The Book of Joshua, Chapter by Chapter

We want to take you through the book of Joshua chapter by chapter. We have finished the five books of Moses. If you have not read those studies we suggest you start with Genesis and work your way through to Deuteronomy. Because Joshua picks up right where Deuteronomy leaves off. Deuteronomy ended with Moses dying on Mount Nebo. Joshua starts with God telling Joshua “Moses my servant is dead” (1:2). We will tell you what each chapter is about and how it fits into the message of the book. And how it points us to the one God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

Joshua is the first of the history books. It tells how Israel crossed the Jordan and took the land God promised to Abraham. Back in Genesis 12 God told Abram “Unto thy seed will I give this land” (Genesis 12:7). It took over 500 years. But in Joshua it happens. At the end of the book Joshua says “not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you” (23:14).

There are three things we want you to take away from this study. Joshua is about the faithfulness of God. Every promise he made came true. Joshua is about obedience and faith. Israel won when they trusted God and lost when they did not. And Joshua points to Jesus Christ. Joshua and Jesus have the same name. Joshua brought Israel into the land. Jesus brings us into the true rest. We will explain these points as we go through the book. But we want you to keep them in mind as we begin.

The book is named after its main person. Joshua the son of Nun. We saw in our Numbers study that his name was Oshea and Moses changed it to Jehoshua (Numbers 13:16). Which means the LORD is salvation. In Greek it is Iesous. The same name as Jesus. The book tells us that “Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God” (24:26). The Jews believed Joshua wrote most of the book and that the account of his death was added after.¹ Some parts say things remained “unto this day” (4:9; 7:26). So someone may have added notes later. We will not go into that here.

The easiest way to break up Joshua is in four parts.² Entering the land (1–5). Taking the land (6–12). Dividing the land (13–21). And keeping the land (22–24). We will break it down a little further than that. Crossing the Jordan (1–5). Jericho and Ai (6–8). The southern and northern campaigns (9–12). Dividing the land (13–19). Cities of refuge and the Levites (20–21). The altar by the Jordan (22). And Joshua’s farewell (23–24). We will follow this outline as we go through each chapter.

Just like in our other studies we will be using the KJV for our scripture quotations. When we use Hebrew words we will transliterate them and give a brief explanation. We will also let you know where you can find the work of the scholars we reference. If they disagree with what we believe we will tell you what they think and why we disagree.

Joshua 1: Be Strong and of a Good Courage

“Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan” (v.2). The leader was gone. But God was not. He made Joshua the same promise he made Moses. “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee” (v.5). Three times God tells Joshua “Be strong and of a good courage” (vv.6, 7, 9). Just like Moses told him in Deuteronomy 31.

Notice where the strength was supposed to come from. Not from a sword. From the word. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (v.8). The first thing God gave the new leader was not a battle plan. It was his word. Then Joshua reminded Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh of their promise to Moses (vv.12–15). And they said “All that thou commandest us we will do” (v.16).

Joshua 2: Rahab and the Spies

Joshua sent two spies to Jericho. They went to the house of a harlot named Rahab. The king found out and sent men to get them. Rahab hid them on her roof under stalks of flax (v.6). Then she told the spies why.

Notice what Rahab said. “The LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” These are almost the same words Moses used in Deuteronomy 4:39. “The LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.” A Canaanite woman made the same confession as Moses. The whole city heard about the Red Sea and Sihon and Og (v.10). They were all afraid. But only Rahab believed.

The spies told her to tie a line of scarlet thread in her window (v.18). Everyone in her house would be saved. Just like the blood on the door at Passover. Hebrews 11:31 says “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not.” James 2:25 says she was “justified by works” when she hid the spies. Her faith acted. And Matthew tells us that Rahab became the mother of Boaz (Matthew 1:5). A Canaanite harlot is in the family line of Jesus Christ.

Joshua 3: The Jordan Stands Up

Israel came to the Jordan at harvest time. When the river “overfloweth all his banks” (v.15). The priests carried the ark in front of the people. Joshua said “Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you” (v.10). And the ark is called “the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth” (v.11). Not just the God of Israel. The Lord of all the earth.

As soon as the feet of the priests touched the water the river stopped. “The waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam” (v.16).³ The priests stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until everyone passed over (v.17). The old generation crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. Now the new generation crossed the Jordan on dry ground. Same God. Same power.

Joshua 4: Twelve Stones

God told Joshua to have one man from each tribe take a stone out of the middle of the Jordan. They set them up at Gilgal. So that when their children asked what the stones meant they could tell them how God stopped the river (vv.6–7, 21–22). “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever” (v.24). God wants his works remembered.

Also notice the date. “And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month” (v.19). That is the same day the Passover lamb was chosen in Exodus 12:3. 40 years earlier on that same day Israel chose a lamb to come out of Egypt. Now on that day they came into the land.

