Joshua 1-9 Analysis

Improved Essays
Introduction

According to David Howard, “Joshua was written to provide an interpretive history of one slice of Israel’s life as a people.” This “slice of life” Old Testament narrative begins in Joshua 1:1-9 with an authoritative call to be strong, courageous and obedient. This passage serves to outline and prepare the reader for the body of work to follow. At the core, Joshua is a story of radical obedience to God and His law. Within the opening verses there is also a great promise for those who heed the Word of the Lord: success, prosperity and the peace and presence of God Himself. The charge placed upon Joshua and the encouragement that lies within the opening verses carry a similar meaning for believers today.

History

The story
…show more content…
He constantly reassures them of His presence, encouraging them to remain firm in Him, and that He will never forsake them. This outpouring of His blessing, however, does not come without a cost. Obedience to God and His laws are essential for success and prosperity. Prosperity and success in this passage do not link directly to financial gains, but instead receiving the gift God intends. In God’s charge to Joshua, the specific point was made to pay careful attention to the law given to Moses, with emphasis placed on internalization and life application (Josh. 1:7-8). Provided that Joshua and the people remained “strong and courageous” to God in His law, He guaranteed His presence and blessing. Practical application of this passage can be extracted from the statements of encouragement God delivers to Joshua. If believers internalize and meditate on the law and precepts of God, and “do not turn from it to the right or to the left” (Josh. 1:7), there is a similar promise. The promise today rests on the satisfaction of the law in the person of Jesus Christ. If one would but accept Him as savior and Lord, not turning to the left or the right, and be strong and courageous in faith, the result would be an eternal rest. The promises made to Joshua carry with them a similar tone to the promise made by Christ to the Apostle Paul, “do not be afraid any longer…for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you” (Acts 18:9b-10a), and to His disciples, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” (Matt. 28:20b). It is a great comfort to know that our God is with the believer wherever he or she may go, just as it was a great comfort for Joshua to know that God was with

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Any rich story weaves in symbolism and foreshadowing. This enhances the meaning of the narrative, gives the audience clues to the future, and sets the stage for multiple themes. The drama of the Bible checks all of these boxes and then some. Although there are many characters in the first formative years of Israel’s existence, the character of Joshua, leads Israel into a temporary Promised Land, which foreshadows the role that Jesus plays in the unfolding narrative. Joshua was critical to the establishment of Israel as their own country, leading them to a land to call their own.…

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Joshua’s message is about religion being to authoritative and not as welcoming and loving as Jesus created it to be. He communicates this message to various faith communities, including Jews and Christians. People may take this message in various ways, whether they criticize or agree with it. Overall, regardless of how people view this message, it is important for people to know so they can grow in their faith and relationship with…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amid the disparages within the ideological vs historical approach to Joshua, the question arises, is one nurturing their faith and engaging in the will of God or fighting a morally complex evil in a convoluted, fearful world. The depiction of Yahweh warring against God’s adversaries is by a hair's breadth attractive to many modern-day believers. In fact, it borders on apostasy and tends to tarnish the view of a loving, caring, and forgiving God. It potentially gives consent for the acts of religious sanctification methods of attacking and killing one's enemies through "martyrdom operations" in the name of…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Metanarrative Summary Act 1 God and Creation: God created us in his image to spread the love and message of Jesus Christ, this topic relates to christian worldview because we have grown up knowing that we were created by God loved by God and chosen by God to be his hands and feet in a dying world. God created Adam in eve in the Garden of Eden as Act 2 sin enters the world: Sin enters the world when Adam and Eve disobey God by listening to Satan in the form of a snake and eat from the tree of good and evil. This relates to christian worldview because ass christians we tend to want to know why and are curious to the unknown and because of this curiosity we may sin even though God has commanded us not to because he knows it 's for…

    • 2192 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The genre of Deuteronomy 6:1-9 is law. Law was God’s gift to Israel, a covenant or promise that he made with them that if they lived Godly lives, they would be fruitful in the land he would give them. Often times when people today think of the word “law”, they associate it with being controlled, but in this context it wasn’t seen as a way to hold people back. While it was Israel’s constitution, the main purpose of law was to instruct the Israelites on how to thrive in the promised land and have a strong connection with God. Aside from those unique characteristics, there are six important principles to be aware of when interpreting law.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Joshua Hankerson

