Lesson 25 – At the Edge of the New Land

1.    Leviticus – Laws governing worship and purification.

2.    Numbers – Story of the wandering in the wilderness.

3.    Deuteronomy – A second telling of the Exodus story.

  • Reading the Scripture
  • Hearing the Story
    • What did God promise to do for Joshua?
    • What did God ask Joshua to do?
    • As a new leader, what problems do you think Joshua might have face?  Why might he have been tempted to lose courage or to be fearful?
    • Exodus 14:21-29 tells of the Israelites’ passage form Egypt into the wilderness, while Joshua 3:14-17 tells of their passage form the wilderness, into the promised land.
      Read both scriptures and then think about:

1.    What is similar about the two passages?

2.    What is different?

3.    In each passage,

1.    What did the Israelites leave behind? 

2.    What did they enter?

3.    In each passage, how did the Israelites understand the activity of God?



  • Making the story your own.
    Think about times of changed in your own life (such as illness, a death, a move, a new career).
    • What was necessary to leave behind during that time of change?
    • What new things were necessary to embrace?
    • Who and what helped you make the transition from “what used to be” to “what came to be”?

  • Memory verse: Joshua 4:21-22

“When your children ask their parents in time to come. ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know.  “Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.’”

 

Bible Background (taken from Journey through the Bible, Christian Board of Publications, 1995, p. 81)

 

1At Mount Sinai, Moses received the Ten Commandments, broke them in anger when he saw that the Israelites had made a golden calf and were worshiping it, and then returned to the mountain and received the commandments afresh from God. The people broke camp, moved to Kadesh-barnea (a well-watered oasis in the northern Sinai wilderness far below Beer-sheba), and remained there for many years, occasionally trying to enter Canaan from the south. Eventually, after Aaron's death and burial, they moved east and south, attempting to skirt the strong kingdoms of Edom and Moab and enter Canaan from the east. They met opposition from Edom and Moab but were finally able to reach the region of Mount Nebo, near the northern end of the Dead Sea. There, Moses was able to see the land of the promise, but was not permitted to lead the people into the land. Joshua was designated as his successor, and Moses left the community, led by God into the hills east of the Dead Sea, where he died and was buried. To this day, no one knows the location of Moses' grave.

2But before Moses died, he is reported to have made a major address to the gathered community, rehearsing the story of God's deliverance of the Israelites, God's giving of the Law, and God's guidance of the people in the wilderness and up to this location in Transjordan. This speech is our present book of Deuteronomy. It too must surely have been greatly enlarged in later times.

31t is remarkable that the story of Moses' dying outside the land of the promise did not appear to ancient Israel to be a great tragedy. Like all human beings, Moses had sometimes done wrong, and moral reasons could be found for God's not permitting him to lead the people into Canaan. But basically, it seems that Moses had fulfilled his mission by bringing the people to the promised land. Moses was shown the land from afar, and he could then die content. We should think of the significance of this fact. The promise of God, as we have seen, is always being fulfilled, but it is never fully brought to completion, not in this life. Always, more awaits the community of faith. That applies too for the Christian community and keeps the eyes fixed on the future.

4Joshua takes over as the new leader, after having been commissioned by God before Moses' death (Deuteronomy 31:1-15, 23) and after having Moses' hands laid upon him (Deuteronomy 34:9). God reassures Joshua of divine guidance and of success when he crosses the Jordan River and confronts the armies of the peoples of Canaan (Joshua 1). The people are lined up with the ark in front, carried by priests. At the signal, the priests carry the ark to the middle of the Jordan River, and the waters are stopped up to the north at a place called Adam, probably Tell ed-Damiyeh, about eighteen miles north of Jericho. We know of blockages of the Jordan River as a result of cave-ins of the steep banks, but of course the Israelites understood this event to be a miraculous act of God. All the people pass across the Jordan, and only after they have done so do the priests continue their journey with the ark, and the flow of the Jordan resumes.

5But before the priests leave their position in the river, twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes; take up a large stone each from the bed of the Jordan and carry them ahead to make a memorial marker commemorating this great event. They place the stones in a circle, which is given the name Gilgal. There is also a tradition that a memorial of twelve stones was set up in the Jordan River, where the priests' feet first touched the water (1oshua 4:9; see also 3:12-13). The name Gilgal itself suggests a circle, and we can see from the description that this is a sacred gathering place for the tribes, marked by the twelve memorial stones set in a circle. This site is going to remain very important to the Israelites for centuries. Gilgal is also the site where Saul is formally installed as Israel's first king.