Joshua 5: Gilgal and the Captain of the Host

The men born in the wilderness had not been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them at Gilgal. “This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you” (v.9). The name Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew word for roll. Then they kept the Passover in the land for the first time (v.10). The next day they ate the food of the land. And the manna stopped (v.12). God had fed them for 40 years. Now he would feed them a different way.

Then Joshua saw a man standing near Jericho with a drawn sword. Joshua asked if he was for Israel or for their enemies. “Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come” (v.14). Joshua fell on his face and worshipped. And the captain told him “Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy” (v.15). These are the same words God said to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:5). Then the very next verse says “And the LORD said unto Joshua” (6:2).

Trinitarians will say that this is the second person of the Godhead appearing before he came in the flesh. Others say it was just an angel. But notice that the captain accepted worship. An angel would not (Revelation 22:8–9). He told Joshua the ground was holy. And the text calls him the LORD. This is what we saw with the angel of the LORD in Genesis and Exodus. It is the one God appearing in a visible form.⁴ He did not come to take sides. He came to take over. The question was not whether God was on Israel’s side. It was whether Israel was on God’s side.

Joshua 6: The Walls of Jericho

“See, I have given into thine hand Jericho” (v.2). God said it was done before they did anything. Then he told them how. March around the city once a day for 6 days. Seven priests with seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the 7th day march around 7 times. Then blow the trumpets and shout. It made no sense as a battle plan. But they did it. “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets … and the wall fell down flat” (v.20). Hebrews 11:30 says “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.” There is a lot of debate over what archaeologists have found at Jericho. We will not go into that here.⁵

The city was “accursed” to the LORD (v.17). The Hebrew word is cherem. Which means devoted to God. Everything in it belonged to God. The people were destroyed. The silver and gold and brass and iron went into the treasury of the LORD (v.19). Nothing was to be taken for themselves.⁶ But Rahab and her family were saved. “She dwelleth in Israel even unto this day” (v.25). Joshua put a curse on anyone who rebuilt Jericho. He would lose his firstborn and his youngest son (v.26). Hundreds of years later Hiel rebuilt it and that is exactly what happened (1 Kings 16:34).

Critics will say that destroying whole cities was genocide. And that this does not fit with a God of love. We need to be careful here. God told Abraham that his seed would not get the land yet “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:16). God waited over 400 years. Leviticus 18 tells us what they were doing. Including burning their children to their gods. And the land would vomit them out for it (Leviticus 18:24–25). This was judgment on sin. Not on a race. Rahab was a Canaanite and she was saved. And when Israel did the same sins God judged Israel too.⁷

Joshua 7: Achan’s Sin

“But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing” (v.1). One man named Achan took some of what belonged to God. Israel did not know it. They went up against the small city of Ai with only about 3000 men. They lost and 36 men died (v.5). Joshua fell on his face before the ark until evening. God told him “Get thee up … Israel hath sinned” (vv.10–11). One man sinned. But God said Israel sinned. Sin in the camp affects everyone.

They cast lots and the lot fell on Achan. He confessed. “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold … then I coveted them, and took them” (v.21). I saw. I coveted. I took. This is the same pattern as Eve in the garden. She saw and she desired and she took (Genesis 3:6). Achan and his family were stoned in the valley of Achor (v.26). Achor means trouble. But Hosea says that God would make “the valley of Achor for a door of hope” (Hosea 2:15).

Joshua 8: Ai Taken and the Law Read

Now that the sin was dealt with God said “Fear not” (v.1). This time Joshua set an ambush. When the men of Ai chased Israel out of the city the ambush went in and set it on fire (v.19). Israel took Ai. And this time God let them keep the spoil (v.27). If Achan had waited he could have had what he wanted.

Then Joshua did what Moses commanded in Deuteronomy 27. He built an altar on Mount Ebal and wrote a copy of the law on the stones (vv.30–32). Half the people stood in front of Gerizim and half in front of Ebal. “And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings” (v.34). “There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers” (v.35). In the middle of a war Joshua stopped to read the word of God.

Joshua 9: The Gibeonites

The people of Gibeon knew they could not beat Israel. So they tricked them. They put on old clothes and old shoes and brought dry moldy bread. And they said they came from a far country (vv.4–6). Israel made a treaty with them. “And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD” (v.14). Three days later they found out the Gibeonites lived right next to them. But they had sworn by the LORD so they could not break it (v.19). The Gibeonites became woodcutters and water drawers for the house of God (v.27). The lesson is simple. Ask God before you decide. Even when it looks obvious. Hundreds of years later Saul broke this treaty and God sent a famine on Israel (2 Samuel 21:1).

