The Historic Context

The book of Joshua bridges the gap between Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness and their establishment as a nation in the land of Canaan. The book spans around 25-30 years starting soon after the death of Moses (about 1406BC). Joshua was 79 years old when he became leader of Israel and died at 110 years.

The Author

Joshua wrote the unfolding events of the book that bears his name, Joshua 24:26. His name was changed from Oshea meaning ‘salvation’, to Jehoshua meaning ‘Yahweh saves,’ Numbers 13:16. This name change indicates an inner transformation during his life. 

Prior to Israel’s conquest of the promised land, Joshua and a faithful man named Caleb were part of a 40-day reconnaissance expedition into Canaan. They contradicted the other ten spies’ negative reports, by sharing their conviction that Israel was well able to go in and possess the land that God had promised them, Numbers 13-14.

Joshua went on to become a man in whom the spirit of God resided and proved a worthy successor to Moses, Numbers 27:15-23. Moses gave instructions to Joshua before he died, to fortify himself and take courage in the task of possessing the land that God had promised to their fathers, Deuteronomy 31:7,23. Joshua’s life is a great example for us all, Joshua 1:5-9; 24:15, Judges 2:6-7.

The General Theme

The book shows how God would be faithful to the promises He made with Abraham, Genesis 17:8, by bringing the nation of Israel into possession of the land of Canaan.

The conquest of Canaan was carried out in three stages: the central region, Joshua 6-9, the southern region, Joshua 10, the northern region, Joshua 11:1-15. It is a story of victories won by faith and not by virtue of superior numbers. The defeat of the Canaanites was an act of divine punishment on an extremely corrupt society, Deuteronomy 18:9-14. The land was divided by lot, Joshua 13-18, and it was each tribes’ responsibility to complete the conquest of their own inheritance, Joshua 18:3-6. The full conquest of Caanan took several generations, Judges 1.

Analogies with the Life of a Believer

There are several analogies throughout the book of Joshua, which relate to the life of a believer, these include:

• The crossing of the River Jordan, Joshua 3-4, and the baptism of a believer, Romans 6:3-5
• Physical circumcision (Joshua 5:2-9) and spiritual circumcision, Colossians 2:11-12
• The taking of Jericho, Joshua 6, and the good fight of faith to take hold of eternal life, 1 Timothy 1:18-19, 6:12
• The possession of the land and that of a believer’s heritage, Ephesians 1:18
• The villages of refuge, Joshua 20, and Jesus our city of refuge, Hebrews 6:18-20
• As the army grouped around their leader Joshua, believers submit their lives to Jesus Christ their head, Hebrews 12:2, bringing victories in his name, Romans 8:37, 2 Corinthians 2:14, Ephesians 6:10-18.

The Key Verse

“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,” Joshua 1:8.

Chapter Overview

Section 1: Ch 1-12 The conquest of the land of Canaan

Section 2: Ch 13-22 The dividing of the land between the twelve tribes of Israel

Section 3: Ch 23-24 The last words of Joshua and his death