Conquest of the Promised Land

After the death of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the promised land of Canaan, which they conquered with the help of the LORD their God.

After Moses died, the LORD spoke to Joshua, “Moses, my servant, is dead. Now, get ready to take all these people across the Jordan River into the land I promised to give them. No one will be able to defeat you. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Be strong and courageous because it is you who will lead these people into the land I swore to give to their ancestors.”

And God worked just as He declared He would. First, a prostitute named Rahab from Jericho changed her mind about following other gods before the Israelites even took the land, saying, “I know the LORD has given this land to you . . . the LORD your God is God of all.” Then, God made it so the Israelites could cross the Jordan on dry ground. He made the walls of Jericho fall miraculously and defeated Jericho and all Israel’s enemies so that Joshua took the entire land. Then, he divided the territory among Israel’s tribes, and they had peace in the land.

Near the end of Joshua’s life, the LORD told the Israelites a story through their leader. Joshua called the people together at Shechem and told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:

‘Long ago, your ancestors, including Abraham, his father, and brother, lived on the other side of the Euphrates and worshiped other gods. I took Abraham away from there and brought him to Canaan. I gave him Isaac as the first of a long line of descendants. To Isaac, I gave Jacob and Esau. I had Esau settle in the hill country of Seir, but Jacob took his family down to Egypt.

‘Later, I sent Moses to help your people. I made all those horrible things happen to the Egyptians and brought your ancestors out of Egypt. The Egyptians came after your ancestors, trapping them at the Red Sea. Your people cried to Me for help, so I came between them and the Egyptians in a cloud and opened the sea so they could walk through on dry ground. The Egyptians tried to follow, but I brought the water back and buried them. You lived in the desert for a long time.

‘Then I brought you to the land east of the Jordan and helped you defeat the people there. After that, you crossed the Jordan. I gave all those peoples over to you, and you defeated them.

‘Now you live in towns you didn’t build and eat grapes and olives from vineyards and trees you didn’t plant. You didn’t have to work for this land; I gave it to you.’”

After Joshua walked them through God’s brief synopsis, he lifted his voice and challenged them.

“Worship the LORD and fear Him. Get rid of the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD alone. But if you don’t want to worship the LORD God, decide now! Do you want to worship the gods of your ancestors or the gods of the people you dispossessed from this land? Not me! My family and I will worship and obey the LORD.”

The people responded, saying, “We could never worship other gods. The LORD is our God.”

Not long afterward, God’s servant Joshua died at the age of 110.