5) The Crossing Completed: Stage One (4:11–14)
(6) The Crossing Completed: Stage Two (4:15–18)
(7) Memorializing the Crossing: Stage Two (4:19–5:1)
4. Ritual Preparations (5:2–15)
(1) Circumcision (5:2–9)
(2) Passover (5:10–12)
(3) A Call to Holiness (5:13–15)
Joshua 1–5: Theological Reflections
I. PREPARATIONS FOR INHERITING THE LAND (1:1–5:15)
Israel was about to undertake a great enterprise as they entered the land of Canaan. This land had been promised for centuries, and the Pentateuch points repeatedly to it. Now the time had come for the nation to enter the land and take possession of their inheritance. But before they could do this, they needed to undertake several steps of preparation.
The first preparation was of their leader, Joshua. God encouraged him by promising to remain with him, and he charged Joshua to keep the law diligently (1:1–9). If Joshua did this, he would have success. The nation then affirmed Joshua as leader (1:16–18). The nation's unity was an issue as well, and before the people embarked on their campaigns, a unity in this task needed to be assured (1:12–18).
The story of Rahab in chap. 2 shows that the Canaanites were ripe for the taking, since they had heard of Israel and its God and were terrified of them. But Rahab stands as a shining example of a true believer, a Canaanite convert, and she was spared.
The Jordan River was a natural barrier that needed to be crossed. However, the story of the crossing in chap. 3 emphasizes two things: (1) God's presence with his people, symbolized by the ark, and (2) God's wondrous miracle in stopping up the waters of the river. This was such a marvel that all of chap. 4 is devoted to reflecting upon it, to memorializing it.
Final preparations before embarking on the first stage of the “battles” in Canaan included ceremonial preparations in chap. 5 that reminded Israel of their commitments to God (circumcision) and of his faithfulness to them (Passover). The Lord's own army commander met with Joshua in an episode reminiscent of Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush. Only after such ceremonial and spiritual preparations would the nation be ready to engage the Canaanites in battle.
1. Instructions for Inheriting the Land (1:1–18)
This chapter begins the story of God's giving the land of Canaan to the Israelites, and what a beginning it is! We find here God's charge to Joshua (vv. 1– 9), in which he promised Joshua that he would be with him in the same way he had been with Moses the prophet, whom God had met face to face (Deut 34:10– 12). This is a very impressive promise! The issue of whether Joshua was up to the job also begins to be addressed here. Indeed he would be, because of God's presence with him, if he was careful to keep his priorities correctly lined up: the key to success for Joshua was that he was to be immersed in God's word (vv. 7– 8). Here are Joshua's initial instructions about entering the land, which set the stage for action later (vv. 10–11; cf. chap. 3). We also read about special instructions for the tribes who planned to settle west of the Jordan River (vv. 12–15); these concern their commitment to their fellow Israelites and raise the issue of the unity of the nation, which is a concern throughout the book. Finally, these tribes, along with the rest of the nation, affirm Joshua's place of leadership and encourage him in this (vv. 16–18).
(1) God's Charge to Joshua (1:1–9)
1After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
1:1 The Book of Joshua begins as though it were a continuation of something written previously, which, of course, it is. A wooden translation of the first portion of the verse would read “And it happened, after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD said to Joshua …” The phrase “the death of Moses” ties this material in with an earlier event (which is recounted in the preceding chapter in the Bible: Deut 34:1–8).1
Several other books in the Old Testament narrative corpus also begin with a reference to a leading person's death by using the wording found here: “and it happened, after the death of ____.” These include the books of Judges (Joshua's death), 2 Samuel (Saul's death), and 2 Kings (Ahab's death).2
Moses' death was an important event in the life of the new nation of Israel. He is the towering figure who casts his shadow not only across the entire corpus of Exodus–Deuteronomy, but also across the Book of Joshua and later Scriptures. Deuteronomy ends by affirming,
Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel (Deut 34:10–12).
This sounds like an evaluative passage added many years after Moses had died. It would not be a very impressive comment if it were penned, for example, only a decade or less after his death. The longer the interval between Moses' death and the writing of this evaluation, the more impressive Moses' stature becomes.3 Yet Moses' death should not cripple the nation. The Lord was faithful in all ages, and he would be in this instance as well. Joshua was designated as Moses' successor, and the people were to carry on under him. As one scholar notes, “Yahweh's fidelity does not hinge on the achievement of men, however gifted they may be, nor does it evaporate in the face of funerals or rivers.”4
As we noted in the Introduction, Moses was the great lawgiver and leader par excellence. He is here called the “servant of the LORD.” This title for Moses is found far more often in the Book of Joshua than in the rest of the Old Testament combined (fourteen of eighteen times.5 This is a special title used in the Old Testament only of Moses (fourteen times), Joshua (Josh 24:29; Judg 2:8), David (Pss 18:1; 36:1), and, pejoratively, of the nation of Israel (Isa 42:19).6
This labeling of Moses as the Lord's servant is important in the Book of Joshua, since Joshua, for whom the book is named, is only called the “servant of the LORD” once, at the end of the book (24:29). The Book of Joshua is concerned with showing how God's earlier promises were now in process of being fulfilled and with how God's commands were being carried out. Many of these promises and commands were spoken by Moses, who is depicted in this book as the Lord's special servant.
God is referred to in this verse as “the LORD.” This rendering, found in most English versions (as well as the Septuagint, which renders it kurios, “lord”), obscures the fact that here is God's personal name, which most scholars today agree was pronounced “Yahweh.”7 This is the most holy, personal name of God, revealing much of his character,8 and it is praised repeatedly throughout the Psalms.9 It is the name whose meaning was revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exod 3:11–15; cf. 6:2–3), and it tells us about God's eternal existence and his enduring faithfulness to his people.10 “Yahweh” was God's personal name just as “Baal” and “Marduk” were the personal names of the high gods of the Canaanites and the Babylonians, respectively.
In addition to Moses and Yahweh, Joshua the son of Nun, the main protagonist of the Book of Joshua, also is introduced in v. 1. He is named about 205 times in the Old Testament, 148 times...
