Joshua 5, Recommitment

The Israelites have crossed a dry Jordan river and prepare to enter Jericho.

Joshua 5: 1, Hearts melt

Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

The results at Jericho have been heard by other nations, just as Rahab had heard about the miracles in Egypt.

The Hebrew text has an occurrence of first person, "we", both here in verse 1 and again in verse 6.  According to commentators, the occurrence of first person here does not necessarily represent an eyewitness view of these events but an identification of the author with the experiences of his ancestors during this time.

Joshua 5: 2-8, Circumcision

At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again."
    

So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt--all the men of military age--died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

    

So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

We keep waiting for the battle at Jericho but the author's goal is to remind Israel of their covenant relationship with YHWH.  Here, before the Israelites can follow YHWH to the land, they must remember the strange sign of the covenant given long ago to Moses.  They have not followed this requirement and so the sign of the covenant needs to be met here, before the invasion of Jericho.

NIV footnote: The phrase "Gibeath Haaraloth" means "hill of foreskins". (How gross is that?! Do you want that phrase in your home address??)

Joshua 5: 9-11, Passover

Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.

    

On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain.

(NIV footnotes: "Gilgal" in verse 9, sounds like the Hebrew for "roll".)

Just as the Hebrews have renewed the sign of circumcision, they also observe the Peschal (Passover) feast.

Joshua 5: 12, Manna stops

The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

The Passover feast ends the forty years of delivery by manna. Now the Israelites will live off of their new land.  In Exodus 12-14 the Israelites celebrated Passover and then crossed the Sea of Reeds. When they complained about the lack of food in the desert, they received manna.  Here they have crossed the Jordan River, again celebrated Passover and now the food stops.  The Exodus is over.

Joshua 5: 13-15, The commander of the army of the LORD

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
    

"Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." 

    

Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"

    

The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

The strange warrior Joshua meets is neither for or against the Israelites.  He is "commander of the army of YHWH"!  Joshua then recognizes this divine presence and bows down. Victory will follow only if Joshua and the people act in obedience to YHWH. This "commander" repeats instructions given by YHWH at the bush-that-did-not-burn in Exodus 3:5.  

This chapter provides strong similarities between the actions of Moses in the Exodus and the actions of Joshua at Jericho.  Joshua has received the mantle of leadership that YHWH had previously given Moses. 

The importance of a transfer of leadership (here from Moses to Joshua) is an important concept and we will see constructive and destructive aspects of this transfer as we continue through the Old Testament. (I have a friend who has emphasized the importance of this for modern institutions, especially churches and charitable organizations.)

Joshua 4, Twelve Stones

The Israelites have crossed a dry Jordan river.

Joshua 4: 1-3, Instructions on a memorial cairn

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."

A ceremony is created to help the people remember.  The twelve stones form a very visual image that nails down the memory of this event.

Joshua 4: 4-7, A cairn of twelve stones

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. 

    

In the future, when your children ask you, `What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

There will be twelve large rocks (carried on shoulders) that will create an unusual cairn of stones, a monument. These are memorial stones, intended to stimulate questions from the next generation, as the Israelites review YHWH's promises and decrees.

When the Passover is celebrated, one expects the children to ask "What does this ceremony mean?" (See Exodus 12: 26.) And the parents are to have a response to that question.   Here, too, the children are to ask "What do these stones mean?"  In each case, a vivid symbol is created to stimulate remembrance and commitment.  (In the New Testament this tradition will continue with both baptism and communion.)

Joshua 4: 8-9, Stones set up

So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

Note that the writer, writing long after this event, says the stones are there "to this day", that is, still visible at the time of the author.

The NIV footnotes suggest that one interpretation of verse 9 is that Joshua set up a second set of stones. This is consistent with the fact that one set of twelve stones is moved to the camp at Gilgal at the end of this chapter.

Joshua 4: 10-14, Israel crosses the Jordan

Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.

    

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

    

That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.

The community of Israel now understand that Joshua is their leader.  The writer notes that "transjordan" tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh join their brothers in unity with the plan to conquer the west bank of the Jordan.

The number forty thousand appears in various places in the Old Testament, such as Judges 5:8, II Samuel 10: 18, (I Chronicles 19: 18) and I Kings 4: 26. Given the significance of the number forty in the Old Testament, it is possible that "forty thousand" merely stands for a large round number. (Commentator Hubbard suggests that this is true in this passage.)

Joshua 4: 15-18, River returns

Then the LORD said to Joshua,"Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."

    

So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.

Just as in crossing the Sea of Reeds in Exodus, the water returns to its path after the Israelites cross.

