13 Facts About the Book of Joshua

1. This is a book of victory and conquest. God’s people are progressing through Canaan, subduing their enemies and claiming the land that has been promised to them.

2. Genesis 12:7 refers to the covenant God made with Abraham along with a promise that his decendants would take possession of Canaan.

3. The book is a great example that illustrate God works in His time and way since many, many years went by from the making of the covenant.

4. A connection can be seen in Hebrews 4:8-9 where a greater Joshua is referred to and both should be thought of as the book of Joshua is read.

5. The English and Hebrew title is based on the name of the central character, Joshua. His original name was Hoshea (“Salvation”) before Moses changed it to Yehoshua (“The Lord is Salvation”). It is tranditionally spelled “Joshua” in English while in the Greek language it is “Jesus”. The “captain of the Lord’s army” (5:15) is Christ in preincarnate form.

6. Key words in Joshua are sovereignty, providence, covenant, redemption, ethics, morality, and community

7. The lessons we learn by reading Joshua regard the faithfulness of God to fulfill his promises and that he will ultimately judge evil.

8. One of the more interesting characters is Rahab the harlot (chapters 2 and 6).....a painting of her is presented here... Her story illustrates “grace through faith”. She became a biological ancestor of Jesus (6:25; Matthew 1:5; Hebrew 11:31)

9. While the military victories depicted in Joshua are important the focus should be one of salvation of all kinds only come through the hand of God.

10. Many scholars believe the author of this book is anonymous thought tradition holds that Joshua wrote it.

11. The time period is approximate-----1406-1380 B.C. during a period archeologists refer to as the Late Bronze Age. Many Canaanite ruins have been excavated. The findings reveal and advanced civilization, but an idolatrous one.

12. There is nothing in the book of Joshua that tells us the purpose for it being written. More than likely the tradition of Moses was simply continued. Some scholars suggest somone such as Samuel or some other writer wrote down the events of Joshua that might have been told orally---perhaps they finally saw the need for a written history prior to the period of the kings.

13. Many state that the most interesting feature of Joshua is the presentation of Joshua’s military strategy which follows the “divide-and-conquer” thought (Chapters 10 and 11)

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