Bible in one year 5/13/2022 Joshua chapter 5- 8
By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts
& Gospel music; Pastoral ministry & Counseling
Joshua
Chapter 5 the circumcision of the people; the Commander of the Lord’s Army
The Lord said to Joshua, “make flint
knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” (v.2). The sign of faith in the
covenant made with Abraham (Gen.17:9-14). During the wilderness experience, the
rite had not been performed, the nation being under judgment. Now, before
taking possession of the land, it was necessary to circumcise all males under
thirty-eight (i.e., who were born but not circumcised during the years of
wandering in the wilderness). The Lord had rolled away the reproach of Egypt
from Israelites (v.9). The taunts leveled by the Egyptians at the Israelites
for their failure to gain their Promised Land. That reproach had now been
rooled away (Gilgal means “ the rolling”).
After the Passover that very day, they ate some of the produce of the
land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they
ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites,
but that year, they ate fo the produce of Canaan. The produce. I.e., crops of
the harvest being gathered at that very time. The manna stopped the day after
they ate this produce of Canaan.(v.12) The manna had sustained them for forty years. (ex.16:15).
The Commander of the Lord’s Army. With retreat back across the Jordan now impossible, Joshua was preoccupied with the coming battle, and so did not recognize his visitor. “ Are you for us or for our enemies?” (v.13). “ Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come” (v.14). Joshua worshiped the commander of the army of the Lord as God (6:2), acknowledging that this was His war and that the Israelites were but a part of the Lord’s hosts (which also included angels and the forces of nature). “ What message does my Lord have for his servant?” The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “ Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.”(vv.14-15).
Chapter 6 Conquering the
land of Canaan; Victory at Jericho
The Lord
said to Joshua, “ I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around
the city once with all the armed men. Do this six days, have seven priests
carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march
around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you
hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud
shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every
man straight in.”(vv.2-5). These verses record the important information
the commander of the Lord’s army communicated to Joshua about taking Jericho.
The divine plan to march around Jericho for seven days would test Israel’s
faith and would accentuate the fear already present in the people of
Jericho(2:9). The city covered only about 8:5 acres, making it easy to march
around seven times. Devoted (v.17).
The same Hebrew word (herem) is translated “destroyed” in verse 21. It means
“to ban, destroy, devote” in the sense of belonging to a god or, as here, to
the true God. Jericho was completely devoted to God as the first fruits of
Canaan, and no booty was to be taken by the people(vv.18-19; Lev.27:28-29). Jericho’s well collapsed(v.20), It may
originally have been as high as thirty feet The part of the wall on which
Rahab’s house was built did not collapse. Some interpreters claim that an
earthquake caused the destruction. If so, it was a remarkable miracle of timing
and localization since the camp at Gilgal ( a little more than a mile away) and
Rahab’s house remained intact. Verse 26, the curse relates to rebuilding
Jericho as a fortified city, not to inhabiting it, and was fulfilled on Hiel
around 870 B.C. (1Kings 16:34).
Achan
acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things, he took some of them.(v.1).
Let., broke faith. Achan’s action was a breach of covenant law(v.11). Ai was
located in the central hill country of Palestine, E of Bethel. The sin of Achan
was imputed to the nation.(v.11). Achan confessed that he coveted a beautiful robe from Babylonia (v.21),
a long robe woven of gold and silk threads. Shekels.
Each weighed about one-half ounce. A wedge of gold such a wedge, probably
similar to Achan’s and measuring 10x1x1/2 inches, has been unearthed. All
Israel stoned him, and burned them. Achan’s family must have been accomplices
(Deut.24:16). The Lord turned from His fierce anger. Therefore that place has
been called the Valley of Achor. Achor means “trouble” . The valley is about one
mile S. of Jericho.
Chapter
8 Victory at Ai and Worship at Ebal
Thirty thousand (v.3) a seemingly large number for an
ambush. It has been suggested that “thousand” should read “chief.” If so,
Joshua sent thirty chiefs on a commando-type ambush. Behind the city (v.4), I.e., on the W. side (v.9). in verse12, this
second force of five thousand was sent to prevent attach by the men of Bethel.
Joshua’s main army on the north(v.11) was to decoy the men of Ai out of the
city. Joshua’s javelin signaled the ambushing party by reflecting the sun from
its flat blade. Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a
desolate place to this day. (v.28). Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the
Lord, the God of Israel, as Moses had commanded the Israelites. It according to
what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses. All Israel, aliens, citizens
alike, with their elders, officials and judges were standing on both sides of
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing those who carried it – the priests,
who were Levites. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim, and half
of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses had formerly commanded to bless the
people of Israel. Joshua read all the words of the law –the blessings and the
curses, just as it is written in the Book of the Law.
Old
Testament (NIV) Joshua Chapter 5-8
Chapter
5 The Circumcision of the people
5:1 Now when all the
Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast
heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had
crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the
Israelites.
Circumcision
and Passover at Gilgal
5:2
At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise
the Israelites again."
5:3
So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath
Haaraloth.
5:4
Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt--all the men of
military age--died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt.
5:5
All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in
the desert during the journey from Egypt had not.
5:6
The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who
were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed
the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that
he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and
honey.
5:7
So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua
circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been
circumcised on the way.
5:8
And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were
in camp until they were healed.
5:10
On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on
the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.
5:11
The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the
land: unleavened bread and roasted grain.
5:12
The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no
longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of
Canaan.
The
Fall of Jericho
5:13
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front
of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked,
"Are you for us or for our enemies?"
