Joshua Introduction

The events recorded in the book of Joshua took place during the second millennium BC in the period immediately following the forty years of Israelite wilderness wanderings and the death of the entire adult generation of the exodus (except Joshua and Caleb). The date of the exodus has been the subject of much scholarly debate. Joshua apparently supports an early date for the exodus. The book refers to places and peoples best situated in the middle of the second millennium BC (e.g., the mention in Jos 13:6 of the Sidonians rather than the later more powerful people of Tyre). If the early date for the exodus (ca mid fifteenth century BC) is correct, then the events of Joshua occurred approximately in the late fifteenth century BC.

Critics often cite the book’s three dramatic miracles (the stopping of the Jordan River in 3:15-17; the collapse of Jericho’s wall in 6:20; and Joshua’s long day 10:12-14) as evidence of its legendary (i.e., fictional) character. But the Bible records miracles in many places, thus Joshua is not unusual in this respect. An anti-supernatural worldview may render miracles untenable to the critic, but anti-supernaturalism is a philosophical assumption, not a demonstrable scientific or historical fact. Most people today and historically have accepted the possibility of the supernatural because they have believed in a reality beyond nature. And this is certainly true of those who have personally come to know the God of the Bible through Jesus Christ.

It is important to note, however, that biblical narratives do not portray an indiscriminately saturated world of miracles. That is, the Bible does not read like the pagan mythologies of antiquity in which gods are constantly interrupting and disrupting ordinary human affairs. Biblical supernaturalism stands out in contrast because its miracles are not commonplace. The relative infrequency of biblical miracles may be seen in the fact that they constitute a small, albeit important, part of the narratives spanning approximately two millennia from the time of Abraham through the apostolic era. Moreover, certain critical turning points in biblical history are marked by more intense spiritual warfare and miracle. The life and ministry of Jesus Christ is the most obvious of these periods, and the exodus of Israel from Egypt with the subsequent conquest of Canaan represents another. The book of Joshua records the events at the close of this strategic era, and its three major miracles reveal the Lord’s sovereign work to install Israel in the land of promise.

In addition, many critical scholars have proposed that the Israelite conquest of Canaan portrayed in Joshua is not factual. The three major critical explanations for how the Israelites came to possess the land are: (1) the conquest model, which views the entrance of Israel into the land of Canaan as a massive hostile invasion resulting in destruction of cities and towns; (2) the peaceful infiltration model, which views the entrance of Israel into the land as a peaceful settlement among the Canaanites; and (3) the peasant revolt model, which views the situation as an internal political upheaval of peasants who revolted and toppled the existing Canaanite political system. The conquest model comes closest to the biblical account by acknowledging the invasion of Canaan by an external Israelite force. But critical assessments of this view typically overemphasize the violent destruction of cities and towns. The biblical account records that the only cities destroyed were Jericho, Ai, and Hazor (6:24; 8:28; 11:11,13). But the peaceful infiltration and peasant revolt models do not reflect the biblical account at all. Both are skeptical of the biblical account, reflecting an anti-supernatural bias in their attempt to offer alternative explanations for Israelite possession of Canaan. Yet neither model accounts for the biblical data. In the Bible, divine sovereignty is demonstrated in the victories of Israel. The Israelites entered the land of Canaan and took possession of it by the divine purpose and power of God who had already promised to give it to them (1:2-5).