An ancient Egyptian rendering of the "balance of truth"--what is heavier--the heart or the feather?

A Lutheran pastor, a Catholic priest and a Jewish rabbi find a pot full of gold coins. The Lutheran says, “Let’s draw a circle on the ground, throw the coins in the air and whatever lands in the circle, we can keep—the rest we will give to the Lord.”  The priest said, “Nah, let’s give whatever lands inside the circle to the Lord.” But the Jewish rabbi piped up, “Hey, I have a better idea—let’s just throw all the money up in the air, and whatever God wants he can keep!”

God’s involvement in our daily lives is one of the biggest questions Christians face—how and in what ways does God involve himself in our daily lives? Like the rabbi, can we levy a measure of cynicism against God’s involvement because of the clockwork appearance of nature? Or on the other end, can God be involved to the point where He can even take over someone’s free will? There is no doubt that the latter question is raised with the phrase “For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts” (Joshua 11:20) which appears in both testaments.  So this week we launch into one of the most controversial topics in all of Christendom with careful steps and open minds!

FOR THIS WEEK: Please read chapters 11-12 and the technical observations before class. We will be focusing in on chapter 11 for discussion. Especially note the details surrounding the Lord hardening the heart and the Royal Annuls from Tiglath-pileser I.

TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS:

1. Egyptian texts mention Merom around 1500 BC, while Ramses II mentions it later. It was close to Hazor, and served as the camp for the northern coalition. The text suggests that this was the most important vassal of Hazar (as it is mentioned first and its leader is named)

2. The northern army controlled a large number of “horses and chariots”. This expression occurs in either other places in the Hebrew text and describes the most fearful war machines available. Egypt, for example, chased Israel into the sea with horses and chariots (Ex 15:1,21) while Deuteronomy 20:1 mentions God’s promise of protection from the same weapons.

3. Hazor was the largest in Canaan at the time. Archeological evidence shows the city to have been originally settled no later than the 27^th century BC. At its height it covered 175 acres (10 times that of Jerusalem or any other Palestinian town excavated) with a population around 40,000. This city was violently destroyed around the time of Joshua and replaced with an unfortified, temporary settlement typical of other insignificant towns in the region. It is also near the ever so important International Coastal Highway.

4. 11:20… “For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts.” The English word “harden” translates three Hebrew words in Exodus where the phrase appears 19 times:

• a. cbd (the subject of this verb is Pharoah 3x, Yahweh 1x, and the heart 2x): this means to make heavy literally. In ancient Egypt an image in the Book of the Dead was invoked of a heart on a scale counterbalanced to a feather. If the heart of the deceased person weighed less than a feather then the person would receive rewards in the after life.  This picture then has to do with judgment, or status before Yahweh. Pharaoh hardens his own heart here as well as Yahweh. There may be a play on words with the Hebrew word for glory which shares the same consonants here: cbd. So Pharoah is hardened (judged, cbd) for God’s glory (his weightiness, cbd).
• b. hzq (the subject of this verb is Yahweh 10x, and the heart 4x): this can be a positive term in regards to the heart—it can simply mean “to strengthen the heart” (so a reference to courage), but in regards to Pharoah it is always used negatively. It may also be translated “to make harden or obstinate” (so a reference to stubbornness). Only Yahweh hardens the heart in this regard—Pharoah is never the subject of the verb.
• c. qsh (the subject of this verb is Yahweh 1x): this term is only invoked once, but is within a similar semantic domain as the last two.
• hzq appears in Joshua 11:20.

5. Can God be considered “mean-spirited” for the “no mercy” in 11:20. What do the following verses say about the people whose hearts were hardened: Gen 15:16, Lev 18:24, Deut 9:4-5, 2 Kings 16:3?

6. 11:21-22 describes the destruction of the Anakim. It is fitting that the conquest narrative ends with them, since it was their presence in Canaan that caused Israel to rebel in the desert more than 40 years earlier (Num 13:28, 32:33). They were Canaan’s oldest inhabitants, and their fear-inspiring character was also mentioned in Deut 1:28, 9:2. Their stature and formidable nature were almost proverbial. After they were defeated, Joshua applied the ban to them. Thus, the most feared people in Canaan suffered the worst fate God could unleash on them.

7. The verb in 11:22 for “rest” appears here and in 14:15. The word for rest in the early chapters of the book is different, but it may share the same semantic domain.

