The book of Ephesians parallels with Joshua. There were 3 basic purposes for his book:
Fulfillment of G-d’s promises.
What happens when you fail to take what G-d gives you.
Labor to enter into rest and keep it in faith.
Word meanings:
The word Canadian means: Low Landers.
The word Amorite means: High Landers.
The word Prosper means:
Break out medially.
Push forward.
Over not under.
Be good.
Cleave to.
Do it now.
Battle plan for a believer’s walk:
1-6. Enter the land.
6-12. Conquer the land.
13-22. Sign work to be done.
20-24. Keep land.
Gen.- G-d promised the land.
Ex.- leaving for the land.
Lev.- Gave Laws for the land.
Num. -Wonder outside the land.
Josephus says Joshua was 85 years old when he succeeded Moses.
4 Events in the entrance into Canaan:
Circumcised the new generation.
Passover celebrated.
Manna ceased.
Joshua was prepared by G-d’s appearance.
Joshua’s story is part of our past and receives encouragement for the present:
1. The faithfulness of G-d to his oppressed people.
2. The struggle for a place to live (land).
3. A successful movement of the disinherited against oppression, injustice, and tyranny.
4. The beginning of a new society based on justice, freedom, and loyalty.
Showing posts with label Joshua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joshua. Show all posts
Refuge Cities
[2] Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
The institution of the cities of refuge, together with the rules prescribed for the guidance of those who sought an asylum within their walls, was an important provision, tending to secure the ends of justice as well as of mercy.
Six cities of refuge were part of the new society. They were expressions of G-d’s will that innocent people should not be killed in the land given to Israel as an inheritance. Their importance is seen from two other descriptions (Num. 35:1-28; Deut. 19:1-10) as well as a simply stated Law (Ex. 21:13). The purpose of the cities of refuge was to maintain the health of society by preventing the spread of poisons (pollution) of unchecked violence and bloodshed (Gen. 6:11; Hos. 4:1-3; Jer. 7:6). With such a purpose, these cities have a contemporary relevance in an age marked by increasing levels of violence with its many victims; they were established, for the health and shalom of the society.
A manslayer who fled to a city of refuge must remain there until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Nowhere else in the Bible is such a sentence imposed. It seems significant that the death of the first high priest precedes the first conquest of Canaanites (Num. 20:29-30:1), and that the death of the second high priest completes the book of the conquest of Canaan (24:33). Whatever the reason for that unpredictable term in Joshua’s day, it has a beautiful symbolism now. We must experience the death of our perfect High Priest to be free from the curse of the Law.
It was the place of public resort, and on arriving there he related his tale of distress to the elders, who were bound to give him shelter and the means of support, until the local authorities (20:6), having carefully investigated the case, should have pronounced the decision. If found guilty, the manslayer was surrendered to the blood-avenger; if extenuating circumstances appeared, he was to remain in the city of refuge, where he would be safe from the vindictive feelings of his pursuers; but he forfeited the privilege of immunity the moment he ventured beyond the walls. Three actions are mandated for the priestly community”
1. They were to take him into the city.
2. They were to give him a place in which to live. Accommodations should be rent free, and the fugitive should be taught a useful skill so that he could be a contributing member of society.
3. When the avenger came pounding on the gate demanding that the fugitive be turned over to him the keepers of the city must NOT give up the slayer.
The ancient Hebrews believed that the death of an innocent person poisoned the land as well as the society living there (Num. 35:33). Taking the life of an innocent person was not viewed as a private act between the killer and the killed. It was seen to involve the whole society because it violated the shalom of covenant society under G-d. The ancient view was that the pollution caused by bloodshed could be purged from the land and from covenant society only by the death of the murderer (Num. 35:33). No animal sacrifice could cleanse this guilt caused by the violent death of a human being created in G-d’s image (Gen. 9:6). According to ancient custom, the avenger of blood was the next of kin of the murdered person (Num. 35:19). The Law as quite specific in guarding against this kind of unlimited revenge that could destroy entire families or clans. The law of blood vengeance permitted only ‘life for life; (Deut. 19:21). As long as the guilt of the murderer was beyond question, the law of blood vengeance worked to preserve a balance of justice and restore peace.
An innocent manslayer was allowed to flee from the law of blood vengeance to one of the six designated locations conveniently located throughout the land, with easy access maintained at all times (Deut. 19:34). In each of these cities there was a resident community of Levitical priest. The purposes of this temporary exile in the city of refuge were, first, to save the life of the fugitive who was not deserving of death, second, to purge the guilt of innocent blood (of the slain man) from your midst (Deut. 21:9), and third, to prevent the further guilt of bloodshed (of the innocent manslayer) in the land. Until the death of the high priest - His death secured the complete deliverance of the manslayer from his sin, only because he had been anointed with the holy oil (Numbers 35:25), the symbol of the Holy Ghost; and thus the death of the earthly high priest became a type of that of the heavenly one (Hebrews 9:14,15). If we look at the act of opening their gates to the manslayer, we can see that the community of priests were accepting a person guilty of unwitting manslaughter into their midst. They were allowing their own holiness to be made unholy, so that in due time the guilt of manslaughter could be purged away, and the manslayer could return home.
The cities of refuge would serve as protection not only from the violence and oppression of wicked rulers, but from the exaggerated zeal of the righteous avengers of blood. Greed, lust for power, or fear may influence the making or interpretation of laws in a way that justifies cruel acts of vengeance on those who are more sinned against than sinning. Today Believers fled for refuge to the heavenly sanctuary where the Father is the welcoming host. Our High Priest purifies our conscience by His death, making us free to return home to serve the living G-d (9:14) by welcoming strangers and remembering those who are ill treated (13:2-3; Matt. 25:35-36). Those who have found refuge will themselves become a source of refuge for other fugitives. The Levitical cities might be called Torah Centers, places were G-d’s Teaching would be studied, interpreted, practiced, and taught. The Levites would put this Teaching in the mouths, hearts, and action of the people (1:7-8; Deut. 30:14). Such instruction by story and commandments was the sovereign remedy for the rebellious and stubborn hearts of G-d’s people (Deut. 31:27). The number 48 is the product of twelve, signifying the tribes, multiplied by four, a number denoting universality. The meaning of this number is that the influence of
G-d’s Teaching was to permeate all aspects of life of each tribe. They wee a definite and inseparable part of the entire process of inheriting, possessing, finding rest in the land. Without this system of Torah Centers, the process would not only be incomplete, but would be destined to fail.
The institution of the cities of refuge, together with the rules prescribed for the guidance of those who sought an asylum within their walls, was an important provision, tending to secure the ends of justice as well as of mercy.
Six cities of refuge were part of the new society. They were expressions of G-d’s will that innocent people should not be killed in the land given to Israel as an inheritance. Their importance is seen from two other descriptions (Num. 35:1-28; Deut. 19:1-10) as well as a simply stated Law (Ex. 21:13). The purpose of the cities of refuge was to maintain the health of society by preventing the spread of poisons (pollution) of unchecked violence and bloodshed (Gen. 6:11; Hos. 4:1-3; Jer. 7:6). With such a purpose, these cities have a contemporary relevance in an age marked by increasing levels of violence with its many victims; they were established, for the health and shalom of the society.
A manslayer who fled to a city of refuge must remain there until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Nowhere else in the Bible is such a sentence imposed. It seems significant that the death of the first high priest precedes the first conquest of Canaanites (Num. 20:29-30:1), and that the death of the second high priest completes the book of the conquest of Canaan (24:33). Whatever the reason for that unpredictable term in Joshua’s day, it has a beautiful symbolism now. We must experience the death of our perfect High Priest to be free from the curse of the Law.
It was the place of public resort, and on arriving there he related his tale of distress to the elders, who were bound to give him shelter and the means of support, until the local authorities (20:6), having carefully investigated the case, should have pronounced the decision. If found guilty, the manslayer was surrendered to the blood-avenger; if extenuating circumstances appeared, he was to remain in the city of refuge, where he would be safe from the vindictive feelings of his pursuers; but he forfeited the privilege of immunity the moment he ventured beyond the walls. Three actions are mandated for the priestly community”
1. They were to take him into the city.
2. They were to give him a place in which to live. Accommodations should be rent free, and the fugitive should be taught a useful skill so that he could be a contributing member of society.
3. When the avenger came pounding on the gate demanding that the fugitive be turned over to him the keepers of the city must NOT give up the slayer.
