Lesson One

OVERVIEW

The Book of Joshua

You may have heard some of the exciting stories of Joshua — the crossing of the Jordan River, the battle of Jericho — but you may never have read the whole book before. You may have only a vague idea of its contents. This is the purpose of an overview: to give you a broad acquaintance with the themes and flavor of a book so that you can study each passage in light of the whole.

In this lesson you'll be reading most or all of Joshua at least once, as well as the Introduction. If you are a slow reader or if you have never used a LifeChange study guide before, you may want to take extra time for this overview. Also, be sure to look at the "How to Use This Study" section on pages 5–8.

1. Read the Introduction on pages 11–15. If you have any questions about it, write them here so that you will remember them. You can pursue answers later.

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2. Now read the whole of Joshua once. Don't stop to untangle all the details or reflect on an interesting passage. Simply try to form a first impression of what the book is about. (You might want to skim chapters 12 through 21 just enough to get the gist of what they contain.) Keep questions 3 and 4 in mind as you do so.

3. What are your first impressions of the book? (For example, is it like a sermon, a series of stories, facts and figures, a logical argument to prove a point, poetry, or more than one of these? Is it dull or exciting or both in different places? Is it easy or confusing to follow? What mood does it seem to convey — upbeat, enthusiastic, depressing, cynical, angry, joyful ...?)

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4. Repetition is a clue to the ideas an author wants to emphasize. What are some of the words, phrases, and ideas that recur in the book of Joshua?

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5. An outline or chart often helps one see a book as a whole. To make a broad outline for an overview, begin by giving a title to each chapter.

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6. Now group the chapters into larger sections. What is each of the following sections mainly about? What title would you give to each?

1:1–5:15__________________________

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6:1–12:24_________________________

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13:1–21:45________________________

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22:1–24:33________________________

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7. Finally, what would you say the book of Joshua as a whole is about? What themes (ideas that recur throughout the book) do you see? What do you think is God's purpose in giving His people this book?

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8. Your overview may have suggested issues you want to explore and questions you want to answer as you study in more depth. If so, jot them down to serve as personal objectives for the rest of your study. What do you want to understand better by the time you are finished?

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Study Skill — Application

Second Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture ... is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Paul also writes, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope" (Romans 15:4), and "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us" (1 Corinthians 10:11). Therefore, when you study Joshua, you should keep asking yourself, "What difference should this passage make in my life? How should it make me want to think or act? How does it encourage, warn, correct, or set me an example?" Application will require time, thought, prayer, and perhaps even discussion with another person. You may sometimes find it more productive to concentrate on one specific application, giving it careful thought and prayer, than to list several potential applications without really reflecting on them or committing yourself to them. At other times, you may want to list many implications that a passage has for your life. Then you can choose one or two of these to act or meditate upon.

9. In your first reading of Joshua, did you find any truths that are relevant to your life? If so, was there anything you would like to commit to memory, pray about, or act on? If so, write down your plans.

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For Further Study:

a. Compare the book of Joshua to the New Testament book of Acts. Acts recounts how God began to conquer the world for His kingdom, using His people as a kind of army empowered by His Spirit. Acts also pauses periodically to assess the progress made (see Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:7; 9:31; 19:20). How is Joshua like and unlike Acts?

b. Compare the books of Joshua and Revelation, and the missions of Joshua and Jesus. In what ways, if any, do you think Joshua foreshadows Jesus?

For the group

This "For the Group" section and the ones in later lessons are intended to suggest ways of structuring your discussions. Feel free to select what suits...