8. “Royal Annuls” were a new literary genre appearing around the 12th century B.C. Many have comparied the Royal Annuls of the Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser I (1114-1076) to Joshua 9-12. I have  included some exerpts of an inscription found and translated in Arnold and Beyer’s Readings from the Ancient Near East. Take note of what is different and what is similar with Joshua…

• At that time I marched to the unsubmissive land Kadmuhu, which had withheld tribute and impost from the god Ashur, my lord. I conquered the entire land of Kadmuhu. I brought out their booty, property, and possessions. Their cities I burnt, razed, and destroyed. The remainder of the inhabitants of the land Kadmuhu, who had fled from my weapons and crossed over to the city Shereshu, which is on the opposite bank of the Tigris, made that city their stronghold. Taking my chariots and warriors I hacked through the rough mountain range and difficult paths with copper picks and made a good way for the passage of my chariots and troops. I crossed the Tigrisand conquered their fortified city, Shereshu. I laid out like grain heaps the corpses of their men-at-arms in the mountains. I made their blood flow in the Tigrisand the plains of the mountains….
• I brought Seni, king of the land Dayenu, who had not been submissive to the god Ashur my lord, in bonds and fetters to my city Ashur. I had mercy on him and let him leave my city Ashur alive in order to proclaim the glory of the great gods. Thus I became lord of the complete extensive lands Nairi. Indeed all their kings I subdued at my feet….
• May the gods An and Adad faithfully have mercy upon me, may they love my prayers, may they heed my fervent petitions, may they grant abundant rain and extraordinarily rich years during my reign; may they lead me about safely in battle and strife; may they subdue at my feet all enemy lands, rebellious mountain regions, and rulers hostile to me; may they pronounce a favorable blessing over me and my priestly progeny; and  may they firmly place my priesthood in the presence of the god Ashur and their great divinity forever like a mountain. I wrote on my stelas and clay…
• He who breaks or erases my stelas and inscriptions, throws them into water, burns them, covers them with earth, secretly stores them in a taboo house where there is no visibility, who erases my inscribed name and writes his own name, or who conceives of anything injurious and puts it into effect to the disadvantage of my stelas: May the gods An and Adad, the great gods my lords, glare at him angrily and inflict upon him an evil curse. May they overthrow his sovereignty. May they tear out the foundations of his royal throne. May they terminate his noble line….

Grant’s Observations on Joshua ch. 9 & 10

1)      9:3 – “Inhabitants of Gibeon” – Who were these people really? 9:7 – “The men of Israel said to the Hivites,” – Describes them as Hivites. 9:17 – “Now their cities were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim” – So were Hivites from more cities than Gibeon, BUT 9:1-2 says, “Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of it,  (2)  that they gathered themselves together with one accord to fight with Joshua and with Israel.” – So is it that the Hivites all changed their mind about fighting, or was it a partial defection?

2)      Note progression, Gibeonites speak to the “Men of Israel” first, then appeal to Joshua.  They asks for covenant from the men of Israel, but tell Joshua, “We are your servants.” Contrast 9:6 with 9:8.

3)      Key verse (in my opinion): 9:14 “So the men of Israel took some of their provisions” which is also translated in some versions as “sampled their provisions,” as in, to determine that it was not fresh, but the key problem is that they “did not ask for the counsel of the Lord.” – It seems the Israelites still did not understand that the Lord was with them always and not just when they sacrificed at His altar or were in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant. Therefore, it didn’t even occur to them to consult the Lord at this point.

4)      Note reverse order of the covenant making from the order of the first encounter in 9:6 and 9:8. This time, in 9:15, “Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.” – First Joshua made a convenant, then the leaders of the congregation swore an oath.

5)      9:18 – See how this upset the congregation! “The sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders. “ – This was a point of major contention such that Joshua had to reassert his authority, and the authority of the leaders of the congregation.

6)      First the leaders of the congregation try to settle things by speaking to the sons of Israel. THEN Joshsua  intervened by speaking to the Gibeonites, not the men of Israel. 9:19-23 – Joshua curses them, “"Now therefore, you are cursed, and you shall never cease being slaves, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God."” Differences between the language of the curse and the language of the original covenant? “You shall never cease”

7)      Gibeonites accept the judgment and curse in 9:25, “"Now behold, we are in your hands; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us."”

8)      Note the familiar use of the phrase “To this day” at the end of chapter 9.