Joshua 4: 19-24, "What do these stones mean?"

On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.

He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, `What do these stones mean?' tell them, `Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.'  For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."

Much of the Torah emphasizes certain acts of remembrance.  This time we do not have a festival of remembrance but a monument to recall the memory.  Some have suggested that this memorial describes a good principle: When one sees a miracle or wonderful gift from God, create a physical symbol (a "heap of stones") of His action, a way to say, "I will make sure to remember this."

In case the reader has not seen the parallel between the sea dividing for Moses at the exodus from Egypt and the river dividing for Joshua at the entrance to Canaan, verse 23 makes this clear. The water standing up in the Sea of Reeds was the beginning of the exodus and the water standing up in the Jordan River is the end. (See Psalm 114 for a short praise song that links these two events.)

Gilgal will be the central camp of the Israelites as they conquer Canaan.

Joshua 3, Step into the Jordan

Joshua is ready to enter the region around Jericho.  But there are some preparations required....

Joshua 3: 1-4, Follow the ark

Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

    

After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it."

The Israelites are to follow the ark but to keep well away from it!  (There is no explanation for how the priests got these instructions.)

In verse 4 "about a thousand yards" is the translation for the Hebrew phrase literally "two thousand cubits."

Joshua 3: 5-8, Consecrate yourselves

Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."

    

Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people." So they took it up and went ahead of them.

    

And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: `When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.'"

It is clear that the people are to expect God to work.  Their instructions are to simply follow Him.

Jericho was just west of the Jordan River; the Israelites are currently on the east side, outside Canaan.

Joshua 3: 9-13, Waters will be cut off

Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.

    

"Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD--the Lord of all the earth--set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap."

Joshua explains the miracle that is about to occur. (The numbers seven and twelve show up again in this passage.  The occurrence of twelve is obvious but do you see the appearance of seven?)

In verse 13, YHWH is described as the Lord of all the earth.  He is not a regional God but Creator of the earth (universe) and thus has the power to change nature.

Joshua 3: 14-17, The Jordan River stops flowing

So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

    

The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

The Salt Sea in verse 16 is the Dead Sea.

The Jordan stops flowing just as those carrying the ark touch the water's edge. The ark plays a critical part throughout this story.

One can come up with a variety of "natural" explanations for this dry land crossing, just as one might for the Israelites crossing the Sea of Reeds in Exodus.  Here people have suggested a large earthquake damming the river.  The area does have earthquakes and this might also explain the walls of Jericho collapsing in chapter 6.  But those of us who believe God acts through natural laws should not be surprised by this. 

Hubbard points out that the dry land crossings of Exodus and Joshua are bookends to the desert wanderings of the Jews. The forty years of wanderings begin with YHWH's prophet Moses dividing the Sea of Reeds and end with YHWH's prophet Joshua dividing the Jordan.

Gender Roles in the Old Testament

Even a brief skim of Old Testament passages reveals stark and narrow gender roles, gender roles inherited from the ancient Near East culture in which the Old Testament is immersed. 

In the ancient Near East, late in the bronze age, life was vulnerable and often short. Survival in this agrarian society, amidst drought, famine, and tribal war, meant that one should be part of a large tribal community with large flocks and resources.  Men were to develop and protect herds of sheep and cattle; men were to have large families and women were to align themselves to such men and have as many children as possible. The goal of men like Abraham and Jacob was to have a rich company of wives, children and animals; the goals of women like Sarah and Rachel was to give these men as many sons as possible and oversee that household, protecting the children, pastures, and home.

Women

From Eve's remark in Genesis 4: 1, through Sarah's offer of her servant Hagar to Abram (Genesis 16: 1-2), on through Rachel's passionate plea of Jacob (Genesis 30: 1), we see women's fervent desire for motherhood. In I Samuel 1, Hannah, before the altar, prays fervently for a child -- her lips are moving so the priest thinks she is drunk! -- and despite her husband's declaration of love, she is not satisfied. In Genesis 38, Tamar resorts to prostitution in order to have a child. The book of Ruth describes the work of Naomi to provide her daughter-in-law with a "redeemer" (see Ruth 4: 13-15.)