The ancient Hebrews believed that the death of an innocent person poisoned the land as well as the society living there (Num. 35:33). Taking the life of an innocent person was not viewed as a private act between the killer and the killed. It was seen to involve the whole society because it violated the shalom of covenant society under G-d. The ancient view was that the pollution caused by bloodshed could be purged from the land and from covenant society only by the death of the murderer (Num. 35:33). No animal sacrifice could cleanse this guilt caused by the violent death of a human being created in G-d’s image (Gen. 9:6). According to ancient custom, the avenger of blood was the next of kin of the murdered person (Num. 35:19). The Law as quite specific in guarding against this kind of unlimited revenge that could destroy entire families or clans. The law of blood vengeance permitted only ‘life for life; (Deut. 19:21). As long as the guilt of the murderer was beyond question, the law of blood vengeance worked to preserve a balance of justice and restore peace.
An innocent manslayer was allowed to flee from the law of blood vengeance to one of the six designated locations conveniently located throughout the land, with easy access maintained at all times (Deut. 19:34). In each of these cities there was a resident community of Levitical priest. The purposes of this temporary exile in the city of refuge were, first, to save the life of the fugitive who was not deserving of death, second, to purge the guilt of innocent blood (of the slain man) from your midst (Deut. 21:9), and third, to prevent the further guilt of bloodshed (of the innocent manslayer) in the land. Until the death of the high priest - His death secured the complete deliverance of the manslayer from his sin, only because he had been anointed with the holy oil (Numbers 35:25), the symbol of the Holy Ghost; and thus the death of the earthly high priest became a type of that of the heavenly one (Hebrews 9:14,15). If we look at the act of opening their gates to the manslayer, we can see that the community of priests were accepting a person guilty of unwitting manslaughter into their midst. They were allowing their own holiness to be made unholy, so that in due time the guilt of manslaughter could be purged away, and the manslayer could return home.
The cities of refuge would serve as protection not only from the violence and oppression of wicked rulers, but from the exaggerated zeal of the righteous avengers of blood. Greed, lust for power, or fear may influence the making or interpretation of laws in a way that justifies cruel acts of vengeance on those who are more sinned against than sinning. Today Believers fled for refuge to the heavenly sanctuary where the Father is the welcoming host. Our High Priest purifies our conscience by His death, making us free to return home to serve the living G-d (9:14) by welcoming strangers and remembering those who are ill treated (13:2-3; Matt. 25:35-36). Those who have found refuge will themselves become a source of refuge for other fugitives. The Levitical cities might be called Torah Centers, places were G-d’s Teaching would be studied, interpreted, practiced, and taught. The Levites would put this Teaching in the mouths, hearts, and action of the people (1:7-8; Deut. 30:14). Such instruction by story and commandments was the sovereign remedy for the rebellious and stubborn hearts of G-d’s people (Deut. 31:27). The number 48 is the product of twelve, signifying the tribes, multiplied by four, a number denoting universality. The meaning of this number is that the influence of
G-d’s Teaching was to permeate all aspects of life of each tribe. They wee a definite and inseparable part of the entire process of inheriting, possessing, finding rest in the land. Without this system of Torah Centers, the process would not only be incomplete, but would be destined to fail.
Forest Thicket
[Josh. 17:18] But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
Chariots of iron, unusually strengthened with that metal, and perhaps armed with projecting scythes. 14-18
This episode may be a genuine recollection of Joshua’s important work as arbitrator of tribal territorial claims. It begins with a complaint, whose historical background we are not able to reconstruct.
The one lot (14) must refer to the allotment of the descendants of Joseph (16:1), although the description, which follows, gives only the southern boundary line of Ephraim.
The one lot seems to be the hill country of Ephraim (15), between Bethel and Shechem.
It appears that the one lot was expanded (17) to include that of Manasseh (1) as a second lot.
This included the land of the Rephaim (15), meaning Bashan and perhaps Gilead (12:4; 13:12; Deut. 2:20; 3:11, 13), which was assigned to a branch of the tribe of Manasseh (1, 5-6).
The land of the Perizzites refers to the territory north of Bethel (Gen. 13:7), around Shechem (Gen. 34:30), and north of Shechem (Jug. 1:4-5; for the location of Bezek north of Tirzah).
Bethel north to the cities guarding the Plain of Jezreel.
To the complaint of the tribe of Joseph that they had only one portion (14), Joshua responds by giving Manasseh ten portions west of the Jordan (5).
Joshua’s response to the complainers is that they should transform the forest thickets of the hill country into a forest part fit for habitation as G-d intended.
The complaint of the Joseph tribe is that the area allotted to them is inadequate for their great numbers.
This can refer only to parts of the hill country already brought under cultivation by the sparsely settled Canaanite society.
Before rock terracing or water channels or cisterns for irrigation could be arranged for, there was the difficult task of clearing away the forest thickets that covered the land.
The forest as obstacles to cultivation, and thus to human life, are best described as thickets of the forest (Isa. 9:18; 10:34).
This includes thorns and briers as well as scrub growth.
This kind of forest thicket is also the home of wild animal such as lions, bears, and wild boars, which destroy people and cultivated fields.
Joshua’s command to the people is to go up to the forest thickets and make them into a park, like the garden of G-d, making it habitable, life supporting and beautiful.
Chariots of iron, unusually strengthened with that metal, and perhaps armed with projecting scythes. 14-18
This episode may be a genuine recollection of Joshua’s important work as arbitrator of tribal territorial claims. It begins with a complaint, whose historical background we are not able to reconstruct.
The one lot (14) must refer to the allotment of the descendants of Joseph (16:1), although the description, which follows, gives only the southern boundary line of Ephraim.
The one lot seems to be the hill country of Ephraim (15), between Bethel and Shechem.
It appears that the one lot was expanded (17) to include that of Manasseh (1) as a second lot.
This included the land of the Rephaim (15), meaning Bashan and perhaps Gilead (12:4; 13:12; Deut. 2:20; 3:11, 13), which was assigned to a branch of the tribe of Manasseh (1, 5-6).
The land of the Perizzites refers to the territory north of Bethel (Gen. 13:7), around Shechem (Gen. 34:30), and north of Shechem (Jug. 1:4-5; for the location of Bezek north of Tirzah).
Bethel north to the cities guarding the Plain of Jezreel.
To the complaint of the tribe of Joseph that they had only one portion (14), Joshua responds by giving Manasseh ten portions west of the Jordan (5).
Joshua’s response to the complainers is that they should transform the forest thickets of the hill country into a forest part fit for habitation as G-d intended.
The complaint of the Joseph tribe is that the area allotted to them is inadequate for their great numbers.
This can refer only to parts of the hill country already brought under cultivation by the sparsely settled Canaanite society.
Before rock terracing or water channels or cisterns for irrigation could be arranged for, there was the difficult task of clearing away the forest thickets that covered the land.
The forest as obstacles to cultivation, and thus to human life, are best described as thickets of the forest (Isa. 9:18; 10:34).
This includes thorns and briers as well as scrub growth.
This kind of forest thicket is also the home of wild animal such as lions, bears, and wild boars, which destroy people and cultivated fields.
Joshua’s command to the people is to go up to the forest thickets and make them into a park, like the garden of G-d, making it habitable, life supporting and beautiful.
Garden Fountain
[Josh. 15:16] And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher - This offer was made as an incentive to youthful bravery prize was won by Othniel, Caleb's younger brother (Judges 1:13, 3:9). This was the occasion of drawing out the latent energies of him who was destined to be the first judge in Israel.
Othniel his nephew took the city and won the prize of Achsah. Achsah ask her father also for a blessing of a spring of water and was given the upper springs and the nether springs. As she came unto him - that is, when about to remove from her father's to her husband's house. She suddenly alighted from her traveling equipage - a mark of respect to her father, and a sign of making some request. She had urged Othniel to broach the matter, but he not wishing to do what appeared like evincing a grasping disposition, she resolved herself to speak out. Taking advantage of the parting scene when a parent's heart was likely to be tender, she begged (as her marriage portion consisted of a field which, having a southern exposure, was comparatively an arid and barren waste) he would add the adjoining one, which abounded in excellent springs. The request being reasonable, it was granted; and the story conveys this important lesson in religion, that if earthly parents are ready to bestow on their children that which is good, much more will our heavenly Father give every necessary blessing to them who ask Him.
16-19 is a story of a woman who is symbolically a garden fountain, a well of living water. Her story tells the reader that the good land, endowed with brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hill (Deut. 8:7), will remain good and life supporting only when attention is given to the life giving water that is part of the inheritance.