9)      10:1 - “just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai” – Did he do the exact same thing to both cities? Was there a ban on Ai?

10)   The king of Jerusalem was afraid, not just because of Jericho and Ai, but because the Gibeonites had submitted to the Israelites and Gibeon was a greater city than Jericho or Ai.

11)   The Five Amorite kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon joined together all their armies and camped by Gibeon, attacking it, before the Israelites do or hear of anything, it seems.

12)   Only when the “men of Gibeon” send word to Joshua (not the men of Israel), do the Israelites begin to enter the chapter.

13)   Joshua and the Israelites, in spite of their conquests, are still camped at Gilgal. 10:7 “So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors.”

14)   NOTE: They were acting on the convenant promise with Gibeon and their own accord, not yet the Lord’s, because the Lord does not speak to Joshua until he and all the people of war and all the valiant warriors had already left camp at Gilgal. Only then does the Lord speak, saying in 9:8, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you."

15)   10:9 – Joshua uses an early example of lightning warfare by marching his troops overnight from Gilgal. Yet while 10:9 implies he achieved the element of surprise, Joshua’s tactics aren’t credited with confusing and slaughtering the enemy: 10:10 “And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. “ It says the Lord confounded them before Israel, and the “He” slew them. See 10:11 “the LORD threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.” – These hailstones were credited more with the victory than the fighting men of Israel.

16)   Sun and Moon Stand Still – 10:12 – “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord”…it’s Joshua who says, in the sight of Israel “"O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon."” -  This seems like another Moses moment for Joshua. He is glorified before Israel because they see the command coming from Joshua’s mouth, and the sun and the moon obey.

17)   10:13 “Is it not written in the book of Jashar?” – Why this appeal to an independent authority? Story is very fantastic, so independent verification could add authority. What difference would it make if Jashar was an Israelite book, or if it was a Canaanite or Pagan book?

18)   10:15 “There was no day before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.” – Again, emphasizing  Joshua’s position as an intermediary between the Lord and the people of Israel.

19)   How does this miracle match with our modern understandings of science and physics? Can they be reconciled? Does it matter?

20)   5 Kings hide in a cave at Makkedah: The response? Instead of fighting them, Joshua orders them trapped in their cave, and sends his troops after the remnants of the Amorite armies, telling them in 10:19, to attack them and “not allow them to enter their cities, for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand.” Joshua here seems to be taking full advantage of the heavenly miracle and attacking as ferociously as possible while the sun and moon are standing still in the sky. He seems to understand that the miracle will have a finite duration.

21)   Confusing verses: “(20)  It came about when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished slaying them with a very great slaughter, until they were destroyed, and the survivors who remained of them had entered the fortified cities,  (21)  that all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. No one uttered a word against any of the sons of Israel.” – “survivors who remained had entered fortified cities” – Joshua just told his troops not to allow this. Did they fail? It isn’t spoken of in failed, but rather triumphal terms. “All the people” returned to the camp at Makkedah. Who are “all the people?” Gibeonites and Israelites? Or does “all the people” include the surviving Amorites, too? Regardless, it is clear that “No one uttered a word against any of the sons of Israel.” So this implies a great victory.

22)   10:25 – “Joshua then said to them, "Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies with whom you fight."” Compare this to the language that the Lord spoke to Joshua when preparing him to lead the Israelites in conquest over Canaan. He seems to have internalized God’s call for strength and courageousness, and having made it internal, he now spreads that call to all the Israelites.

23)   10:27 – Bodies of the kings were put in the cave and a memorial constructed. Note the use again of “To this day.”

24)   The King of Makkedah – 10:28 – “Now Joshua…” this seems to occur after the great victory over the five Amorite kings. The King of Makkedah is utterly destroyed. This is almost added as an afterthought.

25)   Similarly, the story of the defeat of Libnah is almost an afterthought.

26)   Then the Israelites attach Lachish. Note that the King of Lachish and his armies were defeated in the great victory over the Amorites. Perhaps this is why “Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish” in 10:33. They were likely a defenseless city, and Horam came to their defense (perhaps he also wanted to make himself King of both Gezer and Lachish). Nevertheless, he and all his people are defeated and killed.

27)   Then Joshua attacks the city of Eglon, whose king and armies were defeated. Note that this time, no other king comes to help.