The narrow roles of men as fathers/providers and women as mothers will seem strange to our culture but simply reflects the culture of the Bronze Age three or four millennia ago. The patriarchal society, with its polygamy, is not an instruction of the Old Testament but a reflection of the ancient Near East. In reporting this history, the Old Testament does not gloss over the effects of this culture. Polygamy leads to jealousy, anger and intrigue; the role of women leads to rape (of Tamar, daughter-in-law of Judah, Genesis 34, of an unnamed concubine, Judges 19, of Tamar, daughter of David, II Samuel 13) and other forms of sexual abuse.  Women are often viewed as property and are given away or taken back. (Samson's wife is given to another man by her father, Judges 14:20; King Saul gives away one of David's wives, I Samuel 25: 44.) Women might be the spoils of war (Judges 5:30.) Women seemed to have little say in whom they married or with whom they had sexual relations. It is within this patriarchal culture that the covenant of Moses provides some protection -- women had some protection against divorce and rape. In the Deuteronomic Law, captured women were to be carefully treated; women captured in war were not to be sex slaves but were allowed to marry and were to be given time to adjust to that marriage. 

At times the Old Testament relates stories of women who were leaders (Deborah, Jael, Esther) or prophetesses (Miriam, Deborah, Judges 4, Huldah, II Kings 22: 14)

From a Wikipedia article on Women in the Bible:

"While women are not generally in the forefront of public life in the Bible, those women who are named are usually prominent for reasons outside the ordinary. ... Abigail, David's wife, Esther the Queen, and Jael who drove a tent peg into the enemy commander's temple while he slept, are a few examples of women who turned the tables on men with power. The founding matriarchs are mentioned by name, as are some prophetesses, judges, heroines, and queens, while the common woman is largely, though not completely, unseen."

Some fascinating aspects of the role of women can be seen in the two Old Testament books named after women: Ruth and Esther.  In the book of Ruth, we see Ruth (carefully guided by her mother-in-law), proposing to Boaz, followed by Boaz's public negotiation for the hand of Ruth. (Most of that book is told from a woman's point of view!)  In the book of Esther, the story opens with Queen Vashti ignoring her husband's call to display herself at a banquet. In response to her insubordination, the king's nobles worry that Vashti is encouraging women to disrespect their husbands! Thus Vashti is exiled and Esther enters the scene.

The role of women in the ancient Near East was more complicated and subtle than I have described it above.  The complexity can be seen in Proverbs 31: 13-31, where a woman is an expert merchant, cares for the poor and speaks with wisdom.  The Song of Songs describes romantic (and erotic!) love, a love that did not emphasize having children.  There are other places which make it clear that a woman was valued more than as a mother of children.  But motherhood was certainly the most obvious role.

Men

The Torah assumes (mandates) that good men would be good husbands and fathers.  They might have numerous wives but were to care for them and not mistreat them.  Even if a man loved his second wife more than his first wife, he could not take away the "first wife" role from her. A man was not to covet wives and concubines of another man. 

In this ancient culture, where reproduction (and thus sex) play central roles in one's standing in society, we also see a strange rite.  When Abram is promised by YHWH that he will be a father of many nations, that promise of a great tribe, "as many as the stars in the sky", is sealed by cutting the foreskin of Abram's penis.  The rite of circumcision directly connects a man's penis to this promise of fathering a large nation.  From then on, for those in the covenant, a man demonstrated his membership in the covenant by having his reproductive organ cut and women demonstrated their membership in this ancient covenant by their connection to such a man. (I think this explains Zipporah's actions in Exodus 4: 25-26; she identifies herself with her circumcised husband and son.)

For a Christian reading the Old Testament, it is important to recognize that the text is usually descriptive, not prescriptive. There is no need to defend polygamy.  This is history; we need not defend that patriarchal viewpoint.  I, for one, am relieved that we no long live in the ancient Near East culture!

Joshua 2, The Spies and Rahab

The nation of Israel has been told to enter and conquer Canaan.  Their new leader is Joshua.

Joshua 2: 1, Joshua sends two spies

Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

Joshua sends two men into check out the surroundings of the town of Jericho.  This would presumably be a wise course of action -- although it backfired in Exodus when Joshua himself was one of twelve spies sent into the land.

The Hebrew word shittim apparently translates as acacia trees (see here.) There was a region of acacia trees northeast of the Dead Sea and so this valley was home for the Israelites for a time.

The Hebrew word describing Rahab is zanah.  Some have attempted to translated this word as "innkeeper"  -- Madvig says that first century historian Josephus did this -- but the Hebrew word is used throughout the Old Testament to mean prostitute (see Leviticus 19:29 for an example.) There is no reason to sanitize the Old Testament events -- here we have a pagan prostitute who will play an essential role in the kingdom of YHWH.

Joshua 2: 2-7, Spies are chased

The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."
    