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Joshua Hankerson was the son of the late Janice and Jonathan Hankerson. Joshua was born on October 31, 1966 in Dallas, Texas. Jonathan was a preacher and went by very strict religious beliefs. Jonathan met Janice in 1960 and a year later they married. Janice was a small school house teacher.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Discussion: Ms. langton(Mother) reported that she has observed some changes in Joshua's demeanor, behavior since he has been in Mercer county house. Ms Langton stated that it would be beneficial for Joshua to stay a little longer so he can develop better coping skills/mechanism. The team agreed that it will be beneficial for Joshua to stay at Mercer county house, and will present the idea to the Judge on Jan 5th. Ms. Langston expressed concern with Joshua's Asthma medication- She stated Josh is out of his Inhaler.…

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Song Of Solomon Analysis

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To begin, it is worth noting that this is one of those stories about doing the right thing for the wrong reason. And, in this case, I think it works. Lisa decides to "fix" Solomon's agoraphobia so that she can get into her dream college's psychology program and write about how she's already on track to be an amazing psychologist. Naturally, it goes without saying, that this is her journey to discovering that people can't be fixed. I was a bit apprehensive because this idea has the potential to go horribly awry and get a bit offensive, but Whaley handles it with the finesse of a great, educated writer and uses this as a platform to help readers understand mental health more properly.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Hebrew Bible presents some extremely violent text and when taken out of context it becomes difficult to find a connection between the compassion of Christ and a wrathful or vengeful God depicted in these Old Testament stories. Walter Brueggemann, in his book Divine Presence Amid Violence provides an interpretation of one of these controversial stories found in Joshua 11. He explores the domination of…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Song Of Solomon Analysis

    • 1085 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Fight or Flight Toni Morrison born out of a mixed race family in Missouri ties in her ancestral line to that of Macon Dead’s in Song of Solomon (Blue). Morrison’s mother flew out of Morrison’s life as quickly as Morrison began life. This inevitably created a deep distrust and mildly anti-American sentiment that is signified throughout Song of Solomon. Morrison’s father was an amazing story-teller and often told Morrison stories about their ancestors (Blue). Her story-telling skills were inspired by her dad’s archaic stories.…

    • 1085 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As the final book of the Old Testament concludes, the statement of God’s justice and the promise of his return through the coming Messiah is clear in the ears of the Israelites. Four hundred years of silence develops, ending with a related message from God’s next prophet, John the Baptist,…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beginning with Abraham, God had promised to provide the offspring of the Patrairchs the land of Canaan. God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:8, “I will give to you, and your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan.” It is through Moses that God forms a covenant with the descendants of Israel. In the Book of Joshua it is shown that breaking the agreement with God forfeited the promises God made to Israel.…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Isaiah 53 Analysis

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The passage of Isaiah 53 (4-8), for many centuries has been summed up as a poetic song in which the prophet Isaiah depicted the climatic period of world history in which the coming Messiah will arrive. In today’s culture this view is again reoriented in that many Christians alone see this passage to be a prophecy of the ministry in which Jesus Christ will walk. When looking into the passage, Christians see the ‘servant’ as Jesus, and his suffering for our sins, and the sacrifice he made for us. However like many passages throughout the bible, the interpretation in which it is understood is dependent on the perspective in which it is looked from. When breaking down these four verses, the perspectives that arrive are the time it was written at,…

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a world with immorality and unfairness, humans find ways to fix these issues in order to bring a more just society. People find their sense of justice through numerous means. Many people seek their sense of justice through religious texts. The Old and New Testaments are examples of scriptures that demonstrate the meaning of what justice signifies. These texts illustrate God’s love for humanity and how God saves humans from harm.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Numbers 12:1-16 was a story that expresses how God communicates differently with every individual. Here are is my initial response to the narrative: I think there are a few parts of this passage that I find strange. I think it is strange how God favors Moses more than anyone else. Just because Moses is a good, humble man should not make him the more favorable human being the Lord should express himself through. I feel like the Lord is saying to Miriam and Aaron that they will never get the gifts Moses receives because they will never be as good as him.…

    • 2078 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays