| “ | Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! | „ |
| ~ Joshua 6:16 |
Hoshea better known as Joshua is widely regarded as a soldier and leader, and is easily considered as one of the most famous and important figures in Christianity and other Abrahamic religions, serving as a supporting protagonist of the Book of Exodus before becoming the titular protagonist of the Book of the same name.
He was a young Israelite with an unbreakable trust in God who was born in Egypt during the time when the new Pharaoh turned the entire population of Israel into slaves, but he would soon find himself leaving this land when God, taking pity for his people, sent a great man named Moses to free them from the land and into the land of Canaan: a land that was promised to their ancestors , during that time Joshua would prove himself to be a great warrior on the battlefield whenever the Israelites were attacked by desert raiders and because of this, Moses would make him his assistant. But by the time they made it to Canaan, he was made one of 12 spies to see what the promised land looked like, and while he alongside another man named Caleb were quite confident in their success with God, the other 10 were to afraid of the people there and dissuaded the people into going back to Egypt, which made God decide to make the new generation of Israel enter the promised land instead, with only Joshua and Caleb being the only ones allowed to enter it.
After spending 40 whole years of wandering the desert until the entire previous generation perished, Joshua is told by a now century-old Moses that due to a mistake he made while wandering the desert, he is told by God that he will only see the promised land, but not enter it, but thanks to his undying loyalty to both him and the lord, the two decided to make him the new leader of the Israelites, something which he bravely accepted before saying his goodbyes to Moses. With this newfound responsibility in his hands, Joshua still accepted the role he was given and with the right people and God by his side, he lead the Israelites into the land of Canaan where with both his great leadership skills and his faith in the lord, Joshua was able to easily conquer all the kingdoms currently occupying the promised land and he gave the people of Israel a brand new place to call home, which they have for many years to come.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Joshua was born as the son of a man named Nun during the time when Egypt had complete control over the Israelites, because there were so many of them, the current Pharaoh feared they would rise up against them and placed them all under slavery in a way to keep them down. But despite this Joshua still persevered through all the suffering he went through and soon gained great strength through the hard labor the Egyptians threw at him, and his faith in the God of his forefathers, unaware that his strong faith in him will reward him greatly.
Becoming a soldier for the lord[]
After many years of slavery, Joshua and the rest of his people soon found themselves liberated when God sent a man named Moses to be his messenger to the Pharaoh to set the Israelites free, but after a lot convincing, Pharaoh soon gave in to set everyone free... only to decide he wants them back. Thankfully for Joshua and everyone else God soon got rid of all the Egyptians that were sent to capture them, and he would soon find himself in a position where he would be the leader of something that he never participated in before, and would land him a great life.
After spending a long time traveling the desert back to the promised land, Joshua would overhear a band of marauders known as Amalekites are planning to attack the Israelites camp and raced to warn Moses about this, and after that Moses placed him in charge of building an army to combat the raiders. After gathering enough warriors and getting what little weaponry they had when they had left Egypt, Joshua lead his big but unexperienced army against the Amalekites, because they didn't have any experience with fighting, Moses was forced to ask God's help in the form of raising his hands to God, & with his help, Joshua and his army are able to drive the invaders away.
In the following days after their victory over the Amalekites, Joshua was once again called to Moses' aid, because due to being the only one in charge, he soon got to much problems on the Israelites to handle for himself, but with following the advice of his father-in-law Jethro about choosing helpers, he did just that. It was doing this advice was Joshua, thanks to his great leadership skills during the battle as well as keeping his trust in God strong, soon made one of those helpers to Moses and his family, and he would soon become Moses' personal assistant as they continued their march to the Promised Land.
Heading to Mount Sinai[]
Many weeks of traveling the desert later, Joshua and everyone else stopped at a mountain called Sinai, where Moses was told by God to meet him on the mountaintop, which made him decide to bring Joshua along for the march up, but when they made it halfway up to the top, Joshua was ordered by Moses to wait for him while he continued the rest of the journey alone. So Joshua then spent the next 40 whole days waiting for Moses to come down, he finally meets him coming down the mountain carrying 2 stone tablets with God's laws for the people called the 10 commandments, but when they hear cries coming from camp, they come down to see that the people have lost their faith and had decided to make an idol in the form of a golden cow, upon arriving back down at camp Moses angrily destroyed the tablets & asked for all those who are still faithful to God to come to him.
Immediately afterwards Joshua along with others were then ordered to kill all those who have betrayed God, and they did just that, and as for the golden cow, Moses ordered it to be melted into golden liquid and Joshua then witnessed all the people drink it all up. After the incident Moses then spent another 40 days talking to God with brand new laws and he and all the people were patient enough to wait for him this time around, and they soon continued their march to the promised land.
