Joshua, The Cast - Laura

The book of Joshua is a crazy read, from the ubiquitous story of the destruction of Jericho to the more mysterious tale of the day the sun stood still, Joshua takes the Israelites from wandering in the desert, to possessing the land that God gave them to inherit.  What I love the most about the book of Joshua is the cast of characters.  The book of Joshua is populated with a crazy bunch of people.  I’d like to introduce you to them:

Joshua: The eponymous aide to Moses who takes command when the Moses dies.  He leads the Israelites on a rampage through the land of Canaan, which God told them to conquer and possess for their inheritance.

The Israelites:  The people of God; at their best in the book of Joshua.  For the most part, they obey God and, by God’s power, defeat all their enemies.  By the end of the book, they are so impressed by God’s provision and power that they swear to follow him and be his people forever, even though Joshua warned them that God would hold them to their promise, should they cease to be faithful to him.

Spies: Two nameless Israelite men who sneak into Jericho to spy out the land and the city’s defenses.  They end up staying with a prostitute, of all places, hiding on her roof when the king of Jericho comes looking for them.

Rahab: Prostitute of Jericho; she and her family are the only inhabitants of Jericho left alive after the Israelites destroyed the city.  She goes on to become the many-times-great-grandmother of Jesus (See Matthew chapter 1)

The Commander of the Armies of the Lord: An angel who, when asked by Joshua, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” answered, “Neither.”  He appears to tell Joshua to take off his shoes because the place where he is standing is holy.  One word for this interaction...WOW!!!

Achan: The man from the tribe of Judah who took plunder from Jericho and hid it in his tent.  All the plunder from Jericho had been devoted to the Lord.  The Israelite army couldn’t be victorious in their battles until Achan was stoned to death along with his entire family.

The Gibeonites: An indigenous people who made a treaty with Israel so that they wouldn’t be destroyed by them.  Their ploy involved dressing up in worn out clothes, packing their bags with old, moldy bread and pretending like they had come from a long way off.  Points for cleverness but they ended up getting cursed by the Israelites.

Adoni-Zedek: King of Jerusalem when the Israelites arrived.  He gangs up with several other local kings and they decide to attack the Gibeonites because they had made a treaty with Israel.  Joshua and his army come to the rescue, marching all night and pursuing their enemies, cutting them down with the sword.  Many more of the bad guys died when God sent large hailstones to rain down upon them.  Also, the sun stood still for an entire day while the Israelites demolished the armies of Adoni-Zedek and friends.  Adoni-Zedek hid in a cave with the other kings but Joshua found them and used them as an example of what God would do to all their enemies.

Caleb: A brave warrior of Israel who inherited the land that Moses had sworn to him when he went to spy on the land of Canaan.

The Daughters of Zelophehad:  A particular clan of the tribe of Menassah had no sons, only daughters.  Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, Tirzah.  They reminded Joshua that the Lord had promised them an inheritance among their brothers—and they got it!

Great book with great lessons, namely, (1)God does what he wants, (2)when he wants to, (3)and we better be along for the ride.  Next up...Song of Solomon.

Peace,
Laura