Joshua

Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

Dr. Vernon McGee notes on the book of Joshua:

WRITER: Joshua (Joshua 24:26), successor to Moses (Deuteronomy 31:23). The Talmud says that Joshua wrote all but the last 5 verses and that those were written by Phineas.

“Joshua” means “Jehovah is salvation” — the same word in the New Testament is “Jesus” (as in Hebrews 4:8).

Joshua was a great general, born a slave in Egypt. 40 years old at time of Exodus (one of spies), 80 years old when he received his commission, 110 years old at his death.

He was a man of prayer, courage, dependence upon God, faith, leadership, enthusiasm, and fidelity. He is a type of Christ in name and work. As someone has commented: Joshua shows that a man of average ability may become a leader in the church. He received his call not in flaming letters across the sky, but from an old man, who knew God and knew Joshua, and saw that he was fitted by God to be a leader.

PURPOSE: Completes redemption out of Egypt. Salvation is not only a redemption from hell, but it is a redemption to heaven. Who [Jesus] was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:25)

TRANSITION: Up to this point Jehovah had spoken by dreams, visions, or by angelic ministry. Now a new method is introduced. The Law of Moses is the written voice of Jehovah (Joshua 1:8).

KEY VERSE:
Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. (Joshua 1:3)
Joshua compares to Ephesians in the New Testament:
• It is prophetic of Israel and typical of the church.
• Read Israel’s free title to the land (Jeremiah 23:8; Ezekiel
37:21).
• Conflict and conquest go with possession.

KEY WORD: Possession
Israel’s ownership was unconditional (Genesis 12:7; 15:18-21; 17:8). Israel’s possession was conditional (Deuteronomy 29:9 — 30:20). Key word is not “victory” — God gets the victory. Israel gets deliverance and possession.
Joshua 1:4 — Extent of Promised Land
13:1 — They did not possess it all.
11:16 —Joshua had conquered the land and it was available.
11:23 — Each tribe was given an allotment but had to drive out the enemy. There was to be a gradual occupation of the land by each tribe.

The Christian today is given title to spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3; Romans 5:1-11; Romans 8:37; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Galatians 5:22, 23).

• Ephesians 1:3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.
• Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
• 1 Corinthians 1:30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
• Galatians 5:22, 23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

The Christian’s practical possession and experience depends upon conflict and conquest (Ephesians 6:10-20; Galatians 5:25; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; 1 Corinthians 9:25-27; Hebrews 4:11). These are never attained through the energy of the flesh, but through the power of the Holy Spirit working in the yielded life of the believer (Romans 7, 8).

• Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit
• 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments 5 and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. 6 And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
• 1 Corinthians 9:25-27 Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. 26 So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. 27 Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
• Hebrews 4:11 Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

OUTLINE:
I. The land entered, Chapters 1 — 12
A. Commission and command of Joshua, 1
B. Contact of spies with Rahab, 2
C. Crossing the Jordan River, 3
D. Construction of two memorials, 4
E. Conditioned for conquest, 5
F. Center of land attacked, 6 — 8

1. Conquest of Jericho, 6
2. Conquest of Ai, 7, 8

G. Campaign in the south, 9, 10

1. Compact with the Gibeonites, 9
2. Conquer 5 kings of Amorites (miracle of sun), 10

H. Campaign in the north, (conclusion of Joshua’s leadership in war), 11
I. Conquered kings listed, 12

II. The land divided, Chapters 13 — 22
A. Command of Joshua is terminated; confirmation of
land to the 2 1/2 tribes, 13
B. Caleb given Hebron, 14
C. Consignment of land to the tribes of Israel, 15 — 19
D. Cities of refuge, 20
E. Cities for Levites, 21
F. Command to the 2 1/2 tribes to return home; construction of altar as a witness, 22

III. The last message of Joshua, Chapters 23, 24
A. Call to leaders of Israel for courage and certainty, 23
B. Call to all tribes of Israel for consecration and consideration of covenant with God; death of Joshua, 24

Key Places in Joshua

• • Shittim – The story of Joshua begins with the Israelites camping at Shittim. The Israelites under Joshua were ready to enter and conquer Canaan. But before the nation moved out, Joshua received instructions from God.
  • Jordon River – The entire nation prepared to cross this river, which was swollen from spring rains. After the spies returned from Jericho with a positive report, Joshua prepared the priests and people for a miracle. As the priests carried the ark into the Jordan River, the water stopped flowing, and the entire nation crossed on dry ground into the promised land.
  • Gilgal – After crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites camped at Gilgal, where they renewed their commitment to God and celebrated Passover, the feast commemorating their deliverance from Egypt. As Joshua made plans for the attack on Jericho, and angel appeared to him.
  • Jericho – The walled city of Jericho seemed a formidable enemy. But when Joshua followed God’s plans, the great walls were no obstacle. The city was conquered with only the obedient marching of the people.
  • Ai – Victory could not continue without obedience to God. That is why the disobedience of one man, Achan, brought defeat to the entire nation in the first battle against Ai. But once the sin was recognized and punished, God told Joshua to take heart and try Ai once again. This time the city was taken.
  • The Mountains of Ebal and Gerizim. After the defeat of Ai, Joshua built an altar at Mount Ebal. Then the people divided themselves, half at the foot of Mount Ebal, half at the foot of Munt Gerizim. The priests stood between the mountains holding the ark of the covenant as Joshua read God’s law to all the people.
  • Gibeon. It was just after the Israelites reaffirmed their covenant with God that their leaders made a major mistake in judgment. They were tricked into making a peace treaty with the city of Gibeon. The Gibeonites pretended that they had traveled a long distance and asked the Israelites for a treaty. The leaders made the agreement without consulting God. The trick was soon discovered, but because the treaty had been made, Israel could not go back on its word. As a result, the Gibeonites saved their own lives, but they were forced to become Israel’s slaves.
  • Valley of Aijalon. The king of Jerusalem was very angry at Gibeon for making a peace treaty with the Israelites. He gathered armies from four other cities to attack the city. Gibeon summoned Joshua for help. Joshua took immediate action. Leaving Gilgal, he attacked the coalition by surprise. As the battle waged on and moved into the Valley Aijalon, Joshua prayed for the sun to stand still until the enemy could be destroyed.
  • Hazor. Up north in Hazor, King Jabin mobilized the kings of the surrounding cities to unite and crush Israel. But God gave Joshua and Israel victory.
  • Shiloh. After the Armies of Canaan were conquered, Israel gathered at Shiloh to set up the tabernacle. This movable building had been the nation’s center of worship during their years of wondering. The seven tribes who had not received their land were given their allotments.
  • Shechem. Before Joshua died, he called the entire nation together at Shechem to remind them that it was God who had given them their land and that only with God’s help could they keep it. The people vowed to follow God. As long as Joshua was alive, the land was at rest from war and trouble.

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Chapter 1

Vernon McGee: Chapter 1 — God encourages Joshua and introduces and initiates the nation into a new way of life. The wilderness journey is over. They are no longer nomads of the desert, but dwellers in the land. Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh have possessions on the wrong side of Jordan (compare Colossians 3:1-4).

God Commissions Joshua

Jos 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

• Exodus 24:13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God.
• Deuteronomy 1:38 Joshua son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it.

After the death of Moses,” i.e., after the expiration of the thirty days of general mourning for him (vid., Deu_34:8)

Deuteronomy 34:8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

servant of the LORD – comes from Numbers 12:7-8 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. (8) With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses

spake unto Joshua the son of Nun – Joshua had already been tasked with being the next leader of Israel, the person responsible to lead God’s children into the promised land, Deuteronomy 31:3-7 and Deuteronomy 31:23

Deu 31:3 The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said. 4 And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed. 5 And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

Deu 31:21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

Joshua — The original name, Oshea, (Num_13:8), which had been changed like those of Abram and Sarai into Jehoshua or Joshua (that is, “God’s salvation”) was significant of the services he was to render, and typified those of a greater Saviour.

Numbers 13:8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.

Jos 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.

• Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the LORD’s word.

now therefore arise = Matthew Henry’s comments:
The call itself. Now therefore arise. (1.) “Though Moses is dead, the work must go on; therefore arise, and go about it.” Let not weeping hinder sowing, nor the withering of the most useful hands be the weakening of ours; for, when God has work to do, he will either find or make instruments fit to carry it on. Moses the servant is dead, but God the Master is not: he lives for ever. (2.) “Because Moses is dead, therefore the work devolves upon thee as his successor, for hereunto thou wast appointed. Therefore there is need of thee to fill up his place; up, and be doing.”

Arise, go over this Jordan = Matthew Henry’s comments:
This river which you have in view, and on the banks of which you lie encamped. This was a trial to the faith of Joshua, whether he would give orders to make preparation for passing the river when there was no visible way of getting over it, at least not at this place and at this time, when all the banks were overflown, Jos_3:15. He had no pontoons or bridge of boats by which to convey them over, and yet he must believe that God, who had ordered them over, would open a way for them.

the land which I do give: Gen 35:12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

Jos 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon:
Deu 34:1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, Deu 34:2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, Deu 34:3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. Deu 34:4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

Deu 11:24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

Jos 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

• Exodus 23:31 I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River. For I will place the inhabitants of the land under your control, and you will drive them out ahead of you.
• Numbers 34:3-12 Your southern side will be from the Wilderness of Zin along the boundary of Edom. Your southern border on the east will begin at the east end of the Dead Sea. 4 Your border will turn south of the Scorpions’ Ascent, proceed to Zin, and end south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon. 5 The border will turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, where it will end at the Mediterranean Sea. 6 Your western border will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea; this will be your western border. 7 This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea draw a line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor draw a line to the entrance of Hamath,, and the border will reach Zedad. 9 Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan. This will be your northern border. 10 For your eastern border, draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah east of Ain. It will continue down and reach the eastern slope of the Sea of Chinnereth., 12 Then the border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land defined by its borders on all sides.”
• Matthew Henry: Their sin cut them short of this large possession, and they never replenished all the country within the bounds here mentioned, yet, had they been obedient, God would have given them this and much more.
• Lebanon is spoken of as “this Lebanon,” because visible from the neighborhood in which Israel was encamped. (Compare Deu_3:8-9.) “The wilderness” of the text is the Desert of Arabia, which forms the southern, as Lebanon does the northern, limit of the promised land. The boundaries on the east and west are likewise indicated; and the intervening territory is described generally as “all the land of the Hittites.” The Hittites are properly the inhabitants of northern Canaan and Phoenicia (see Exo_3:8 note), but the name appears to be used here for the Canaanites in general, as in 1Ki_10:29. On the boundaries of the promised land compare Gen_15:18.
  

  Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

• Adam Clarke commentary: Land of the Hittites – These are generally reputed to have been the most hardy and warlike of all the Canaanitish nations; and as they occupied the mountainous countries on the south of the land of Canaan, it is natural to suppose that they would be the most difficult to subdue, and on this account, it is supposed, God particularly specifies these: “Ye shall subdue and possess even all the land of the Hittites,” but it is probable that under this one term all the other nations are included, as it is certain they are in other places under the term Amorites. Great sea: The Mediterranean, called great in respect of the lakes in the land of Judea, such as the sea of Gennesareth, or the sea of Tiberias, and the Dead Sea, which were comparatively small lakes; but the Hebrews gave the name of sea, yam, to every large collection of waters.
• Jos 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

John Gill’s commentary:
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life,…. What is promised to the people in common, Deu_11:25; is here particularly promised to Joshua their general; and which was fulfilled in him, and still more in Christ his antitype, who made an end of sin, destroyed the devil, spoiled principalities and powers, abolished death, and overcame the world:

as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee; to counsel and advise, guide and direct, protect and defend, prosper and succeed; the Targum of Jonathan is, as my Word”was for the help of Moses, so will I be with thee:”

I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee; but grant him his presence, communicate strength unto him, make good his promises, and leave him not till he had made an entire conquest of the land of Canaan, and even not till the end of his days; and was true of Christ in his state of humiliation, in his sufferings and death, and even in the grave, where he was not left so long as to see corruption; as this is applied to particular believers; see Gill on Heb_13:5.

