Joshua: The Man Who brought the Israelites to the Promise Land

Term Paper

I. Introduction.
Joshua is a relatively popular name for male newborns around the world. Why is it so
popular? I would assume that it gives off this image of a person from the Old West mixed with a
Biblical persona. The Bible holds a name that has considered himself one of the great leaders of
Israel and one of God’s great men. The name of the man is called Joshua. Joshua’s life was filled
with excitement, variety, success, deception, and honor. He saw the harsh reality of slavery in
Egypt as a young man, but he was also present for the supernatural plagues and Israel's miraculous
escape from the Egyptian army when the sea waves parted in front of them. After Moses’ death,
Joshua was God's chosen servant to complete Moses' mission and establish Israel in the promised
land. He was faithful to that special divine appointment as the leader of God's army, the supervisor
of God's land partition, and God's spokesperson for encouraging Israel's covenant of faithfulness.
Knowing that Joshua’s leadership falls after Moses’ death, Joshua’s purpose from God was to lead
the Israelites, who were still wandering in the wilderness, to Canaan – the promised land. During
the journey of the Israelites to the promised land, the nearby superpower civilizations (Egyptians,
Babylonians, and Hittites) were focused on their problems which led them to neglect the land of
Canaan. This was a great opportunity for the Joshua and Israelites to easily defeat the Canaanites
and claim Canaan. The Book of Joshua can be found in Old Testament in the Bible. Joshua’s story
begins in Exodus and ends with his death in the last chapter of the Book of Joshua. It also contains
24 chapters, and in these chapters, you can witness the conquest of Joshua and the Israelites to
claim the Promise land out from the hands of the Canaanites.

II. Summary of the Story

The story of Joshua from the Bible begins with God instructing Joshua to guide the
Israelites across the Jordan River and into the promised land after Moses' death. Joshua receives a
pledge of fealty from the populace and sent two spies to cross the river and scout the area (Jericho).
The men arrive at Jericho, where a prostitute by the name of Rehab conceals them there while
lying about their presence to the local authorities. Rehab informs the spies sent out by Joshua that
the Canaanites fear Israel and its threats. Afterward, as she professes her belief in the God of the
Israelites, she humbly asks for the protection of her family when the Israelites bring wrath upon
Jericho. To the humbled hearts of the spies, they pledged to save Rehab and all that belong to her
in return for hiding them in her house. The spies return to Joshua and report the conditions of
Israel's enemy. When the Israelites cross over, they erect an altar made of twelve riverbed stones
to remember the miracle (representing the twelve tribes of Israel). However, Joshua meets a
mysterious figure as he approaches Jericho who reveals that while he is the leader of God's army,
he is neither for nor against Israel. Joshua pays tribute to the man before departing, then he leads
the Israelites in transporting the Ark around Jericho for six days in accordance with divine
directives. The Israelites march seven times around the city on the seventh day. The legend of
Joshua spreads across the nation, but the Israelites' attempts to capture the following city, Ai, fail
miserably. Eventually, Joshua plans a sophisticated ambush against the troops of the city after the
people stone Achan, which led the City of Ai successfully captured and conquered. The Israelites
rejoice by building an altar to God and declaring in front of everyone their dedication to His Torah.
The Gibeonites approach the Israelite camp as two disguised men, pretend to be visitors to the area
and plead for peace with Israel out of fear of the roving Israelites. Joshua makes a treaty with the
men without consulting God, only to later learn that the disguised men are residents of the territory
they are about to invade. Despite the deception, Joshua still accepts them and allow them to be the
slaves of the Israelites. As the story comes to an end, Joshua, an old sick man, bids the people of
Israel farewell after God delivers them from their foes for a long time. He exhorts the Israelites to
be courageous and to uphold all of God's commands, to destroy any idols, and to forbid mixing
with the local populace (Canaanites). Finally, he grudgingly accepts the people's guarantee that
they would uphold the covenant because he fears that Israel will find it very difficult to obey, but
he rests peacefully as the man who brought Israel to the Promise Land of Canaan.

