Day 42 Reading Schedule: Joshua 9-13

Joshua 9: Treaty between Israel and Gibeon 

[Summary]

This chapter records the incident in which Israel was deceived by the Gibeonites’ trick and made a peace treaty with them. Upon hearing news of Israel’s repeated victories, the Gibeonites pretended to be a distant tribe and came to Joshua to propose peace, which Joshua, deceived, agreed to (vv. 1-15). Three days after making the peace treaty, Israel learned of Gibeon’s trick and could not break the treaty because of the oath they had made in God’s name (vv. 16-21). So Joshua called them and made them servants of Israel in exchange for guaranteeing their lives (vv. 22-27).

When the news of the Israelites’ victories in conquering Jericho and Ai and conquering the land of Canaan spread throughout Canaan, the natives of Canaan felt a great sense of crisis. Thus, the Canaanite tribes formed alliances with each other, while on the other hand they made treaties with Israel and submitted to them.

Joshua 10: Conquest of Southern Canaan 

[Summary]

This chapter records the event in which Joshua destroyed the five kings of the Amorites and occupied the southern region of Canaan. When the five kings of the Amorites learned that Gibeon had made a peace treaty with Israel, they formed an alliance and came up to attack Gibeon, but were defeated by Joshua’s army that had come to the aid of Gibeon (vv. 1-11). With the help of God who made the sun and moon stand still, Joshua destroyed the remnants of the Amorite alliance and captured and killed their kings (vv. 12-27). He also completely destroyed all the people, livestock, and other possessions in their cities (vv. 28-39), and Israel finally took control of the southern region of Canaan (vv. 40-43). In particular, in this chapter, God demonstrated His power to defeat the Amorite allies through miracles, thereby giving Israel confidence in their future war to conquer Canaan.

With the fall of Jericho and Ai as a signal, Israel’s war to conquer Canaan progressed steadily. In particular, they succeeded by first occupying the middle waist of Canaan and then using it as a boundary to attack the southern region of Canaan below, which was a truly effective strategy. However, God was working behind all of this.

Joshua 11: Conquest of Northern Canaan 

[Summary]

After conquering the southern part of Canaan through battles with the Amorite allies, Israel conquered the northern part through battles with the Hazor allies in this chapter. Upon hearing the news of the destruction of the Amorite allies, King Jabin of Hazor attempted to lead the northern allies against Israel. However, with the help of Joshua, who received God’s help, he was defeated as well, and the kings of Hazor and its allies met a miserable end (verses 1-15). Joshua destroyed all their families and livestock, killed all the tribes in the northern part of Canaan, and took possession of their land (verses 16-20). Finally, Joshua, who had conquered all of Canaan, divided the land among the tribes according to Moses’ command, and thus ended all wars of conquest (verses 21-23).

After crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites first conquered the central part of Palestine, and then conquered both the mountainous and plain areas of the southern part. Now, in this chapter, Israel has achieved its long-awaited wish by conquering the northern part of Palestine, and has come to the forefront of history as a new protagonist in Canaan. The one who supervised all of this was undoubtedly God, who supported Israel.

Joshua 12: Israel's Conquest of Canaan 

[Summary]

This chapter outlines the history of the conquest of Canaan by Moses and Joshua. In particular, it focuses on the conquered Canaanite kings. The first half of the chapter records the two kings east of the Jordan conquered by Moses. Moses destroyed Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan, and gave their land as an inheritance to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh (verses 1-6). Meanwhile, the second half records the kings west of the Jordan conquered by Joshua, who led the Israelites into Canaan. These kings were destroyed in the war of conquest spanning Joshua 2-10, and a total of thirty-one of them (verses 7-24). Of these, Jerusalem and Gezer were completely conquered only during the reign of David and Solomon. However, even at this time, Israel had already seized actual control of the Canaan region, and the conquest was practically complete.

Following the story of how the Israelites came to possess the entire Canaan region due to God’s absolute support, this chapter introduces the work of dividing the conquered lands among the tribes. This chapter is an introductory part of the work of distribution, listing the regions conquered by Israel and their kings. We must not forget that this list is not a simple list, but an abridged version of God’s great work.

Joshua 13: The Distribution of the Land of Canaan 

[Overview]

Following the first half of the story about Joshua's war to conquer Canaan, this chapter specifically records the distribution of the land of Canaan among the tribes. God commanded Joshua to distribute all the land of Canaan that had not yet been conquered (verses 1-7). And the land east of the Jordan was given to Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as an inheritance, as instructed by Moses (verses 8-14). The tribe of Reuben took the southern region centered on the Arnon Valley and the Plain of Heshbon (verses 15-23), Gad took the central region centered on Gilead and Mahanaim (verses 24-28), and the half-tribe of Manasseh took the northern region centered on Bashan and Ashtaroth (verses 29-31). However, the tribe of Levi was not given land because it was God's inheritance (verses 32-33).

With God’s absolute support, Israel was able to accomplish the feat of conquering the land of Canaan. Immediately after completing the conquest, God’s servant Joshua began to distribute the land of Canaan that had been granted to each tribe. And the land that had not yet been conquered was left as a sacred duty for each tribe of Israel to continue to carry out.