Critical Introduction to The Book of Joshua in The Bible (Research Paper Sample)

Critical Introduction to The Book of Joshua in The Bible
The miracle of theology demonstrated in the book of Joshua shows God as the creator of the Universe, sovereign for all the people, nations, people, and resources. Given the nature of the assignment to Joshua, God required the servant to be resilient and courageous. Ultimately, God is in control of the whole redemption exercise of killing the enemies, possessing the land promised, and rewarding it to the children of God. Joshua was faithfully obedient and trustworthy to God throughout the pursuit of Canaan land. God's promises are attained through obedience, and trust, which required Israel’s new generation to live by the law of the Torah.
Critical Issues (Author, Date, Provenance, Occasion, Sources)
The book of Joshua records the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Israelites via the entrance of Canaan. Joshua’s book, “Yahweh saves,” has critical issues on who wrote the book, its date, and its provenance. Scholars, as established in Chapter 1:1, estimate 1406BC to be when the book was written, before the onset of the conquest. Joshua took a large portion of the book writing based on first-hand experiences of “us” and “we,” found in Chapters 5:1,6 and 24:1-15. After the death of Joshua at the age of one hundred and ten years, the high priests supplemented the material with God’s servant’s initial writing. Eleazar or Phinehas, as established in Chapter 15:13–19; 19:47; 24:33; 24:29–33, alludes to the events after the conquest, becoming the first-hand person to communicate the events (The Bible Teaching Ministry of Pastor Chuck Swindoll, 2022). Joshua took a large portion in writing the Holy Book, hence why God gave the servant honor for faith, obedience, courage, and dedication.
Joshua’s provenance derives from the Conquest of Canaan, which starts from the banks of the river Jordan through Jericho. In pursuing the enemies, Joshua depends on the Israel militants and the power of God to execute both the physical and supernatural fights, respectively. The origin of history shows vast land, fulfillment of God’s promises, punishment of Israelites for going against the Covenant, and delivery of the enemies in the hands of Israelites. Joshua’s book demonstrates contradiction and sequence for the fulfillment of the promise. Joshua exhibits faithfulness to notable figures who assisted during the pursuit involving Rahab and Caleb. On the other hand, Joshua witnessed disobedience, and its consequences: Achan’s sin (7:1), making a treaty with Gibeonites without seeking the Lord’s approval (9:1-27), loss of Ai (7:5), and failure to conquer the enemy as commanded by God. Joshua’s book is written to the Israel descendants on how they conquered the land, whose history is relevant to date, inspiring Christians to live the Godly way of life. Joshua’s book acknowledges God as the King, and defender of His people.
Literary Structure
The book of Joshua is divided into three critical sections. The major sections include the conquest of Canaan (Chapters 1-12), distribution of the land among the Israelites tribes (Chapters 13-22), and Joshua’s farewell address and death (Chapters 23-24). In Chapter 3, God communicates the attainment of promise to the Israelites with Joshua. Chapter 3:10 God speaks to Joshua to inform the Israelites they shall know the living Almighty through the killing of the thousands of enemies. Specifically, God was speaking about the Canaanites, the Girgashites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Joshua failed to show mercy on all the Canaan Kings. As recorded in the Book of Law for Moses, Chapter 1:1-18, Joshua assumes the responsibility for becoming the leader of Israel, and commits to existing God’s rules, and assurance. Possession of Canaan was God’s fulfillment to the ancestors, that Joshua completed.
Joshua started the land distribution to the twelve tribes of Israel as they continued with the conquest. Transjordan was allocated to Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe for Manasseh (Joshua 13:8-33). Caleb was allocated from the tribe of Judah and was also blessed with Kadesh-Barnea to espy out the land (14:6-15). Israel’s two big tribes, Judah, and Joseph received large portions of land (Joshua 15:1-63, and 16:1-17:18), respectively. Israel’s small tribes, including Judah’s Benjamin and Simeon, were located in Joshua 18:11-28, and 19:1-9, respectively (Firth, 2018). Smaller tribes of Jacob, including Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan, were also allocated land by Joshua, as found in Chapters 19:10-48. Joshua builds a City in Timnath-Serah in mount Ephraim, found in Chapter 19:49-52. After driving out inhabitants, Joshua issued the recovered land differently across all the tribes of Israelites.