Water was the utmost importance. Land without water, as Achsah says becomes a wilderness where no crops can grow, no animals graze, and no human can live (Ps. 63:1). Competition over access to water could be a cause of bitter strife (Gen. 26:18-19), and a means by which the strong oppress the weak (Ezek. 34:17-19). Stopping up sources of water was an act of war, it threatened a people’s existence (2 Kgs. 3:19, 25; 2 Chr. 32:3) until a nation became like a garden without water (Isa. 1:30). The story is placed in Debir, to be located at Khirbet Rabud about 7.5 miles south of Hebron. Excavations have revealed rock cut cisterns and, about 1.25 miles to the north, two wells on which Debir was dependent for water. Achsah’s first request was for agricultural land (a field) around Debir. This was apparently granted by her father as a dowry. Her reaction was one of displeasure because the gift had not included access to the water supply. She clapped her hands in anger, (alighted). Without water supply, the gift would be meaningless. To his credit, Caleb responded to his daughter’s request by giving her the two wells that meant the difference between life and death.
Springs, the Hebrew word translated springs is used in this sense only in this story in the O.T. It is from the same root as the word translated ‘roll down’ in Amos 5:24. This suggests a comparison of justice with the upper spring and righteousness with the lower spring, as a reminder that land management must include access to water. Only then can the people draw water from the wells of salvation (Isa. 12:3). Achsah’s request reminds us also of the Samaritan woman’s request for the water of life.
He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher - This offer was made as an incentive to youthful bravery prize was won by Othniel, Caleb's younger brother (Judges 1:13, 3:9). This was the occasion of drawing out the latent energies of him who was destined to be the first judge in Israel.
Othniel his nephew took the city and won the prize of Achsah. Achsah ask her father also for a blessing of a spring of water and was given the upper springs and the nether springs. As she came unto him - that is, when about to remove from her father's to her husband's house. She suddenly alighted from her traveling equipage - a mark of respect to her father, and a sign of making some request. She had urged Othniel to broach the matter, but he not wishing to do what appeared like evincing a grasping disposition, she resolved herself to speak out. Taking advantage of the parting scene when a parent's heart was likely to be tender, she begged (as her marriage portion consisted of a field which, having a southern exposure, was comparatively an arid and barren waste) he would add the adjoining one, which abounded in excellent springs. The request being reasonable, it was granted; and the story conveys this important lesson in religion, that if earthly parents are ready to bestow on their children that which is good, much more will our heavenly Father give every necessary blessing to them who ask Him.
16-19 is a story of a woman who is symbolically a garden fountain, a well of living water. Her story tells the reader that the good land, endowed with brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hill (Deut. 8:7), will remain good and life supporting only when attention is given to the life giving water that is part of the inheritance.
Water was the utmost importance. Land without water, as Achsah says becomes a wilderness where no crops can grow, no animals graze, and no human can live (Ps. 63:1). Competition over access to water could be a cause of bitter strife (Gen. 26:18-19), and a means by which the strong oppress the weak (Ezek. 34:17-19). Stopping up sources of water was an act of war, it threatened a people’s existence (2 Kgs. 3:19, 25; 2 Chr. 32:3) until a nation became like a garden without water (Isa. 1:30). The story is placed in Debir, to be located at Khirbet Rabud about 7.5 miles south of Hebron. Excavations have revealed rock cut cisterns and, about 1.25 miles to the north, two wells on which Debir was dependent for water. Achsah’s first request was for agricultural land (a field) around Debir. This was apparently granted by her father as a dowry. Her reaction was one of displeasure because the gift had not included access to the water supply. She clapped her hands in anger, (alighted). Without water supply, the gift would be meaningless. To his credit, Caleb responded to his daughter’s request by giving her the two wells that meant the difference between life and death.
Springs, the Hebrew word translated springs is used in this sense only in this story in the O.T. It is from the same root as the word translated ‘roll down’ in Amos 5:24. This suggests a comparison of justice with the upper spring and righteousness with the lower spring, as a reminder that land management must include access to water. Only then can the people draw water from the wells of salvation (Isa. 12:3). Achsah’s request reminds us also of the Samaritan woman’s request for the water of life.
Dethroning the Powers
[Josh. 13:1] 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.
Now Joshua was old and stricken in years - He was probably above a hundred years old; for the conquest and survey of the land occupied about seven years, the partition one; and he died at the age of one hundred ten years (24:29). The distribution, as well as the conquest of the land, was included in the mission of Joshua; and his advanced age supplied a special reason for entering on the immediate discharge of that duty; namely, of allocating Canaan among the tribes of Israel - not only the parts already won, but those also which were still to be conquered.
Dethroning the Powers and the ceremonial meal of the produce of the land on the west bank of the Jordan River. The pharaoh was the ultimate landowner, but the city kings were the effective owners of the land around the city and under its power. Sociological studies indicate that the aristocracy, Temple, and government officials, making up about 2 percent of the population of Canaan, had control of over 50 % of the land as patrimonial holding. These holdings were worked by slaves or sharecropping peasants who paid over half of their produce to the landlords. The rest of the land was tilled by villagers who paid heavy taxes to support the urban elite. This system of land management was organized for the benefit of the 2 % at the top. According to the Israel pattern, G-d grants the whole land not to a king but to all the people, tribe by tribe, family by family. There is no privileged class. Joshua himself receives only a small grant among them. (19:49-50).
Matching the three parts of the Joshua story, we find that the distribution of the land takes place in three phases.
Phase one: The Transjordan tribes (13:8-33), recapitulating Num. 32:33-42.
Phase two: Judah (15:1-63). And Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh (16:1-17:18).
Phase three: Benjamin, differentiated from Judah (18:11-28. Simeon differentiated from Judah (19:1-9). The four northern tribes, and the migratory tribe of Dan (19:10-48). Phase three would have taken place at Shiloh, considerably later (18:1), to bring the northern group into the new pattern of land management.
Land Administration: The land granted to the tribes was subdivided according to the number of kinship associations. These associations parceled the land to the member families, and arranged for redistribution of the parcels periodically, perhaps every seven years, according to changing circumstances.
Protective Functions: The association protected member families from being forced to sell their land outside the association, thus preserving the original titles to the land. The association also made sure that loans to a poor family were interest free, and that the period allowed for debt slavery was limited to seven years. The principle mutual assistance thus made it possible for families in dire straits to survive.
Military Functions: The kinship association was also responsible for providing a muster of soldiers for tribal defensive action. This muster, numbering from ten to twenty men from a given association, was called an aleph. A later meaning of this word during the monarchy was a standardized unit of one thousand fighting men. This double meaning of the same word aleph may explain the large numbers in the census figures in Numbers 1 and 26. It is probable that six hundred three thousand should be translated six hundred and three units supplied by kinship associations. This is made probable by the note that the figures were taken by their kinship associations (Num. 26:12). The resulting figure would be about five or six thousand men, depending on the size of the units. This method of interpreting the meaning of aleph helps make sense of the numbers given for the battle of Ai. The first group to go up was three units (7:4 3000), which could be forty to fifty men. The ambush consisted of five units (8:3 30,000), which might number either sixty or three hundred men.
Religious Functions: 1 Sam. 20:6, 28-29 seems to have religious functions. In the case of David, we read of a yearly sacrifice for the kinship association.
Canaanite and Israelite Cities: In the Canaan pattern of society, walled cities were centers of power, domination, wealth, and privilege. The domination of the cities destroyed the wholeness of village society. Israelite cities in the early period, on the other hand, served only as marketplaces, administrative centers, and places of refuge in time of danger. They shared juridical and religious functions with the villages.
Villages, the New Focus: Surrounding the cities in the hill country were unwalled villages, here the basic production unit was the extended family, which shared land, tools, animals, and threshing floor. The main products were grain, wine, olive oil, fruit, and vegetables. Some bovine cattle, sheep, and goats were also raised. People lived in one-room houses constructed of sun-dried bricks or stone.
Important technological innovations: just at this time made extensive and intensive agriculture in the hill country possible, and thus facilitated the expansion of the Israelites into unoccupied land. Popular access to iron tools permitted land clearing and cultivation. Rock cisterns could be cut, and lime-lined cistern allowed holding of water at a distance from springs or streams. Rock-walled terracing made hillsides possible for cultivation.
New self-supporting villages: sprang up as a result of these technological changes, and expanded across the hill country. The better-fed population multiplied and prospered with no exploiting urban elite to cream off surplus production. Small scale but intensive agriculture was well suited to the extended family as a working unit.
Boundaries: Respect for boundaries is one way of summarizing the meaning of the last five of the Ten Commandments. The tenth commandment wars explicitly against transgressing the boundaries of the neighbor’s house and field and anything within his domain (Deut. 5:21). Such boundaries were frequently violated by the rich and powerful in the days of the monarchy when many aspects of the Canaan pattern of Society return.
Now Joshua was old and stricken in years - He was probably above a hundred years old; for the conquest and survey of the land occupied about seven years, the partition one; and he died at the age of one hundred ten years (24:29). The distribution, as well as the conquest of the land, was included in the mission of Joshua; and his advanced age supplied a special reason for entering on the immediate discharge of that duty; namely, of allocating Canaan among the tribes of Israel - not only the parts already won, but those also which were still to be conquered.