But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)
    

So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

The "king" of the town is alerted to the spying. Rahab hides the men and then lies to the king about them.  We are not given (yet) a motive for her deceit. Rahab's lie is shrewd -- if the men have just left, the searchers need to hurry after them and thus leave her alone -- so that she can find another way for the spies to leave.

Joshua 2:8-13, Rahab's commitment

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

"Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."

This is the reason for Rahab's actions -- she has heard about this God of the Israelites, from His work in Egypt and afterwards. (The defeat of Sihon and Og is described in Numbers 21: 21-26.)

The fact that the people of Jericho are frightened, based on YHWH's past action, must surely be encouraging to the spies and, eventually, to Israel.  A similar experience occurs to Gideon in Judges 7: 13-15, as he prepares to attack a Midianite camp.

(NIV footnotes: In verse 10, the Hebrew term, "completely destroyed", refers to "devoting possessions to God"; this could be done by destroying these objects.  This vague term "completely destroyed" will occur throughout the NIV translation of the book of Joshua, always with a footnote that is could have different meanings.)

Joshua 2:14-16, Gratitude

"Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land." So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.

    

Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."

The spies are grateful and promise to remember Rahab.  She gives them instructions on getting away, apparently sending them west, away from the Jordan for a time. The term "three days", which also occurred in Joshua 1:11, is a common expression for an undetermined length of time (say commentators Hubbard, Madvig)  I suspect this is similar to the use, in my language, of "couple" (as in "a couple of days") to often mean something other than "two".

Joshua 2: 17-21, A scarlet cord

The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.

    

"If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him.  But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."            

    

"Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

The instructions to Rahab sound eerily like the Passover instructions to the people of Israel in the Exodus.  Death is coming and only in this house (with the blood red cord) will one be protected.  We are given no clue as to why the spies think they can make this agreement.

Hubbard suggests a subtle play on words here -- the Hebrew word translated "cord" is tikvat. in which the woman places her "hope", tikvah. 

Joshua 2: 22-24, Report

When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them.

    

Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."

The spies return and report on their success.  The spies, partly motivated by their conversation with Rahab, are enthusiastic about the upcoming conquest.  This report is much better than the report given forty years before!

Joshua 1, Be Strong and Courageous!

Moses has died and the nation of Israel is now camped east of the Jordan, ready to go west into Canaan.

Joshua 1: 1-4, Go possess the land

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them--to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates--all the Hittite country--to the Great Sea on the west.

Joshua, the "aide" of Moses (mentioned previously in Exodus) is given instructions to finally enter the land.  The Israelites are promised a large swath of land, from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, land promised to Abraham's descendants in Genesis 17.  (This passage repeats the promise from Deuteronomy 11: 24. Today the region described includes parts of Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and modern Israel.) 
The Septuagint (see here) renders Joshua's name as Ἰησοῦς, that is, Yeshua, the name of the future Messiah.

Joshua 1: 5-8, Be strong and very courageous!

No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

    

"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Twice these instructions include the command to "be courageous".  Courage includes obedience to "this Book of the Law".  The Book of the Law is presumably the Torah (five previous books of the Bible) or at least the instructions given to Moses throughout the Torah.  The creation of this great nation depends on its faithfulness to YHWH as demonstrated in its obedience to the Torah. 

Joshua and the people are instructed to meditate on the Law daily. After reading some of the details of the Law in Leviticus, it is clear that in order to follow the regulations and sacrifices, one has to keep reviewing them and thinking about their implications.

Joshua is taking over the mantle of Moses. We will see, throughout this book, clear parallels between the calling of Moses and the calling of Joshua.

Joshua 1: 9,  Be courageous, not terrified!

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

This is the theme of the book.  For a third time we hear, "Be strong and courageous." As before, the command includes a promise, "YHWH will be with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1: 10-15, Orders to the people

So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: Go through the camp and tell the people, `Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.'"

    

But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: `The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."

Joshua gathers the people and they prepare for battle. (The "officers" are most likely tribal elders, says Robert L. Hubbard.)  

The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, already possessing the east bank of the Jordan, are reminded that they too are committed to helping conquer the lands west of the Jordan. The people of Israel are to act as one united nation.

Joshua 1: 16-18, The people say, "Yes!"

Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses.

    

Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"

The people enthusiastically confirm that Joshua is replacing Moses and promise to follow Joshua just as they followed Moses. The people acknowledge that treason in this endeavor is to be met by death.

Once again, for the fourth time in the chapter, we hear the rallying cry, "Be strong and courageous!"

This enthusiastic, positive response is relatively easy; it is the future action that will be challenging!  How this response plays out will be the story of the book of Joshua.

