Outline of Joshua
See also “What I Learned” from Joshua.
Joshua 1 (Day 82)
Moses has died and Joshua, who was commissioned by Moses under the direction of God, is leader in his place
God speaks to Joshua: lead the people across the Jordan River, be strong and courageous, mediate on the Law day and night
Joshua commands the people to be ready to cross the Jordan and they accept his leadership
Joshua 2 (Day 82)
Joshua sends two spies to Jericho; Rahab the harlot hides them from the king; she acknowledges God as God in heaven and earth, and asks that the Israelites spare her and her family when they attack Jericho; she ties a scarlet cord in her window as a sign
Joshua 3 (Day 82)
when it is time to cross the Jordan, the priests, carrying the ark of the covenant, step into it and its water stands still and all Israel is able to cross on dry ground
Joshua 4 (Day 82))
God has Joshua have the twelve leaders of the twelve tribes set up memorial stones from the Jordan on the bank (Joshua also sets up twelve stones in the Jordan), so that “all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever”
Joshua 5 (Day 83)
the generation that did not get circumcised in the 40 years in the wilderness is circumcised at Gilgal, where they camp east of Jericho
the sons of Israel celebrate the Passover at Gilgal; on the day after, they eat some of the produce of the land and the manna ceases
the captain of the Lord’s host appears to Joshua and gives him the directions for the conquering of Jericho
Joshua 6 (Day 83)
the sons of Israel march around city of Jericho for seven days; on the seventh day, they march around it seven times, the trumpet sounds, the people shout, and Jericho’s walls fall down, and they destroy the city; Rahab and her family are rescued as promised
Joshua 7 (Day 83)
Achan takes some things banned by the Lord to be taken as a spoil of war
the sons of Israel do not seek the Lord, attack Ai, and are defeated; God reveals the sin of transgressing the ban; Achan is revealed by lot and he, his family, and animals are stoned to death
Joshua 8 (Day 83)
God then tells Joshua to go up to Ai and defeat it, and they do
the people recite the blessings and curses of following the Law between Mount Gerazmin and Mount Ebal just as Moses instructed them to, and Joshua reads all the words of the Law to the people as they stand there
Joshua 9 (Day 84)
the inhabitants of Gibeon, fearful of being conquered, deceive the sons of Israel that they are from far away; the sons of Israel fail to seek God and make a covenant with them, so they become servants to Israel
Joshua 10 (Day 84)
five kings of the Amorites then attack Gibeon and the Lord reassures Joshua these kings will be given into their hands, and they are
Joshua 11 (Day 84)
other kings and cities are defeated throughout the Promised Land and then the nation has rest from war
Joshua 12 (Day 85)
recap of the kings defeated by the nation of Israel, both east (Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan) and west (31 kings) of the Jordan
Joshua 13 (Day 85)
recap of the territory east of the Jordan apportioned by Moses to Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh before the nation of Israel crossed the Jordan
Joshua 14 (Day 85)
Caleb reminds Joshua of the land inheritance that God promised him because he brought back a faithful report when he spied out the land 45 years earlier, so Caleb inherits Hebron in the territory of Judah [his tribe]
Joshua 15 (Day 85)
description of the territory inherited by lot by the tribe of Judah
“Now as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the sons of Judah could not drive them out; so the Jebusites live with the sons of Judah at Jerusalem until this day” (Joshua 15:63).
Joshua 16 (Day 86)
description of the territory inherited by lot by the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, west of the Jordan
Ephraim had its own territory to the north of Judah and also had cities in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh
“But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers” (Joshua 16:10).
Joshua 17 (Day 86)
description of the territory inherited by lot by Manasseh, both east and west of the Jordan, including territory for Zelophehad’s daughters, because he had no sons
“To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan,” east of the Jordan
an additional ten portions were allotted west of the Jordan, including five portions for Zelophedad’s daughters
“The south side belonged to Ephraim and the north side to Manasseh, and the sea was their border; and they reached to Asher on the north and to Issachar on the east” (Joshua 17:10).
“But the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. It came about when the sons of Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely” (Joshua 17:12-13).
Joshua 18 (Day 86)
the tent of meeting is set up at Shiloh [in the territory of Ephraim]
there are seven tribes left without land allotments; Joshua appoints three men from each tribe to explore and describe the land, and then he throws lots for each tribe’s land inheritance before the Lord at Shiloh
description of the territory inherited by lot by the tribe of Benjamin, between Judah and Joseph
Joshua 19 (Day 87)
description of the territory inherited by lot by the tribe of Simeon, in the midst of Judah
description of the territory inherited by lot by the tribe of Zebulun, including a Bethlehem that is not the Bethlehem of Judah
description of the territory inherited by lot by the tribe of Issachar
description of the territory inherited by lot by the tribe of Asher, which bordered Tyre and Sidon
description of the territory inherited by lot by the tribe of Naphtali
“it reached to Zebulun on the south and touched Asher on the west, and to Judah at the Jordan toward the east” (Joshua 19:34b)
description of the territory inherited by lot by the tribe of Dan
“The territory of the sons of Dan proceeded beyond them; for the sons of Dan went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. Then they struck it with the edge of the sword and possessed it and settled in it; and they called Leshem Dan after the name of Dan their father” (Joshua 19:47).
“When they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders, the sons of Israel gave an inheritance in their midst to Joshua the son of Nun. In accordance with the command of the LORD they gave him the city for which he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim [his tribe]” (Joshua 19:49-50).
“These are the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel distributed by lot in Shiloh before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land” (Joshua 19:51).
Joshua 20 (Day 87)
six cities of refuge are determined, with three east of the Jordan (that Moses allocated before his death) and three west of the Jordan
“they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation” (Joshua 20:7-9).
Joshua 21 (Day 87)
the Levites (sons of Aaron the priest, sons of Kohath, sons of Gershon, sons of Merari) are allotted 48 cities with their pasture lands amongst all the tribes of Israel, as the Lord had commanded through Moses
all six cities of refuge are allotted to them
“So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45).
Joshua 22 (Day 88)
Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh return east of the Jordan to Gilead and Bashan; they build an altar, which concerns the rest of Israel that they are going to sacrifice to other gods; the leaders of the rest of the tribes of Israel are willing to go to war with them and confront them, but they explain they built the altar as a witness that they follow the same God as the tribes west of the Jordan so that will not be forgotten in future generations and their sons be led astray
Joshua 23 (Day 88)
Joshua summons the nation of Israel together and reminds them of the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience, reminding them that they have witnessed the word of the Lord come to pass
Joshua 24 (Day 88)
Joshua speaks the words of the Lord God in recounting the history of the nation of Israel to them
Joshua then offers them a choice: “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
the people pledge to follow God and Joshua places a memorial stone in Shechem as a sign of their covenant
Joshua dies; the Israelites follow God as long as the elders that survive him live
they bury the bones of Joseph, as he had requested be brought up from Egypt, in Shechem, in the land of the inheritance of his sons [where Jacob had bought a plot of land when he returned from working for his uncle and where Joseph had been kidnapped from; Jacob’s well is there and Jesus later meets the woman at the well there]
Eleazar, the son of Aaron, dies