In Chapters 23-24, Joshua assembles all the Israelites, their elders, leaders, and officers to inform them of having accomplished regaining land and to divide it amongst themselves. Joshua reminds Israelites of the goodness of the Lord and commands them not to deviate from serving God. Joshua informs the Israelites that God would forsake them if they chose gods over worshipping Him. Joshua reminds Israelites that God had given them the land they did not labor. Consequently, Joshua leads the Israelites to make a renewal covenant with God and reminds them that the Lord is jealous. Joshua, the son of Nun, finally died aged one and ten years and was buried at mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.
Place in The Storyline of the Bible
In its entirety, the book of GOD’S BIG PICTURE by Vaughan Robert outlines the four truths existing since the creation. Mainly, Robert establishes that God is the author of the creation, the King of creation, human beings are the pinnacle of creation, and complete rest is the goal of God’s creation. God’s pattern of creation starts from the book of Genesis, which shows originality, perfection, and rest (Roberts, 2012). God’s pattern of creation is exhibited in Genesis through the creation of Adam and Eve, where they were commissioned to stay under the Lord’s rule to enjoy the complete blessing. God’s ultimate desire is for humankind to stay with Him, have complete rest, and enjoy the wondrous creation
In the book's second chapter, Joshua outlines the ruin of God's perfect creation. Adam and Eve sinned, whose consequences affected God's relationship with the creation. God, because of the sin committed by the first parents, put the human race under the genealogy of flood, fire, suffering, and death. However, in Chapter three of Robert's books, God outlines a perfect plan for salvation. The climate of God's grace comes in through the establishment of the covenant with Abraham centered on land, people, and blessing. Abraham's descendants were promised land full of milk and honey, actualized by Joshua.
The success of receiving God’s started from being rescued in Egypt. After thousands of years of suffering in the foreign land, God started performing miracles on the descendants of Abraham. Part of the redemption miracles performed includes the Passover lamb, the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, God giving the ten commandments at Mount Sinai, and following obedience to fulfill the promises. God’s instructions on how to dwell with the chosen people were contained in the Ark of Covenant, with sacrifices being the only way in which they could relate with Him (Schnoor, 2019). Led by Joshua, Israelites finally entered promised land by conquering the land’s inhabitants. A significant theme of the Prophet is to directly communicate with God, pass the message, instill hope and punish disobedience. Therefore, God fulfilled promised land through the role and function of the Prophet.
Major Themes and Theological Message
Joshua’s book provides notable themes and theological messages mainly centered on God, Covenant, land, and people. Part of the themes established in the book of Joshua contains God fulfills the promise to Israelites; disobedience leads to disaster and the role of leadership. In the book of Joshua, the word promise appears multiple times for valid reasons of reinforcing the mission. God walks through the Israelites to cross the river Jordan and subsequently overpowers Jericho, Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Amorites, Girgashites, and the Jebusites. Even with Israelites being the chosen children, God does not tolerate disobedience. Lord instructs Joshua to punish Achan’s sin with death. Repeatedly, Joshua reminds the children of Israel to obey God because of the goodness shown to them. True faith in God requires action, which Joshua did in Chapter 3. Joshua stepped in the Jordan river, marched around the walls of Jericho for six days, and seven times on the seventh day, walked into the battlefield of opponents, and, outnumbered them. A notable theme is the relationship between man and God. God uses Joshua to lead Israelites to the promised land. Joshua continually receives guidance on approaching the enemies and what to do with possessed land. Joshua is a courageous, determined, aggressive, and focused servant, fulfilling God’s promise.
On the other hand, theological themes derived from the Bible include the true relevance of God, land and rest, and divine retribution. A close reading of the book of Joshua advances God’s idea of awarding Israelites the promised land, built on obedience to God’s command, enabling prosperity in that land. God’s first theological concept, is defined in the law of commandments, which governed the relati...