28)   Next, the Israelites destroy Hebron, which like Eglon, had largely already been defeated.

29)   Then they attack Debir and destroy it, again almost as an afterthought.

30)   Then, the entire episode recounted in Ch.9 &10 is summarized in 10:40-43, “(40)  Thus Joshua struck all the land, the hill country and the Negev and the lowland and the slopes and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.  (41)  Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea even as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen even as far as Gibeon.  (42)  Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.  (43)  So Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.”

31)   Note that after the conquest and destruction of all these cities, the Israelites return again to their encampment at Gilgal. Why would they again stay here? Women & children & livestock likely camped there still, but why not move into a city? Would the tribed of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Mannaseh have resisted a move farther into Canaan and away from their lands on the other side of the Jordan?

Why is this picture so important to Toy Story 3?

On my trip home my mom and I (John) took in Toy Story 3 and I was happy to note that in the age of modern technology, ancient story telling technique has not gone by the wayside. Without giving away the story, you’ll note that the movie begins just the way it ends—with a picture of the toy owner Andy’s familiar comfort inciting cloud wallpaper. But more than just making for a clever frame, it carefully introduces the audience to the theme it intends to wrestle with of home and what that means in a time of transition. Although subtle, it’s actually quite well done. So as we press into the story of Joshua let me remind you to go back to Joshua 1—where the author wants to take his readers is packed into that important little chapter. It will help guide our thinking and uncover that precious message that meant so much for its original audience and means so much for us today. So as you dip into 7-8 for this week, reread chapter 1! Continue making observations—let’s see what big stuff you guys can come up with. If you are weary of writing in your Bible, I encourage you to print out a copy of the text so that you mark it all up with things you see relating to character development, plot, grammar, cultural info, etc. The first step of Bible Interpretation really comes alive when you start seeing with new eyes.

FOR THIS WEEK: We will spend most of our discussion time on chapter 7, although I will briefly go over the interesting strategy of chapter 8 before we begin in earnest. READ CHAPTERS 7-8 and REREAD CHAPTER 1. Make as many observations as you can and start writing down a few thoughts about what you think the author is trying to convey.

TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS: I want to remind you all that the following list, although of great benefit (especially for discussion), 1) is not meant to overwhelm you—use it to your discretion, and 2) does not necessarily include the most important observations. We have done some of the technical work for you—e.g. language, cross reference, and background material—that may not be as accessible to you in your study of the text. The purpose of this is to 1) avoid lecture style teaching and to 2) maintain integrity towards the text by considering as much data as possible. But I can’t stress enough—these may not be the most significant observations for interpretation, so your own personal study is of utmost importance! I look forward to jumping in with you all next week!

1. Corporate punishment is alluded to by Achan’s genealogy. No other figure in Joshua has been introduced with such detail about his family background. Four generations are listed, and his sin is considered a sin by the “sons of Israel,” who have thus acted unfaithfully.

2. Joshua probably decided to attack Ai because of its strategic significance (it was on the road to Bethel). This road was the main route to the area that would become Benjamin, and thus was strategically critical for control of the hill country in the north and south. Ai would have provided a direct route to the hill country

3. Some commentators suggest that part of the Israelites problem in this chapter is that they did not consult God (at least this is not mentioned in the text) before spying on eye and that they overestimated their own strength. Later the Israelites are blasted for not consulting God, and when they are finally successful against Ai they do receive guidance from Him. However, is this something the author is emphasizing?

4. “The hearts of the people melted and became as water” is a common idiom in the Bible? It is used in Joshua 2:11, and 5:1. How does 5:1 help us understand its meaning? What relationship does the phrase have with the contents of 11:20? How does it contrast here with its use in 2:11?

5. Achan sinned. The word is used only here in verb form in Joshua and can mean the following: 1) to miss the mark (Isa 65:20), 2) to wrong or offend (Ex 10:16), 3) to be culpable (Gn 20:6), 4) to do wrong or sin against (Deut 1:41), or 5) to commit a sin (Deut 19:5). Which one do you think fits best? The noun form is found in Josh 24:19. What bearing does this verse have on the Achan episode?

6. Achor comes from the same root as the word for “to trouble” but it also has a lot in common with Achan phonetically that carries across to the English transliterations. Might this be a play on words?

7. Ai means “place of ruin.” Some commentators suggest that there is evidence that Ai had a significantly higher population prior to Joshua’s encounter with the Amorites there. However, this may be a historical anachronism too (it may have been called Ai in hindsight of its destruction). What do you think?