Spying in Canaan[]
After a longtime traveling across the desert, Joshua and the people stopped and rested in the desert of Paran... the very border of the promised land, while there Moses was tasked by God to send 12 spies representing the tribes of Israel into the promised land to see what it looks like, with Joshua and another man named Caleb being among them. There they successfully snuck into the promised land which also called Canaan and spent the next 40 days wandering it to see what the terrain & life is like, taking as many fruits and other things to show to everyone, during which Joshua & Caleb bonded greatly with each other and slowly grew to be close friends, with the former being greatly looking forward to officially calling Canaan home.
However when Joshua and the other 11 spies finally made it back to the Israelite camp, he and Caleb were couldn't stop talking about all the wonderous sights to behold the land, but the other 10 spies saw the Canaanites as a formidable threat and spread rumors about how they look impossible to beat all around the camp. These rumors about this made all the Israelites once again lose their faith in God and believe they can go back to Egypt, this angers God so much that he started to consider abandoning them, but Moses is able to reason with him to still try and give them all mercy, to which he ultimately agreed upon.
The one downside in his mercy is that because the current generation still distrust him, God decreed that only the newer generation of Israelites will be allowed to enter the promised land, but because of his still ever-strong faith in him, God allowed only Joshua as well as Caleb to join the next generation into Canaan.
Becoming a leader[]
So with a punishment right in their face, Joshua left the Paran desert and traveled a different route before stopping by a different path leading into Canaan. But because he and the other 11 spies spent 40 whole days in the promised land, to make things fair (at least in God's eyes) & drive the lesson of never doubting him into the new generation, he and all the other Israelites were forced to wander the wilderness for 40 whole years where all the old generation will die.
With this order, Joshua still worked to make the best out of this newfound turn of events and did what he could to keep both the old and new Israelite generations from losing faith in God as they wandered from desert to desert and kingdom to kingdom until the expiration time to the Lord's punishment in finished. Along the way he and Moses continued to encounter all sorts of problems involving the Israelites ever-thin patience: from yet another Israelite rebellion to them yet again cursing God's name which led to an attack of snakes, but while Joshua and co. was able to overcome them all, what he didn't know was that one fiasco (Moses striking a rock to bring water instead of asking it as instructed by God) would change his life forever.
Joshua being made Israel's new leader by Moses.
When the 4 long decade of wandering the desert was finally up for Israel, and that all the of the ones from the previous generation of Israelites (all of his & Moses' family among them) had finally kicked the bucket, Joshua and everyone rested up on the bank of another way into the promised land: the Jordan river. But just as he seemed as if he can finally settle into his new home, Moses called in all the people to announce that due to the encounter with the rock, God won't allow him to enter Canaan & that he'll be dying soon, but he announces that because of his loyalty to both him & God, Joshua will become their new leader, and after being given a last reassurance by the former, Joshua shares one last goodbye to him before he climbs his last mountain to be with God & dies.
Starting his conquest[]
With news of Moses' death becoming official, Joshua and all of Israel spent the next 30 days mourning his loss, and after those 30 days were up, Joshua was assured by God that he will always be with him & Israel just as long as they will remain faithful to him. Following this order, Joshua had the leaders of the tribes to spread the word that in a few days they will begin their march to take Canaan for themselves, mainly because their culture had become greatly corrupt & God deemed it must be destroyed.
With things to get started, Joshua then began making battle plans to conquer the promised land, and he first saw that the first city he has to get past was the immense walled city Jericho, which has become greatly fortified to any invaders. With that settled, Joshua decided to send spies into Canaan to check things out, but to ensure the same mistake won't be made 40 years ago with many spies, he simply decided to just send 2 spies instead.
A few days later, when the spies returned to the camp they told Joshua that the people of Jericho have become greatly afraid with their arrival and are preparing for a fight, but they also reveal that the king of Jericho had found out about them & escaped just before they got captured. They also tell them that during their mission, they met a woman named Rahab who, unlike the rest of her people, is a genuine friend & believer of God and had hidden them from the guards, she then helped them escape and promised her & her family that they will all be spared when they take the city, something Joshua promises as well.
The Battle of Jericho[]
Joshua leading Israel across the Jordan River.
The following morning the Israelites set up camp even closer to the Jordan river and after 3 days, Joshua had all the leaders of the tribes tell everyone that the time to enter the promised land had come and they better prepare, but first Joshua (under God's orders) first ordered 4 priests carry the ark of the covenant: the box that houses the 10 commandments, to go ahead into the river. But while many were doubtful that they can make it, the moment their feet touched the water, it stopped flowing & made a dry path before them just like when Moses parted the red sea, and when the priests reached the middle of the river, Joshua led everyone down the path & along the way he placed 12 stones where the priests stood and had men from the 12 tribes collect 12 more stones from the river.