Dethroning the Powers and the ceremonial meal of the produce of the land on the west bank of the Jordan River. The pharaoh was the ultimate landowner, but the city kings were the effective owners of the land around the city and under its power. Sociological studies indicate that the aristocracy, Temple, and government officials, making up about 2 percent of the population of Canaan, had control of over 50 % of the land as patrimonial holding. These holdings were worked by slaves or sharecropping peasants who paid over half of their produce to the landlords. The rest of the land was tilled by villagers who paid heavy taxes to support the urban elite. This system of land management was organized for the benefit of the 2 % at the top. According to the Israel pattern, G-d grants the whole land not to a king but to all the people, tribe by tribe, family by family. There is no privileged class. Joshua himself receives only a small grant among them. (19:49-50).
Matching the three parts of the Joshua story, we find that the distribution of the land takes place in three phases.
Phase one: The Transjordan tribes (13:8-33), recapitulating Num. 32:33-42.
Phase two: Judah (15:1-63). And Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh (16:1-17:18).
Phase three: Benjamin, differentiated from Judah (18:11-28. Simeon differentiated from Judah (19:1-9). The four northern tribes, and the migratory tribe of Dan (19:10-48). Phase three would have taken place at Shiloh, considerably later (18:1), to bring the northern group into the new pattern of land management.
Land Administration: The land granted to the tribes was subdivided according to the number of kinship associations. These associations parceled the land to the member families, and arranged for redistribution of the parcels periodically, perhaps every seven years, according to changing circumstances.
Protective Functions: The association protected member families from being forced to sell their land outside the association, thus preserving the original titles to the land. The association also made sure that loans to a poor family were interest free, and that the period allowed for debt slavery was limited to seven years. The principle mutual assistance thus made it possible for families in dire straits to survive.
Military Functions: The kinship association was also responsible for providing a muster of soldiers for tribal defensive action. This muster, numbering from ten to twenty men from a given association, was called an aleph. A later meaning of this word during the monarchy was a standardized unit of one thousand fighting men. This double meaning of the same word aleph may explain the large numbers in the census figures in Numbers 1 and 26. It is probable that six hundred three thousand should be translated six hundred and three units supplied by kinship associations. This is made probable by the note that the figures were taken by their kinship associations (Num. 26:12). The resulting figure would be about five or six thousand men, depending on the size of the units. This method of interpreting the meaning of aleph helps make sense of the numbers given for the battle of Ai. The first group to go up was three units (7:4 3000), which could be forty to fifty men. The ambush consisted of five units (8:3 30,000), which might number either sixty or three hundred men.
Religious Functions: 1 Sam. 20:6, 28-29 seems to have religious functions. In the case of David, we read of a yearly sacrifice for the kinship association.
Canaanite and Israelite Cities: In the Canaan pattern of society, walled cities were centers of power, domination, wealth, and privilege. The domination of the cities destroyed the wholeness of village society. Israelite cities in the early period, on the other hand, served only as marketplaces, administrative centers, and places of refuge in time of danger. They shared juridical and religious functions with the villages.
Villages, the New Focus: Surrounding the cities in the hill country were unwalled villages, here the basic production unit was the extended family, which shared land, tools, animals, and threshing floor. The main products were grain, wine, olive oil, fruit, and vegetables. Some bovine cattle, sheep, and goats were also raised. People lived in one-room houses constructed of sun-dried bricks or stone.
Important technological innovations: just at this time made extensive and intensive agriculture in the hill country possible, and thus facilitated the expansion of the Israelites into unoccupied land. Popular access to iron tools permitted land clearing and cultivation. Rock cisterns could be cut, and lime-lined cistern allowed holding of water at a distance from springs or streams. Rock-walled terracing made hillsides possible for cultivation.
New self-supporting villages: sprang up as a result of these technological changes, and expanded across the hill country. The better-fed population multiplied and prospered with no exploiting urban elite to cream off surplus production. Small scale but intensive agriculture was well suited to the extended family as a working unit.
Boundaries: Respect for boundaries is one way of summarizing the meaning of the last five of the Ten Commandments. The tenth commandment wars explicitly against transgressing the boundaries of the neighbor’s house and field and anything within his domain (Deut. 5:21). Such boundaries were frequently violated by the rich and powerful in the days of the monarchy when many aspects of the Canaan pattern of Society return.
Six Cities
40] So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
A mass slaughter of every human being not only in the six cities, but in the entire land. The chief concern was the moral and spiritual breakdown. To describe the conditions that prevailed as abominations and abominable practices. A thorough and radical cleansing process was necessary if complete disaster, including loss of the land, was to be avoided.
The villagers outside the cities were an oppressed majority. Nothing is said about them in the conquest narrative. It is the villagers who would, like Rahab and the Gibeonites, rise up against their overlords to join the Yahwist revolutionary movement.
As the land had vomited out the previous rulers with their oppressive structures the 9 cities and the 9 kings because of the terrible evil they had done, so it would again vomit out its Israelite rulers and people in Lev. 18:24-30. Every person who lead or participate in the Baal cult, especially the priest functioning in the high places of Samaria, who were in fact killed by King Josiah in the course of his reform in 2 Kgs. 23:19-20. This seems to be not to a single battle, nor even the six battles, but the entire first half of the Joshua story, which is related to Deut. 1:30. G-d’s warfare against the powers of evil, for the victory of righteousness and the establishment of peace.
Important sites in this chapter are of the five coalition cities, Jerusalem and Hebron are well known today, controlling the north-south road along the hill country of Judah. Jarmuth (Khirbet Yarmuk) and Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir) guard roads leading from the coastual plain along the Valley of Elah to Bethlehem and another valley road to Hebron. Azekah, (Tell ex-Zakariyeh) Makkedah (not yet identified) and Libnah (Tell Bornat) are west and south of Jarmuth, while Debir (Tell Rabud), the largest and most important city south of Hebron, lies about 8.5 miles away.
The Nature of the Text
The stereotyped expressions already referred to in the descriptions of the conquest of each of the 6 cities indicate a symbolic, theological kind of writing, rather than factual reporting.
The lack of any report of casualties on the Israelite side, or survivors on the Amorite side, suggests that we are dealing with teaching material rather than a careful report of the actual battles.
The conquest of the six cities in a single campaign lasting only a few days gives the impression of condensation, and possibly rearrangement of original events.
Reference to all Israel reflect a view that the whole of the Israelite tribal league as it later became, was working together in the conquest of this part of the land. The Joshua group probably included only a part of what later became all Israel. This suggests an idealized rather than a sober factual account.
Both Caleb and his nephew Othniel were Kenizzites, a group which later became part of Judah, entered the territory later assigned to Judah from the south, and settled around Arad in (14:6). This seems to suggest that the conquest of the Negeb, claimed by the Narrator for Joshua, was a much more complicated process than is assumed in the final summary statement in v. 40.
The Cities
Lachish is the only one of the nine cities whose excavated ruins shows a destruction occurring in the early years of the Iron Age. The site was abandoned for more than 100 years after its destruction. Eight of the nine cities mentioned in this chapter are included in the list of cities belonging to Judah. The 9th century B.E. that all of the territory of Judah had been brought under Israelite control by the Ephraimite Joshua. The summary statement in v. 40-41 seems to be particularly relevant for Josiah and for later generations who would return to the land of Judah. Kadesh-barnea is not relevant to the Joshua story, but very relevant to Josiah’s national renewal movement. G-d fought for Israel is the entire story which began in Egypt and ended in the land of Canaan. G-d fights for Israel as part of His battle against the powers of death, and for salvation in the whole world (Ps. 74:12). The nine cities and nine kings have their counterparts in all the rulers of the earth, their nations, nation by nation who come under G-d’s judgment (Jer. 25:30-32; and Isa. 24:1-23). The massing of the five kings against Gibeon is reflected in the gathering of all the forces of evil into a single army against G-d (Ezek. 38-39). The death of Josiah led to the apparent failure of the religious reform and national renewal movement, and the end of the monarchy.
Humble Suffering Servant:
This exilic Joshua is blind (42:16, 19), oppressed (v. 22), despised by the powerful (49:7), walking in darkness (50:10). It is this blind, stumbling Joshua that G-d chooses (42:1) to make G-d’s salvation real to fellow sufferers (49:6), and to implant and establish G-d’s justice among them (42:1-4). In Col. 2:15 states the sword from his mouth will smite the nations. The sword issuing from his mouth may be an intentional reversal of the Hebrew idiom used here in Joshua, to smite with the edge (mouth) of the sword.
A mass slaughter of every human being not only in the six cities, but in the entire land. The chief concern was the moral and spiritual breakdown. To describe the conditions that prevailed as abominations and abominable practices. A thorough and radical cleansing process was necessary if complete disaster, including loss of the land, was to be avoided.