Jos 1:5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.

• Deuteronomy 7:24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
• Deuteronomy 31:8, 23 The LORD is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” 23 The LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”
• Deuteronomy 31:6, 8 Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the LORD your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. 8 The LORD is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Jos 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

• Deuteronomy 31:7, 23 Moses then summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land the LORD swore to give to their ancestors. You will enable them to take possession of it. 23 The LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

Divide: Numbers 34:17-29
Num 34:17 These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance. And the names of the men are these: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. And of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli. The prince of the children of Joseph, for the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. And the prince of the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Jos 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

• Numbers 27:23 laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as the LORD had spoken through Moses.
• Deuteronomy 5:32 “Be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left.

which Moses:
Deu 31:7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

Jos 1:8 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.

• Deuteronomy 17:18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes.
• Psalms 1:2 Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.
• Psalms 111: 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.

Note that as Joshua is being sent out, Moses is telling him to be strong and courageous, WHILE not letting the book of the law depart out of his mouth, to mediate on it day and night…..true wisdom. If only we could and would do that! And notice the consequences, then we will be prosperous and be successful.

Jos 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

• Psalms 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—whom should I dread?

Joshua Assumes Command

Jos 1:10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
Jos 1:11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

• Deuteronomy 9:1 “Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and drive out nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.

Jos 1:12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying,
Jos 1:13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.

• Numbers 32:20-28 Moses replied to them, “If you do this—if you arm yourselves for battle before the LORD, 21 and every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven his enemies from his presence, 22 and the land is subdued before the LORD—afterward you may return and be free from obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD. 23 But if you don’t do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD; be sure your sin will catch up with you. 24 Build cities for your dependents and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised.” 25 The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. 26 Our dependents, wives, livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead, 27 but your servants are equipped for war before the LORD and will go across to the battle as my lord orders.” 28 So Moses gave orders about them to the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes.

Jos 1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;
Jos 1:15 Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.

• We are not to seek our own welfare only, but one another’s.

Jos 1:16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
Jos 1:17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

• 1 Samuel 20:13 If my father intends to bring evil on you, may the LORD punish Jonathan and do so severely if I do not tell you and send you away so you may leave safely. May the LORD be with you, just as he was with my father.
• 1 Kings 1:37 Just as the LORD was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

Jos 1:18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.

Chapter 2

1410 BC

Vernon McGee notes: Chapter 2 — Spies are sent in, not to see if they could enter the land, but to explore the best way. The report of these spies is in verse 24. God turns aside to save the harlot Rahab. She believed God (vv. 10-13; cf. Hebrews 11:31). The mayor of Jericho could have been saved had he, too, believed God. None needed to have perished.

Rahab Hides the Spies

Jos 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.

• Numbers 25:1 While Israel was staying in the Acacia Grove,, the people began to prostitute themselves with the women of Moab.
• Hebrews 11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.
• James 2:25  In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?
• Matthew 1:5 Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse,

Jos 2:2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

Jos 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.
Jos 2:4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

• 2 Samuel 17:19-20 Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything. 20 Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

Jos 2:5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
Jos 2:7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
Jos 2:8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;
Jos 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

• Genesis 35:5 When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.
• Exodus 23:27 “I will cause the people ahead of you to feel terror and will throw into confusion all the nations you come to. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in retreat.
• Deuteronomy 2:25 Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.’
• Deuteronomy 11:25 No one will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as he has promised you.

Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

• Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
• Joshua 4:23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over,
• Numbers 21:24 And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong.
• Numbers 21:34-35 But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land.

Jos 2:11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

• Exodus 14:14-15 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” 15 The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
• Isaiah 13:7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.
• Deuteronomy 4:39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

Jos 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:
Jos 2:13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

• Judges 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
• Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Jos 2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

• Acts 9:25but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

Jos 2:16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.
Jos 2:17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

• Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

• 1 Kings 2:32 The LORD will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because, without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.
• Matthew 27:25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

Jos 2:20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
Jos 2:21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
Jos 2:22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.
Jos 2:23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:
Jos 2:24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

• Exodus 23:31And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.

Chapter 3

Vernon McGee notes: Chapters 3, 4 — The ark — not the rod of Moses — goes before and divides the Jordan River. The ark goes before, carried by priests. Likewise, Christ goes before us through death, but goes with us through this life. Jordan is typical of Christ’s death, not ours.

Israel Crosses the Jordan

Jos 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
Jos 3:2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
Jos 3:3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

• Numbers 10:33 So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey. And the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them.

Jos 3:4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

• Exodus 19:12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.

Jos 3:5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

• Exodus 19:10, 14, 15 the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments. 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments.
  Exo 19:15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”
• Leviticus 20:7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
• Numbers 11:18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.
• 1 Samuel 16:5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
• Joel 2:16 gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

Jos 3:6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

• Numbers 4:15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

Jos 3:7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

• 1 Chronicles 29:25 And the LORD made Solomon very great in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.
• 2 Chronicles 1:1 Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

Jos 3:8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.
Jos 3:9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.
Jos 3:10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

• Deuteronomy 5:26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived?
• 1 Samuel 17:26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
• 2 Kings 19:4 It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.”
• Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
• Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
• 1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
• Exodus 33:2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
• Deuteronomy 7:1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you,
• Psalms 44:2 you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free;

Jos 3:11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

• Micah 4:13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.
• Zechariah 4:14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
• Zechariah 6:5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

Jos 3:12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.
Jos 3:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

• Psalms 78:13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.
• Psalms 114:3 The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back.

Jos 3:14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

• Acts 7:45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David,

Jos 3:15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

• 1 Chronicles 12:15 These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.
• Jeremiah 12:5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
• Jeremiah 49:19 Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?

Jos 3:16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

• 1 Kings 4:12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam;
• 1 Kings 7:46 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
• Deuteronomy 3:17 the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.
• Genesis 14:3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
• Numbers 34:3 your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east.

Jos 3:17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

Chapter 4

1410 B.C.

Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan

Jos 4:1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,

• Deu 27:2And on the day you cross over the Jordan to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster.

Jos 4:2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

Jos 4:3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

Jos 4:4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:

Jos 4:5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:

Jos 4:6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

• Exo 12:26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’
• Deu 6:20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’

Jos 4:7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

• Exo 12:14 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’
• Num 16:40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said to him through Moses.

Jos 4:8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
Jos 4:9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.

Jos 4:10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.

Jos 4:11 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

Jos 4:12 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:

• Num 32:20, 27, 28 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war, 27 but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord orders.” 28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel.

Jos 4:13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

Jos 4:14 On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

Jos 4:15 And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,

Jos 4:16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.

• Exo 25:16, 22 And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.

Jos 4:17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.

Jos 4:18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

Jos 4:19 And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.

Jos 4:20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.

Jos 4:21 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

Jos 4:22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

Jos 4:23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:

• Exo 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Jos 4:24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.

• 1Ki 8:42,43 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
• 2Ki 19:19 So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”
• Exo 15:16 Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
• 1Ch 29:12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
• Exo 14:31 Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
• Deu 6:2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.
• Jer 10:7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.

Chapter 5

1410 B.C.

Vernon McGee notes: Chapter 5 — Circumcision was neglected in the wilderness. God was teaching them that the old nature is no good and the new nature has no power (Romans 7:18).
The manna ceases and the children of Israel eat the old corn in the new land. Manna is for babes in Christ and represents the days of His flesh. We feed on the living Christ today (2 Corinthians 5:16, 17).
Jesus is the captain of our salvation (vv. 13-15; Hebrews 2:10; 12:1, 2).

The New Generation Circumcised

Jos 5:1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

• Num 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
• Exo 15:14, 15 The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
  Exo 15:15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
• 1Ki 10:5 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her.

Jos 5:2 At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.

• Exo 4:25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

Jos 5:3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.

Jos 5:4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.

• Num 14:29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,
• Num 26:64, 65 But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
  Num 26:65 For the LORD had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
• Deu 2:16 “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people,

Jos 5:5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.

Jos 5:6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

Jos 5:7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.

• Num 14:31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.
• Deu 1:39 And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.

Jos 5:8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.

Jos 5:9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.

• Gen 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.

First Passover in Canaan

Jos 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

• Exo 12:6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
• Num 9:5 And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did.

Jos 5:11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.

Jos 5:12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

• Exo 16:35 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

The Commander of the Lord’s Army

Jos 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

• Gen 18:2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth
• Gen 32:24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
• Exo 23:23 “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,
• Zec 1:8 “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
• Acts 1:10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
• Num 22:23 And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road.

Jos 5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

• Gen 17:3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,

Jos 5:15 And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

• Exo 3:5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
• Acts 7:33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.

Chapter 6

Vernon McGee notes: Chapter 6 — There may be some disagreement between John Garstang and Kathleen Kenyon about the walls in the tell at ancient Jericho, but the faith of the believer does not rest upon the shovel of the archaeologist (Hebrews 11:30). Jericho represents the world to the believer. It is strong and formidable and foreboding — the conquest depends upon faith (1 John 5:4). Hebrews 11 reveals how faith worked in all ages in the lives of God’s choicest servants as they met the world head-on and over- came by faith.

The Fall of Jericho

Jos 6:1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

Jos 6:2 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

• Deu 7:24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

Jos 6:3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

Jos 6:4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

• Judges 7:16, 22 And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. 22. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
• Num 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations.

Jos 6:5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

Jos 6:6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.

Jos 6:7 And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.

Jos 6:8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.

Jos 6:9 And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

• Num 10:25 Then the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

Jos 6:10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

Jos 6:11 So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

Jos 6:12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.

Jos 6:13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

Jos 6:14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

Jos 6:15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.

Jos 6:16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

Jos 6:17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

Jos 6:18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

• Deu 7:26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.
• 1Ki 18:17, 18 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals.
• Jonah 1:12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

Jos 6:19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

Jos 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

• Heb 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

Jos 6:21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

• Deu 7:2 and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.

Jos 6:22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

• Heb 11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

Jos 6:23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

Jos 6:24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

Jos 6:25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

• Mat 1:5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

Jos 6:26 And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

Jos 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.

• 1 Kings 16:34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Chapter 7

Vernon McGee notes: Chapters 7, 8 — (See author’s message, “Ai and I.”) Defeat and victory at Ai represent the flesh in the believer. The sin of Achan was sin in the camp.

• Steps in sins of the flesh (7:21):
• I saw — physical
• I coveted — mental
• I took — volitional.

No deliverance is experienced until sin is dealt with in the life of a believer (Ephesians 4:17-32; 1 John 1:9).

Israel Defeated at Ai

Jos 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

• 1Ch 2:7 The son of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing;

Jos 7:2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.

Jos 7:3 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.

Jos 7:4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.

• Lev 26:17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.
• Deu 28:25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Jos 7:5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

• Lev 26:36 And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues.

Jos 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.

• Gen 37:29, 34 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
• 1 Sa 4:12 A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head.

Jos 7:7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!

• Exo 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
• Num 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

Jos 7:8 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!

Jos 7:9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?

• Deu 32:26 I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces; I will wipe them from human memory,”
• Exo 32:12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.
• Num 14:13 But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them,

The Sin of Achan

Jos 7:10 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?

