Be strong and courageous
The threefold charge at Joshua 1:6, 7, 9 — God's repeated assurance to the successor of Moses. Not morale-boost psychology; obedience to the Law is the thing for which courage is required (1:7).
Old Testament · Book 6 of 66
Joshua
The entry narrative — Israel crosses the Jordan, takes the Land through three conquest campaigns, and renews covenant at Shechem. The hinge between Torah's promises and the historical record of those promises unfolding.
24
Chapters
3 campaigns
Central · South · North
12 tribes
Allotted inheritance
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Three Campaigns · Twelve Tribes
Joshua narrates three conquest campaigns — central, southern, northern — followed by the tribal allotments and covenant renewal at Shechem. Click any waypoint to jump into the chapter.
Central CampaignJosh 6–9
- 01 · Jordan crossingJosh 3–4
Waters stand in a heap; the ark goes over before the people.
- 02 · JerichoJosh 6
Seven priests, seven trumpets, seven days — walls fall flat.
- 03 · Ai (after Achan)Josh 7–8
Covenant solidarity taught by defeat; then victory.
- 04 · Gibeonite allianceJosh 9
The ruse; Israel swears an oath and keeps it.
Southern CampaignJosh 10
Northern CampaignJosh 11
Tribal Allotments + CovenantJosh 13–24
- 01 · East-of-Jordan tribesJosh 13
Reuben, Gad, half-Manasseh settled east of the river.
- 02 · West-of-Jordan allotmentJosh 14–19
Judah, Joseph, and the seven remaining tribes by lot.
- 03 · Cities of refugeJosh 20
Six cities distributed for the manslayer.
- 04 · Levitical citiesJosh 21
Forty-eight cities; Torah teaching saturates every territory.
- 05 · Shechem covenantJosh 24:15
‘As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.’
Entry → conquest → inheritance → covenant renewed. The hinge between Torah's promises and the historical unfolding.
- Author
- Joshua himself at least in part (24:26 — ‘Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God’); later editorial framing traditional
- Date
- Events c. 1400 BC (early) or 1230 BC (late); compilation across the early-monarchy period
- Audience
- Israel settling the Land; later readers weighing covenant faithfulness against covenant blessing
- Position
- Old Testament · Book 6 of 66
Structure
- Entry into the Land1–5
Commissioning of Joshua; Rahab and the spies; Jordan crossing; memorial stones at Gilgal; circumcision and Passover; the Captain of the LORD's host.
- Conquest campaigns6–12
Jericho and Ai (central); Gibeonite alliance; five-king coalition at Beth-horon (southern); Hazor and the northern kings.
- Tribal allotments13–22
The east-of-Jordan and west-of-Jordan inheritances; Levitical cities; cities of refuge; the altar of Ed and the east-tribe controversy.
- Covenant renewal at Shechem23–24
Joshua's farewell; the rehearsal of what the LORD has done; the witness stone; ‘as for me and my house.’
Section pages
Each section is one focused part of Joshua — purpose, key movements, key verses, Christ-in-this-section. Roughly five minutes each.
Themes
The Conquest debate
Four interpretive framings surfaced per §7.9: maximalist historical (traditional evangelical, 15th c. BC, literal 7-year campaign), minimalist archaeological (Kenyon / Finkelstein, late-date and limited), social-conflict (Mendenhall / Gottwald, internal peasant revolt), biblical-theological (the conquest as redemptive-historical, not a template for future warfare). Pastor Marc's drawer is load-bearing.
Cities of refuge and Levitical cities
Six refuge cities (ch. 20), forty-eight Levitical cities (ch. 21). The distribution ensures Torah teaching and judicial protection saturate every tribal territory. Spurgeon reads the refuge cities as a type of Christ (Treasury, Psalm 46).
The Captain of the LORD's host
Joshua 5:13–15 — a theophany of the pre-incarnate Christ by traditional Christian reading. ‘Loose thy shoe from off thy foot’ links the encounter to Exodus 3:5 at the burning bush.
Land as inheritance
The Land is not seized and kept; it is given and received. The tribal allotments (13–21) name a share for each tribe — and name what has to be cleared out for each tribe to live there. The Land fulfils the Gen 12 / 15 promise to Abraham.
Shechem covenant renewal (ch. 24)
Ancient Near Eastern treaty form — preamble, historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses. Joshua's charge; the people's response; the witness stone. Continuity with Deut 27–30; forward-echo into the divided kingdom's later failures.
If you only read a few chapters
- 1Joshua commissioned‘Be strong and of a good courage’; the Law not to depart from thy mouth.
- 2Rahab and the spiesThe scarlet cord in the window — genealogy-of-Christ foreshadow (Matt 1:5).
- 3Crossing the JordanThe ark of the covenant goes before; the waters stand in a heap.
- 5The Captain of the LORD's host‘Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?’ — the answer: ‘Nay, but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.’
- 6Jericho fallsSeven priests with seven trumpets; seven days' march; the walls fall flat.
- 7Achan and the trespassThe Babylonish garment, the silver, the wedge of gold; defeat at Ai teaches covenant solidarity.
- 10The sun stands still‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon’ — five-king southern coalition defeated in the long day.
- 20Cities of refugeSix cities for the manslayer; the mechanism of covenant justice inside the Land.
- 22The altar of EdThe east-tribe altar; civil war averted; ‘witness between us’.
- 24Covenant at Shechem‘Choose you this day whom ye will serve … as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.’