ØThe Book of Joshua is the sixth book of the Christian Bible and also the sixth book of the Hebrew Tanakh.
ØThe book’s primary figure gives it its title. Joshua means “Yahweh saves,” an appropriate name for the man who led Israel, under God’s command, to victorious conquest of the Promised Land.
ØJesus’ name in Hebrew would have been Joshua as well, which could also be written as Yehoshua, Yeshua and Hoshea
ØScholars believe that Joshua himself or a scribe under his direction penned most of the book.
ØThe book can be divided into three sections: the conquest of Canaan (chapters 1 - 12), the distribution of the land among the Israelite tribes (chap 13 - 22), and Joshua’s farewell address and death (chap 23 - 24).
ØThe events of the book of Joshua span about twenty-five years, starting soon after the death of Moses. The conquest of Canaan took about seven years, and Joshua’s final address and subsequent death came almost twenty years later.
ØEveryone knows the story of Jericho, but few people know that the next city conquered by the Israelites was a city called Ai – An aptly named city, this sounds like what they would have shouted when they saw a huge army on the horizon.
ØJoshua once asked God to make the sun stand still in the sky over the land of Gibeon – imagine what the Gibeonites were thinking when the sun quit moving.
ØIsraelites defeated a total of 31 kings during their conquest of Canaan.
ØJoshua was constantly reminded personally by God to be “strong and of good courage” in the first chapter of Joshua.
ØEleazar was the High Priest when the Israelites entered Canaan.
ØThe book of Joshua records the culmination of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land. Here we see God fulfill His promise to give the land of Canaan to Jacob’s descendants.
ØThe book of Joshua serves as the connecting narrative between the days of Moses and the days of the judges. That which Moses began and endured in the wilderness, Joshua was able to claim victoriously in the land. God’s promises through the ages were being fulfilled before the people’s eyes.
ØJoshua portrays the Lord as their general, the One who would lead His people in victorious battle if they would trust and obey.