Jos 7:11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

• Act 5:1, 2 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Jos 7:12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

• Num 14:45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.
• Jdg 2:14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.
• Deu 7:26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.
• Hag 2:13-14 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean.

Jos 7:13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.

• Exo 19:10 the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments

Jos 7:14 In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man.

• Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

Jos 7:15 And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.

• 1Sa 14:38, 39 And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. 39 For as the LORD lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.
• Gen 34:7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done.
• Jdg 20:6 So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and outrage in Israel.

Jos 7:16 So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:

Jos 7:17 And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:

Jos 7:18 And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

• 1Sa 14:42 Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was taken.

Jos 7:19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.

• 1Sa 6:5 So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land.
• Jer 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.
• Joh 9:24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
• Num 5:6-7 “Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, 7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.
• 2Ch 30:22 And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the LORD. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
• Ezr 10:10-11 And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. 11 Now then make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”
• Dan 9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
• 1Sa 14:43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.”

Jos 7:20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:

Jos 7:21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

Jos 7:22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
Jos 7:23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.

Jos 7:24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.

Jos 7:25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.

1Ch 2:7 The son of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing;
Gal 5:12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
Deu 17:15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

Jos 7:26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.

• 2Sa 18:17 And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled every one to his own home.
• Lam 3:53 they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me;
• Deu 13:17 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers,
• 2Sa 21:14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that God responded to the plea for the land.

Chapter 8

1410 B.C.

The Fall of Ai

Jos 8:1 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:

• Deu 1:21 See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
• Deu 7:18  you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,
• Deu 31:8 It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Jos 8:2 And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.

• Deu 20:14  but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you.

Jos 8:3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night.

Jos 8:4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready:

• Jdg 20:29  So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah.

Jos 8:5 And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them,

• Jdg 20:31  And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel.

Jos 8:6 (For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee before them.

Jos 8:7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

Jos 8:8 And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the LORD shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.

• 2 Sam 13:28  Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.”

Jos 8:9 Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.

Jos 8:10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

Jos 8:11 And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between them and Ai.

Jos 8:12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

Jos 8:13 And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

Jos 8:14 And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city.

• Jdg 20:34 And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them.
  
• Ecc 9:12  For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
  

Jos 8:15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

• Jdg 20:36  So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.

Jos 8:16 And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.

Jos 8:17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.

Jos 8:18 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.

Jos 8:19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire.

Jos 8:20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

Jos 8:21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and slew the men of Ai.

Jos 8:22 And the other issued out of the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

• Deu 7:2  and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.

Jos 8:23 And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.

Jos 8:24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.

Jos 8:25 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.

Jos 8:26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

Jos 8:27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua.

• Num 31:22, 26 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 26  “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation,

Jos 8:28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day.

• Deu 13:16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again.

Jos 8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.

• Deu 21:22, 23  “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23  his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

Jos 8:30 Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,

• Deu 27:4, 5  And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. 5  And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them;

Jos 8:31 As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

• Exo 20:25  If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.
• Deu 27:5  And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them;
• Exo 20:24  An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

Jos 8:32 And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.

• Deu 27:2, 8  And on the day you cross over the Jordan to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. 8  And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”

Jos 8:33 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

• Deu 31:9, 25 Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 25  Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD,
• Deu 31:12  Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law,
• Deu 11:29  And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
• Deu 27:12  “When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Jos 8:34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

• Deu 31:11  when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
• Neh 8:3  And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.
• Deu 28:2, 15, 45  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 15  “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. 45  “All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.
• Deu 29:20, 21 The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.
• Deu 30:19  I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

Jos 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.

• Deu 31:12  Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law,

Chapter 9

Vernon McGee notes: Chapter 9 — This begins the campaign in the south. Having driven a wedge into the heart of the land and divided it, now Joshua can go against each section piecemeal. Joshua has been compared to Alexander the Great and Hannibal as a great general. Divide and conquer was the strategy used by Joshua.
He was deceived by the Gibeonites into making a treaty with them that was contrary to the express command of God
(Deuteronomy 7:1, 2). The Gibeonites represent the devil with all his cunning and cleverness. We are no match for him (Ephesians 6:11, 16; Revelation 12:9).

The Gibeonite Deception

Jos 9:1 As soon as all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this,

• Num 34:6  “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.
• Exo 3:17  and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”‘
• Exo 23:23  “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,

Jos 9:2 they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.

• Psa 83:3, 5 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. 4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”  5 For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant—

Jos 9:3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,

• 2Sa 21:1, 2  Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2  So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.

Jos 9:4 they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended,

Jos 9:5 with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly.

Jos 9:6 And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.”

Jos 9:7 But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?”

• Exo 23:32  You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.

Jos 9:8 They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?”

• Deu 20:11  And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you.

Jos 9:9 They said to him, “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt,

• Deu 20:15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.
• Exo 15:14  The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

Jos 9:10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

• Num 21:24, 33  And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 33  Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

Jos 9:11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.”‘

Jos 9:12 Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly.

Jos 9:13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.”

Jos 9:14 So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD.

• Num 27:21  And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.”

Jos 9:15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.

• 2Sa 21:2  And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.”

Jos 9:16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them.

Jos 9:17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.

Jos 9:18 But the people of Israel did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.

• Psa 15:4  in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

Jos 9:19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.

Jos 9:20 This we will do to them: let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.”

• 2Sa 21:1, 2, 6  Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2  So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 6  let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
• Eze 17:13, 15  And he took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (the chief men of the land he had taken away), 15  But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?

Jos 9:21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.

• Deu 29:11  your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water,

Jos 9:22 Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us?

Jos 9:23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything but servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.”

• Gen 9:25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

Jos 9:24 They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing.

• Exo 23:32  You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.
• Deu 7:1, 2  “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2  and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
• Exo 15:14 The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

Jos 9:25 And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.”

• Gen 16:6  But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

Jos 9:26 So he did this to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel, and they did not kill them.

Jos 9:27 But Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place that he should choose.

• Deu 12:5 But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go,

Chapter 10

Vernon McGee notes: Chapter 10 — Joshua conquers 5 kings of the Amorites (v. 5) as he continues the campaign in the south. He completes the campaign in the south by the destruction of Makkedah, Lachish, Libnah, Eglon, Hebron and Debir (vv. 29- 40).

This chapter contains the account of the long day of Joshua. “Did Joshua make the sun stand still?” is a question that is asked by skeptic and saint alike. Following are some proposed explanations of the long day of Joshua:

(1) It is the practice of some to avoid giving any interpretation. They ignore it entirely as if it were not worthy of comment.
(2) Some treat the language as poetic (v. 12). This is to adopt a non-literal interpretation that dismisses the miraculous from the incident entirely. Those who hold to this view generally refer to Judges 5:20 “…the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” We refuse to dismiss this as poetic. We do not have enough information to state dogmatically that these are poetic statements and not mat- ters of fact. It reminds us of the old bromide that poetic language is sometimes prosaic lying.
(3) Some call this a miracle of refraction. The emphasis is placed on verse 13.
(4) Some adopt the position that God stopped the entire solar sys- tem (v. 12). They make Joshua’s day 23 hours and 20 minutes. The other 40 minutes are found in 2 Kings 20:8-11.
(5) Some adopt the position that God blacked out the sun rather than continued its shining. The Berkeley Version translates it, “O sun, wait in Gibeon,” the ASV, “be silent.” Maunder in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia takes this position. Joshua had made a forced march all night (about 40 miles), attacked the enemy from the rear — came suddenly upon them. It was July — about 105o to 120o in the shade, and there was no shade. Joshua did not want more sun — he wanted less sun.
(6) The best explanation, it seems, is a combination of numbers 4 and 5. Joshua needed more light and less heat. God covered the sun with a storm of hailstones (v. 11). God slowed down the earth (v. 12). “Upon Gibeon” indicates that the sun was directly over —
bisecting Gibeon — and the moon was going down “in the valley of Aijalon.” This is a miracle!

The Sun Stands Still

Jos 10:1 As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,

Jos 10:2 he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors.

• Exo 15:14-16  The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. 16 Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
• Deu 11:25  No one shall be able to stand against you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.

Jos 10:3 So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,

Jos 10:4 “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.”

Jos 10:5 Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.

Jos 10:6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.”

Jos 10:7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.

Jos 10:8 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.”

• Jdg 4:14  And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.

Jos 10:9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal.

Jos 10:10 And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

• Jdg 4:15  And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot.
• 1Sa 7:10, 12 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.”
• Isa 28:21 For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed—strange is his deed! and to work his work—alien is his work!

Jos 10:11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

• Isa 30:30  And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones.
• Rev 16:21  And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Jos 10:12 At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”

• Isa 28:21  For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed—strange is his deed! and to work his work—alien is his work!
• Hab 3:11  The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear.
• Jdg 12:12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.

• 2Sa 1:18 and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:

Jos 10:14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15 So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

• Isa 38:8  Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
• Deu 1:30  The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

Five Amorite Kings Executed

Jos 10:16 These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.

Jos 10:17 And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”

Jos 10:18 And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them,

Jos 10:19 but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the LORD your God has given them into your hand.”

Jos 10:20 When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities,

Jos 10:21 then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

• Exo 11:7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’

Jos 10:22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.”

Jos 10:23 And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

Jos 10:24 And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks.

• Psa 107:40 he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
• Isa 26:5, 6 For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. 6 The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.”
• Mal 4:3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.

Jos 10:25 And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”

• Deu 31:6, 8 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” 8 It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
• Deu 3:21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing.
• Deu 7:19 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Jos 10:26 And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening.

Jos 10:27 But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.

• Deu 21:23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
• Deu 8:29 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

Jos 10:28 As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Conquest of Southern Canaan

Jos 10:29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.

Jos 10:30 And the LORD gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

Jos 10:31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it.

Jos 10:32 And the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.

Jos 10:33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining.

Jos 10:34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it.

Jos 10:35 And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.

Jos 10:36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron. And they fought against it

• Jdg 1:10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.

Jos 10:37 and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it.

Jos 10:38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Debir and fought against it

• Jdg 1:11  From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher.

Jos 10:39 and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.

Jos 10:40 So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the LORD God of Israel commanded.

• Deu 20:16, 17 But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded,

Jos 10:41 And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon.

• Gen 10:19  And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

Jos 10:42 And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.

Jos 10:43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Chapter 11

1410 BC

Vernon McGee notes:Chapter 11 — This contains the campaign in the north and the conclusion of Joshua’s leadership in war (v. 23).

Conquests in Northern Canaan

Jos 11:1 When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph,

Jos 11:2 and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west,

• Num 34:11 And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east.
• Jdg 1:27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.
• 1Ki 4:11  Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);

Jos 11:3 to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

• Jdg 3:3  These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.
• Gen 31:49  and Mizpah, for he said, “The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight.

Jos 11:4 And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.

• Gen 22:17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
• Gen 32:12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'”
  
• Jdg 7:12  And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.
• 1Sa 13:5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.

Jos 11:5 And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

Jos 11:6 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”

• 2Sa 8:4 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.

Jos 11:7 So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them.

Jos 11:8 And the LORD gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining.

Jos 11:9 And Joshua did to them just as the LORD said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

Jos 11:10 And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms.

Jos 11:11 And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction; there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire.

Jos 11:12 And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.

• Num 33:52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.

Jos 11:13 But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned.

Jos 11:14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed.

Jos 11:15 Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.

• Exo 34:11, 12 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.
• Deu 31:7, 8 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. 8 It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
• Deu 7:24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

Jos 11:16 So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland

Jos 11:17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death.

Jos 11:18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.

Jos 11:19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle.

Jos 11:20 For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

• Deu 2:30  But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.
• Jdg 14:4  His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
• 1Sa 2:25  If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.
• Deu 20:16, 17 But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded,

Jos 11:21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities.

• Num 13:22, 33 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs.
• Deu 1:28  Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”‘

Jos 11:22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain.

• 1Sa 17:4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

Jos 11:23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

• Num 34:2  “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders),
• Num 26:53  “Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names.

Chapter 12

1400 B.C.

Vernon McGee notes: Chapter 12 — Log of Joshua’s campaigns.

Kings Defeated by Moses

Jos 12:1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward:

• Num 21:24  And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong.
• Deu 3:8, 9 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir),

Jos 12:2 Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead,

• Num 21:24  And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong.

Jos 12:3 and the Arabah to the Sea of Chinneroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah;

• Deu 3:17  the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

Jos 12:4 and Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei

• Num 21:33  Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
• Deu 3:4, 10  And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 10  all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
• Deu 3:11  (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
• Deu 1:4  after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei.

Jos 12:5 and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and all Bashan to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon king of Heshbon.

• Deu 3:8, 10, 14 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 10  all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 14  Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.)

Jos 12:6 Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the people of Israel defeated them. And Moses the servant of the LORD gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

• Num 21:24, 35  And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 35  So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land.
• Num 32:29, 33  And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. 33  And Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country.

Kings Defeated by Joshua

Jos 12:7 And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments,

• Gen 14:6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness
• Gen 32:3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,
• Deu 2:1, 4  “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 4  and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful.

Jos 12:8 in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites):

• Exo 3:8  and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
• Exo 23:23  “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,

Jos 12:9 the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;

Jos 12:10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
Jos 12:11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
Jos 12:12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
Jos 12:13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;
Jos 12:14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
Jos 12:15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
Jos 12:16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;

• Jdg 1:22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

Jos 12:17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;

• 1Ki 4:10  Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher);

Jos 12:18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;

• Isa 33:9  The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

Jos 12:19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
Jos 12:20 the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
Jos 12:21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
Jos 12:22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;
Jos 12:23 the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Galilee, one;

• Gen 14:1, 2  In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2  these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
• Isa 9:1  But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

Jos 12:24 the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

Chapter 13

1400 B.C.

Vernon McGee notes: Chapter 13 — Not all the land was occupied and possessed

Land Still to Be Conquered

Jos 13:1 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.

Jos 13:2 This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites

• Jdg 3:1  Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan.
• Joe 3:4  “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily.
• 2Sa 3:3  and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;

Jos 13:3 (from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim,

• Deu 2:23  As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.)
• Jdg 3:3  These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.
• Jer 2:18  And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

Jos 13:4 in the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites,

• Jdg 1:34  The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.

Jos 13:5 and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath,

• Eze 27:9  The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you, caulking your seams; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to barter for your wares.
• 1Ki 5:18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.
• Jdg 1:34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.

Jos 13:6 all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.

• Jdg 2:21, 23  I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 23  So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Jos 13:7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”

The Inheritance East of the Jordan

Jos 13:8 With the other half of the tribe of Manasseh the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them:

• Num 32:33  And Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country.
• Deu 3:12  “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities.

Jos 13:9 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland of Medeba as far as Dibon;

• Num 21:30 So we overthrew them; Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished; and we laid waste as far as Nophah; fire spread as far as Medeba.”

Jos 13:10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites;

• Num 21:24, 25  And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25  And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.

Jos 13:11 and Gilead, and the region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah;

Jos 13:12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); these Moses had struck and driven out.

• Num 21:24, 25 And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25  And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.
• Deu 3:11  (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)

Jos 13:13 Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.

Jos 13:14 To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.

• Num 18:20, 23, 24  And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. 23 But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting,  and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24  For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”

Jos 13:15 And Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the people of Reuben according to their clans.

Jos 13:16 So their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Medeba;

• Num 21:28, 30  For fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It devoured Ar of Moab, and swallowed the heights of the Arnon. 30  So we overthrew them; Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished; and we laid waste as far as Nophah; fire spread as far as Medeba.”

Jos 13:17 with Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon,

Jos 13:18 and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,

• Num 21:23  But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

Jos 13:19 and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley,

• Num 32:37, 38 And the people of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names were changed), and Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built.

Jos 13:20 and Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth,

• Deu 3:17  the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

Jos 13:21 that is, all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.

• Deu 3:10  all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
• Num 21:24  And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong.
• Num 31:8  They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

Jos 13:22 Balaam also, the son of Beor, the one who practiced divination, was killed with the sword by the people of Israel among the rest of their slain.

• Num 22:5  sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.
• Num 31:8  They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

Jos 13:23 And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary. This was the inheritance of the people of Reuben, according to their clans with their cities and villages.

Jos 13:24 Moses gave an inheritance also to the tribe of Gad, to the people of Gad, according to their clans.

Jos 13:25 Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aroer, which is east of Rabbah,

• Num 32:35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
• Num 21:26, 28, 29  For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 28  For fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It devoured Ar of Moab, and swallowed the heights of the Arnon. 29  Woe to you, O Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters captives, to an Amorite king, Sihon.
• Deu 2:19  And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’
• Jdg 11:13, 15  And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 15  and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,
• 2Sa 11:1  In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
• 2Sa 12:26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city.

Jos 13:26 and from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir,

Jos 13:27 and in the valley Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary, to the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan.

• Num 32:36  Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.
• Gen 33:17  But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
• 1Ki 7:46  In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
• Num 34:11  And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east.

Jos 13:28 This is the inheritance of the people of Gad according to their clans, with their cities and villages.

Jos 13:29 And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was allotted to the half-tribe of the people of Manasseh according to their clans.

Jos 13:30 Their region extended from Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities,

• Num 32:41  And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.
• 1Ch 2:23  But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead.

Jos 13:31 and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. These were allotted to the people of Machir the son of Manasseh for the half of the people of Machir according to their clans.

• Num 32:39, 40 And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it.

Jos 13:32 These are the inheritances that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho.

Jos 13:33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them.

• Num 18:20  And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.
• Deu 10:9 Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.)
• Deu 18:1, 2 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the LORD’s food offerings as their inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them.

Chapter 14

1400 B.C.

Vernon McGee notes: Chapter 14 — Hebron given to Caleb, born a slave, companion of Joshua. These two men were the only spies who brought back a favorable report (Numbers 14:6-9).Caleb found the fountain of youth (v. 11). He had:
(1) Faith to forget the past
(2) Faith to face facts
(3) Faith to face the future

The Inheritance West of the Jordan

Jos 14:1 These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit.

• Num 34:17, 18  “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one chief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance.

Jos 14:2 Their inheritance was by lot, just as the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes.

• Num 26:55  But the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.
• Num 33:54  You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit.
• Num 34:13  Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe.

Jos 14:3 For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.

Jos 14:4 For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance.

• Gen 48:5  And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
• 1Ch 5:1, 2 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; 2 though Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph),

Jos 14:5 The people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses; they allotted the land.

• Num 35:2  “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.

Caleb’s Request and Inheritance

Jos 14:6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me.

• Num 32:12  none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’
• Num 14:24, 30  But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 30  not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
• Num 13:26  And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

Jos 14:7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart.

• Num 13:6  from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

Jos 14:8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God.

• Num 13:31, 32 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
• Num 14:24  But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
• Deu 1:36  except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’

Jos 14:9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’

• Num 14:23, 24 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
• Num 13:22  They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

Jos 14:10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old.

Jos 14:11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming.

• Deu 34:7  Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.
• Deu 31:2  And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’

Jos 14:12 So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”

• Num 13:28, 33  However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 33  And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
• Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
• Jdg 1:20  And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.

Jos 14:13 Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.

Jos 14:14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.

Jos 14:15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.

• Gen 23:2  And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

Chapter 15

1400 B.C.

The Allotment for Judah

Jos 15:1 The allotment for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.

• Num 34:3  your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east.
• Num 33:36  And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh).

Jos 15:2 And their south boundary ran from the end of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward.

Jos 15:3 It goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka,

• Num 34:4 And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon.

Jos 15:4 passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary.

• Num 34:5  And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

Jos 15:5 And the east boundary is the Salt Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.

Jos 15:6 And the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah and passes along north of Beth-arabah. And the boundary goes up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.

Jos 15:7 And the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley. And the boundary passes along to the waters of En-shemesh and ends at En-rogel.

• 2Sa 17:17  Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city.
• 1Ki 1:9  Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent’s Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah,

Jos 15:8 Then the boundary goes up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.

• 2Ki 23:10  And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.
• Jer 19:2, 6  and go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 6  therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
• Jdg 1:21  But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

Jos 15:9 Then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron. Then the boundary bends around to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).

• 1Ch 13:6 And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD who sits enthroned above the cherubim.
• Jdg 18:12  and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

Jos 15:10 And the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh and passes along by Timnah.

• Gen 38:13  And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
• Jdg 14:1  Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines.

Jos 15:11 The boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron and passes along to Mount Baalah and goes out to Jabneel. Then the boundary comes to an end at the sea.

Jos 15:12 And the west boundary was the Great Sea with its coastline. This is the boundary around the people of Judah according to their clans.

• Num 34:6, 7 “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border. 7 “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor.

Jos 15:13 According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).

Jos 15:14 And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.

• Jdg 1:10, 20  And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai. 20  And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.
• Num 13:22 They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

Jos 15:15 And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher.

• Jdg 1:11  From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher.

Jos 15:16 And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.”

• Jdg 1:12  And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.”

Jos 15:17 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

• Jdg 1:13 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife.
• Jdg 3:9  But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
• Num 32:12  none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’

Jos 15:18 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”

• Jdg 1:14  When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”
• Gen 24:64  And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel
• 1Sa 25:23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.

Jos 15:19 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

• Gen 33:11  Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

Jos 15:20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans.

Jos 15:21 The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

Jos 15:22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,

Jos 15:23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan,
Jos 15:24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,
Jos 15:25 Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor),
Jos 15:26 Amam, Shema, Moladah,
Jos 15:27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet,
Jos 15:28 Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,
Jos 15:29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem,
Jos 15:30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,
Jos 15:31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,

• 1Sa 27:6  So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

Jos 15:32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine cities with their villages.
Jos 15:33 And in the lowland, Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

• Num 13:23  And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs.

Jos 15:34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam,
Jos 15:35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,
Jos 15:36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen cities with their villages.
Jos 15:37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad,
Jos 15:38 Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel,

• 2Ki 14:7  He struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by storm, and called it Joktheel, which is its name to this day.

Jos 15:39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,
Jos 15:40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish,
Jos 15:41 Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities with their villages.
Jos 15:42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan,
Jos 15:43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,
Jos 15:44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages.
Jos 15:45 Ekron, with its towns and its villages;
Jos 15:46 from Ekron to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages.
Jos 15:47 Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Brook of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coastline.

• Num 34:6  “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.

Jos 15:48 And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,
Jos 15:49 Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),
Jos 15:50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,
Jos 15:51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities with their villages.
Jos 15:52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan,
Jos 15:53 Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah,
Jos 15:54 Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior: nine cities with their villages.
Jos 15:55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,
Jos 15:56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,
Jos 15:57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities with their villages.
Jos 15:58 Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor,
Jos 15:59 Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages.
Jos 15:60 Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah: two cities with their villages.
Jos 15:61 In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah,
Jos 15:62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and Engedi: six cities with their villages.
Jos 15:63 But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

• Jdg 1:8, 21  And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. 21  But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
• 2Sa 5:6  And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off”—thinking, “David cannot come in here.”

Chapter 16

1400 B.C.

The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh

Jos 16:1 The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel.

Jos 16:2 Then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites.

