Dr. Pothana's Teaching

2. JOSHUA
The Conquest of
Canaan

3. • Moses dies
• Joshua takes the land

4. PURPOSE
• The time had come for the people of Israel to enter
into the land of promise. All those who left Egypt
some 40 years before had perished in the
wilderness, except for Caleb and Joshua.
• A new generation had grown up in the wilderness
journey. Moses had fully instructed them in the
laws and the sacrifices before he died, and Joshua
had taken the task of leading the people into the
land.
• Thus, the book of Joshua deals with the
Conquering, possessing, and of the
promised land.

5. Theme
• The book of Joshua is designed to show
God’s faithfulness to His promises, doing
for Israel exactly as He had promised (cf.
Gen. 15:18 with Josh. 1:2-6 and 21:43-
45).
• However, while ownership of the land
depended on God's faithfulness,
depended on
Israel‘s faithfulness (cf. Deut. 30:20).

6. An overview of the book
A. Entering the Land (1-5)
1. Joshua charged (1) Meditate, Practice & Preach
2. Jericho spied (2) {Jericho had an inner wall 12 feet thick
and an outer wall 6 feet thick. These walls stood 30 feet
high.}
3. Jordan crossed (3)
4. Memorials built (4)
5. Gilgal occupied (5) {Three events took place here: all
men were circumcised (vv. 2-9), Passover was observed
(v. 10), and manna ceased (v. 12)

7. B. Conquering the Land (6-12)
1. Fall of Jericho (6)
2. Sin of Achan (7) {God punished Achan severely,
and Ananias and Sapphira severely (Acts5) perhaps
due to the monumental junctures in history during
which they sinned; and God wanted to show He
meant business.}
3. Sacking of Ai (8)
4. Craftiness of Gibeon (9)
5. Defeat of foes (10-12)

8. C. Occupying the Land (13-24)
1. Division of Canaan (13-19)
2. Cities of refuge (20)
3. Portion of the Levites (21)
4. Altar of Witness (22)
5. Farewell of Joshua (23-24)

9. III. Joshua’s Farewell & Death (22-24)
• Reminds the people of God’s faithfulness
“… not one of all the good promises the
LORD your God gave you has failed. Every
promise has been fulfilled; not one has
failed.” (23:14)
• Encourages the people to serve God
“… choose for yourselves this day whom you
will serve, … But as for me and my
household, we will serve the LORD ." (24:15)
“Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is
written in the Book of the Law …” (23:6)

10. Lessons Learned in Joshua
1. God Keeps His Promises
2. The Importance of
Obedience

11. 1. God Keeps His Promises
• Genesis – Deuteronomy contains
God’s promises to his people (Gen 12:2,7)
• Joshua contains
Initial fulfillment of the promise
“Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the
house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
(21:45)
• The nation of Israel finds a home

12. 2. Importance of Obedience
• An army must have a chain of command
God Commands (6:2-5)
Joshua obeys (6:6)
Priests, tribal officers (6:6, 1:10)

13. Importance of Obedience
• Obedience leads to victory
–Jericho
• Disobedience leads to defeat
–Ai

14. Respond @
Dr. Pothana
+918309511427
bhaktapothana@gmail.com