33: JOSHUA NOT ONLY FIT THE BATTLE OF JERICHO
Based on the Book of Joshua (JOSH) ...Read more there.

We've already seen in Ep. 31 that Joshua, son of Nun, has been appointed to succeed Moses before the latter's death. The Hebrews are still on the wrong side of the Jordan River. Still on the way to Canaan, the land promised to Abraham centuries earlier. The book named after Joshua is history told from a religious perspective. It's about the relationship between YHWH God & the Hebrew people as they move on (N1). The story of the conquest of the Promised Land as it's told here makes it clear that it wasn't completed in one fell swoop. Nor is it a completely joint effort. Individual tribes sometimes make their own thrusts according to their own agendas (N2).  Chs. 1-12 are taken up with the conquest of Canaan, with special reference to the famous siege, walls 'falling down' (as the result of a timely earthquake?), & taking of Jericho (Chs.2-6) in which Hebrew spies are aided & abetted by an insider, a woman named Rahab who discerns which way the wind of God's Spirit is blowing! Her reward? She & her family are spared the inevitable slaughter when the Hebrews take the town, & are allowed to assimilate to a degree within the Hebrew community. There is also an impressive & 'miraculous' crossing of the Jordan with echoes of the Sea of Reeds (Chs.3 & 4). The story then moves to the division of the land between the tribes, & issues relating to that dividing up (Chs.13-21). 

Before Joshua eventually dies, a highly significant religious assembly takes place at Shechem (Ch. 24). Not all the tribes have been fully 'on board' before this. Some had not even migrated to Egypt in the first place, so they have not experienced being enslaved there, & have no knowledge of Passover, nor the Exodus, all events that shaped the Hebrew national, cultural & religious mind-set from that time on. The other serious consequence for  those tribes left out of that big 'loop' is that they have neither been introduced to YHWH as their God, nor have they received the Commandments given to Moses, the basis of all Hebrew Law. So these tribes now find themselves out on a limb, a world apart from those who have experienced, or descended from those who have experienced, these momentous happenings. In a master stroke, under the wise guidance of Joshua at a human level holding the great assembly at Shechem welds all the tribes together in a new way with YHWH God at their centre. This will be nation-building. Christians might describe this as an out-pouring of Holy Spirit. Shechem is ancient family & tribal territory from the time of Abraham & Sarah, a bridge between pre- & post- Egypt experiences. Also, several of the most important & revered figures in Hebrew history have been buried at or in the vicinity of Shechem, & Joseph's bones, brought back from Egypt with the emigrants, now join his forbears' here too. So all the Israelites, whether they 'left home' or not, have common roots there. The great assembly agrees on & makes a new covenant that unites all the people in serving YHWH God.  And so the story continues... 34: Making God Judgments 

(N1) Some scholars think the preceding book, Deuteronomy (Ep. 32), is actually the first in a series, with Josh as second, & continuing on through the books of KINGS. JB has useful notes here. (N2) Not all the tribes of Israel had migrated to Egypt in the first place, or at least not in their entirety. Moreover, Moses had already pre-allocated lands to some [NUM 32].

Question: Is God at the centre of both our personal & 'tribal' life?