JOSHUA

Introduction

The five books of Moses anticipated the fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham regarding the Promised Land. Now (either about 1400 or 1220 b.c.), through a string of military victories under Joshua, Israel conquered the land and divided it among the twelve tribes. In these battles it became evident that God fights for his people when they are “strong and courageous” (1:6, 7, 9, 18; 10:25) and put their full trust in him. At the close of the book, Joshua charged the people to remain faithful to God and to obey his commands, and the people agreed to do so. “As for me and my house”, said Joshua, “we will serve the Lord” (24:15). Although anonymous, the book appears to contain eyewitness testimony, some of which may have been written by Joshua himself.