Joshua 10: The Sun Stands Still

Five kings of the Amorites came together to attack Gibeon for making peace with Israel. Gibeon called Joshua for help. Joshua marched all night and caught them by surprise. And “the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them” (v.11). More died from the hail than from the sword. Then Joshua prayed.

Many have tried to explain what happened here. Some say the earth stopped turning. Some say the light was made longer some other way. Some say it is poetry from the book of Jasher (v.13) and should not be taken literally.⁸ We will not go into all the views here. We believe God did something that made the day longer. The God who made the sun can stop it. But notice what the text says is special about this day. Not just that the sun stood still. But that “the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man.” The five kings hid in a cave at Makkedah. Joshua had his captains put their feet on the necks of the kings (v.24). Then he took the cities of the south one after another (vv.28–43). “Because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel” (v.42).

Joshua 11: The Northern Kings

Then Jabin the king of Hazor gathered the kings of the north. They came with horses and chariots “as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude” (v.4). God told Joshua not to be afraid. And to hough their horses and burn their chariots (v.6). Israel was not to trust in horses and chariots. They were to trust in God. Psalm 20:7 says “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” Joshua burned Hazor (v.11).

This was not quick. “Joshua made war a long time with all those kings” (v.18). The Anakims were cut off from the land except in Gaza and Gath and Ashdod (v.22). Notice Gath. That is where Goliath came from (1 Samuel 17:4). What Israel did not finish came back to fight them later. “So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses … And the land rested from war” (v.23).

Joshua 12: The Kings Defeated

Chapter 12 is a list. The two kings Moses defeated east of the Jordan (vv.1–6). And the kings Joshua defeated west of the Jordan. “All the kings thirty and one” (v.24). It may seem like a boring list. But every name was a victory God gave. Israel wrote down what God did.

Joshua 13: Much Land Remaining

“Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed” (v.1). The big battles were over. But there were still pockets of Canaanites all over the land. God would drive them out. But each tribe had to go in and take its part. Then the chapter tells us the land Moses gave Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh. And it reminds us twice that Levi had no land. “The LORD God of Israel was their inheritance” (v.33). Also notice that Balaam was killed by the sword (v.22). Just like we saw in Numbers 31.

Joshua 14: Give Me This Mountain

Before the land was divided Caleb came to Joshua. He was 85 years old. He reminded Joshua of the day they spied out the land 45 years earlier. “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me” (v.11). Then he asked for the hardest part of the land. Where the giants lived. “Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day” (v.12). Joshua gave him Hebron. The text tells us why. “Because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel” (v.14). The old generation was afraid of the giants. The one man from that generation who believed God went and took their mountain.

Joshua 15: Judah

Judah got the first and largest lot in the south. Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from Hebron (v.14). He promised his daughter Achsah to whoever took Kirjathsepher. His nephew Othniel took it (v.17). We will see Othniel again as the first judge of Israel (Judges 3:9). Then the chapter lists the cities of Judah. But it ends with a warning sign. “As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out” (v.63). Jerusalem would not be taken until David (2 Samuel 5:6–7).

Joshua 16–17: Ephraim and Manasseh

We will cover these chapters together. They give the land of the sons of Joseph. Ephraim and the other half of Manasseh. But again we see the same problem. “They drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer” (16:10). And Manasseh “could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land” (17:12). The daughters of Zelophehad got their inheritance just like God told Moses (17:3–6). Then the sons of Joseph complained that they did not have enough land. Joshua told them to go clear the forest. “If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there” (17:15). They had more than they were using.

Joshua 18: Shiloh

“And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there” (v.1). The tabernacle now had a home in the land. It would stay at Shiloh until the days of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:3). But 7 tribes still had not taken their land. Joshua said “How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?” (v.3). God had given it. They just had not gone in. Joshua sent 3 men from each tribe to write down a description of the land. Then he cast lots before the LORD (v.10). Benjamin got the land between Judah and Joseph (v.11).

Joshua 19: The Last Tribes

Simeon got its land inside of Judah (vv.1, 9). This is what Jacob said in Genesis 49:7. “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” Then Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan. Dan could not hold its land so it moved north and took Leshem (v.47). Last of all Joshua got his own inheritance. Timnathserah in mount Ephraim (vv.49–50). Notice that Joshua took his share last. The leader made sure everyone else was taken care of first.

Joshua 20: Cities of Refuge

God told Joshua to set apart the cities of refuge that he told Moses about (v.2). Three on the west side of the Jordan. Kedesh in the north. Shechem in the middle. And Hebron in the south (v.7). And three on the east side. Bezer and Ramoth and Golan (v.8). No one in Israel was ever too far from a place of safety. We covered the meaning of these cities in our study on Numbers 35. We will not go into it again but the same principles apply.

