{"id":3982,"date":"2011-11-23T01:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-11-23T09:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=3982"},"modified":"2012-11-26T20:59:12","modified_gmt":"2012-11-27T04:59:12","slug":"bob-joshua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2011\/11\/23\/bob-joshua\/","title":{"rendered":"BOB – Joshua"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Stephen Rodgers<\/em><\/p>\n

JOSHUA IN 10 WORDS OR LESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The Israelites capture and settle the promised land of Canaan.”<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The title of the book takes it’s name from the central character and successor of Moses, who was commissioned as a leader in Israel (Num 27:12-23). The name “Joshua” means “Jehovah saves” or “the LORD is salvation” and corresponds to the NT name “Jesus.”<\/p>\n

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The author of Joshua is not named, although the likely primary<\/em> author is Joshua himself (Jos 18:9; 24:26). The Talmud ascribe authorship to Joshua as well (Baba Bathra<\/cite>\u00a015a), with the exception of the account of Joshua’s death (Jos 24:29-33). As mentioned in the introduction to the Historical Books<\/a>, it is considered likely that the final form of the historical books (including Joshua) were edited\/compiled from earlier primary documents.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the original audience would primarily have been Israelites born after the conquest of Canaan. \u00a0This book would have served as a record for how they came to be in the land.<\/p>\n

DATE<\/strong><\/p>\n

For reasons described above, dating the book can be somewhat problematic, although based on the life of Joshua it is probable that much of it was written between 1405 BC and 1385 BC. Other clues include the fact that Rahab was alive at the time that Joshua 6:25 was written, the fact that Sidon (not Tyre) was Phoenicia’s leading city (Jos 11:8; 19:28), the repeated refrain “to this day” indicates the passage of time between the events described and the book’s final form (Jos 4:9; 5:9; 6:25), a reference to what may be an alternate or earlier record of Joshua’s accomplishments (Jos 10:13), and the fact that Jerusalem had not yet been\u00a0conquered\u00a0(Jos 15:63).<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND & SETTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>The book of Joshua begins with Israel poised to invade Canaan when Joshua himself is 90 years old. \u00a0This displacement served two purposes: the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham (Gen 12:7; 15:18-21) and judgment on the inhabitants of Canaan.<\/p>\n

The book traces the next 20 years, detailing the various battles and incidents involved, until his death at the age of 110 after his successful military campaign.<\/p>\n

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two themes are\u00a0prevalent\u00a0in the book of Joshua: 1) God the great warrior, and 2)\u00a0God’s faithfulness.<\/p>\n