We pray that our overview and outline of Joshua will assist you as you endeavor to deepen your understanding of God’s holy Word.
The book of Joshua is the book of triumph and success. In it God stresses the blessings of complete obedience. There are only two accounts of disobedience or sin–the sin of Achan and the sin of Joshua in not seeking the LORD with respect to the Gibeonites. One other time, Israel thought there had been sin, but it turned out not to be so (Joshua 22:10-31). The book is about obedience to God’s command and God’s blessing. Never in the history of Israel has there been a generation like this one.
| The Path to Blessing | ||
| God’s Command | The Obedience | The Blessing |
| 4:1-3 | 4:5-9 | 4:14, 23 |
| 5:2 | 5:3, 7-8 | 5:12 |
| 6:3-5 | 6:14-16, 20 | 6:27 |
| 8:2 | 8:9, 19, 27 | 8:28 |
| Deuteronomy 27:11-13 | 8:35 | none noted |
| 11:6 | 11:9 | none noted |
| Numbers 33:50-56 | 11:12, 15 | 8:14, 20, 23 |
| none noted | none noted | 21:43-45 |
| All Commands | 22:2, 3 | 22:4 |
| none noted | none noted | 23:3 |
| All Commands | 24:31 | none noted |
The word which we translate as “the LORD” appear 219 times in this book. The phrase “the LORD your God” (with the plural “your”) appears 26 times; “the LORD your God” (with the singular “your”) appears four times. See the sharp contrast with the usage of these two phrases in Deuteronomy where there are 37 plural and 203 singular occurrences of these phrases. This may indicate that Joshua focuses on communal (the community of Israel as a whole) relationships with God where Deuteronomy focuses more on individual responsibility and relationship to God.
Date: March, 1406 B.C. to 1365 B.C. (?)
Divisions: The book of Joshua is divided as follows:
I. The Conquest 1-12
- The Preparation 1-5
- The Central Conquest 6-9
- Jericho 6
- Ai 7-8
- Gibeon 9
- The Southern Conquest 10
- The Northern Conquest 11
- The Summary 12
II. Division of the Land 13-22
- Division East of the Jordan 13
- Division West of the Jordan 14-19
- Cities of Refuge 20
- Cities of the Levites 21
- An Altar Altercation 22
III. Joshua’s Farewell Address 23-24
Key Thought: Obedience
Key Passage: 1:8; see also 21:45; 24:15.
Key Lesson: Obedience is the Path of Success.