CHRISTIAN FAMILY FELLOWSHIP, PDQ MUSCAT
TOPIC: JOSHUA (Session 2): Early Conquests
in CanaanIntroduction:
Under Session-I, we reviewed how Joshua became the assistant to Moses, the characteristics that led to his selection, his remarkable faith in God and his eventual annointment as the successor to Moses. Joshua took over as the leader of the Israelites upon Moses death, and he lived upon the promises which the Lord had made to him. The first battle of the Israelites after the death of Moses was against Jericho. Before the conquest of Jericho, God decided to perform his wonders through Joshua by parting River Jordan before the Israelites, just as the Lord had done for Moses by parting the Red Sea after the Israelites departed Egypt God physically demonstrated casting away the reproach of Egypt by the instruction of circumcision for all the Israelite males who were born in the wilderness, as none of the original males who departed Egypt survived, save Joshua and Caleb. Before the battle of Jericho, God further demonstrated that He was with Israel by sending the Captain of the host of the Lord to meet Joshua (Josh 5:13-15)
The conquest of the fortified city of Jericho was remarkable, much more for the way by which God gave the Israelites victory. The wall that surrounded Jericho was massive and fully reinforced. That some inhabitants of the city (e.g. Rahab) actually built their houses on the wall, is evidence of the size of the wall. Without lifting a finger, but simply by following God’s instructions, the great wall of Jericho fell before the children of Israel and victory was theirs. Following the victory, other neighbouring kingdoms knew God was indeed with Israel and some of them tried to make peace with Israel, an example being the Gibeonites who achieved peace by deception. Others decided to gang up against Israel and even in that they failed. The Israelites were able to defeat several armies that ganged up together against them, including the combined armies of Hebron, Eglon, Jamuth, Lachish and Jerusalem (Josh 10: 23-26)
Joshua consolidated lsraels conquests in Canaan and divided the conquered cities to the 12 tribes of Israel, including the half-tribes (from Joseph’s inter-marriage), e.g Manasseh and Ephraim, that followed Israel out of Egypt. He guided Israel and made sure that they never departed from God.
The Bible says in Judg 2:7 "And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel".
A. The surveillance of Jericho (Josh 2)
Q I: What are the lessons to be learnt from the actions of Rahab ? Was she a traitor of her people or simply a sinner seeking God’s salvation ? Pls give relevant passages of the Bible in support of the answers.
Q2: If you were Rahab, what would you have done in the same situation?
B. Preparations for Battle (Josh 3, 7-17; josh 4:10-18; Josh 5:1-9)
03: What is the significance of the parting of River Jordan ? What did God demonstrate by this act?
Q4: What were the reasons for the circumcision of Israelite’ males before the conquest of Jericho ? What is the significance of this act ? Pls give relevant passages of the Bible in support of the answers.
C. The Conquest of Jericho (Josh 6).
Q5: What are the lessons to be learnt in the collapse of the wall of Jericho? Can we relate these lessons to our
special circumstances in Nigeria, and in the world in general?
Q6:
Can we also draw some lessons for Christians in our daily association with God ? Also compare with the case of Naaman (2Kings 5:1 I). As Christians, do we always follow Christ’s instructions, even when they appear so simple?D. The First Defeat of Israelites under Joshua (Josh 7: I
- II; 19-26; Josh 8:1-23)Q7: What could Joshua have done to prevent this defeat by Ai?
E. The deception of the Israelites by the Gibeonites (josh 9:1-14; 22-27)
Q8: What is the lesson to be learnt in this deception of the children of Israel?
F. The Kingdoms Gang-up Against the Israelites (Josh I I: I
- 12).Q9: What lessons are there in the gang-up by the kingdoms and their defeat by the Israelites?