• Jdg 1:26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.

Jos 16:3 Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea.

• 2Ch 8:5  He also built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,
• 1Ki 9:15  And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the LORD and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer
• 1Ch 7:28  Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer and its towns, Shechem and its towns, and Ayyah and its towns;

Jos 16:4 The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.

Jos 16:5 The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon,

• 2Ch 8:5  He also built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,

Jos 16:6 and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah,

Jos 16:7 then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan.

• 1Ch 7:28  Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer and its towns, Shechem and its towns, and Ayyah and its towns;

Jos 16:8 From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans,

Jos 16:9 together with the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages.

Jos 16:10 However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.

• Jdg 1:29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
• 1Ki 9:16  (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife;

Chapter 17

1400 B.C.

Jos 17:1 Then allotment was made to the people of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war.

• Gen 41:51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”
• Gen 46:20  And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him.
• Gen 48:18  And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.”
• Gen 50:23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own.
• Deu 3:15 To Machir I gave Gilead,

Jos 17:2 And allotments were made to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans.

• Num 26:29-32 The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the clan of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites. 30 These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites; of Helek, the clan of the Helekites; 31 and of Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites; 32 and of Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites.
• 1Ch 7:18  And his sister Hammolecheth bore Ishhod, Abiezer and Mahlah.
• Num 26:30-32 These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites; of Helek, the clan of the Helekites; 31 and of Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites; 32 and of Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites.

Jos 17:3 Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

• Num 26:33  Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters. And the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
• Num 27:1  Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
• Num 36:2  They said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.

Jos 17:4 They approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.

• Num 27:6-7 And the LORD said to Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them.

Jos 17:5 Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan,

Jos 17:6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh.

Jos 17:7 The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of Entappuah.

Jos 17:8 The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim.

Jos 17:9 Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea,

Jos 17:10 the land to the south being Ephraim’s and that to the north being Manasseh’s, with the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar.

Jos 17:11 Also in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Naphath.

• 1Ch 7:29  also in possession of the Manassites, Beth-shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, Dor and its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel.
• 1Sa 31:10  They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
• 1Ki 4:12  Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam;

Jos 17:12 Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.

• Jdg 1:27-28 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.

Jos 17:13 Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.

Jos 17:14 Then the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the LORD has blessed me?”

• Gen 48:22  Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”
• Gen 48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”
• Num 26:34, 37  These are the clans of Manasseh, and those listed were 52,700. 37  These are the clans of the sons of Ephraim as they were listed, 32,500. These are the sons of Joseph according to their clans.

Jos 17:15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”

Jos 17:16 The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”

• Jdg 1:19  And the LORD was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.
• Jdg 4:3  Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.
• 1Ki 4:12  Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam;

Jos 17:17 Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only,

Jos 17:18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

• Deu 20:1  “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

Chapter 18

1400 B.C.

Allotment of the Remaining Land

Jos 18:1 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.

• Jer 7:12  Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.
• Jdg 18:31  So they set up Micah’s carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.
• 1Sa 1:3, 24  Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD. 24  And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young.
• 1Sa 4:3, 4 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

Jos 18:2 There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned.

Jos 18:3 So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

• Jdg 18:9  They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land.

Jos 18:4 Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me.

Jos 18:5 They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall continue in his territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north.

Jos 18:6 And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.

Jos 18:7 The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage. And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.”

Jos 18:8 So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.”

Jos 18:9 So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh,

Jos 18:10 and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion.

The Inheritance for Benjamin

Jos 18:11 The lot of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to its clans came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph.

Jos 18:12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan. Then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward, and it ends at the wilderness of Bethaven.

Jos 18:13 From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.

• Gen 28:19  He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
• Jdg 1:23  And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.)

Jos 18:14 Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city belonging to the people of Judah. This forms the western side.

Jos 18:15 And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. And the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

Jos 18:16 Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim. And it then goes down the Valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel.

Jos 18:17 Then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it goes down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,

Jos 18:18 and passing on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-arabah it goes down to the Arabah.

Jos 18:19 Then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-hoglah. And the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border.

Jos 18:20 The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin, according to their clans, boundary by boundary all around.

Jos 18:21 Now the cities of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to their clans were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

Jos 18:22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
Jos 18:23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
Jos 18:24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba—twelve cities with their villages:
Jos 18:25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
Jos 18:26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,
Jos 18:27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
Jos 18:28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin according to its clans.

Chapter 19

1400 B.C.

The Inheritance for Simeon

Jos 19:1 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah.

Jos 19:2 And they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah,

• 1Ch 4:28  They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual,

Jos 19:3 Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem,
Jos 19:4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,
Jos 19:5 Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,
Jos 19:6 Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities with their villages;
Jos 19:7 Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages,
Jos 19:8 together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans.

Jos 19:9 The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

The Inheritance for Zebulun

Jos 19:10 The third lot came up for the people of Zebulun, according to their clans. And the territory of their inheritance reached as far as Sarid.

Jos 19:11 Then their boundary goes up westward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of Jokneam.

• Gen 49:13  “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.

Jos 19:12 From Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor. From there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia.

Jos 19:13 From there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah,

Jos 19:14 then on the north the boundary turns about to Hannathon, and it ends at the Valley of Iphtahel;

Jos 19:15 and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities with their villages.

Jos 19:16 This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Issachar

Jos 19:17 The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the people of Issachar, according to their clans.

Jos 19:18 Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

Jos 19:19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,

Jos 19:20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
Jos 19:21 Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez.
Jos 19:22 The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages.

Jos 19:23 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Asher

Jos 19:24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans.

Jos 19:25 Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,

Jos 19:26 Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-libnath,

Jos 19:27 then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to Cabul,

Jos 19:28 Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great.

• Jdg 1:31  Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob,

Jos 19:29 Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib,

• 2Sa 5:11  And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house.
• Jdg 1:31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob,

Jos 19:30 Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages.

Jos 19:31 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Naphtali

Jos 19:32 The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans.

Jos 19:33 And their boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan.

Jos 19:34 Then the boundary turns westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south and Asher on the west and Judah on the east at the Jordan.

• Deu 33:23  And of Naphtali he said, “O Naphtali, sated with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD, possess the lake and the south.”

Jos 19:35 The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,

Jos 19:36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,
Jos 19:37 Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,
Jos 19:38 Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen cities with their villages.
Jos 19:39 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Naphtali according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Dan

Jos 19:40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans.

Jos 19:41 And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

Jos 19:42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

• Jdg 1:35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor.

Jos 19:43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron,
Jos 19:44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,
Jos 19:45 Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,
Jos 19:46 and Me-jarkon and Rakkon with the territory over against Joppa.
Jos 19:47 When the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.

• Jdg 18:29  And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first.

Jos 19:48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Joshua

Jos 19:49 When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.

Jos 19:50 By command of the LORD they gave him the city that he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.

• 1Ch 7:24  His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah.

Jos 19:51 These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

• Num 34:17  “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.

Chapter 20

1400 B.C.

The Cities of Refuge

Jos 20:1 Then the LORD said to Joshua,

Jos 20:2  “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

• Exo 21:13  But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.

• Num 35:6, 11, 14  “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 11  then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 14  You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge.

• Deu 19:2, 9  you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 9  provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the LORD your God and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three,

Jos 20:3  that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.

Jos 20:4 He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.

Jos 20:5 And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past.

• Num 35:12  The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

Jos 20:6 And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.'”

• Num 35:25  And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

Jos 20:7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

• 1Ch 6:76  and out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, Hammon with its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim with its pasturelands.
• 2Ch 10:1  Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
• Luk 1:39  In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,

Jos 20:8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

• Deu 4:43  Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
• 1Ch 6:78  and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands,
• 1Ki 22:3  And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?”

Jos 20:9 These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.

• Num 35:15  These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

Chapter 21

1400 B.C.

Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi

Jos 21:1 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel.

Jos 21:2 And they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.”

• Num 35:12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

Jos 21:3 So by command of the LORD the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.

Jos 21:4 The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

Jos 21:5 And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

Jos 21:6 The Gershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

Jos 21:7 The Merarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

Jos 21:8 These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

• Num 35:2  “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.

Jos 21:9 Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name,

Jos 21:10 which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first.

Jos 21:11 They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it.

• 1Ch 6:55  to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands,
• Gen 23:2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
• Luk 1:39  In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,

Jos 21:12 But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

• 1Ch 6:56  but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

Jos 21:13 And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands,

• 1Ch 6:57  To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:14 Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:15 Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,

• 1Ch 6:58  Hilen with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:16 Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes;

• 1Ch 6:59  Ashan with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands;

Jos 21:17 then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:18 Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities.

• 1Ch 6:60  and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon, Geba with its pasturelands, Alemeth with its pasturelands, and Anathoth with its pasturelands. All their cities throughout their clans were thirteen.

Jos 21:19 The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

Jos 21:20 As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim.

• 1Ch 6:66  And some of the clans of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory out of the tribe of Ephraim.

Jos 21:21 To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:22 Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities;

Jos 21:23 and out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands,
Jos 21:24 Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities;
Jos 21:25 and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities.

Jos 21:26 The cities of the clans of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all with their pasturelands.

Jos 21:27 And to the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities;

• 1Ch 6:71  To the Gershomites were given out of the clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands and Ashtaroth with its pasturelands;

Jos 21:28 and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:29 Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities;

Jos 21:30 and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:31 Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities;

Jos 21:32 and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities.

Jos 21:33 The cities of the several clans of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

Jos 21:34 And to the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans, were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,

• 1Ch 6:77  To the rest of the Merarites were allotted out of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono with its pasturelands, Tabor with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:35 Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities;

Jos 21:36 and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities;

Jos 21:38 and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands,

Jos 21:39 Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

Jos 21:40 As for the cities of the several Merarite clans, that is, the remainder of the clans of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.

Jos 21:41 The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands.

• Num 35:7  All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands.

Jos 21:42 These cities each had its pasturelands around it. So it was with all these cities.

Jos 21:43 Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there.

• Gen 13:15  for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.
• Gen 15:18  On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
• Gen 26:3  Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
• Gen 28:4, 13  May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” 13  And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.

Jos 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands.

• Deu 7:24  And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

Jos 21:45 Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Chapter 22

1400 B.C.

Jos 22:1 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

Jos 22:2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you.

• Num 32:20  So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war,
• Deu 3:18  “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel.

Jos 22:3 You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God.

Jos 22:4 And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

• Num 32:33  And Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country.

rest: God gave them the land, they are no longer at war with all the people in the land. Rest, mission accomplishment, relax, your burden is over.

Genesis 17:8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Deu 7:22-23 The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. Deu 7:23 But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.

2 Cor 4:13-15 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 2Co 4:14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 2Co 4:15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Jos 22:5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

• Deu 6:6, 17  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 17  You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you.
• Deu 11:22  For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him,
• Jer 12:16  And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people.
• Deu 10:12  “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Only: translates as “above all”.

the law = the Torah. The 10 commandments.

Reminders to DO THIS:
1. Love the Lord your God
2 Walk in His ways
3. Keep his commandments
4. Reman faithful (cling)
5. Serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Total commitment, be “all in!”

Mat 22:35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
Mat 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Mat 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the great and first commandment.

Jos 22:6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

• Gen 47:7  Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
• Exo 39:43  And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.
• 2Sa 6:18  And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts
• Luk 24:50  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.

Jos 22:7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them,

Jos 22:8 he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”

• Num 31:27  and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.

bronze & iron = used for weapons

livestock = food, milk, sustainment

Jos 22:9 So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the LORD through Moses.

• Num 32:1, 26, 29  Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 26  Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, 29  And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession.

The Eastern Tribes’ Altar of Witness

Jos 22:10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.

Jos 22:11 And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.”

• Deu 13:12  “If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to dwell there,
• Jdg 20:12  And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you?

Jos 22:12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.

• Jdg 20:1  Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at Mizpah.

Jos 22:13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

• Deu 13:14  then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you,
• Jdg 20:12  And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you?
• Exo 6:25  Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their clans.
• Num 25:7, 11-13  When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'”

Jos 22:14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.

• Num 1:4  And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.

Jos 22:15 And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them,

Jos 22:16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the LORD?

• Lev 17:8, 9 “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9  and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man shall be cut off from his people.
• Deu 12:13, 14 Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, 14 but at the place that the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.

Jos 22:17 Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD,

• Num 25:3, 4  So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4  And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.”
• Deu 4:3  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor.

Jos 22:18 that you too must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if you too rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

• Num 16:22  And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”

Jos 22:19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the LORD’s land where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

Jos 22:20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.'”

Jos 22:21 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,

Jos 22:22 “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today

• Deu 10:17  For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
• Job 10:7  although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand?
• Job 23:10  But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
• Jer 12:3  But you, O LORD, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
• 2Co 11:11, 31  And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 31  The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

Jos 22:23 for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself take vengeance.

• Deu 18:19  And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
• 1Sa 20:16  And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.”

Jos 22:24 No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

Jos 22:25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD.

Jos 22:26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice,

Jos 22:27 but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD.”‘

• Gen 31:48  Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed,
• Deu 12:5  But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go,

Jos 22:28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.”‘

Jos 22:29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!”

• Deu 12:13, 14 Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, 14 but at the place that the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.

Jos 22:30 When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes.

Jos 22:31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD.”

• Lev 26:11, 12 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
• 2Ch 15:2  and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

Jos 22:32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them.

Jos 22:33 And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled.

• 1Ch 29:20  Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the LORD your God.” And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king.
• Neh 8:6  And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
• Dan 2:19  Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
• Luk 2:28  he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

Jos 22:34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

Chapter 23

1390 B.C.

1 A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, Joshua was old, advanced in age.

2 So Joshua summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in age,

• Deu 31:28  Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

3 and you have seen for yourselves everything the LORD your God did to all these nations on your account, because it was the LORD your God who was fighting for you.

• Exo 14:14  The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

4 See, I have allotted these remaining nations to you as an inheritance for your tribes, including all the nations I have destroyed, from the Jordan westward to the Mediterranean Sea.

5 The LORD your God will force them back on your account and drive them out before you so that you can take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.

• Exo 23:30  Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.
• Exo 33:2  I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
• Num 33:53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.

6 “Be very strong and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left

• Deu 5:32  You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

7 and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them; do not serve them or bow in worship to them.

• Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
• Deu 7:1, 3  “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 3  You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,
• Pro 4:14  Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.
• Eph 5:11  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
• Exo 23:13  “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.
• Jer 5:7  “How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores.
• Zep 1:5  those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom,
• Num 32:38  Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names were changed), and Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built.

8 Instead, be loyal to the LORD your God, as you have been to this day.

• Deu 10:20  You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear.

9 “The LORD has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and no one is able to stand against you to this day.

• Deu 11:23  then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you.

10 One of you routed a thousand because the LORD your God was fighting for you, as he promised.,

• Lev 26:8  Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
• Exo 14:14  The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

11 So diligently watch yourselves! Love the LORD your God!

12 If you ever turn away and become loyal to the rest of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry or associate with them and they with you,

• 2Pe 2:20, 21  For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21  For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
• Deu 7:3  You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,

13 know for certain that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you. They will become a snare and a trap for you, a sharp stick for your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you disappear from this good land the LORD your God has given you.

• Jdg 2:3  So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”
• Exo 23:3  nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

14 “I am now going the way of the whole earth, and you know with all your heart and all your soul that none of the good promises the LORD your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.

• 1Ki 2:2  “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man,
• Luk 21:33  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

15 Since every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come about, so he will bring on you every bad thing until he has annihilated you from this good land the LORD your God has given you.

• Deu 28:63  And as the LORD took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
• Deu 28:15  “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

16 If you break the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow in worship to them, the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly disappear from this good land he has given you.”

REVIEW OF ISRAEL’S HISTORY

Chapter 24

1390 B.C.

1 Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem and summoned Israel’s elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and they presented themselves before God.

• Gen 35:4  So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
• 1Sa 10:19  But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”

2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.

• Gen 11:26, 31  When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 31  Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.

3 But I took your father Abraham from the region beyond the Euphrates River, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

• Gen 12:1  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
• Act 7:2, 3  And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’
• Psa 127:3  Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.

4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau as a possession.  “ ‘Jacob and his sons, however, went down to Egypt.

• Gen 25:24-26 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
• Gen 36:8  So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)
• Deu 2:5  Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
• Gen 46:1, 6  So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 6  They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him,

5 I sent Moses and Aaron, and I defeated Egypt by what I did within it, and afterward I brought you out.

• Exo 3:10  Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

6 When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen as far as the sea.

• Exo 12:37, 51  And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 51  And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

7 Your ancestors cried out to the LORD, so he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea over them, engulfing them. Your own eyes saw what I did to Egypt. After that, you lived in the wilderness a long time.

• Deu 4:34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

8 “ ‘Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You possessed their land, and I annihilated them before you.

• Num 21:21, 33 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 33  Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

9 Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

• Jdg 11:25  Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?
• Num 22:5  sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.

10 but I would not listen to Balaam. Instead, he repeatedly blessed you, and I rescued you from him.

• Deu 23:5  But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you.
• Num 23:11, 20  And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 20  Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

11 “ ‘You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. Jericho’s citizens—as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hethites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites—fought against you, but I handed them over to you.

12 I sent hornets, ahead of you, and they drove out the two Amorite kings before you. It was not by your sword or bow.

• Exo 23:28  And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.
• Psa 44:3, 6  for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. 6  For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.

13 I gave you a land you did not labor for, and cities you did not build, though you live in them; you are eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’

• Deu 6:10, 11 “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full,

THE COVENANT RENEWAL

14 “Therefore, fear the LORD and worship him in sincerity and truth. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship the LORD.

• Deu 10:12  “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
• 1Sa 12:24  Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
• Gen 17:1  When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
• Deu 18:13  You shall be blameless before the LORD your God,
• 2Co 1:12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.
• Eze 20:18  “And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
• Eze 20:7, 8  And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. 8 But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. “Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

15 But if it doesn’t please you to worship the LORD, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship—the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the LORD.”

• Ruth 1:15  And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
• 1Ki 18:21  And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
• Exo 23:24, 32  you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. 32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.
• Gen 18:19  For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

16 The people replied, “We will certainly not abandon the LORD to worship other gods!

17 For the LORD our God brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us all along the way we went and among all the peoples whose lands we traveled through.

18 The LORD drove out before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will worship the LORD, because he is our God.”

19 But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship the LORD, because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions and sins.

• Mat 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
• 1Sa 6:20  Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?”
• Exo 20:5  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
• Exo 23:21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.

20 If you abandon the LORD and worship foreign gods, he will turn against you, harm you, and completely destroy you, after he has been good to you.”

• 1Ch 28:9  “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
• Ezr 8:22  For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.”
• Isa 1:28  But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
• Jer 17:13  O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.
• Isa 63:10  But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
• Act 7:42  But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

21 “No!” the people answered Joshua. “We will worship the LORD.”

22 Joshua then told the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen to worship the LORD.”
“We are witnesses,” they said.

• Psa 119:173  Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.

23 “Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

• Gen 35:2  So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.

24 So the people said to Joshua, “We will worship the LORD our God and obey him.”

25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them.

• Exo 15:25  And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

26 Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God; he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak at the sanctuary of the LORD.

• Deu 31:24  When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end,
• Jdg 9:6  And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.
• Gen 28:18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
• Gen 35:4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

27 And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone—it will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God.” 28 Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.

• Gen 31:48  Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed,
• Deu 32:1  “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
• Jdg 2:6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land.

BURIAL OF THREE LEADERS

29 After these things, the LORD’s servant, Joshua son of Nun, died at the age of 110.

• Jdg 2:8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years.

30 They buried him in his allotted territory at Timnath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.

31 Israel worshiped the LORD throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua and who had experienced all the works the LORD had done for Israel.

• Jdg 2:7  And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel.
• Deu 11:2  And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm,

32 Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the parcel of land Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver., It was an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.

• Gen 50:25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
• Gen 33:19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent.

33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

• • Exo 6:25  Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their clans.

RUTH

Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Intro

Dr. Vernon McGee notes:

An addendum to the Book of Judges. A brochure of beauty. A bright picture on the black background of the judges.

WRITER: Samuel could have been the writer

KEY VERSE: Ruth 3:18

THEME: The kinsman-redeemer

FEATURES:
1. A love story without using the word “love.”
2. The story of a prodigal family who went to the far country.
3. The only example of the law of the kinsman-redeemer
(Hebrew goel) in action. Also shows how other laws of the Mosaic system operated.
4. Furnishes the link between the tribe of Judah and David. The genealogy at the end of the book becomes a most important document. It is found again in the first chapter of Matthew.
5. A lovely picture of Christ and the church.

COMMENT: We prefer not to break up this beautiful love story
with notes and outlines of extended length. However we refer the reader to our book, Ruth and Esther: Women of Faith in which we attempt to tell this love story with all of its tenderness, sweetness, and loveliness.

OUTLINE:
I. In the land of Moab, Chapter 1
II. In the field of Boaz, Chapter 2
III. On the threshing floor of Boaz, Chapter 3
IV. In the heart and home of Boaz, Chapter 4

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Chapter 1

Naomi Widowed

Rth 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
Rth 1:2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
Rth 1:3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
Rth 1:4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
Rth 1:5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

Ruth’s Loyalty to Naomi

Rth 1:6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.
Rth 1:7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.
Rth 1:8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.
Rth 1:9 The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
Rth 1:10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.
Rth 1:11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
Rth 1:12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;
Rth 1:13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.
Rth 1:14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
Rth 1:15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
Rth 1:16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
Rth 1:17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

Verse 15, 16, and 17. It has been said of these three verses, at this point Ruth was now a Jew. She had confessed Yahweh as the one true God, she would lodge with the Jews, live there until she died. She had forsaken her Moab god(s), and had accepted the one and only true God. This point becomes important in the end of this book at Boaz marries Ruth, as Boaz is a Jew and cannot marry outside of the Jewish faith.

Rth 1:18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

Naomi and Ruth Return

Rth 1:19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
Rth 1:20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Rth 1:21 I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
Rth 1:22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Chapter 2

Ruth Meets Boaz

Rth 2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
Rth 2:2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
Rth 2:3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
Rth 2:4 And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.
Rth 2:5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
Rth 2:6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:
Rth 2:7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.
Rth 2:8 Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
Rth 2:9 Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
Rth 2:10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
Rth 2:11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
Rth 2:12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Rth 2:13 Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
Rth 2:14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
Rth 2:15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:
Rth 2:16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
Rth 2:17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
Rth 2:18 And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.
Rth 2:19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.
Rth 2:20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
Rth 2:21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
Rth 2:22 And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
Rth 2:23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.

Chapter 3

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

Rth 3:1 Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
Rth 3:2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshing floor.
Rth 3:3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
Rth 3:4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.
Rth 3:5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
Rth 3:6 And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.
Rth 3:7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
Rth 3:8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
Rth 3:9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.
Rth 3:10 And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.
Rth 3:11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

Matthew Henry has some great comments here, but are very long. However, when you can, take time to read them.

Rth 3:12 And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.
Rth 3:13 Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning.
Rth 3:14 And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor.
Rth 3:15 Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city.
Rth 3:16 And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.
Rth 3:17 And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law.
Rth 3:18 Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day.