6We noted in our discussion of the Passover night in Egypt that Passover becomes a time to commemorate the last, terrible plague in Egypt and the night of Israel's departure from Egypt to freedom. Children are to ask, "What do you mean by these acts?" Parents then retell the story of the Exodus. And here we see the same. Probably in early Israel, Passover celebrations also included the story of the crossing of the Jordan River on dry land, God's act of salvation that brought the people into the land of the promise.

Note also that this ceremony and this celebration occur before a single blow has been struck against the population of the land of Canaan. God's purpose in providing Israel a land was not to dispossess some other peoples to make way for the Israelites. It is important to recognize how this story of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua and his forces seems to glorify warfare in the name of God and to show the Israelites as God's favorites, entitled to wipe out the population of Canaan in order to have the land for themselves. Such a view is immoral and needs to be identified as immoral. We will discuss this issue in our next session.

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 Scripture

Joshua      CHAPTER 1                                                                                  

 

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying,

2 "My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. 

3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. 

4 From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. 

5 No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 

6 Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. 

7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. 

8 This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. 

9 I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." 

10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people,

11 "Pass through the camp, and command the people: 'Prepare your provisions; for in three days you are to cross over the Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God gives you to possess.'" 

12 To the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said,

13 "Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, 'The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest, and will give you this land.' 

14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you shall cross over armed before your kindred and shall help them,

15 until the LORD gives rest to your kindred as well as to you, and they too take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land and take possession of it, the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan to the east." 

16 They answered Joshua: "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 

17 Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses! 

18 Whoever rebels against your orders and disobeys your words, whatever you command, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous." 

 

CHAPTER 2                                                                                 

1 Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. 

2 The king of Jericho was told, "Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land." 

3 Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land." 

4 But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, "True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from.  

5 And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them." 

6 She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. 

7 So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut. 

8 Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof

9 and said to the men: "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. 

10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 

11 As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The LORD your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. 

12 Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the LORD that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith

13 that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death." 

14 The men said to her, "Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the LORD gives us the land." 

15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the outer side of the city wall and she resided within the wall itself. 

16 She said to them, "Go toward the hill country, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterward you may go your way." 

17 The men said to her, "We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear to you

18 if we invade the land and you do not tie this crimson cord in the window through which you let us down, and you do not gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your family. 

19 If any of you go out of the doors of your house into the street, they shall be responsible for their own death, and we shall be innocent; but if a hand is laid upon any who are with you in the house, we shall bear the responsibility for their death. 

20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be released from this oath that you made us swear to you." 

21 She said, "According to your words, so be it." She sent them away and they departed. Then she tied the crimson cord in the window. 

22 They departed and went into the hill country and stayed there three days, until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had searched all along the way and found nothing. 

23 Then the two men came down again from the hill country. They crossed over, came to Joshua son of Nun, and told him all that had happened to them. 

24 They said to Joshua, "Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands; moreover all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before us." 

 

                                                                                   CHAPTER 3                                                                                 

 

1 Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim with all the Israelites, and they came to the Jordan. They camped there before crossing over. 

2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp

3 and commanded the people, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place. Follow it,

4 so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, a distance of about two thousand cubits; do not come any nearer to it." 

5 Then Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." 

6 To the priests Joshua said, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass on in front of the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went in front of the people. 

7 The LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. 

8 You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'" 

9 Joshua then said to the Israelites, "Draw near and hear the words of the LORD your God." 

10 Joshua said, "By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: 

11 the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan. 

12 So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 

13 When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap." 

14 When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. 

15 Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water,

16 the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 

17 While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan. 

 

                                                                                   CHAPTER 4                                                                                 

 

1 When the entire nation had finished crossing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua: 

2 "Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe,

3 and command them, 'Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.'" 

4 Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. 

5 Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites,

6 so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' 

7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever." 

8 The Israelites did as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD told Joshua, carried them over with them to the place where they camped, and laid them down there. 

9 (Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.) 

10 The priests who bore the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan, until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people crossed over in haste. 

11 As soon as all the people had finished crossing over, the ark of the LORD, and the priests, crossed over in front of the people. 

12 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites, as Moses had ordered them. 

13 About forty thousand armed for war crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for battle. 

14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him, as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. 

15 The LORD said to Joshua,

16 "Command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, to come up out of the Jordan." 

17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." 

18 When the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests'  feet touched dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before. 

19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 

20 Those twelve stones, which they had taken out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal,

21 saying to the Israelites, "When your children ask their parents in time to come, 'What do these stones mean?'

22 then you shall let your children know, 'Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.' 

23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, hich he dried up for us until we crossed over,

24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.  "

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Exodus 14:21-29

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. 

22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 

23 The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 

24 At the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. 

25 He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt." 

26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers." 

27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the LORD tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 

28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. 

29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 

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