Deuteronomy 34, Death of Moses

Moses has given his final messages to Israel, sung a worship song and then blessed the tribes.

Deuteronomy 34: 1-4, Looking out from Mount Nebo

Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land--from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.

Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, `I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."

Moses, from Mount Nebo, can see the eastern, transjordan region before him, and then west, almost to the Mediterranean Sea.  This is the future land of Israel. 

Pisgah may be an alternate name for Nebo or might be the name of a series of peaks of which Nebo is one.

Deuteronomy 34: 5-7, Death of Moses

And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.

Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.

Moses dies on the mountain, his final resting place unknown. (NIV footnotes: In verse 5, the Hebrew could mean that Moses was buried, without naming who buried him.)

Deuteronomy 34: 8-12, Epitaph

The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.  

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt--to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

The people grieve over Moses, as is expected. The mantle of leadership passes on to Joshua, but the final sentences of this book, the final sentences of the Torah, state that no one like Moses had risen in Israel after that, that Moses, miraculously knew YHWH "face to face."

Deuteronomy 33, Blessings on Eleven Tribes

As Moses prepares to climb Mount Nebo, he gives final blessings on the people. In doing so, he blesses eleven tribes.  (Which one is missing?)

Deuteronomy 33: 1-5, Blessing

 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death. He said: 

"The LORD came from Sinai 

and dawned over them from Seir; 

he shone forth from Mount Paran. 

He came with  myriads of holy ones from the south, 

from his mountain slopes.

Surely it is you who love the people; 

all the holy ones are in your hand. 

At your feet they all bow down,

 and from you receive instruction, 

the law that Moses gave us, 

the possession of the assembly of Jacob. 

He was king over Jeshurun 

when the leaders of the people assembled, 

along with the tribes of Israel.

In his final blessing, Moses reminds the people that they are loved.  YHWH is introduced as greeting them from Sinai.

Jeshurun, meaning "the righteous one", is apparently synonymous with Jacob/Israel. As with many Old Testament songs, some of the Hebrew is ancient, unusual and not easily translated. (NIV footnotes: The meaning of the Hebrew in verse 2 for the phrase "from his mountain slopes" is uncertain.)

Moses is identified as a "king" of Israel; he ruled the tribes for forty years.

Deuteronomy 33: 6, Reuben

"Let Reuben live and not die, 

nor his men be few."

The descendants of Reuben are to live and prosper (despite the fact that Reuben dishonored Jacob.) As in the blessing of Jacob in Genesis 49, the blessing begins with the firstborn of Israel.  See Genesis 49: 3-4 for Jacob's (not-)blessing of Reuben; the blessing of Moses is slightly better, as he wants the descendants of Reuben to survive....

Deuteronomy 33: 7, Judah

And this he said about Judah: 

"Hear, O LORD, the cry of Judah; 

bring him to his people. 

With his own hands he defends his cause. 

Oh, be his help against his foes!"

YHWH is to defend and protect Judah.  This blessing skips Simeon and Levi and moves directly on to Judah.  (See Genesis 49: 8-12 for Jacob's blessing of Judah.) Commentators read in hints here of Judah's later isolation from Israel, as a separate kingdom.

Deuteronomy 33: 8-11, Levi

About Levi he said: 

"Your Thummim and Urim belong to the man you favored. 

You tested him at Massah; 

you contended with him at the waters of Meribah. 

He said of his father and mother, `I have no regard for them.' 

He did not recognize his brothers or acknowledge his own children, 

but he watched over your word and guarded your covenant.

He teaches your precepts to Jacob 

and your law to Israel. 

He offers incense before you 

and whole burnt offerings on your altar. 

Bless all his skills, O LORD, 

and be pleased with the work of his hands. 

Smite the loins of those who rise up against him; 

strike his foes till they rise no more."

 

After skipping (in birth order) Simeon and Levi, Moses returns to Levi, the tribe of priests. The priests are to be guided by the Thummim and Urim, which lie in the Tabernacle and are apparently used for detecting the will of YHWH. This tribe of priests are charged to continually teach the precepts of the Law to Jacob/Israel.

Simeon will be left out of Moses' blessings -- this chapter will only bless eleven, not twelve, tribes!

Deuteronomy 33: 12, Benjamin

About Benjamin he said: 

"Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, 

for he shields him all day long, 

and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders."