III. Character’ Significance/Importance & Contribution to the Israelite’s Faith

Joshua’s initial biblical role that was assigned by God was to become the leader of Israel –
the successor of Moses. As mentioned earlier, he was the person responsible for leading the
Israelites to the Promise Land of Canaan. With that, he went through several hardships and
struggles to allow the Israelites to turn away from the disobedience of God because there were
numerous times that they were influenced by the practices of the Canaanites. Such influence led
them to constant suffering. However, Joshua was unlike the rest of the Israelites because he has
the gift of faith. This means God has given Joshua the ability to claim His promise to do great
things that are impossible for man to achieve. Even when Joshua almost lost the battle to claim the
city of Ai, God reminded Joshua to have faith in Him. Joshua’s strong faith in God’s words led to
a victorious conquest of the land of Ai and several cities in Canaan. Next, Joshua was not only a
good “military-like” leader to the Israelites but also a willing-to-help, sincere, and humble leader.
He helped and saved Rehab, a prostitute, from the wrath of the Israelites because she offered shelter
to the spies of Joshua and turned to the God of the Israelites. Such an act of Joshua would imply
that he was willing to help those who were also willing to help themselves and turn to our Lord
God. Asides from that, he was a sincere and humble leader despite the different notions we hear
from others that know the story of Joshua. He never went out of his way to brag about the role that
God gave to him, rather he diligently and faithfully did the responsibilities he was given by God.
Last, God was Joshua’s guide to delivering the Israelites to Canaan. He praises the Lord and does
everything he can for the greater glory of God. In short, Joshua was a man blessed by God and
destined to be the leader of Israel and guide them to Canaan. Even though he was never entitled as
a prophet, king, or judge, he served as a great “military-like” leader to send the Canaanites out of
the promised land. Before Joshua’s death, he had doubts that the Israelites will continue to obey
their covenant with their God, so he reuttered the laws and promises that they made with Him. In
Joshua 24:15, he specifically highlighted that “if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then
choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served
beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and
my household, we will serve the Lord.” Hence, Joshua was a true, caring, and faithful leader to the
Israelites.

IV. Our Filipino Context

Relating the story of Joshua to the Philippine context is a bit hard because, first, it was
never our [Filipino] story. It was the story of the Israelites. Moreover, comparing the endeavors
that the Israelites encountered to our nation’s endeavors is a bit unfair because the severity may
differ from the time it happened. Despite the differences that the Filipinos and Israelites have when
comparing the story of Joshua, we can identify one aspect of the story – preserving the identity of
Israel as a holy nation and the chosen nation by God. As our world is globalizing with the
advancements of technology and foreign influences drastically increasing in our country, it is
evident that there are some Filipinos, if not many, who are lost in foreign influences and forgetting
their own culture and identity. I am also guilty of being highly influenced by foreign products that
have strayed me away from being a patriotic person to our country’s products and influences.
However, Filipinos are still Filipinos because we nationally recognize that we are an independent
nation and uphold the beliefs that make us unique from several nations. Even though there some
similarities with our neighboring countries, our national identity is unique which is our belief in
our origins and appreciation of the national anthem and flag. To add, knowing that the Israelites
defended their land after conquering city after city is relatable to our Filipino ancestors who fought
against the colonizers (Spain, America, and Japan) to recover our country and gain independence.
Overall, we try to investigate the Filipino context by being in the shoes of the Israelites. Hence,
we slowly identify similarities such as patriotism and national unity despite different origins and
intent in Philippine history and biblical events.

V. Personal Reflection
The book of Joshua was quite a fascinating story because I got to understand truly and
deeply what the Israelites were doing after Moses’ death, and how they claimed the promised land.
However, I did not the expect the story to be projected in such manner because the Israelites and
Joshua claimed most of the lands through war and battle so that they can wipe out all the
wrongdoing that the Canaanites committed. I have two (2) insights that I want to address in this
section which are the importance of obedience and the importance of being a good leader to many
people. First, it was mentioned several times in the book of Joshua that obedience brings you to
God while disobedience makes you fall under the wrath of God’s selfish hands. I find that this was
the biggest highlight of Joshua’s teachings to the Israelites because Joshua wants them to obey
God for His sacrifices to free them from Egypt. Second, Joshua was undoubtedly a very good
leader that succeeded after Moses. He showed qualities of a caring, humble, and obedient person
which paved the successful conquest of Joshua to the promised land and his old age. Even though
before Joshua’s death he was doubtful of the Israelites, he still made sure that they would
remember his last words. Such leadership quality is to be recognized as a true, caring, and faithful
leader who guides people to be obedient and faithful towards God. Overall, Joshua being a leader
to the people is a trait that I pray and seek guidance from God to serve Him and others better.

VI. References
Apura, L.F. (2019). A Filipino resistance reading of Joshua 1:1-9. SLB Press.
Got Questions. (n.d.). Why did God condone such terrible violence in the Old Testament?
Retrieved from, https://www.gotquestions.org/Old-Testament-violence.html
Hutabarat, R.M. (2016, Dec.). Characteristics of Joshua as a leader. Jurnal Koinonia, 8, 19-23.
Retrieved from,
https://jurnal.unai.edu/index.php/koinonia/article/download/2271/1640/7177
New American Bible. (1969). The book of Joshua. 194-215. Thomas Nelson, Inc.
New International Version. (n.d.). Book of Joshua. Bible Study Tools. Retrieved from,
https://www.biblestudytools.com/joshua/
Patsieler. (2018). Book of Joshua summary. Retrieved from, https://patsieler.com/book-of-joshua-
summary/