The villagers outside the cities were an oppressed majority. Nothing is said about them in the conquest narrative. It is the villagers who would, like Rahab and the Gibeonites, rise up against their overlords to join the Yahwist revolutionary movement.
As the land had vomited out the previous rulers with their oppressive structures the 9 cities and the 9 kings because of the terrible evil they had done, so it would again vomit out its Israelite rulers and people in Lev. 18:24-30. Every person who lead or participate in the Baal cult, especially the priest functioning in the high places of Samaria, who were in fact killed by King Josiah in the course of his reform in 2 Kgs. 23:19-20. This seems to be not to a single battle, nor even the six battles, but the entire first half of the Joshua story, which is related to Deut. 1:30. G-d’s warfare against the powers of evil, for the victory of righteousness and the establishment of peace.
Important sites in this chapter are of the five coalition cities, Jerusalem and Hebron are well known today, controlling the north-south road along the hill country of Judah. Jarmuth (Khirbet Yarmuk) and Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir) guard roads leading from the coastual plain along the Valley of Elah to Bethlehem and another valley road to Hebron. Azekah, (Tell ex-Zakariyeh) Makkedah (not yet identified) and Libnah (Tell Bornat) are west and south of Jarmuth, while Debir (Tell Rabud), the largest and most important city south of Hebron, lies about 8.5 miles away.
The Nature of the Text
The stereotyped expressions already referred to in the descriptions of the conquest of each of the 6 cities indicate a symbolic, theological kind of writing, rather than factual reporting.
The lack of any report of casualties on the Israelite side, or survivors on the Amorite side, suggests that we are dealing with teaching material rather than a careful report of the actual battles.
The conquest of the six cities in a single campaign lasting only a few days gives the impression of condensation, and possibly rearrangement of original events.
Reference to all Israel reflect a view that the whole of the Israelite tribal league as it later became, was working together in the conquest of this part of the land. The Joshua group probably included only a part of what later became all Israel. This suggests an idealized rather than a sober factual account.
Both Caleb and his nephew Othniel were Kenizzites, a group which later became part of Judah, entered the territory later assigned to Judah from the south, and settled around Arad in (14:6). This seems to suggest that the conquest of the Negeb, claimed by the Narrator for Joshua, was a much more complicated process than is assumed in the final summary statement in v. 40.
The Cities
Lachish is the only one of the nine cities whose excavated ruins shows a destruction occurring in the early years of the Iron Age. The site was abandoned for more than 100 years after its destruction. Eight of the nine cities mentioned in this chapter are included in the list of cities belonging to Judah. The 9th century B.E. that all of the territory of Judah had been brought under Israelite control by the Ephraimite Joshua. The summary statement in v. 40-41 seems to be particularly relevant for Josiah and for later generations who would return to the land of Judah. Kadesh-barnea is not relevant to the Joshua story, but very relevant to Josiah’s national renewal movement. G-d fought for Israel is the entire story which began in Egypt and ended in the land of Canaan. G-d fights for Israel as part of His battle against the powers of death, and for salvation in the whole world (Ps. 74:12). The nine cities and nine kings have their counterparts in all the rulers of the earth, their nations, nation by nation who come under G-d’s judgment (Jer. 25:30-32; and Isa. 24:1-23). The massing of the five kings against Gibeon is reflected in the gathering of all the forces of evil into a single army against G-d (Ezek. 38-39). The death of Josiah led to the apparent failure of the religious reform and national renewal movement, and the end of the monarchy.
Humble Suffering Servant:
This exilic Joshua is blind (42:16, 19), oppressed (v. 22), despised by the powerful (49:7), walking in darkness (50:10). It is this blind, stumbling Joshua that G-d chooses (42:1) to make G-d’s salvation real to fellow sufferers (49:6), and to implant and establish G-d’s justice among them (42:1-4). In Col. 2:15 states the sword from his mouth will smite the nations. The sword issuing from his mouth may be an intentional reversal of the Hebrew idiom used here in Joshua, to smite with the edge (mouth) of the sword.
Sun & Moon Stood Still
[Josh. 10:12] Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the
Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
Joshua needed more light and less heat, making one day as long as two. In our consideration of the meaning of the verses, the following points should be kept in mind:
1. The length of a whole day as understood in biblical times was 24 hours, from sunset to sunset (6pm to 6pm), or more probably in this case, from sunrise to sunrise. This would suggest that the sun and moon stopped their normal activity for a 24 hour period.
2. The prayer of Joshua is set at Gibeon, and hence in the predawn darkness before the battle, rather than during the course or at the end of the battle, which has already been described in v. 11. We have here, then, an alternative version of what happen in the one battle.
3. The time of prayer is just before the rising of the sun at Gibeon, and the setting of the moon in the valley of Aijalon. This corresponds to the time of Joshua’s arrival after the night march from Gilgal. Such juxtaposition happens only at the time of the full moon, which would give maximum illumination on a normal night.
4. The intent of the prayer is that the sun and moon be silent (stand still). Since the two heavenly bodies can not speak, to be silent means that they should stop shining whether by day or by night, so that the enemy could not recover from the panic caused by the surprise attack in the darkness and storm.
5. The prayer is addressed to G-d rather than to the sun and moon. The natural way for G-d to keep the sun and moon from shining is to cover the sky with a heavy cloud for a period of 24 hours. Thunder and lightning would enhance the sense of mystery and dread, prolonging the panic of the enemy. So even at noon when the sun was in the mist of heaven the day was as dark as the night, while the darkness of the night would be complete without the light of the full moon. It was not until the following day that the sun rose as usual, since the darkness prevailed for about a whole day. The words of a later writer who told of G-d’s darkening the sun by clothing the heavens with blackness was Isa. 50:3.
The first part should read “the sun refrained from shining, and the moon ceased to shine”. In the latter case, the Hebrew word ‘amad, which usually means to stand still, may also mean to cease doing something.” G-d stopped the entire solar system. Making Joshua’s day 23 hours and 20 minutes. The other 40 minutes is found in 2 Kg. 20:8-11, where the sun went 10% backward for a sign to Henakiah that his life would be extended. It was July – about 105 or 120 degrees in the shade, and there was no shade. Gibeon is latitude 31 degrees, 51 minutes north.
1. We see G-d’s direct intervention through natural events, causing them to occur at the right time. In this case it was a storm, with heavy clouds and hailstones.
2. There is G-d’s indirect intervention through His agents, Joshua and the armies of Israel.
3. We see G-d and Israel working together on behalf of covenant allies, to save and help them.
Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
Joshua needed more light and less heat, making one day as long as two. In our consideration of the meaning of the verses, the following points should be kept in mind:
1. The length of a whole day as understood in biblical times was 24 hours, from sunset to sunset (6pm to 6pm), or more probably in this case, from sunrise to sunrise. This would suggest that the sun and moon stopped their normal activity for a 24 hour period.
2. The prayer of Joshua is set at Gibeon, and hence in the predawn darkness before the battle, rather than during the course or at the end of the battle, which has already been described in v. 11. We have here, then, an alternative version of what happen in the one battle.
3. The time of prayer is just before the rising of the sun at Gibeon, and the setting of the moon in the valley of Aijalon. This corresponds to the time of Joshua’s arrival after the night march from Gilgal. Such juxtaposition happens only at the time of the full moon, which would give maximum illumination on a normal night.
4. The intent of the prayer is that the sun and moon be silent (stand still). Since the two heavenly bodies can not speak, to be silent means that they should stop shining whether by day or by night, so that the enemy could not recover from the panic caused by the surprise attack in the darkness and storm.
5. The prayer is addressed to G-d rather than to the sun and moon. The natural way for G-d to keep the sun and moon from shining is to cover the sky with a heavy cloud for a period of 24 hours. Thunder and lightning would enhance the sense of mystery and dread, prolonging the panic of the enemy. So even at noon when the sun was in the mist of heaven the day was as dark as the night, while the darkness of the night would be complete without the light of the full moon. It was not until the following day that the sun rose as usual, since the darkness prevailed for about a whole day. The words of a later writer who told of G-d’s darkening the sun by clothing the heavens with blackness was Isa. 50:3.
The first part should read “the sun refrained from shining, and the moon ceased to shine”. In the latter case, the Hebrew word ‘amad, which usually means to stand still, may also mean to cease doing something.” G-d stopped the entire solar system. Making Joshua’s day 23 hours and 20 minutes. The other 40 minutes is found in 2 Kg. 20:8-11, where the sun went 10% backward for a sign to Henakiah that his life would be extended. It was July – about 105 or 120 degrees in the shade, and there was no shade. Gibeon is latitude 31 degrees, 51 minutes north.