Now Moses' blessings which began with the children of Leah, skips to the last two children of Jacob, Benjamin and Joseph, children of Rachel. Benjamin, the last son and most loved son of Jacob, is loved by YHWH, Who protects him and carries him on His shoulders. (This is an interesting image, of a small boy riding on his father's shoulders. I like this interpretation of the passage but commentators seem agree that the Hebrew is somewhat uncertain.)

Jacob's blessing of Benjamin is in Genesis 49: 27.

Deuteronomy 33: 13-17, Joseph

About Joseph he said: 

"May the LORD bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above

 and with the deep waters that lie below; 

with the best the sun brings forth 

and the finest the moon can yield; 

with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains 

and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills; 

with the best gifts of the earth 

and its fullness 

and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush. 

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, 

on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

In majesty he is like a firstborn bull; 

his horns are the horns of a wild ox. 

With them he will gore the nations, 

even those at the ends of the earth. 

Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim; 

such are the thousands of Manasseh."

Joseph (and therefore his tribe) is highly praised. This tribe is to have "precious" dew in this desert land, with deep waters and the finest gifts of nature. They will have the favor of Him Who lived in the burning bush that introduced YHWH to Moses.

The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned briefly.  At this point Moses is reversing the birth order, going from the youngest back up the line.  And indeed, Moses, like Jacob, gives weight to Ephraim (second born of Joseph) over Manasseh, first born.

Jacob's blessing of Joseph is in Genesis 49: 22-26. This time there are some similarities between the blessing by Jacob and that given by Moses.

Deuteronomy 33: 18-19, Zebulun and Issachar

About Zebulun he said: 

"Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

 and you, Issachar, in your tents.

They will summon peoples to the mountain 

and there offer sacrifices of righteousness;

they will feast on the abundance of the seas, 

on the treasures hidden in the sand."

Zebulun and Issachar are mentioned together. This has some similarities to the blessing by Jacob in Genesis 49: 13-15; both blessings mention the sea. It is possible that the blessing in "going out" and in "your tents" is a blessing that covers both tribes: they will be successful in both going out and staying home.

In the distribution of land in  tribes of Zebulun and Issachar were just west of the Sea of Galilee and almost reached the Mediterranean.

Deuteronomy 33: 20-21, Gad

About Gad he said: 

"Blessed is he who enlarges Gad's domain! 

Gad lives there like a lion, 

tearing at arm or head. 

He chose the best land for himself; 

the leader's portion was kept for him. 

When the heads of the people assembled, 

he carried out the LORD's righteous will, 

and his judgments concerning Israel."

Gad, like a lion, will receive the best land. Gad has already fought and won its land, east of the Jordan (see Numbers 32 for a description of that conquest; see Genesis 49: 19 for the blessing of Gad by Jacob.)

Deuteronomy 33: 22, Dan

About Dan he said: 

"Dan is a lion's cub, 

springing out of Bashan."

Dan is mentioned on briefly, like a lion's cub, as if a child to Gad. A lion's cub is still a powerful animal.  Currid says the interpretation of Bashan is unclear.  Is it the name of a land? It has been suggested that it is instead and Ugaritic loan word for "viper", which would fit in with the serpent mentioned in the earlier blessing by Jacob in Genesis 49: 16-18. 

Deuteronomy 33: 23, Naphtali

About Naphtali he said: 

"Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the LORD 

and is full of his blessing; 

he will inherit southward to the lake."

Naphtali is to receive a land "southward to the lake."  That translation is unclear; it could be "south and sea".  Eventually Naphtali's land would be north of Issachar and Zebulun, in northern Galilee, with the Sea of Galilee forming a southeastern boundary.

Deuteronomy 33: 24-25, Asher

About Asher he said: 

"Most blessed of sons is Asher; 

let him be favored by his brothers, 

and let him bathe his feet in oil. 

The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, 

and your strength will equal your days.

Asher is favored, pampered and strong. Currid says that the land allotment for Asher (in Joshua 19) is a fertile region with olive trees.

Deuteronomy 33: 26-27, Rides on the heavens

"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, 

who rides on the heavens to help you 

and on the clouds in his majesty. 

The eternal God is your refuge, 

and underneath are the everlasting arms. 

He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, `Destroy him!'

Moses turns now to praise of the God of the covenant. YHWH is described as riding on the heavens, providing arms of support, driving out their enemies.

YHWH riding on the clouds of heaven is an image repeated elsewhere.  (Currid gives as examples: Psalm 18: 10, Psalm 68: 33, Isaiah 19:1.)

Deuteronomy 33: 28-29, Blessed is Israel

So Israel will live in safety alone; 

Jacob's spring is secure in a land of grain and new wine, 

where the heavens drop dew. 

