Day 77: The Crossing into Canaan

This is it! After so, so long, the Israelites are finally about to set foot in the Promised Land. I’m quite excited.

God appoints Joshua
Joshua 1:1-4
God promises his assistance
Joshua 1:5-9
Joshua and the Israelites go to Jordan
Joshua 3:1
Rahab protects the spies
Joshua 2:1-21
The return of the spies
Joshua 2:22-24
Joshua instructs the people
Joshua 1:10-18
The ark’s importance
Joshua 3:2-13
Crossing the Jordan
Joshua 3:14-17
The memorial stones
Joshua 4:1-18

Joshua gets his orders from God, just like Moses did. There are lots of echoes of Moses in the story, which no doubt comforted the Israelites. They had learned to trust Moses as the visible representative of God, and they came to realise they could trust Joshua in the same way.
Once again, spies are sent out, as they were before. Joshua had been one of those spies last time, and the majority report was one of fear and despondency. The people are too strong for us, we’ll never win! they said. Only Joshua and Caleb said differently. But this time, they report back that “The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.” (2:24)
In another echo of what happened before, they prepare to cross the Jordan. Joshua has the the priests go first, carrying the ark of the covenant. They have to put their feet into the water of the river, before the miracle occurs - demonstrating their faith. But then the waters part, just as the Red Sea did, and God brings the people across on dry land.
Finally, Joshua does what Moses would have done - makes a memorial to remind the people of God’s power at work. They take stones from the river and pile them up. The Israelites would have been able to visit those stones in years to come and remember that God had brought them into their land without having to paddle!