1. We see G-d’s direct intervention through natural events, causing them to occur at the right time. In this case it was a storm, with heavy clouds and hailstones.
2. There is G-d’s indirect intervention through His agents, Joshua and the armies of Israel.
3. We see G-d and Israel working together on behalf of covenant allies, to save and help them.
Rahab
[Josh. 2:1] And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
Jericho, about 5 miles west of the Jordan River, guards the main southern ford across the Jordan. It thus commands a key defense position in the Jordan Valley. From its position as the eastern gateway to the land, it would be a good place to get an overall impression of the entire land, or at least the central part of it. The hills where the spies concealed themselves for three days, doubtless with the help of provisions supplied by Rahab, lie about 21/2 miles west of the city. Joshua 1-2:1, at this time, numerous small nations lived on the far side of the Jordan River, residing in cities or on hilltops surrounded by high walls. Joshua and the Israelites were camped east of the Jordan, opposite Jericho, a city with fortifying walls so thick that houses were built in and on top of them. G-d instructs Joshua to cross the Jordan and invade this seemingly impenetrable city. From there, they could proceed north against the Canaanites and then south against the Amorites. Joshua’s first step in the plan is to send two spies on a reconnaissance mission. The place they happen to choose to spend the night belongs to a woman on whom the whole success of their mission will hinge – a prostitute.
Rahab was well known to the New Covenant writers as a woman of exemplary faith in Hebrews 11:31, who help to the spies was acceptable to G-d in James 2:25. She was revered as one of the four women mentioned by Matthew 1:5 in the genealogy of Y’Shua. Jewish traditions also held Rahab in high esteem as a non-Jewish convert to Judaism. According to Jewish legend, she married Joshua and was the mother of priest and prophets in Israel. She was a Canaanite who, with her extended family became a part of Israel, after she helps the spies. This is an indication that the Canaanites were not all to be labeled as wicked (Deut. 9:4). The Rahab group is a reminder of the fact that there were large bodies of potential allies in that decadent and corrupt city-state society. Rahab and her family seem to have been from the poorer segment of the Jericho society, who welcomed an opportunity for freedom. And she probably out of economic necessity earned a living as a prostitute. Joining this kind of outcast group because of the poverty of her family. In later Israel this was not allowed (Lev. 19:29). Becoming a prostitute because of poverty is a common thing in many countries of Asia in our own time. When the Israelites left Egypt, Rahab was ten years old, and it is said that she played the harlot the whole of the forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness When the King of Jericho is alerted of the Israelite spies lodging with Rahab, he immediately sends orders requiring Rahab to surrender them. In response, despite the protection she would have been assured by her own Amorite nation had she complied with the king, she chooses instead to risk treason and hide the two foreign spies on the roof under some stacks of flax. When the king’s men arrive, she tells them that the Israelites have already left, and she directs them out of the city on a fruitless chase. In the prostitution in the fertility cults, her services go far beyond what is ordinarily to be expected of a prostitute. Matt. 1:5 & 1 Chron. 2:1 state Rahab to be the mother of Boaz, the husband of Ruth, therefore in the genealogy of Y’Shua. The capture of Jericho would have taken place four generations before David, 12th century. Heb. 11:31 make Rahab an example of faith. James 2:25 make her and example of meritorious works. In Judaism, Rahab became the prototype of the proselyte who abandoned a life of sin to accept the faith of Israel. Rahab is also presented as a living example of the effectiveness of Israel’s prostitutions when Israel is faithful to its calling. A woman who found dignity and fulfillment by choosing a different kind of society where there was no economically compelled degradation or dehumanization of sex. So Rahab, a harlot in Canaan, left her former idols who, it was believed, gave bread, water, wool, flax, oil, and wine (Hosea. 2:5-8), and put her faith in Yahweh who in truth gave these things. Rahab was a paradigm of hope, showing that the old idols, the old corrupt ways of the past, could be given up. The contrast between Rahab at the bottom of the social scale and the king and nobles of Jericho at the top illustrates well what Y'Shua said: “Harlots go into the kingdom of G-d before you.” (Matt. 21:31).
The woman took the two men, and hid them, literally, “him”, that is, each of them in separate places, of course previous to the appearance of the royal messengers and in anticipation of a speedy search after her guests. Demonstrating her faith and trust in their G-d. According to Eastern manners, which pay an almost superstitious respect to a woman’s apartment, the royal messengers did not demand admittance to search but asked her to bring the foreigners out.
The gates of all Oriental cities are closed at sunset, after which there is no possibility either of admission or egress. A direct lie. Rom. 3:8; Heb. 11:31; and James 2:25. Is a common vice among heathen people, Rahab was probably unconscious of its moral guilt, especially as she resorted to it as a means for screening her guests; and she might deem herself bound to do it by the laws of Eastern hospitality, which make it a point of honor to preserve the greatest enemy, if he has once eaten one’s salt. Judged by the divine law, her answer was a sinful expedient; but her infirmity being united with faith, she was graciously pardoned and her service accepted.
The flax kept on her roof suggests that her family lived by agriculture outside the city. The roof was flat and during the dry season it was used for a storage place and a resting place on the hot days. The flax bundles were hauled up on the roof through the window and by the rope mentioned in v. 15. After flax stalks were soaked and their fibers loosened, they were spread out to dry. Beating and combing spun into fine yarn and threads and woven into linen fabrics separated dry fibers. After lying awhile, it is piled up in numerous little stacks, which, from the luxuriant growth of the flax, rise to a height of three or four feet. It would produce linen for priests’ garments, and for the upper-class people of Jericho (Isa. 3:16, 23.) Behind some of these stacks Rahab concealed the spies.
She won recognition by biblical writers because she trusted in the G-d of Israel more than she trusted her won king of Jericho. She had heard what G-d had done for Israel at the Red Sea and in defeating the two kings of the trans-Jordan (8-12). And she demonstrated her faith by receiving the spies and sending them out another way. 6:25 notes her actions and contrasts her response to that of Achan.
No guilt should be assigned, therefore, to her treason in abandoning her people, who like herself had great reason for trusting the G-d of the Hebrews. When it comes to choosing between serving G-d or a local king, the answer must always be to serve the higher power, G-d (Acts 4:19).
Her lie, on the other hand, cannot be so easily dismissed. She said, ‘I don’t know which way they went.’ That was deliberately false. Romans 3:8 warns us not to say, ‘let us do evil that good may result.’ Neither should we argue, especially from a description or a narrative passage, that a text validates deceit under certain conditions.
The so-called dutiful lie dismissed how precious the truth is in G-d’s sight. Even lies told for very good purposes are not free from divine disapproval. Rahab’s untruth allowed the two spies to escape harm; this does not therefore justify such a method. G-d is not reduced to unholy acts of fulfill His will. G-d allowed His purposes to be fulfilled in this most unusual manner, because His grace can operate in spite of the sinful plotting of men and women. Untruth cannot be vindicated simply because it is closely tied to the total result.
We cannot say that protecting innocent lives is a greater good than the demands always to tell the truth. Scripture nowhere advocates or allows for such chain of command. To say that lying is a lesser evil than being involuntarily implicated in murder is again an artificial and subjective construct. We need to follow all of G-d’s Word and that Word involves respect for both life and truth, as difficult as that is in a word that often pits one moral absolute against another.
We must not form our own subjective personal priorities in assigning what we believe is the greater good or lesser evil. On the other hand, we may not surrender innocent lives just because an army or police force demands it. Rahab should have hidden the spies well and then refused to answer the question whether she was hiding them. It is possible to maintain a position of non-conflicting absolutes. G-d will provide a way to avoid the conflicts (1 Cor. 10:13).
The harlot, sacrificing her own nation, sides with the spies whom she perceives as men of G-d, siding with the spies being akin to siding with G-d Himself. The men pledge to protect her entire family, as long as she does not disclose their mission. With a crimson rope, Rahab lowers the spies through her window, which is situated in the wall of Jericho itself. Joshua and his men were grateful both for her military information and her protection of the two spies.
Rahab’s confession of faith begins with the confident assertion “I know”. What this Canaanite woman knew was what Israel had been taught: “Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the L-rd is G-d in heaven above and on earth beneath: there is no other” (Deut. 4:39). Rahab is thus the first representative in Canaan of “all the peoples of the earth” to say “I know that the L-rd your G-d is G-d indeed.”
Rahab believe them because of this self cursing formula which guaranties the promise they gave her. This was a solemn pledge—a virtual oath, though the name of G-d is not mentioned; and the words were added, not as a condition of their fidelity, but as necessary for her safety, which might be endangered if the private agreement was divulged.