8. The term “covet” used in 7:19-20 is the same as that found in the 10^th commandment. It describes the desire for an item which a person has no right to possess.

9. The ambush was a typical near eastern tactic. A 10^th century BC Assyrian king was known to use a strategy similar to Joshua’s.

10. Javelins or “sickle swords” like in 8:18 were widely used before the 2^nd millennium BC, before being replaced with the straight sword by the end of the 2^nd millennium BC. By the time the sickle sword had become obsolete, it had acquired high symbolic importance as a sign of sovereignty. It is common in Mesopotamian and Egyptian art. With it, Joshua enacts a sign of divine sovereignty but does not exercise divine power.

12. 12000 were said to live in Ai which would have probably only made for around 3000 battle ready men. 3000 Israelites were originally sent after the spies report. 5000 were sent to allow for the ambush and 30000 were sent to take the city. While these numbers seem a bit more “down to earth” than the numbers of Exodus-Deuteronomy, archaeologically the 12000 would not have been able to dwell upon current proposed sites for Ai—it’s too small for that kind of habitation. We will deal with numbers in more detail, but let it suffice for now to note that there may be something more going on with the numbers again.

This week we will be covering Joshua 5:13-6:27.   I would ask that you just read it.  It's short and it's probably the coolest part of the book.  Then, read it again.  Then, one more time, read it again.

So, in class we joke, ok, I joke, (and sometimes feel slightly bad afterward) about calling people for jumping to interpretation.  So, I wanted to write a few sentences about that which will helpfully guide our discussion in class.   We naturally observe the text when we read it.  It's as simple as that.  By definition the process of reading is an act of observation.   The problem is not that we're not good at it, the problem is that we're too good at it.  As the words float through our brain we immediately begin attaching them to feelings and experiences of our own without having to concentrate explicitly on the words themselves.  But do you remember when you first starting reading?  I had to compete with my older brother so I learned to read a very young age. I struggled forming words and then sentences and oftentimes I would read aloud the sentence and still not know what I read.  Suddenly, the words would become ideas and I would realize that the sounds I just made meant that there was a "big dog" somewhere in the plot of the thriller I was working through.   So, it's our job to assign meaning to words and we all do it differently!

Today that process happens automatically. The words naturally flow into meaning but as humans we color everything by our current state of mind of past experiences.   When we get a letter from an old friend, depending on our disposition we assume different meanings as we read the words.  You could wait until your disposition changes, read the letter again and get a completely different meaning.  We are "reading into" the letter-  or doing  eisogesis-  eventually you might have to sit down with that friend and say, "I read this and assumed it meant X and I don't want to assume so would you tell me what you meant by that?"  This is exegesis!  Attempting to find the meaning of text from the text, and not assigning meaning to text from our own desire to make it say something it doesn't.

If we apply this to the study of Scripture we have the Holy Spirit who guides us into truth.  We should be quick to ask the Holy Spirit to give us insight from the text that would change how we think about God and how we think about ourselves.  However the goal is to attempt, as best we can, not to color the text with our own feelings and experiences.  We do this by forcing ourselves to sit in the observation process for a while.

I think some confusion comes from the simplicity of what we're being asked to do:  Here are some examples from our reading in Joshua:

• The man with the sword told Joshua to take of his sandals.
• Troops marched in front of the ark.
• Chapter 6 concludes with a statement about Joshua's political and spiritual state.  God was with him, and the whole land knew of him.
• No one could get in or out of Jericho

Some observations can be very clever but never lead to any significant application. Some observations can be extremely simple and lead to profound insight into your own life.   But either way we need to pay attention in such away that we can attempt to see the text for what it is first.   So, I would challenge you to while you read the text (today and tomorrow)  jot down observations- as simple as you can make them.    If you find yourself saying "because" then it's now an interpretation!  The next step is to ask the questions and try to find out what is being communicated to the original audience.   Finally, we ask, what does this mean to me today?   This is the part where the richness of our experiences comes into play.   For example we might agree that one general interpretation of the text is that God keeps his promises.  Simple, but what is some way that this can or does affect your life right now?   This is where we can use the diversity of our backgrounds and the continuum of logic and feeling we have as a community to share with one another, encourage one another, and grow together in loving God and loving people.

