As Israel enters the promised land Yahweh encourages Joshua to be brave and promises His presence with them all the way, while Joshua encourages the people to fulfil their oaths and take the land together.

Rahab fears Yahweh and responds in faith seeing refuge from Him and is promised refuge from the coming battle. Rahab’s actions demonstrates for us what true and proper faith in Yahweh looks and acts like.

After a long 400-year wait, God’s people finally cross over into the Promised Land of rest. Through the might of the LORD alone, the people are brought in. The LORD’s might is something they are to never forget, something they are teach their children and to all the earth, and something to drive their reverent fear of the LORD forever.

Israel is perched just inside the Promised Land, about to battle to take the City of Jericho. However, before any military action begins, crucial spiritual actions must take place first: these indicate whether the people of God are truly on the LORD’s side. When the ‘battle’ begins, it is really no battle at all. The LORD alone conquers and graciously gives the Promised Land to His people. Those who are on His side receive the blessing of rest and salvation, but those who are not will receive the destruction of judgement.

Achan is a strong cautionary tale about the deadliness of disobedience, a personal sin that impacts an entire nation. God’s people must take faithful obedience with the utmost seriousness, looking to Christ’s obedience, first and foremost, then striving to live out a life of obedience both for our own sake and the sake of others.

So far we have seen specific and particular cities being taken by Joshua and Israel. Now in chapters 9-11 are given a bit of a montage of the broader conquest of the land. Through a series of three vignettes we see how Joshua and Israel are able to defeat the inhabitants and, centrally to these chapters, how Yahweh fights for his people to fulfil his promises to them.

Here are some thoughts around the violence that we see in the book of Joshua.

Over many chapters and with great detail, the distribution of the land as an inheritance is recorded. This highlights the greatness of the inheritance, given to all the people of Israel, because of the utter faithfulness of the LORD God to His promises. In the midst of this record of the inheritance are seeds of trouble that hint at the dangers Israel will face that will jeopardise the inheritance of the land.

These chapters point forward to the glorious inheritance Christians have in Christ, the assurance in God’s faithfulness to give what He has promised and a warning to remove dangers to receiving our inheritance.

The Eastern tribes showed commendable loyalty to the LORD and unity with their Western brothers, but when it is threatened, confrontation rightly results. Clarification of intentions for ongoing loyalty to the LORD and unity with the brothers results in joyful celebration!

Christian unity is founded on a shared faith and loving loyalty to the Lord Jesus. We must be concerned whenever this is threatened, and we must do all we can to maintain this unity by dealing with the sins (potential or real) that arise.

Joshua finishes with two speeches that cover the same point: the LORD God has been utterly faithful to His people, graciously doing everything to make Israel His people and blessing them. In response, the people are to be utterly loyal to Him, being very careful not to worship other gods.

The book of Joshua concludes with a stirring charge for all believers to respond to the utterly faith and gracious God with utmost loyalty.