Blessed are you, O Israel! 

Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? 

He is your shield and helper 

and your glorious sword. 

Your enemies will cower before you, 

and you will trample down their high places."

In summary, the God of Israel will guide and protect the nation, in a land of grain and new wine, "where the heavens drop dew", a land then of rains, not desert.

Notice that Simeon is missing in this list!  Why? (See this question and answer.)

Deuteronomy 32, Song of Moses, II

YHWH has given Moses a final song.  Moses sings both a praise song and a reminder of the natural brokenness of the People. 

This is the second song by Moses. The other appears at the beginning of the desert wanderings, in Exodus 15, exulting over the triumph at the Sea of Reeds. This one appears at the end of their wanderings.  (A third song is recorded in Psalm 90.) Carmen Imes, in her BibleProject class on Exodus, emphasizes that the real theology of the Torah occurs in the songs.

Deuteronomy 32: 1-4, "I proclaim the name of YHWH"

Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; 

hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

 Let my teaching fall like rain 

and my words descend like dew, 

like showers on new grass, 

like abundant rain on tender plants.

 I will proclaim the name of the LORD. 

Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

He is the Rock, 

his works are perfect, 

and all his ways are just. 

A faithful God who does no wrong, 

upright and just is he.

The song begins with praise, emphasizing the righteousness of YHWH. The pleasure of a desert rain is associated with attention to these teachings. 

Deuteronomy 32: 5-6, and yet...

They have acted corruptly toward him; 

to their shame they are no longer his children, 

but a warped and crooked generation.

Is this the way you repay the LORD, 

O foolish and unwise people? 

Is he not your Father, your Creator,

who made you and formed you?

The people are chastised for their corruption, in the midst of YHWH's goodness.

Deuteronomy 32: 7-8, Remember

Remember the days of old; 

consider the generations long past. 

Ask your father and he will tell you, 

your elders, and they will explain to you.

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,

when he divided all mankind, 

he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.

God has especially chosen Israel. They are to remember that they are a special possession. If they have any doubts about the history, they should ask the generations before them! (This continues a theme of Deuteronomy: the older generation should make sure to pass on the knowledge to the younger.)

Deuteronomy 32: 9-14, Allotted inheritance

For the LORD's portion is his people, 

Jacob his allotted inheritance.

In a desert land he found him, 

in a barren and howling waste. 

He shielded him and cared for him; 

he guarded him as the apple of his eye,

 like an eagle that stirs up its nest 

and hovers over its young,

 that spreads its wings to catch them 

and carries them on its pinions.

 The LORD alone led him; 

no foreign god was with him.

 He made him ride on the heights of the land 

and fed him with the fruit of the fields. 

He nourished him with honey from the rock, 

and with oil from the flinty crag,

with curds and milk from herd 

and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, 

with choice rams of Bashan 

and the finest kernels of wheat. 

You drank the foaming blood of the grape.

God first chose Jacob, then nourished and built up the descendants of Israel, guiding them through dry desert lands to prosperity. The images drawn here are beautiful, picturesque. The people of Israel are the apple (ie., pupil) of God's eye, ever in His vision and He acts as an eagle hovering over her young.

Deuteronomy 32: 15-18, Fat Jeshurun

Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; 

filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. 

He abandoned the God who made him 

and rejected the Rock his Savior.

 They made him jealous with their foreign gods 

and angered him with their detestable idols.

They sacrificed to demons, 

which are not God--

 gods they had not known, 

gods that recently appeared, 

gods your fathers did not fear.

You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; 

you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Yet in their prosperity Jeshurun (Israel) has grown fat and abandoned God. (Jeshurun, a synonym for Israel, means "the upright one."  A similar sounding passage occurs in Isaiah 44: 1-5.)

The result of YHWH's goodness in the previous paragraph is turned into "grew fat", "filled", "became heavy", as the people gorge themselves and turn away from the One who took care of them.

As Currid points out, the Hebrew word, lashshedim, translated "to demons" here, occurs only one other time in the Old Testament, in Psalm 106: 37, where the NIV translates the word "to false gods". There the passage explicitly describes what is sacrificed: children. 

The song describes a cycle: despair, salvation, renewal, prosperity, self confidence, fall, despair....

Deuteronomy 32: 19-21, Rejected

The LORD saw this and rejected them 

because he was angered by his sons and daughters.

"I will hide my face from them," he said, 

"and see what their end will be;

 for they are a perverse generation, 

children who are unfaithful.

They made me jealous by what is no god 

and angered me with their worthless idols. 