5:14
"Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD
I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence,
and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"
5:15
The commander of the LORD'S army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the
place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
Chapter
6 Conquest of Central Canaan : Victory at Jericho
6:1
Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and
no one came in.
6:2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.
6:3
March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.
6:4
Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the
seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the
trumpets.
6:5
When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give
a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go
up, every man straight in."
6:6
So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark
of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of
it."
6:7
And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed
guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."
6:8
When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven
trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of
the LORD'S covenant followed them.
6:9
The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the
rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding.
6:10
But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise
your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then
shout!"
6:11
So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then
the people returned to camp and spent the night there.
6:12
Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the
LORD.
6:13
The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the
ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and
the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding.
6:14
So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the
camp. They did this for six days.
6:15
On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven
times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven
times.
6:16
The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua
commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!
6:17
The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the
prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she
hid the spies we sent.
6:18
But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your
own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of
Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.
6:19
All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the
LORD and must go into his treasury."
6:20
When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet,
when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged
straight in, and they took the city.
6:21
They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living
thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
6:22
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the
prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance
with your oath to her."
6:23
So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her
father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out
her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
6:24
Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver
and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD'S
house.
6:25
But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to
her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho--and she lives
among the Israelites to this day.
6:26
At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD
is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of
his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will
he set up its gates."
6:27
So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
Chapter 7 Achan’s Sin
7:1
But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; Achan
son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took
some of them. So the LORD'S anger burned against Israel.
7:2
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of
Bethel, and told them, "Go up and spy out the region." So the men
went up and spied out Ai.
7:3
When they returned to Joshua, they said, "Not all the people will have to
go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary
all the people, for only a few men are there."
7:4
So about three thousand men went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai,
7:5
who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city
gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this
the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
7:6
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of
the LORD, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and
sprinkled dust on their heads.
7:7
And Joshua said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people
across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us?
If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!
7:8
O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies?
7:9
The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and
they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you
do for your own great name?"
7:10
The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?
7:11
Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to
keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have
lied, they have put them with their own possessions.
7:12
That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their
backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be
with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to
destruction.
7:13
"Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, 'Consecrate yourselves in
preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your
enemies until you remove it.
7:14
"'In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the
LORD takes shall come forward clan by clan; the clan that the LORD takes shall
come forward family by family; and the family that the LORD takes shall come
forward man by man.
7:15
He who is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with
all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the LORD and has done
a disgraceful thing in Israel!'"
7:16
Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was
taken.
7:17
The clans of Judah came forward, and he took the Zerahites. He had the clan of
the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was taken.
7:18
Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son
of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
7:19
Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of
Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it
from me."
7:20
Achan replied, "It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel.
This is what I have done:
7:21
When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels
of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took
them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver
underneath."
7:22
So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden
in his tent, with the silver underneath.
7:23
They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the
Israelites and spread them out before the LORD.
7:24
Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the
robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep,
his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.
7:25
Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring
trouble on you today." Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had
stoned the rest, they burned them.
7:26
Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.
Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been
called the Valley of Achor ever since.
Chapter
8 Ai Destroyed
8:1
Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered
into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.
8:2
You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that
you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush
behind the city."
8:3
So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand
of his best fighting men and sent them out at night
8:4
with these orders: "Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the
city. Don't go very far from it. All of you be on the alert.
8:5
I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out
against us, as they did before, we will flee from them.
8:6
They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will
say, 'They are running away from us as they did before.' So when we flee from
them,
8:7
you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The LORD your God will give
it into your hand.
8:8
When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded.
See to it; you have my orders."
8:9
Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait
between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai--but Joshua spent that night with the
people.
8:10
Early the next morning Joshua mustered his men, and he and the leaders of
Israel marched before them to Ai.
8:11
The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and
arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between
them and the city.
8:12
Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel
and Ai, to the west of the city.
8:13
They had the soldiers take up their positions--all those in the camp to the
north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into
the valley.
8:14
When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early
in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the
Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the
city.
8:15
Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled
toward the desert.
8:16
All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were
lured away from the city.
8:17
Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the
city open and went in pursuit of Israel.
8:18
Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in
your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city." So Joshua held out
his javelin toward Ai.
8:19
As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position
and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on
fire.
8:20
The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising against the sky,
but they had no chance to escape in any direction, for the Israelites who had
been fleeing toward the desert had turned back against their pursuers.
8:21
For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that
smoke was going up from the city, they turned around and attacked the men of
Ai.
8:22
The men of the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were
caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down,
leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.
8:23
But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
8:24
When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the
desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to
the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it.
8:25
Twelve thousand men and women fell that day--all the people of Ai.
8:26
For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had
destroyed all who lived in Ai.
8:27
But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city,
as the LORD had instructed Joshua.
8:28
So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to
this day.
8:29
He hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset,
Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree and throw it down at the
entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which
remains to this day.
The
Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal
8:30
Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel,
8:31
as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it
according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses--an altar of uncut
stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the LORD
burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.
8:32
There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua copied on stones the law of
Moses, which he had written.
8:33
All Israel, aliens and citizens alike, with their elders, officials and judges,
were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing
those who carried it--the priests, who were Levites. Half of the people stood
in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the
servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless
the people of Israel.
8:34
Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law--the blessings and the
curses--just as it is written in the Book of the Law.
8:35
There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read
to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the
aliens who lived among them.
Bibliography,
Ryrie, Charles C. The
Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986
No comments:
Post a Comment