The Bible OverBrew - Bible in a YearSample

Week 10. Day 3. Joshua 6-12.

Ch 6 Jericho. Why such a bizarre military strategy? How does 6:2 help answer this?

Ch 7 Achan

• What was his sin?
• What was the result?
• What was this to teach Israel?

Feel free to move more quickly through ch 8-12. What are key emphases of this whole section? (See especially 11:15-23)

Note: The destruction of the Canaanites.

The book of Joshua recounts the destruction of the Canaanites, as God had commanded through Moses (Deu 20:16-18).

This is a hard subject, and no full answer can be given here. But here are some helpful cross-references to set this in context:

-This was a punishment for the Canaanites’ sin. The Canaanites were a horrific people, practising child sacrifice as part of their worship. In Gen 15 when God promised the land to Abraham, he said there would be a 400 year delay (Gen 15:16), because the sin of the Amorites (Canaanites) had not yet reached the point where he needed to judge them in this way.

-God was protecting his people, through whom he would bring salvation to the world. If the Canaanites were not removed, then God’s people would be led astray into sin (Deu 20:18), and God’s salvation plans through a godly people (Gen 12:1-3) would not be fulfilled. Removing the Canaanites is part of God’s plan to ‘crush the serpent’s head’ (Gen 3:15).

-There was the opportunity to change sides. The Canaanites had heard of what God had done – and some like Rahab (Josh 2) changed sides and received mercy. As God says in Ezekiel 33:11

‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live!’

NOTE: Days 1-5 of each week contain the scripture reading for that week. Day 6 has just the 'key chapters'. If you want a briefer version of this plan that still takes you through the whole Bible, you could just read the key chapters featured on day 6. Day 7 has the podcast video where we discuss the week's reading.