I will make them envious by those who are not a people; 

I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.

The people have rejected YHWH, who is a "jealous God", and YHWH responds that he will use another people to make the Israelites jealous.  The apostle Paul, in his argument to fellow Jews in Romans 10: 19, quotes verse 21.

There are echoes of this passage in the words of the prophet Hosea. (See, for example, Hosea 1: 9 and Hosea 2: 23.)

Deuteronomy 32: 22-25, Wrath

For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, 

one that burns to the realm of death below. 

It will devour the earth and its harvests 

and set afire the foundations of the mountains.

 "I will heap calamities upon them 

and spend my arrows against them.

 I will send wasting famine against them, 

consuming pestilence and deadly plague; 

I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, 

the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.

In the street the sword will make them childless;

 in their homes terror will reign. 

Young men and young women will perish, 

infants and gray-haired men.

Destruction then follows -- descending even into Sheol. The people perish in famines, wild animal attacks, attacks by foreign armies. The last verse describes the calamity as coming upon all, from young men and women to infants and the elderly.

Deuteronomy 32: 26-27, Destruction paused

I said I would scatter them 

and blot out their memory from mankind,

but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, 

lest the adversary misunderstand and say, `Our hand has triumphed; 

the LORD has not done all this.'"

As Moses reminds YHWH in Exodus 32: 11-14, He has promised Egypt and other nations that Israel is His People.  For this reason, YHWH holds back the destruction of this broken nation of idolaters.

The phrase translated here "our hand has triumphed" is literally "our hand is high."  A hand held high was a sign of confidence and triumph.

Deuteronomy 32: 28-35, Vine from Sodom

They are a nation without sense,

 there is no discernment in them.

If only they were wise 

and would understand this 

and discern what their end will be!

How could one man chase a thousand, 

or two put ten thousand to flight,

unless their Rock had sold them, 

unless the LORD had given them up?

For their rock is not like our Rock, 

as even our enemies concede.

Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom 

and from the fields of Gomorrah. 

Their grapes are filled with poison, 

and their clusters with bitterness.

Their wine is the venom of serpents, 

the deadly poison of cobras.

"What a messed up people these are!" says YHWH. Despite God's intervention, the people of Israel lean on weak rocks, weak foundations, vines from Sodom and Gomorrah, poisonous grapes and venomous snakes.

Deuteronomy 32: 34-35, Vengeance is YHWHS

"Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults?

 It is mine to avenge; I will repay. 

In due time their foot will slip; 

their day of disaster is near 

and their doom rushes upon them."

 

Vengeance belongs to YHWH and He holds off, but only for a time. (This is a message of the future prophets of Israel.)

Deuteronomy 32: 36-38, Do the other gods help you?

The LORD will judge his people 

and have compassion on his servants 

when he sees their strength is gone 

and no one is left, slave or free.

He will say: "Now where are their gods, 

the rock they took refuge in,

the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices 

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Let them rise up to help you! 

Let them give you shelter!

Do the other gods really help? If the people of Israel worship them, then let those gods save Israel!

Deuteronomy 32: 39-42, Only one God, only one Savior

"See now that I myself am He! 

There is no god besides me. 

I put to death and I bring to life, 

I have wounded and I will heal, 

and no one can deliver out of my hand.

I lift my hand to heaven and declare: 

As surely as I live forever,

when I sharpen my flashing sword 

and my hand grasps it in judgment, 

I will take vengeance on my adversaries 

and repay those who hate me.

I will make my arrows drunk with blood, 

while my sword devours flesh: 

the blood of the slain and the captives, 

the heads of the enemy leaders.

The song now turns from despair to victory.  The people of Israel have only one Savior.  In the end, this Savior will destroy Israel's enemies.

Deuteronomy 32: 43, Atonement

"Rejoice, O nations, with his people,

for he will avenge the blood of his servants; 

he will take vengeance on his enemies 

and make atonement for his land and people.

At the end, YHWH avenges his people and provides atonement and salvation. At the end the nations, not just Israel, will rejoice. A version of this praise song appears in the New Testament in Revelation 15: 2-4. 

Deuteronomy 32: 44-47, "They are your life"

Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.  When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law.  They are not just idle words for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

The song of Moses is a summary of the book of Deuteronomy, a summary of the covenant, intended to be sung and remembered.

In verse 44 the Hebrew is "Hoshea", a variant of Joshua

Deuteronomy 32: 48-52, Land from a distance

On that same day the LORD told Moses, "Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel."

At the end of the song, on that same day, Moses is to climb Mount Nebo and look into Canaan.