[Brother V]

Joshua 22-24

Today ends Joshua. Literally, he dies at the end.

Today we get:

• The release of the western fighters
• The western altar
• Joshua speaks
• and again
• Then he dies

Joshua 22

1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,

2 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:

Meaning, they stuck around and fought to help their brethern subdue the promised land.

4 And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.

Go ahead, return to your families that you left behind.

5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.

So they left.

10 And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.

Praise Jesus, a large altar.

12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.

Apparently, the people on the east weren't happy about the altar on the west.

So they sent Phinehas and 10 princes to go find out why they built an altar.

16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?

Ah, they thought they built the altar to serve some other god. (Remember, they all have a tendency to turn their backs on God at the drop of a hat).

The westerners replied.

26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

27 But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

Ah, it's just so that both sides remember God. That's good.

29 God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

See, they wouldn't do such a bad thing.

31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.

PRAISE JESUS!

34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.

Ed, the witness.

Joshua 23

1 And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.

He's not as old and spritely as Caleb apparently.

2 And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:

And apparently also can't remember what he just said the verse before.

4 Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward.

Yes, he divided the land.

7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:

Don't follow their gods.

12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:

13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

Don't go in unto the previous inhabitants.

15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

How can a person who has read the Bible (KJV1611) actually think that God only does good things? God will mess you up if you do bad things.

Joshua 24

1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

He seems to gather them a lot as his years are waning.

Joshua summarizes the Bible up to this point, which is a handy little reference for anyone. If you want the cliff's notes version of the bible in about 14 verses, read Joshua 24:2-15.

20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

God WILL hurt you.

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

He took a big rock, and wrote the law on it, and put it under a tree.

29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

Sad day, the losing of Joshua. He didn't do like Moses and set up someone to follow him. He didn't even seem to mentor anyone, like Moses mentored him.

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

It seems all the old guys are dieing.

We don't get to know when Caleb dies though.

So what have we learned today?

1. The western altar caused some initial discord amongst the people.
2. All the old guys started dieing.

YIC
V

[Brother Temperance]

Originally Posted by Brother V

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

He took a big rock, and wrote the law on it, and put it under a tree.

Shechem's a good site, considering it's where the Jews mutilated their enemies' tallywhackers and then murdered them all. A history like that would give the whole affair a bit of dignity.

29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

Sad day, the losing of Joshua. He didn't do like Moses and set up someone to follow him. He didn't even seem to mentor anyone, like Moses mentored him.

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

It seems all the old guys are dieing.

Do we know who wrote the Book of Joshua? Was it Joshua, Moses or Eleazar?

[Brother V]

Originally Posted by Brother Temperance

Do we know who wrote the Book of Joshua? Was it Joshua, Moses or Eleazar?

Authorship of the book of Joshua usually goes to Joshua.

Parts of the book were also probably written by Eleazar.

The end, with Joshua's death, is normally attributed to Phinehas.

Some people (atheist scum) claim that it might have been written by Solomon or Ezra.

True Christians™ like us, KNOW that it was written as a first person account (in the third person) by Joshua, and that only the end, where he talks about his death, was written by Phinehas.

Thank you for bringing this up brother.

YIC
V