Here are some verses that might give us some clues about those observations we'll be talking about.
Dt 20:16-18
1 Kings 16:34

Thanks for letting me bloviate!
George

What to Read?

Joshua 3-5:13

Observations and Background:

Israel is referred to as a nation, which suggests that Israel was unified at this time, and that the book was written earlier in Israel’s history. Later in Israel’s history, the term “nation” took on a negative context and was only used to refer to foreign nations.This is the first time the ark is mentioned as explicitly leading Israel. This could be an example of the metaphor called synecdoche (“part for the whole” or “whole for the part,” e.g. “The White House says,” is synecdoche for “The President says”) referring to God’s leading.

2000 cubits is about 1000 yards or about ten football fields. One commentator says this is far enough to see but too far to accidentally touch it. What are your thoughts on the distance?

Joshua says “by this, you will know!” when referring to the crossing. This term was only used once before, in Num 16:28. What does it refer to here?

Joshua’s role is less direct in this crossing that was Moses’ in the crossing of the Red Sea. Moses himself led the Israelites then, while God, through his ark, leads now. The ark had not yet been built during the crossing of the Red Sea.

3:13 is one of the only times the ark is referred to as the “ark of the LORD” and not the “ark of the Covenant”.

During the rest of the year, the Jordan is easy to cross. It is only during the spring that it can become difficult. This site in particular was unusually wide and difficult to mount a mass crossing.

Of the 83 usages of the term “to this day” in the OT, 15 appear in Joshua, which is more than in any other book. Scholars believe there may be a deep cultural context to the term as it is used in historical works. It routinely appears in other ancient histories, such as in the works of Appian.

In Hebrew, the term “Gods people” is used to describe the older generation as it left Egypt. This generation was later described by the term “nation of God’s enemies”. The younger generation was born “in the wilderness” before becoming a “nation of God’s enemies”, but then was circumcised and became “God’s people”

Gilgal means something similar to “roll away.”

Things to think about: What is the purpose of this section?

3:7 & 4:14 Joshua needed to be exalted in the eyes of Israel. Why is this so? Can you think of any examples of any other leaders in the bible who needed to be exalted? What role does 3:7 play in the passage and how does it relate to 3:10? What is the reason for the explanation in 3:15 about the banks of the Jordan overflowing—why would the author’s contemporary readers need to know this? What is the sign and the memorial of in 4:6 and 4:7—in other words, what is the memorial testifying to? How will the memorial effect future generations? There are two piles of rocks—one directly commanded by God and the other placed by Joshua in the river which lasts till “this day”—did Joshua add to the command of the Lord or was this also implied? Is the purpose of this passage to suggest to the author’s contemporary readers that they too ought to make memorials or is something else going on here? What is the significance of 4:14 to the passage? Does 4:24 suggest an evangelistic purpose—why or why not? What significance does 5:1 and 5:9 have to the passage? 5:12 How does this correlate to the first passover in Exodus 12?

This week read Joshua 2 (and reread Joshua 1 if you have forgotten what happened) before class.

As you read about Rahab and the Spies (wbagnfarb), think about the purpose of this story. What possible purpose could this story serve?

Also, like we learned last week, make sure to take note of the plot, the actors involved, the dialogue, thematic events,  and the setting.

Some background factoids to think about-

• harlot.
  • "a woman professionally committing fornication"  OR
  • "a single woman tavern keeper"

• Rahab has been determined to be a common Canaanite name prior to the time of Joshua. just like Ashely or Callie now.
• There is a literary device called a 'chiasm' in this chapter, where similar clauses are repeated later

A:  (9)  and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land,

B: and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.

C: (10)  "For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Seabefore you when you came out of Egypt,

C': and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

B': (11)  "When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you;

A':  for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

• The spies quote Rahab word for word when they report back to Joshua. Weird?

See you Sunday!

REVIEW:

1. Geography plays an important role in the strategy of Joshua’s Conquest. Note especially the key fortresses conquered along the International Coastal Highway—Lachish and Hazor.

2. Authorship is…well, difficult. What are our options? Joshua + later editor(s). Later author +  oral and/or literary tradition.

3. Audience is also difficult. The book could be written to people living shortly after the time of Joshua with editors modernizing the text to refer to events during the period of the Judges. It could also have been put together during the time of the Judges as a reflection of the conquest in relation to contemporary events. Some put it much later during the monarchy, but the literary evidence seems to point to a time earlier.