In many Oriental cities houses are built on the walls with overhanging windows; in others the town wall forms the back wall of the house, so that the window opens into the country. Rahab’s was probably of this latter description, and the cord or rope sufficiently strong to bear the weight of a man. It has been suggested that Rahab’s house was built across the gap between an inner and an outer wall, which would explain the peculiar phrase “in the wall and between the walls”.
She bound the scarlet line in the window, probably soon after the departure of the spies. It was not formed, as some suppose, into network, as a lattice, but simply to hang down the wall. Its red color made it conspicuous, and it was thus a sign and pledge of safety to Rahab’s house, as the bloody mark on the lintels of the houses of the Israelites in Egypt to that people.
Rahab dwelled in Israel unto this day—a proof that this book was written not long after the events related. The climax of the story of the victory at Jericho is not the destruction of the doomed city, but the salvation of the entire extended family of Rahab from the flames. They are at first placed outside the camp at Gilgal. Later, when fully instructed in the ways of the new society, they are accepted as full members of Israel. For this saved Canaanite remnant the trumpets blast heralded the day of salvation.
Symbolizes by its color, of safety through sacrifice. Heb. 9:19-22.
Jericho, about 5 miles west of the Jordan River, guards the main southern ford across the Jordan. It thus commands a key defense position in the Jordan Valley. From its position as the eastern gateway to the land, it would be a good place to get an overall impression of the entire land, or at least the central part of it. The hills where the spies concealed themselves for three days, doubtless with the help of provisions supplied by Rahab, lie about 21/2 miles west of the city. Joshua 1-2:1, at this time, numerous small nations lived on the far side of the Jordan River, residing in cities or on hilltops surrounded by high walls. Joshua and the Israelites were camped east of the Jordan, opposite Jericho, a city with fortifying walls so thick that houses were built in and on top of them. G-d instructs Joshua to cross the Jordan and invade this seemingly impenetrable city. From there, they could proceed north against the Canaanites and then south against the Amorites. Joshua’s first step in the plan is to send two spies on a reconnaissance mission. The place they happen to choose to spend the night belongs to a woman on whom the whole success of their mission will hinge – a prostitute.
Rahab was well known to the New Covenant writers as a woman of exemplary faith in Hebrews 11:31, who help to the spies was acceptable to G-d in James 2:25. She was revered as one of the four women mentioned by Matthew 1:5 in the genealogy of Y’Shua. Jewish traditions also held Rahab in high esteem as a non-Jewish convert to Judaism. According to Jewish legend, she married Joshua and was the mother of priest and prophets in Israel. She was a Canaanite who, with her extended family became a part of Israel, after she helps the spies. This is an indication that the Canaanites were not all to be labeled as wicked (Deut. 9:4). The Rahab group is a reminder of the fact that there were large bodies of potential allies in that decadent and corrupt city-state society. Rahab and her family seem to have been from the poorer segment of the Jericho society, who welcomed an opportunity for freedom. And she probably out of economic necessity earned a living as a prostitute. Joining this kind of outcast group because of the poverty of her family. In later Israel this was not allowed (Lev. 19:29). Becoming a prostitute because of poverty is a common thing in many countries of Asia in our own time. When the Israelites left Egypt, Rahab was ten years old, and it is said that she played the harlot the whole of the forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness When the King of Jericho is alerted of the Israelite spies lodging with Rahab, he immediately sends orders requiring Rahab to surrender them. In response, despite the protection she would have been assured by her own Amorite nation had she complied with the king, she chooses instead to risk treason and hide the two foreign spies on the roof under some stacks of flax. When the king’s men arrive, she tells them that the Israelites have already left, and she directs them out of the city on a fruitless chase. In the prostitution in the fertility cults, her services go far beyond what is ordinarily to be expected of a prostitute. Matt. 1:5 & 1 Chron. 2:1 state Rahab to be the mother of Boaz, the husband of Ruth, therefore in the genealogy of Y’Shua. The capture of Jericho would have taken place four generations before David, 12th century. Heb. 11:31 make Rahab an example of faith. James 2:25 make her and example of meritorious works. In Judaism, Rahab became the prototype of the proselyte who abandoned a life of sin to accept the faith of Israel. Rahab is also presented as a living example of the effectiveness of Israel’s prostitutions when Israel is faithful to its calling. A woman who found dignity and fulfillment by choosing a different kind of society where there was no economically compelled degradation or dehumanization of sex. So Rahab, a harlot in Canaan, left her former idols who, it was believed, gave bread, water, wool, flax, oil, and wine (Hosea. 2:5-8), and put her faith in Yahweh who in truth gave these things. Rahab was a paradigm of hope, showing that the old idols, the old corrupt ways of the past, could be given up. The contrast between Rahab at the bottom of the social scale and the king and nobles of Jericho at the top illustrates well what Y'Shua said: “Harlots go into the kingdom of G-d before you.” (Matt. 21:31).
The woman took the two men, and hid them, literally, “him”, that is, each of them in separate places, of course previous to the appearance of the royal messengers and in anticipation of a speedy search after her guests. Demonstrating her faith and trust in their G-d. According to Eastern manners, which pay an almost superstitious respect to a woman’s apartment, the royal messengers did not demand admittance to search but asked her to bring the foreigners out.
The gates of all Oriental cities are closed at sunset, after which there is no possibility either of admission or egress. A direct lie. Rom. 3:8; Heb. 11:31; and James 2:25. Is a common vice among heathen people, Rahab was probably unconscious of its moral guilt, especially as she resorted to it as a means for screening her guests; and she might deem herself bound to do it by the laws of Eastern hospitality, which make it a point of honor to preserve the greatest enemy, if he has once eaten one’s salt. Judged by the divine law, her answer was a sinful expedient; but her infirmity being united with faith, she was graciously pardoned and her service accepted.
The flax kept on her roof suggests that her family lived by agriculture outside the city. The roof was flat and during the dry season it was used for a storage place and a resting place on the hot days. The flax bundles were hauled up on the roof through the window and by the rope mentioned in v. 15. After flax stalks were soaked and their fibers loosened, they were spread out to dry. Beating and combing spun into fine yarn and threads and woven into linen fabrics separated dry fibers. After lying awhile, it is piled up in numerous little stacks, which, from the luxuriant growth of the flax, rise to a height of three or four feet. It would produce linen for priests’ garments, and for the upper-class people of Jericho (Isa. 3:16, 23.) Behind some of these stacks Rahab concealed the spies.
She won recognition by biblical writers because she trusted in the G-d of Israel more than she trusted her won king of Jericho. She had heard what G-d had done for Israel at the Red Sea and in defeating the two kings of the trans-Jordan (8-12). And she demonstrated her faith by receiving the spies and sending them out another way. 6:25 notes her actions and contrasts her response to that of Achan.
No guilt should be assigned, therefore, to her treason in abandoning her people, who like herself had great reason for trusting the G-d of the Hebrews. When it comes to choosing between serving G-d or a local king, the answer must always be to serve the higher power, G-d (Acts 4:19).
Her lie, on the other hand, cannot be so easily dismissed. She said, ‘I don’t know which way they went.’ That was deliberately false. Romans 3:8 warns us not to say, ‘let us do evil that good may result.’ Neither should we argue, especially from a description or a narrative passage, that a text validates deceit under certain conditions.
The so-called dutiful lie dismissed how precious the truth is in G-d’s sight. Even lies told for very good purposes are not free from divine disapproval. Rahab’s untruth allowed the two spies to escape harm; this does not therefore justify such a method. G-d is not reduced to unholy acts of fulfill His will. G-d allowed His purposes to be fulfilled in this most unusual manner, because His grace can operate in spite of the sinful plotting of men and women. Untruth cannot be vindicated simply because it is closely tied to the total result.
We cannot say that protecting innocent lives is a greater good than the demands always to tell the truth. Scripture nowhere advocates or allows for such chain of command. To say that lying is a lesser evil than being involuntarily implicated in murder is again an artificial and subjective construct. We need to follow all of G-d’s Word and that Word involves respect for both life and truth, as difficult as that is in a word that often pits one moral absolute against another.
We must not form our own subjective personal priorities in assigning what we believe is the greater good or lesser evil. On the other hand, we may not surrender innocent lives just because an army or police force demands it. Rahab should have hidden the spies well and then refused to answer the question whether she was hiding them. It is possible to maintain a position of non-conflicting absolutes. G-d will provide a way to avoid the conflicts (1 Cor. 10:13).
The harlot, sacrificing her own nation, sides with the spies whom she perceives as men of G-d, siding with the spies being akin to siding with G-d Himself. The men pledge to protect her entire family, as long as she does not disclose their mission. With a crimson rope, Rahab lowers the spies through her window, which is situated in the wall of Jericho itself. Joshua and his men were grateful both for her military information and her protection of the two spies.