Chapter 4

Boaz Redeems Ruth

Rth 4:1 Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

The gate is the place of of business, and of justice in Oriental cities (see Jdg 19:15 note; Gen 34:20; Deu 16:18).

Deu 16:18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment

Rth 4:2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

Every city was governed by elders (see Deu 19:12; Jdg 8:14). For the number “ten,” compare Exo 18:25. Probably the presence of, at least, ten elders was necessary to make a lawful public assembly, as among modern Jews ten (a minyon) are necessary to constitute a synagogue.

Rth 4:3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:

According to the law Lev 25:25-28, if any Israelite, through poverty, would sell his possession, the next of kin had a right to redeem it by paying the value of the number of years remaining until the jubilee. This right Boaz advertises, so as to give him the option which the law secured to him of redeeming “our brother Elimelech’s” land, i. e. our kinsman’s, according to the common use of the term brother, for near relation (see Gen 13:8; Gen 24:27; Lev 25:25; Num 27:4; Jdg 9:1).

Lev 25:25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. Lev 25:26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it; Lev 25:27 Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. Lev 25:28 But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.

Rth 4:4 And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.

This was the action of the Levirate law. If there had been no one interested but Naomi, she would have sold the land unclogged by any condition, the law of Levirate having no existence in her case. But there was a young widow upon whom the possession of the land would pass to at Naomi’s death, and who already had a right of partnership in it, and the law of Levirate did apply in her case. It was, therefore, the duty of the gaÌ„’al to marry her and raise up seed to his brother, i. e. his kinsman. And he could not exercise his right of redeeming the land, unless he was willing at the same time to fulfill his obligations to the deceased by marrying the widow. This he was unwilling to do.

Rth 4:5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
Rth 4:6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.

lest I mar mine own inheritance: When the Go’el learns that if he redeems the estate he is expected to marry the widow, he takes back his promise (Rth 4:4). He declares that he cannot afford to be so generous. If he were to have a son by Ruth, the child would take the name and estate of the dead, and the Go’el would have only a temporary usufruct (right to use the property) in the property, and in the end lose it altogether (Robertson Smith l.c.).

Rth 4:7 Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.

The writer wanted to make sure you understand the custom of that day. It represented a legal way of saying that you both agreed on a legal action.

Rth 4:8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.
Rth 4:9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.

I have bought … of the hand of Naomi: The purchase-money was to go to Naomi; she had inherited all the family property; even Mahlon’s and Chilion’s land had passed to their mother, not to their widows, probably because the latter were foreigners. The right of a widow to any share in her husband’s estate is not recognized in the Pentateuch; but later practice allowed provision to be made, and permitted the husband to insert a clause in the marriage settlement giving his widow the right to dwell in his house after him, and to be nourished from his wealth all the days of her widowhood.

Rth 4:10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.

Moreover Ruth … have I purchased: do I buy, the same word and tense as in Rth 4:9. This was an additional and voluntary feature of the transaction, due to the goodwill of Boaz, and as such receives the applause and congratulations of the people.

to raise up the name of the dead: One object of the marriage was to secure the preservation of the name of the dead (see on Rth 4:5); by a legal fiction the child of the marriage would be regarded as the son of Mahlon, Rth 4:17 (‘a son born to Naomi’).

Rth 4:11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
Rth 4:12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.

Perez: is mentioned because he was one of the ancestors of the house of Judah, Gen 38:29, and, according to the genealogies, Boaz was his descendant, 1Ch 2:4; 1Ch 2:9-11.

Ruth and Boaz Marry

Rth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.
Rth 4:14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
Rth 4:15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
Rth 4:16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
Rth 4:17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Matthew Henry: “Blessed be the Lord that has sent thee this grandson,” Rth 4:14, Rth 4:15. 1. Who was the preserver of the name of her family, and who, they hoped, would be famous, because his father was so. 2. Who would be hereafter dutiful and kind to her, so they hoped, because his mother was so. If he would but take after her, he would be a comfort to his aged grandmother, a restorer of her life, and, if there should be occasion, would have wherewithal to be the nourisher of her old age. It is a great comfort to those that are going into years to see any of those that descend from them growing up, that are likely, by the blessing of God, to be a stay and support to them, when the years come wherein they will need such, and of which they will say they have no pleasure in them. Observe, They say of Ruth that she loved Naomi, and therefore was better to her than seven sons. See how God in his providence sometimes makes up the want and loss of those relations from whom we expected most comfort in those from whom we expected least. The bonds of love prove stronger than those of nature, and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother; so here there was a daughter-in-law better than an own child.

The Genealogy of David

Rth 4:18 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
Rth 4:19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
Rth 4:20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
Rth 4:21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
Rth 4:22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

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See Dr. Vernon McGee’s study guide on Ruth located here

2 Peter

Chapters 1 | 2 | 3

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INTRO COPIED FROM VERNON MCGEE’S NOTES:

WRITER: Simon Peter (2 Peter 1:1)
The Petrine authorship of 2 Peter has been challenged more than the authorship of any other book in the New Testament. Dr. William Moorehead said, “The Second Epistle of Peter comes to us with less historical support of its genuineness than any other book of the New Testament.” However, this has caused conservative scholars to give adequate attention to this epistle so that today it is well established that Peter wrote this letter. The autobiographical sections afford internal evidence of the Petrine authorship (see 2 Peter 1:13, 14, 16-18; 3:1).

DATE: About A.D. 66. This second epistle was written shortly after his first epistle (2 Peter 3:1) and a short while before his martyrdom (1:13, 14). (See 1 Peter.)

THEME: This is the swan song of Peter, as 2 Timothy is the swan song of Paul. There is a striking similarity. Both epistles put up a warning sign, along the pilgrim pathway the church is traveling, to identify the awful apostasy that was on the way at that time and now in our time has arrived. What was then like a cloud the size of a man’s hand today envelops the sky and produces a storm of hurricane proportions. Peter warns of heresy among teachers as Paul warns of heresy among the laity. Both Peter and Paul speak in a joyful manner of their approaching death (2 Peter 1:13, 14; 2 Timothy 4:6-8). Both apostles anchor the church on the Scriptures as the only defense against the coming storm.
The similarity of 2 Peter to Paul’s last epistle of 2 Timothy explains the sharp contrast between Peter’s first and second letters. The subject has changed, and the difference is as great as that which exists between Paul’s letters to the Romans and to Timothy.

Nevertheless, the theme is explained on the basis of the words which Peter uses here as contrasted to his first epistle. The words are different, with the exception of the word precious, which occurs in this epistle twice in the first chapter. Likewise, the word faith occurs twice in the first chapter.

The characteristic word is knowledge (occurring sixteen times with cognate words). The epitome of the epistle is expressed in the injunction contained in the final verse:

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18)

True gnosticism is not some esoteric information concerning a formula, a rite, or ritual; nor is it some secret order or password. It is to know Jesus Christ as He is revealed to man in the Word of God. This is the secret of life and of Christian living (see John 17:3).

OUTLINE:
I. Addition of Christian graces gives assurance, Chapter 1:1-14
“The [full] knowledge of God, and of Jesus, our Lord” is the foundation on which Christian character is built (see v. 2).

II. Authority of the Scriptures attested by fulfilled prophecy,
Chapter 1:15-21
Scriptures give light for obedience in dark days.

III. Apostasy brought in by false teachers, Chapter 2
Church should beware of false teachers and not false prophets.

IV. Attitude toward return of the Lord is a test of apostates,
Chapter 3:1-4

V. Agenda of God for the world, Chapter 3:5-13 A. Past world, vv. 5, 6
B. Present world, vv. 7-12
C. Future world, v. 13

VI. Admonition to believers, Chapter 3:14-18
Knowledge of God’s program is an incentive to grow in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

END OF VERNON MCGEE’S INTRODUCTION OF 2 PETER….

Greeting

Vernon McGee: I. Addition of Christian graces gives assurance, Chapter 1:1-14

Chapter 1

2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

Vernon McGee: v. 1 — “Simon Peter” — the name Simon appears here, but it does not in 1 Peter 1:1. Christ never stands alone in this epistle; Jesus is added here, elsewhere Savior and Lord are also added.

to them that have obtained = The Greek word implies that they have not won it or earned it for themselves, but that it has been allotted to them.

2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

v. 2 — “Knowledge” occurs nine times (with cognates) in this chapter.

Confirm Your Calling and Election

2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

divine power and given unto us = God has given us everything we need to live a life of godliness. We are not dependent upon ourselves or anything or anyone else. We have everything we need through Jesus Christ.

He called us = we didn’t earn our salvation, he called us, God’s initiative, his action.

goodness = this is his basic character, he is good. His very virtue.

Vernon McGee: v. 3 — His blessings come “through the knowledge of him.” “Virtue” is excellence.

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

partakers of the divine nature = we are born again and made part of God’s family. Joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

that is in the world through lust = we live in a broken, fallen world. The only escape from our sinful world and sinful nature is through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

Vernon McGee:v. 4 — “Precious promises” come through the knowledge of Him. “Partakers of the divine nature” come through the knowledge of Him (John 17:3).

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

2Pe 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

add to your faith = a verb, an action item. Pursue it, take action.

2Pe 1:6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
2Pe 1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

Vernon McGee:vv. 5-7 — These graces are not given in the order of their priority. One does not depend upon the other, but they are placed in orderly sequence.

“And beside this” is for this very cause.
“Add” is supply — have all the graces.
“Virtue” is excellence with energy.
“Brotherly kindness” is love of the brethren. This is enthusiasm for the knowledge of Christ.

FAITH: By faith we are born again. Until faith is present, good works mean nothing. It’s impossible to please god without faith.
GOODNESS: moral excellence. The same quality that Peter attributed to God himself.
KNOWLEDGE: “practical knowledge” … the knowledge of Him…the knowledge of truth … and being able to apply that.
SELF CONTROL: self control in all areas of your life… behavior, food, etc.
ENDURANCE: Perseverance.
GODLINESS: We must pursue Godliness, becoming more Christlike in our nature.
BROTHERLY AFFECTION & LOVE: Phileous (like a brother love) and Agape love (unconditional love).

2Pe 1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is gospel transformation, your walk of sanctification. Growing in Christ, through Christ.

Vernon McGee: v. 8 — “Barren” is idle. Paul’s great desire was to know Christ (Philippians 3:10).

2Pe 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

The person who does not grow in Christ is like being blind, making no effort to walk or grow in Christ. Shortsided.

Vernon McGee:v. 9 — Sterility and lack of enthusiasm may lead to the place where the believer will forget he has been saved.

2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

Vernon McGee: v. 10 — Make your calling and election more sure. It is possible to believe in the security of the believer but lack the assurance of salva- tion.
Security of the believer is objective; Assurance of salvation is subjective.

brethren = we are all brothers, fellow saints in Christ.

your calling and election = God has given us the way unto salvation. He had called you out of darkness, He has elected you as his own. All you must do is accept him as your Lord, repent of your sins, and confess him.

2Pe 1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

entrance = entrance into the everlasting eternity with our Lord, in heavenly joy.

2Pe 1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

Holman commentary: His words imply that there was already a settled body of Christian teaching which the apostles and early church planters were carefully passing on. The verb rendered established (or “strengthened”) is also found in Jesus’ personal commission to Peter: “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).

Luk 22:32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

2Pe 1:13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

Vernon McGee: vv. 11-13 — Peter felt called to stir up these saints to grow in grace lest spiritual senility set in.

2Pe 1:14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

Holman commentary: Peter had received special information from Jesus about his impending death. Whether Peter was recalling his conversation with Jesus shortly after the resurrection (John 21:18-19), or whether he had received recent revelation from our Lord Jesus Christ, is unknown.