Once the last Israelite had made it to the other side and the priests touched solid ground again, the river returned to it's usual flow as it officially signifies that Joshua and his people are finally in their new home with God, and Joshua had the 12 stones placed on an altar to remind the world how powerful God is. But before they can begin their conquest, Joshua and everyone camped on the plain near Jericho to celebrate Passover and even begin to finally taste the food their, and while they rest up for their upcoming war against Canaan, the sight of their march across the river scared the king of Jericho & all the other tribes of Canaan to not daring to face them directly.
Joshua face-to-face with a commander of God's army.
During their time enjoying the bounty Canaan had to offer them, Joshua was still getting ready to lead the charge against Jericho but to make sure what he & his army are up against, he went out that very night to spy on Jericho himself, where he learned that the city's king had made sure everything was guarded from all forms of invaders and wondered just what God plans for them to take it. Suddenly Joshua came face-to-face with a mysterious man carrying a sword, when he asked him if he was with them or against them, the man revealed he was on neither side because he was commander of God's army & he immediately fell on his knees and awaited his next instructions, so the angel told him all of God's battle plans to take the city & despite finding it odd, Joshua obeyed his commands.
Joshua bringing down the walls of Jericho.
That following morning, Joshua followed God's instructions and organized his army the way God wanted it to go down which was in the form as it was like an organized parade, and Joshua narrowed it down for the fight to take Jericho, which went down in the following order:
- Him in the front of the army leading the charge.
- A battalion of soldiers marching behind him.
- A squad made up of 7 priests carrying Shofars.
- 4 more priests charged with carrying the ark of the covenant.
- The rest of the soldiers behind them.
- All of the people marching at the back.
For the first 6 days, Joshua led the people on a parade around the entire outer side of Jericho making no noise with the exception of their marching feet and the sound of the priests blowing on the shofar, making nothing but one march and then returning back to their camp. While this did confuse the soldiers & people of Jericho, during those 6 days they soon began to mock the Israelites for their delusional act, with Rahab still being the only one weary & Joshua still keeping his faith on high hopes that God's plan will come full circle. This soon came into play when on the 7th day, Joshua had everyone do the same thing but this time, he lead them all on a parade around the city seven times in a row, and once they finished their seventh and final march, Joshua had them all stop right outside the city's gates, at this he had the 7 priests blow out an extra long sound on the shofars and he and everyone else let out a tremendous war cry, at this God caused the earth around them to shake until the walls around all over Jericho broke and crumbled to the ground into nothing but rubble.
With the sight of all the walls before them now gone, Joshua now lead the Israelites on an all-out assault on the now-defenseless city and still recovering over the surprise destruction of their wall, the terrified Jericho soldiers are immediately taken by storm and Joshua lead Israel all across the city. He and his army easily defeat all the soldiers across Jericho and proceeded to kill everyone still living there and destroyed everything else as they burnt the city to ash, but keeping his promise Joshua let Rahab and his family live with them and they proceeded to take all the gold & everything else valuable and put them in the tabernacle but not keep anything for themselves, and when they had finished destroying Jericho, Joshua declared it to not be rebuilt lest they be punished by God.
The Conquest of Ai[]
Following their victory over Jericho, Joshua and Israel set their sights at the next point of conquest: the city Ai, which was right next to Jericho, Joshua sent another pair of spies to Ai to find out about what it looked like & what to expect when they attack. But is surprised to see that they returned in a very short time where he learns that Ai is a lot weaker that Jericho and learns it can just be conquered by just sending in just a handful of soldiers, and taking what he learned to heart Joshua did exactly that.
Unfortunately this would prove to be wrong when the army defending Ai was able to drive them off and kill 36 soldiers, seeing this defeat as a sign that God had left them, Joshua prayed to him for an answer. So God revealed to him that the reason is because someone has sinned against him and that someone must pay for it.
The morning after learning of this betrayal, Joshua gathered all the tribes together and told them all why God left them and the Lord is gonna reveal to everyone who it is. Immediately afterwards, following God's directions, Joshua began singling out all the tribes that the traitor isn't from, ultimately realizing the one who disobeyed God is from the tribe of Judah and a member of the family of Zira & who the traitor is: a man named Achan.
Quotes[]
| “ | Get your provisions ready. Three days from now we will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord our God is giving you for our own | „ |
| ~ Joshua 1:11 |
| “ | Are you with us or for our enemies? | „ |
| ~ Joshua 5:13 |
Trivia[]
- Joshua's name in Hebrew means "Salvation", which greatly foreshadows the coming of Jesus.
- The angel with the sword Joshua meets outside of Jericho was said to have looked like Jesus, while others thought it was Michael.
- Joshua stopping the sun has since been one of his greatest feats a man of God could do, as not even Moses could do it.
- He was the first man chosen by God to become a military leader.
External Links[]
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