Day 140: Joshua 20-24 - The Bible Dept.

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bible Dept. – Day 140: Joshua 20-24

Introduction

In Day 140 of The Bible Dept. podcast, Dr. Manny Arango delves into the concluding chapters of the Book of Joshua (chapters 20-24). This episode serves as a bridge between the conquest narratives of Joshua and the subsequent chaotic period depicted in the Book of Judges. Dr. Arango provides a comprehensive analysis, incorporating historical context, theological insights, and practical applications to enrich listeners' understanding of these pivotal scriptures.

1. Overview of Joshua 20-24

Dr. Arango begins by outlining the transition occurring in these final chapters of Joshua. With the land distribution complete, Joshua delivers his farewell speech, reminiscent of Moses' address in Deuteronomy. This speech not only reviews Israel's journey and God's faithfulness but also sets the stage for the forthcoming challenges in Judges.

Key Points:

Joshua’s Final Address: Reflecting Moses' farewell, Joshua reiterates God's promises and urges faithfulness.
Foreshadowing Judges: Signs of impending discord and unfaithfulness are highlighted, indicating a shift from unity to fragmentation.

2. Context Clues: Historical and Cultural Insights

Dr. Arango explores the historical context surrounding Joshua 20-24, emphasizing the sociopolitical landscape of ancient Israel.

Notable Insights:

Cities of Refuge (Joshua 20): Established to provide asylum for those accused of manslaughter, these cities reflect Israel's efforts to mitigate retaliatory violence in the absence of a centralized legal system.

"The cities of refuge acknowledge that accidental killings require mercy, ensuring that justice is tempered with compassion." (Dr. Manny Arango, 09:45)
Completion of Land Allotments (Joshua 21): The distribution of land among the tribes signifies the fulfillment of God's promise and the establishment of Israel's nation-state.
Burying Joseph’s Bones (Joshua 24): This act symbolizes continuity and the fulfillment of ancestral promises, reinforcing the covenantal relationship between God and Israel.

"Burying Joseph’s bones is a profound gesture of faith, illustrating that God's faithfulness transcends even death." (Dr. Manny Arango, 12:30)

3. Nerdy Nuggets: Fascinating Details

Delving deeper, Dr. Arango shares intriguing details that enhance the narrative's richness.

Highlights:

Name Connections: The name "Joshua" (Yeshua in Hebrew) links directly to "Jesus," drawing parallels between Joshua's leadership and Jesus' prophetic, priestly, and kingly roles.

"Joshua is the Anglicized name Yeshua, and that is Jesus. This name connection bridges the Old Testament narratives with New Testament revelations." (Thomas, 14:08)
Altar Conflict (Joshua 22): The construction of an altar by the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh sparks tension, highlighting issues of centralized worship and unity.

"Building an altar outside the prescribed location was a significant violation, reflecting underlying tensions among the tribes." (Dr. Manny Arango, 06:15)
Foreshadowing Revelation: The episode draws parallels between Joshua and Revelation, noting that both contain "seven trumpet" motifs, symbolizing divine judgment and conquest.

"Seven days of trumpet blowing in Joshua circle the walls just as in Revelation, we see seven trumpet judgment calls." (Thomas, 16:22)

4. Timeless Truths: Practical Takeaways

Dr. Arango translates the scriptural analysis into actionable insights for contemporary life.

Lessons:

Faithfulness Beyond Life: The burial of Joseph’s bones serves as a testament to God's unwavering faithfulness, encouraging believers to trust in God's plans even beyond death.

"If God was faithful to Joseph in ensuring his descendants honored his legacy, we can trust Him to uphold His promises in our lives and beyond." (Dr. Manny Arango, 11:00)
Importance of Centralized Worship: The conflict over altar placement underscores the necessity of unified worship practices, reinforcing the significance of adhering to God's designated paths.
Guarding Against Division: The episode warns of the dangers of internal divisions and unfaithfulness, urging listeners to maintain unity and commitment to God's commandments to prevent societal decline.

5. Transition to Judges

Concluding the discussion, Dr. Arango sets the stage for the ensuing narrative in Judges, highlighting the loss of unified leadership and the ensuing moral and social chaos.