Rahab’s confession of faith begins with the confident assertion “I know”. What this Canaanite woman knew was what Israel had been taught: “Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the L-rd is G-d in heaven above and on earth beneath: there is no other” (Deut. 4:39). Rahab is thus the first representative in Canaan of “all the peoples of the earth” to say “I know that the L-rd your G-d is G-d indeed.”
Rahab believe them because of this self cursing formula which guaranties the promise they gave her. This was a solemn pledge—a virtual oath, though the name of G-d is not mentioned; and the words were added, not as a condition of their fidelity, but as necessary for her safety, which might be endangered if the private agreement was divulged.
In many Oriental cities houses are built on the walls with overhanging windows; in others the town wall forms the back wall of the house, so that the window opens into the country. Rahab’s was probably of this latter description, and the cord or rope sufficiently strong to bear the weight of a man. It has been suggested that Rahab’s house was built across the gap between an inner and an outer wall, which would explain the peculiar phrase “in the wall and between the walls”.
She bound the scarlet line in the window, probably soon after the departure of the spies. It was not formed, as some suppose, into network, as a lattice, but simply to hang down the wall. Its red color made it conspicuous, and it was thus a sign and pledge of safety to Rahab’s house, as the bloody mark on the lintels of the houses of the Israelites in Egypt to that people.
Rahab dwelled in Israel unto this day—a proof that this book was written not long after the events related. The climax of the story of the victory at Jericho is not the destruction of the doomed city, but the salvation of the entire extended family of Rahab from the flames. They are at first placed outside the camp at Gilgal. Later, when fully instructed in the ways of the new society, they are accepted as full members of Israel. For this saved Canaanite remnant the trumpets blast heralded the day of salvation.
Symbolizes by its color, of safety through sacrifice. Heb. 9:19-22.
Turning Point
[Josh. 1:2] Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
This is the turning point in history; the old age has passed with the death of Moses. The new is about to begin, and with it comes a call to present action on which the future depends now therefore arise. G-d is the owner of the land (Lev. 25:23; Ps. 24:1), and he has granted it to his people as tenants to use for His purposes. But there were certain
conditions that must be fulfilled:
They must cross the Jordan River.
They must enter the land, for they cannot inherit it without actual presence there.
They must engage in a long, hard struggle against the forces of oppression in the land.
They must do away with internal corruption.
They must agree to a fair distribution of the land among the tribes.
They must organize their society according to G-d’s Laws.
First of all, we have the principle on which possession is to be taken, in the energy of the Spirit and in connection with the responsibility of man. The condition was attached to their possession; they must go there, overcome the obstacles with the help and by the power of G-d, and actual possession. Nevertheless, to faith the promise was sure. 300,000 square miles. They never took possession of all the land that G-d had given.
The power of the Spirit of G-d is the true energy of the believer, is all-sufficient. He who walks by the Spirit is called upon to be strong and of a good courage. Joshua obeyed G-d’s call unhesitatingly and to the end, but it was because he trusted wholly in the promise that accompanied it. Along with his soldierly qualities, he combined justice as a magistrate with gentleness as a man (7:19); spirit as a ruler, with temper and discretion in dealing with the arrogant and exacting (17:14); diligence and equity in disposing of the fruits of victory with a complete unselfishness as regarded himself (19:49-51). Conspicuous above all was his humility. From first to last his valor and his victories are referred to G-d as their giver. Of his own personal work in the achievements of his life there is in is last address scarcely one word.
Spiritual strength and energy, the courage of faith, are necessary, in order that the heart may be bold enough to obey, may be free from the influences, the fears, and the motives which act upon the natural man, and tend to turn believers aside from the path of obedience, and that they may take heed unto the word of G-d. The most difficult path, that which leads to the sharpest conflict, is but the road in which we are in communion with G-d, with Him who is the source of all joy; it is the earnest and the foretaste of eternal and infinite happiness.
The mouth is for eating. G-d’s Word is to be “chewed, swallowed, and digested” so that it becomes part of the person’s very self in thought and action. The mouth is also for speaking. The one who has received G-d’s Word in his mouth must also teach, warn, and encourage others. Here are 2 great principles of spiritual life and activity:
The assured presence of the almighty power of G-d, so that nothing can stand before His servant.
The reception of His word, submission to His word, diligent study of His word, taking it as an absolute guide; and having courage to do so, because of the promise and exhortation of G-d.
The first five books of Moses were now written. If we are not conscious that we are doing the will of G-d – if, before we begin to act, we have not assured ourselves of this in His presence, we shall have no courage in performing it. Perhaps indeed what we are doing is the will of G-d; but, not being conscious of this, we act with hesitation, without confidence, without joy; we are repulsed by the smallest opposition, whilst, when we are assured of doing His will, and that He has said, “Have not I commanded thee? Nothing, through grace, can alarm us. The most commonly quoted words in the book are G-d’s command and promise to Joshua and his courageous witness to the people (24:15).
The name Moses appears eleven times in the first chapter alone, and forty-eight times in the other chapters. Joshua inherits all G-d’s promises to, presence with, and instructions to Moses.
Rest, security, and peace is thus a sign and evidence of G-d’s presence with His people, as well as his gracious provision for them. Read Isa. 32:15-18; Matt. 11:28. Faith and obedience in real-life situations is conditions for accepting the gift of rest that cannot be sought in isolation from brothers and sisters.
This is the turning point in history; the old age has passed with the death of Moses. The new is about to begin, and with it comes a call to present action on which the future depends now therefore arise. G-d is the owner of the land (Lev. 25:23; Ps. 24:1), and he has granted it to his people as tenants to use for His purposes. But there were certain
conditions that must be fulfilled:
They must cross the Jordan River.
They must enter the land, for they cannot inherit it without actual presence there.
They must engage in a long, hard struggle against the forces of oppression in the land.
They must do away with internal corruption.
They must agree to a fair distribution of the land among the tribes.
They must organize their society according to G-d’s Laws.
First of all, we have the principle on which possession is to be taken, in the energy of the Spirit and in connection with the responsibility of man. The condition was attached to their possession; they must go there, overcome the obstacles with the help and by the power of G-d, and actual possession. Nevertheless, to faith the promise was sure. 300,000 square miles. They never took possession of all the land that G-d had given.
The power of the Spirit of G-d is the true energy of the believer, is all-sufficient. He who walks by the Spirit is called upon to be strong and of a good courage. Joshua obeyed G-d’s call unhesitatingly and to the end, but it was because he trusted wholly in the promise that accompanied it. Along with his soldierly qualities, he combined justice as a magistrate with gentleness as a man (7:19); spirit as a ruler, with temper and discretion in dealing with the arrogant and exacting (17:14); diligence and equity in disposing of the fruits of victory with a complete unselfishness as regarded himself (19:49-51). Conspicuous above all was his humility. From first to last his valor and his victories are referred to G-d as their giver. Of his own personal work in the achievements of his life there is in is last address scarcely one word.
Spiritual strength and energy, the courage of faith, are necessary, in order that the heart may be bold enough to obey, may be free from the influences, the fears, and the motives which act upon the natural man, and tend to turn believers aside from the path of obedience, and that they may take heed unto the word of G-d. The most difficult path, that which leads to the sharpest conflict, is but the road in which we are in communion with G-d, with Him who is the source of all joy; it is the earnest and the foretaste of eternal and infinite happiness.
The mouth is for eating. G-d’s Word is to be “chewed, swallowed, and digested” so that it becomes part of the person’s very self in thought and action. The mouth is also for speaking. The one who has received G-d’s Word in his mouth must also teach, warn, and encourage others. Here are 2 great principles of spiritual life and activity:
The assured presence of the almighty power of G-d, so that nothing can stand before His servant.
The reception of His word, submission to His word, diligent study of His word, taking it as an absolute guide; and having courage to do so, because of the promise and exhortation of G-d.
The first five books of Moses were now written. If we are not conscious that we are doing the will of G-d – if, before we begin to act, we have not assured ourselves of this in His presence, we shall have no courage in performing it. Perhaps indeed what we are doing is the will of G-d; but, not being conscious of this, we act with hesitation, without confidence, without joy; we are repulsed by the smallest opposition, whilst, when we are assured of doing His will, and that He has said, “Have not I commanded thee? Nothing, through grace, can alarm us. The most commonly quoted words in the book are G-d’s command and promise to Joshua and his courageous witness to the people (24:15).
The name Moses appears eleven times in the first chapter alone, and forty-eight times in the other chapters. Joshua inherits all G-d’s promises to, presence with, and instructions to Moses.
Rest, security, and peace is thus a sign and evidence of G-d’s presence with His people, as well as his gracious provision for them. Read Isa. 32:15-18; Matt. 11:28. Faith and obedience in real-life situations is conditions for accepting the gift of rest that cannot be sought in isolation from brothers and sisters.
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