John 21:18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” John 21:19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Vernon McGee: v. 14 — Tradition tells us that Peter was crucified with his head down because he was not worthy to die as Christ did (John 21:18, 19).

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II. Authority of the Scriptures attested by fulfilled prophecy,
Chapter 1:15-21

2Pe 1:15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

Peter knew his death was close. Soon after this writing he was martyred by Nero. But even knowing he was close to death, he was encouraging his readers to keep the faith.

Vernon McGee: v. 15 — “Decease” is exodus. In light of his approaching death, Peter calls attention to that which should be remembered.

Christ’s Glory and the Prophetic Word

2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Vernon McGee: v. 16 — “Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses” — when did this take place? The next verse explains.

2Pe 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
2Pe 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

Holman commentary: Peter never got over his astonishment that he (along with James and John) had the unspeakable privilege of seeing Jesus’ honor and glory revealed by God the Father. The opponents Peter was combating could claim no such eyewitness experience.
The voice from the heavenly Father (here alone in Scripture designated the Majestic Glory) extolled Jesus. Note the following affirmations the Father made about Jesus:
• Jesus is uniquely My…Son. Jesus alone is the eternal Son of the Father. As redeemed people, we are brought into God’s family as His adopted children (1 Pet. 1:14-17).
• The Father uniquely loves His Son. At the transfiguration, the Father reaffirmed aloud the affection He had proclaimed when His Son was baptized (Mark 1:11; 9:7).
• The Father is greatly pleased with His Son. Again, the heavenly voice declared again what had been spoken at Jesus’ baptism (Mark 1:11).

Vernon McGee: vv. 17, 18 — This is a reference to the Transfiguration and offers the explanation for Matthew’s strange statement (see Matthew 16:28). Matthew follows this with an account of the Transfiguration.

Mat 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Vernon McGee::v. 19 — Something more reliable and trustworthy than being an eyewitness to the Transfiguration is “a more sure word of prophecy.” Scripture is a light that is focused on the appearing of the “day star.”

2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Vernon McGee::v. 20 — No prophecy of the Scripture is to be interpreted apart from other references to the same subject.

2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Vernon McGee::v. 21 — “Holy men” were men set apart for the task of writing Scripture. They were carried along by the Holy Spirit like a sailboat is carried by the wind.

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Chapter 2

False Prophets and Teachers

2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

Vernon McGee: v. 1 — “False prophets” brought in heresy to the nation Israel. “False teachers” are the bearers of heresy and apostasy into the church. One of the marks of identification is that they deny Christ’s work of redemption for them.

2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Vernon McGee: v. 2 — False followers will go after false teachers. God’s elect cannot be permanently deceived. 1 Corinthians 11:19 explains the rea- sons why God permits cults.

1Co 11:19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

2Pe 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

Vernon McGee: v. 3 — “Covetousness” is another mark of a false teacher. The apostle gives a list of three types of apostates in the past who will appear in the future.

2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

Vernon McGee: v. 4 — (1) “Angels that sinned” — even some angels rebelled against God. Rebellion against God will appear in the last days (see Psalm 2:1-3).

Psa 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? Psa 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, Psa 2:3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

2Pe 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Vernon McGee: v. 5 — (2) The ungodly of Noah’s day left God out of their lives, even in eating and drinking and in marriage (Matthew 24:37-39).

Mat 24:37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Mat 24:38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
Mat 24:39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

2Pe 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

Vernon McGee: v. 6 — (3) Gross immorality characterized Sodom and Gomorrah (see Romans 1:24-32).

Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
Rom 1:25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
Rom 1:27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Rom 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Rom 1:29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
Rom 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Rom 1:32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

2Pe 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
2Pe 2:8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

Vernon McGee: vv. 7, 8 — This is enlightening. The record in Genesis does not make it clear that Lot was a righteous man; in fact, it implies the opposite.

2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Vernon McGee: v. 9 — God can and will do two things, of which Lot’s experi- ence is an illustration:
(1) “Deliver the godly out of temptations” (2) Keep the unjust for judgment

2Pe 2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

Vernon McGee: v. 10 — These are total apostates, hopeless.

2Pe 2:11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Vernon McGee: v. 12 — These apostates are like animals.

2Pe 2:13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
2Pe 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

Vernon McGee: vv. 14-22 — This is a striking, frightful, and bold description of apostates.

2Pe 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

Vernon McGee: v. 15 — “Following the way of Balaam” is being covetous, will- ing to sell his gift for money.

2Pe 2:16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
2Pe 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2Pe 2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

Vernon McGee: v. 20 — These apostates have a head knowledge. They know the truth but have not received a love of the truth.

2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Vernon McGee: v. 22 — This is a frightful and awful description of an apostate. This is Peter’s parable of the prodigal pig — “the sow that was washed.” The pig professed to like the father’s house, but he returned to the pigpen of his old man. (See Jude for a more complete description of apostates.)

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Chapter 3

Summary of Chapter 3:
Peter’s teaching in this chapter can be organized as follows:

• Scoffers will deny the coming of the Lord (3:1-7).
• The Lord is patient regarding His return because He wants more people to repent (3:8-10).
• Believers are to live godly lives in light of the Lord’s return (3:11-13).
• In conclusion, believers are to be on guard spiritually and morally at all times (3:14-18).

The Day of the Lord Will Come

KEY DOCTRINE: According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness

2Pe 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

beloved: When I type in beloved and do a search, this word appears six times in my search. Peter shows his love for the people he is writing to here, again!

2Pe 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

mindful: don’t forget what you have learned, think about these things, they are important.

which were spoken before by the holy prophets: The importance of the testimony of prophecy (obviously here O. T. prophecy, and specially those sections of it which spoke of the Advent of Messiah)

2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

last days – the era that began with the first coming of Christ, because the “first days” meant the Old Testament period—the centuries of preparation for the coming of the Messiah and the outpouring of the Spirit (see Acts 2:17).

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

scoffers – those who disdain or look with contempt. We still have those today. Self-indulgence often leads to skepticism.

2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Where is the promise of his coming: (Mal 2:17, “Where is the God of judgment?”). The Lord had prophesied of his coming; St. Paul had spoken more than once as if that coming were very near at hand (1Co 15:51; 2Co 5:4; 1Th 4:15). Yet he came not. Already men were beginning to mock, and to question whether the long-delayed promise would ever be fulfilled.

fathers – He may have meant the Old Testament patriarchs (such as Abraham and Isaac). Or he may have had in mind the first generation of Christians who already fell asleep; that is, they had died (such as Stephen and James; Acts 7:60).

Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

The scoffers were deliberately ignoring important, unassailable truths from the Book of Genesis. First, it was the word of God that had brought about the original creation of the heavens and the earth. Peter’s emphasis on the place of water in the creation is similar to the emphasis found in Genesis (1:6-10).

Peter picked up the theme of water to make his second point about divine intervention: the world of that time went through these waters, and all people and animals perished. The flood is, of course, a supreme example of divine judgment being brought about by the word of God (Get 6-9)

Thus, the original creation and the flood of judgment in the days of Noah are two obvious examples of God’s intervention in the world. For the scoffers to overlook these two, Peter thought, was a matter showing that they willfully ignored the facts of history.

2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

The same word of God that brought the world into existence and then judged the world is now sustaining the present heavens and earth.
• But God’s preservation is not indefinite; it will not last forever.
• The current state of affairs will last only until God is ready to judge the world again, this time with fire.
• As surely as the flood resulted in the destruction of ungodly men, so in His return the Lord Jesus will unleash the day of judgment.
• The references to fire and destruction should not be understood to refer to an annihilation of the wicked. Peter and the other writers of the New Testament understood that a literal hell lies ahead for the unrepentant.

2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Now Peter showed the reasons why God seemed to be delaying the second coming.
• The first reason is that God has a different perception of the passing of time than we humans do.
• He created space and time, and we humans are locked into a narrow sliver of time (seventy or so years, if we have a typical lifespan).
• God sees all times equally, and this fact must not escape us.
• In the light of God’s eternal perspective one day is no different than a thousand years and vice versa (Ps. 90:4).

Psa 90:4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

• Thus, we as humans often seethe with impatience at God’s timeline, but He sees everything in the light of eternity.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The second reason that God seems to be delaying the second coming is not His indifference but rather that He is patient with people.
• He is waiting so that all who will come to repentance and faith in Christ will do so.
• As the God of creation and judgment, He is not wanting any to perish.
• He provided the Savior and offers salvation.
• Yet He will not force salvation on those who refuse Him.
• Just as surely, however, as God’s patience finally ran out in the days of Noah and the judgment waters of the flood destroyed the world, so too will God’s patience finally run out and the judgment fire connected with Christ’s return will fall.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Day of the Lord
Amo 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. Amo 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Amo 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

the Day of the Lord.
• It will come suddenly. Just as a thief breaks in without warning, so Christ’s return will be (1 Thess. 5:2). His coming is certain, yet its time will be unexpected.
• It will come universally. No person will escape (just as in the flood of Noah). Peter described a cataclysmic event: the heavens will pass away and the elements will burn and be dissolved. Ultimately, there will be a new heaven and new earth (Rom. 8:18-25; Rev. 21:1-8).
• It will come as a final evaluation. Not only will the earth itself be exposed, so will the works that people have done. Everything at last will be disclosed. Again, Peter was not teaching the obliteration of the wicked; rather, he was teaching the certainty of judgment.

Vernon McGee note:
v. 10 — “Noise” (Greek rhoizedon) is the word used for the swish of an arrow, the rush of wings, the splash of water, the hiss of a serpent.

“Elements” refer to basic material, atoms, the building blocks of the universe.

“Melt” is dissolve.

“Fervent heat” is energy. These descriptive words make us think of an atomic explosion

2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

As believers, we are to live for that which is eternal, not for that which is destined to be demolished. Peter noted two moral qualities—near synonyms—that will enable us to (1) avoid the devastation of the last judgment and (2) last for eternity.

2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

• We are to live with a stance of anticipation.
• We wait for and earnestly desire the time when we will finally attain the goal for which we have been longing.
• The heavens will be permanently changed, as they will be on fire and be dissolved.
• God will at last bring these things about, and we are to be expectant.
• What makes this worth waiting for are the new heavens and a new earth.
• Peter’s main point is that our final destination—as those who have been born again and lived lives of holiness and godliness—will be where righteousness will dwell. Just think about it: at last all the marks of sin and evil will be gone, and we will enjoy God’s holy presence forever and ever.

Final Words

2Pe 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

This leads to holy living

2Pe 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

Patient waiting is mental adjustment to the present world situation. Paul also wrote of these things.

2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Peter admits that Paul wrote of truth in depth — but so did Peter.

2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

The coming of Christ should make for a stable and steadfast life.

2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Vernon McGee: This is the all-important program for the child of God now. Paul said, “Study.” Peter said, “Grow.” Both refer believers to the Bible and the study of it.

• Avoid error in the Christian life.
• Grow in grace and grow in knowledge.
• The gospel is best expressed in one word: grace (God’s unmerited favor).
• Grace is coupled with truth or knowledge, for example, knowledge about the certainty of Christ’s return and coming judgment. Peter had emphasized knowledge at the very beginning of his letter
• Peter was ready for his conclusion. There was no better way to end than with a brief doxology, a word of praise
• God receives all the praise now, perfectly in heaven (Isa. 6:1-3; Rev. 4–5) and imperfectly on earth.

Isa 6:1-3 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

• Yet we look forward to the time when God will be unendingly and perfectly praised throughout all eternity. Peter concluded his song of praise with a hearty Amen.

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