The Book of Joshua Lesson 1 An Introduction to Joshua Manuscript -0- For videos, lesson guides and other resources, visit Thirdmill at thirdmill.org. © 2017 by Third Millennium Ministries All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means for profit, except in brief quotations for the purposes of review, comment, or scholarship, without written permission from the publisher, Third Millennium Ministries, Inc., 316 Live Oaks Blvd., Casselberry, Florida 32707. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ABOUT THIRDMILL Founded in 1997, Thirdmill is a non-profit Evangelical Christian ministry dedicated to providing: Biblical Education. For the World. For Free. 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The Book of Joshua Lesson One An Introduction to Joshua Contents INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1 AUTHORSHIP AND DATE .............................................................................................1 Traditional Outlooks .....................................................................................................1 Critical Outlooks ...........................................................................................................3 Evangelical Outlooks ....................................................................................................3 Development ............................................................................................................4 Completion ...............................................................................................................4 DESIGN AND PURPOSE .................................................................................................6 Content and Structure ...................................................................................................7 Victorious Conquest (1–12) .....................................................................................8 Tribal Inheritances (13–22) ......................................................................................8 Covenant Loyalty (23–24) .......................................................................................8 Original Meaning ..........................................................................................................9 Victorious Conquest...............................................................................................11 Tribal Inheritances .................................................................................................13 Covenant Loyalty ...................................................................................................15 CHRISTIAN APPLICATION ........................................................................................16 Inauguration ................................................................................................................17 Victorious Conquest...............................................................................................18 Tribal Inheritances .................................................................................................18 Covenant Loyalty ...................................................................................................18 Continuation ...............................................................................................................19 Victorious Conquest...............................................................................................19 Tribal Inheritances .................................................................................................19 Covenant Loyalty ...................................................................................................20 Consummation ............................................................................................................21 Victorious Conquest...............................................................................................21 Tribal Inheritances .................................................................................................21 Covenant Loyalty ...................................................................................................21 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................22 CONTRIBUTORS ...........................................................................................................23 GLOSSARY......................................................................................................................24 -ii- For videos, lesson guides and other resources, visit Thirdmill at thirdmill.org. The Book of Joshua Lesson One An Introduction to Joshua INTRODUCTION It’s common for people around the world to delight in the grand events that took place when their nations were founded. But when later generations face challenges, loss and disappointment, it’s often necessary to remind them of the significance of those events from long ago. In many ways, this common experience is reflected in the Old Testament book of Joshua. Grand events had taken place when the Israelites first entered their homeland in Canaan. But as later generations faced hardships, it became necessary for them to learn afresh how important those events were. This is the first lesson in our series on The Book of Joshua, and we’ve entitled it, “An Introduction to Joshua.” As we’ll see, when we learn what the book of Joshua meant for ancient Israel, we’ll be better equipped to see how much it has to offer us in our day as well. Our introduction to the book of Joshua will divide into three parts. First, we’ll explore its authorship and date. Second, we’ll introduce an overview of its design and purpose. And third, we’ll sketch several broad considerations we need to keep in mind as we make Christian applications of our book. Let’s begin with the authorship and date of the book of Joshua. AUTHORSHIP AND DATE The Holy Spirit inspired the book of Joshua so that it would give us true historical records. But we also have to remember that the Holy Spirit employed the perspectives and purposes of Scripture’s human authors to shape their historical records. So, as with every other portion of the Bible, the more we know about the human author and his times, the better we’ll understand the book of Joshua. We’ll briefly sketch three perspectives on the authorship and date of Joshua: first, traditional outlooks; second, modern critical outlooks; and, third, some basic evangelical outlooks that will guide us in this lesson. Let’s turn first to ancient, traditional outlooks on the authorship and date of our book. TRADITIONAL OUTLOOKS The book of Joshua is anonymous. Neither the book itself, nor the rest of Scripture tells us who its final compiler or author was. The title, “The Book of Joshua,” that appears in most of our modern Bibles, was added to the book long after it was -1- For videos, lesson guides and other resources, visit Thirdmill at thirdmill.org. The Book of Joshua Lesson 1: An Introduction to Joshua written. But the tendencies of traditional ancient Jewish and Christian positions on these matters are nicely summarized in the rabbinical perspectives expressed