Joshua 21: The Levites and God’s Faithfulness

The Levites got 48 cities spread out through all the tribes (v.41). Just like God told Moses. The priests and teachers of the law would be in every part of the land. Then the chapter ends with one of the most important passages in the book.

Critics will say this contradicts 13:1 where there was “very much land” left to take. And 15:63 where Judah could not drive out the Jebusites. But notice the difference. God gave all the land. The promise was kept. But Israel did not take all of what God gave.⁹ The failure was not God’s. It was theirs. God gives us everything we need in Christ. Peter says “his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). But we still have to walk in it.

Joshua 22: A Witness Between Us

Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh had kept their promise. They fought with their brothers until the land was taken. Now Joshua blessed them and sent them home across the Jordan (vv.1–6). But before they crossed they built “a great altar to see to” by the Jordan (v.10). The rest of Israel heard about it and got ready to go to war. They thought the eastern tribes were setting up their own place of worship against God’s commandment in Deuteronomy 12.

Before they fought they sent Phinehas and 10 princes to talk to them (vv.13–14). Notice that. They did not attack first and ask later. The eastern tribes answered “The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth” (v.22). They built it as a copy. Not to sacrifice on. But as a witness to their children that they belonged to the LORD too. So that the Jordan would not divide them (vv.24–28). Phinehas was satisfied. And they named the altar Ed. Which means witness. “For it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God” (v.34). Paul tells us to be “endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

Joshua 23: Not One Thing Hath Failed

Joshua was old. He called the leaders of Israel together. He reminded them that God fought for them (v.3). “One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you” (v.10). Then he warned them. Do not mix with the nations that are left. Do not marry them. Do not even mention the names of their gods (v.7). If they did those nations would be “snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes” (v.13).

Joshua says it twice. Not one thing hath failed. But he also tells them that the same God who kept his good promises would keep his warnings too (v.15). God is faithful both ways.

Joshua 24: Choose You This Day

Joshua gathered all Israel to Shechem. This is where God first promised Abram the land (Genesis 12:6–7). Joshua told the whole story from the beginning. “Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham … and they served other gods” (v.2). We mentioned this verse in our Genesis study. Then Joshua went through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Egypt and the Red Sea. The wilderness and Balaam. Jericho and the land. “I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not” (v.13). Then he called them to choose.

This is the same choice Moses gave in Deuteronomy 30:19. Life or death. The people said “we also serve the LORD; for he is our God” (v.18). But Joshua said “Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God” (v.19). He wanted them to know it was not easy. They said again “Nay; but we will serve the LORD” (v.21). So Joshua made a covenant with them and set up a great stone as a witness (vv.25–27).

Some will point to verse 19 to prove that there is more than one person in God. Because in Hebrew the word for holy is plural. Elohim qedoshim. But notice the very same sentence. “He is an holy God.” The word he is singular. And “he is a jealous God” uses the singular El. The plural adjective goes with the plural form of Elohim as a plural of majesty. Just like we explained in Genesis 1. One God. Holy. Jealous. He.¹⁰

Joshua died at 110 years old and was buried in Timnathserah (vv.29–30). “And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua” (v.31). Then one more thing happened. “And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem” (v.32). Joseph asked for this in Genesis 50:25. Moses carried them out in Exodus 13:19. Now Joseph was buried in the land. Hebrews 11:22 says Joseph gave this commandment “by faith.” The story that started with a promise to Abraham at Shechem ends with Joseph’s bones resting at Shechem. Then Eleazar the priest died (v.33). A whole generation of leaders was gone.

We have gone through Joshua chapter by chapter. Here is what we can conclude. First Joshua is about the faithfulness of God. He promised Abraham the land. And he gave it. “There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass” (21:45). Every promise God made he kept.

Second Joshua is about faith and obedience. Rahab believed and was saved. Caleb believed and took his mountain. The walls fell when Israel did what God said even though it made no sense. But Achan took what was God’s and Israel lost at Ai. The Gibeonites tricked them when they did not ask God. And the tribes that did not drive out the Canaanites left trouble for their children. When Israel obeyed they won. When they did not they lost.

Third Joshua is monotheistic. Rahab confessed that the LORD “is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath” (2:11). The ark belonged to “the Lord of all the earth” (3:11). The captain of the host of the LORD was the LORD himself appearing to Joshua (5:13–6:2). And Joshua told Israel that the LORD “is an holy God; he is a jealous God” (24:19). One God. And Joshua points us to Jesus Christ. They share the same name. The LORD is salvation. But Joshua could not give Israel lasting rest. Hebrews 4:8–9 says “For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Joshua gave them land. Jesus gives us rest. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Joshua ends with a promise. “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders” (24:31). But that generation would die. And the next book tells us what came after. “And there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD” (Judges 2:10). That is where Judges begins.