PREVIEW:

1. Dating: 1400s or 1200s? What’s the big deal?

2. Introduction to Joshua with discussion on Joshua 1. REREAD JOSHUA ONE AND GET ORIENTED TO THE TECHNIQUE OF BIBLE STUDY BELOW:)

GETTING INTO THE TEXT:

OBSERVATION: Some of us see, but we do not observe”

Grammatical observations: verbs, subject/object, dependent and independent clauses, phrases—especially prepositional, connectives

Literary observations: key persons, places, events, ideas, times, emotion, tone, figures of speech

Relationship observations: comparison, contrast, repetition, continuity, continuation, climax, cruciality (pivot point), interchange, cause/effect, purpose, instrumentation, explanation or analysis, preparation or introduction, summarization, interrogation

INTERPRETATION: Engaging the text on the terms of the text

Historical: questions about the author, audience, location, perspective of the writing, problems, purpose of writing

Culture: political, geographical, economic, legal, agricultural, military, family, dietary, architectural, clothing, social, religious

Literary: Setting, Characters (direct description, word and thoughts, actions, responses, self-characterization), Plot development (Type: physical, character, or moral plot?, What creates suspense: danger and tests, question of destiny, divine human encounters?, What are the nature of the tests or choices of the main character: strength, intelligence, resourcefulness, morality? What changes take place from the beginning to the end: plot changes—tragic, punitive, pathetic, comic, admiration; character changes—reform, degeneration, revelation? What foils, dramatic irony, poetic justice is there? Do the selected details communicate reality, morality, values?)

Grammatical: word meanings, figures of speech (similies, metaphors, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, hyperbole, irony, paradox, euphemism, rhetorical questions, etc), clause meanings (assertions, commands, questions, requests), supporting clause contributions (causal, concessional, comparative, conditional, purpose, result, temporal, local, relative)

APPLICATION: Christ in you

1. Know the Interpretation

2. Know the Applicational Situation

3. State the Application in the Form of a Principle

4. Think of the Principle in Terms of Relationships to God, Self, Others, Enemies

Don't worry, guys, you haven't been forgotten. If you're interested in meeting some crusty old codgers who know how to cook a medium-rare steak and grout bathroom tile...at the same time...there is an event coming up on Saturday, July 31st (at 7pm) at some guy's house. Learn to avoid some of the stuff that these old guys had to learn the hard way 20 years ago. More details will follow in an e-mail. But we'll try to gather some names this Friday. No web link is yet available for the guys night. Man events tend to be more "organic" in that way. I'm sure meat will be involved somehow.

Remember that in addition to having fun, we want to keep an eye out for people who are looking for community and be willing to welcome them into ours.

I look forward to seeing you guys on Saturday!

Time Period: We're not exactly sure when the events of Joshua took place, but it's sometime between 140o BC and 1200 BC.

Context: The back drop for the events of Joshua is that the Israelites having been freed from Egypt by God, led by Moses, had just concluded a 40 year meandering through the desert. A whole generation of Israelites has died off, including Moses, without seeing God's promise of a land of their own fulfilled. Joshua is the new leader of Israel and part of the younger generation that gets to enter the promised land. Interestingly, parts of Joshua sound as if they were written in the later period of Israel's judges.

Author: We don't know, but it may not be Joshua since the book of Joshua eventually records Joshua's death.

Since we'll likely be breaking into Joshua 1 next week, it can't hurt to review the "homework" we had for this week. It's pasted below. Any additional instructions from the teaching team will also be posted here.

As always, feel free to use the comments section to share insights and ask questions. And please feel free to correct my rough recollection of Sunday's lesson.

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

1. Who wrote this thing anyway? External evidence says it is Joshua, the book’s main character, but the external evidence is 1000 years after the book was written. Weak sauce.  Internal evidence? It couldn’t have been completely written by Joshua because the book records his death, although an editor could have come back and added this scene (some suggest Phinehas). It probably wasn’t written long after Joshua because the book presents Rahab as still being alive (6:25), the sanctuary not permanently located (5:27, 2 Sam 21:1-6), Jebusites still occupying Jerusalem (15:8, 2 Sam 5:6), Canaanites still in Gezer (16:10, 1 Kgs 9:16), etc. On top of that, several clues suggest this is pretty ancient including the practice of having meeting with spies at a prostitute’s house, the list of ancient civilizations that are distinctive to the 2^nd millennium BC (e.g. Hivites), and contemporary parallels of a Hittite account of walls falling down.However, there are several things that point to some time after Joshua—mentioned is the relocation of the tribe of Dan (19:40, Jdg 18:27), Judge Jair (13:30, Jdgs 10:3-5), and the expansion of Caleb’s territory (15:13-19, Jdg 1:8-15). Finally, the phrase “to this day” seems to push it past Joshua a little. Are these notes explained solely by an editor reworking Joshua’s stuff? If it was written in the time of Judges instead of the time of Joshua, how might this impact the interpretation of the story?

