Intro to Chapter 5 Making Sense of the Past Joshua: Sweeping into the Promised Land Judges: Saving Israel from Itself Ruth: An Israelite Foreigner with a Great Destiny A God of Surprises

History in the Midst of Exile Much of the Old Testament was rewritten and/or edited during the exile in Babylon The Israelites had reached an emotional low The Deutoronomists tried to create a history of Israel from the time they entered Canaan about 1250 BCE until the time of the exile – a span of 700 hundred years They created the “Deuteronomic History”

The “Deuteronomic History” Used many and varied sources Books created are: – Joshua – Judges – First and Second Books of Samuel – First and Second Books of Kings Deuteronomy was an intro to this history

This history was a self-examination The Deuteronomists knew that unless the Israelites owned-up to their mistakes that they had little hope for a future The Israelites had to realize that they had no one to blame for their plight except for themselves The books of Joshua and Judges can be read as part of this examination of conscience

Joshua: Sweeping into the Promised Land Joshua was selected to lead the Israelites into the promised land of Canaan The book talks about battles and victories over the peoples already living there The Israelites pillage whole cities and slaughter their inhabitants 3 days after God puts Joshua in command, the Israelites are poised on the eastern bank of the Jordan River ready to crossover and invade into Canaan

During their exile in Babylon, the story of Joshua reminded the Israelites of their need to turn to God again Joshua was everything an Israelite was supposed to be: – Completely faithful to God – Trusting in God The Israelites in Babylon come to the realization that their exile is the result of ignoring the Covenant of Sinai

Joshua arrives at the first city he encounters in Canaan: Jericho - In-class Read page 97 section “Rahab and the Spies” Instead of being seen as a traitor to her city and its people, Rahab is portrayed in the bible as simply doing God’s will God’s way seems to be to choose the most unlikely persons to accomplish His purposes because Rahab reappears in the New Testament as a worthy person and is even given a role in the ancestry of Jesus

In-class Read Matthew 1:1-6 Joshua orders the Israelites to march into Canaan and as soon as the feet of the priests touch the waters of the River Jordan the waters cease to flow One man from each of the twelve tribes carries a stone from the riverbed to build a memorial to their crossing entitled “Gilgal” meaning circle. This story was meant to impress on the Israelites in exile in Babylon that their arrival in Canaan was a gift from God and not of their own doing

Once in Canaan, the Israelites eat of the food of that land and the miraculous “manna” which had sustained them in the desert disappears After crossing and erecting Gilgal they celebrate their first Passover in the Promised Land In a mysterious meeting, Joshua encounters the captain of God’s host of angels who tells Joshua to remove his sandals because he is standing on holy ground – just like Moses on Mt. Sinai This is a sign God will be with them in the battle for Jericho

In Canaan, the Israelites finally had a place to call their own Now the Israelites would know “shalom” – the deep peace of God There were still struggles ahead to grab the land from the people who already lived there But the Israelites never doubted that God wanted them to have that land for their own

The Battle for Jericho Jericho probably was a real city – archaeologists have found the remains of a city they believe is Jericho and the remains are from the right timeframe Archaeologists, however, think Jericho may have been abandoned before the Hebrews entered Canaan The tradition of circling the city seven times (page 99) may have come from celebrations held every year after the Hebrews passed by – celebrating what may have been a victory

There are many facets of the “battle” for Jericho that may always remain unanswered: Did the city fall to the Hebrews or did they conquer it? Did they circle the city seven times before attacking or was that a memorial service they held there afterward in memory of their victory? Or is the story a combination of historical fragments combined together to give the Jews in exile courage for the future?

“The ban,” a term meaning “Devotion to God for Destruction” first appears in the book of Deuteronomy and reappears in the story of Jericho in the Book of Joshua It means total destruction of an enemy taking nothing of theirs as spoils for the victor – even down to their animals Following Jericho, at the battle of Ai the Israelites are defeated because of their own took loot from Jericho -this man is found and killed

In-class read together pages 100 and 101 in your textbook The story of the sun standing still in the sky on page 101 comes from a lost ancient book called the Book of Jashar which was a collection of poems about Israel’s heroes In-class read together the story on pages 101 and the top of 102

The book of Joshua concludes by talking about Joshua’s conquest of Canaan and the division of the land among the twelve tribes In-class read Joshua 20:1-6 & Deuteronomy 19:1- 13 The twelve tribes of Israel finds its parallel in Christianity in Jesus’ twelve disciples. In-class read Acts of the Apostles 1:15-26

The Book of Joshua’s claim for a quick victory of the Israelites over their enemies can’t be totally correct because the next book, the Book of Judges, talks about the Israelites living alongside their Canaanite neighbors! Again the bible is not intended as a completely accurate history – it is a theological document testifying to God’s gift of the land of Canaan to the Hebrews Read up to page 102 in your textbook