Jesus Christ, Our Great God & Savior

Outline of Joshua

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 4 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.