2. How in the world was this put together? Modern critical theory places a lot of emphasis on a hypothesis that claims a bunch of editors collated a some different ancient texts together pretty late in Israel’s history to come up with the Old Testament (JEDP). This theory is not without significant flaws, but it does raise a valuable point—the Bible used sources and is not ashamed to admit it.  Even Joshua points to some “Book of Jashar” that recorded the event of the sun standing still before Joshua did (10:13). In any case, Joshua is more similar to Deuteronomy than any other book of the Bible in style and language—phrases such as “love the Lord your God” and “Moses, servant of the Lord” are repeated in both. Some say this reflects the same author. Others explain the similarities as coming from the same school of thought. What do you think?

3. What’s going on here? Jumping into Joshua is like watching Back to the Future II without having seen Back to the Future I—you can make through all right, but it is always better to have some background. Moses has led the Israelites from the Egyptian captivity through the desert for 40 years and the first generation has died because of disobedience. Moses would die too because of his own disobedience, but he would be highly revered by the people and it is prophesied that one like him would be raised up (read Deuteronomy 18:15-19). Joshua was Moses’ chief assistant. His original name “Hosea” meant “salvation,” but Moses called him Joshua instead meaning “Yahwheh saves.” He was personally chosen by Moses as his assistant (Ex 24:13), he was in charge of a group of Israelites to drive back an Amalekite attack (Ex 17:9), he was one of twelve spies sent into the land (Num 13:8), and he was commissioned by Yahweh to succeed Moses as leader when he died (Deut 31:14).

GETTING STARTED: READ JOSHUA 1 FOR 7/11.

In every good story, the beginning and the end are the most important parts to determining the message—they are the covers on the book that set the tone and bring it to clarity.  You see this in movies—in Avatarthe main character is called “meat” in a somewhat awkward scene at the beginning where soldiers dehumanize him for his handicap—this “dehumanization” carries through the rest of the film as a major theme. In the classic Apocalypse Now (much like its written counterpart The Heart of Darkness), you have to pay close attention to the main character’s eyes to finally grasp where the movie is taking you.  So pay attention here!  Joshua 1 sets the tone for the message of the book—while it may not be immediately clear here, you should be able to start formulating some ideas as to what the message is going to be. Start thinking in terms of plot, characterization, theme, foreshadowing, etc.

Things to consider as you read:

v. 1. Note the abrupt beginning. In the Hebrew, the verse begins with a conjunction that demarks a continuation of something previous.  The books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy all begin the same way.

v. 1-2. Whenever “the Servant of the Lord” appears in Joshua (around 15x), it always refers to Moses with one exception.  However, the title “Servant of the Lord” is never directly attributed to Moses outside of this until his death in Deuteronomy 34:5.

v.1-2. “Servant” with a theological referent can either mean a “slave to God” or a “dependent upon God”

v. 5: God with Joshua. What is this?

1. A divine spiritual presence

2. A metaphor substituting cause for effect (metonymy): God’s of blessing (effect) substituted for God’s accompaniment (cause). E.g. “He speaks in a strange tongue:” Language (effect) substituted for a muscle that produces it (cause).

v. 6. “be strong” can mean 1) to be stronger than, 2) to take courage, 3) to harden (the heart)

v. 7 two translation options: 1) “Only be strong and very courageous IN ORDER to be careful to do according to all the law…” or 2) “Only be strong and very courageous. INDEED, be careful to do according to all the law…”

v. 8. One commentator has said what is to literally “read quietly here” is the practice of memorization. Some translations have meditate.

v. 12-14. The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh cut a deal with Moses—they would fight with the rest of Israel until the promised land was secured if they could take land east of the Jordan river (and east of what was promised) (Deuteronomy 3:18-20).