Joshua (Week 1)
John introduced our new series on the book of Joshua this past Sunday night by leading a discussion on time period, context, and authorship. He set the stage for our study by introducing us to the geography and peoples of the ancient eastern Mediterranean region. The intention was to break into chapter one, but we didn't quite get there. I should have taken notes, but, in short, here's what I remember.
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 2nd 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).