Anticipation:

Decline into Chaos: The lack of strong, unified leadership after Joshua’s death leads to disunity and moral decay, setting the tone for the turbulent stories in Judges.

"With Joshua gone, the unified spirit dissipates, and we witness the beginning of a spiral into chaos that defines the Book of Judges." (Thomas, 17:10)
Role of Women in Society: Dr. Arango emphasizes that the treatment of women serves as a barometer for societal health, noting that the positive interactions in Joshua contrast sharply with the negative portrayals in Judges.

Conclusion

Day 140 of The Bible Dept. offers a thorough exploration of Joshua chapters 20-24, highlighting the transition from the establishment of the Israelite nation to the impending challenges of Judges. Through insightful analysis and engaging discussions, Dr. Manny Arango equips listeners with a deeper understanding of Scripture, encouraging faithfulness and unity in their spiritual journeys.

Final Quote:

"Crushing the chaos begins with understanding the ancient contexts and applying those timeless truths to our lives today." (Dr. Manny Arango, 14:08)

Next Episode Preview

Listeners are encouraged to continue their journey by reading the Book of Judges in one sitting to prepare for Day 141, where the discussion will shift to one of the Bible's most dynamic and action-packed books.

Join the Journey: Subscribe to The Bible Dept. and download the 365-day reading plan at thebibledept.com/plan to deepen your connection with Scripture.

Note: This summary excludes promotional segments and focuses solely on the content-rich discussions of Joshua 20-24.

Transcript

Dr. Manny Arango (0:00)

Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. We used church candy for our new church plant the Garden, and the response blew me and my team away. At our new church plant the Garden, we ran simple invite ads through none other than church candy, and hundreds of people responded.

Thomas (0:42)

Seriously.

Dr. Manny Arango (0:43)

People who had never even heard of us, who had never met me or heard me preach. They saw an ad on Facebook or Instagram. They showed up to a launch party or launch team training. Some of them have joined our team. Here's the best part. A good amount of them have started giving and tithing, which means the ads have paid for themselves. Our church plant is growing, and it's because we chose the right partner. We didn't have to figure out marketing strategies or spend hours tinkering with ad settings. Church candy handled it all, and it worked. You might not be planting a church, but if you're a pastor who wants to see more new faces on Sunday. And by the way, I've never met a pastor who doesn't want to see.

Thomas (1:28)

More new faces on Sunday.

Dr. Manny Arango (1:30)

It's time to check them out. How about you go to churchcandy.com Manny and book a discovery call? Let their team show you what's possible.

Thomas (1:43)

When the right people hear about your church family. Welcome to day 140. We are in Joshua, chapter 20 to 24. This is the end of the book. Uh, hashtag boys to men. Although we've come to the end of the road, still I can't let go. We're gonna get into judges tomorrow, but for today, we got four chapters left in the book of Joshua. Smooth transition, by the way, from Joshua in the judges. We'll talk about that a little bit later. For anyone who's done the reading, I hope that my context clues, my nerdy nuggets, and my timeless truths for the day adds so much value to what you've already read. If you haven't done the reading. What you doing? Get out of here. Go do the reading. Stop the video. Stop the audio. Go get this reading done. Joshua, chapter 20. 21, 22, 23, 24. We don't have a lot of reading today, and we're. We're. We're. For the most part, we're out of these land Allotments, which is just, you know, difficult kind of content to read through. So all the land has been allotted, and now Joshua is going to give a speech at the end of his life, just like Moses did at the end of Deuteronomy, which also foreshadows the conflict of the Book of Judges. So this last part of the Book of Joshua kind of reaches back and makes us think about Moses in Deuteronomy, but also reaches forward to the next phase of the story, which is going to be Judges. And so Joshua fits perfectly. That is the context for this book. The people are in the land. They are not wanting to necessarily possess all of the land and continue to fight. There's definitely a passing of the baton. Joshua is old. God is like, bro, you are old. Which means the people have to go fight on their own to displace the Canaanites. They are reluctant to do that. So there's this tension because Joshua's old and he's giving them what should be their land, but there's still Canaanites living amongst them. Okay? But God did say he would drive the inhabitants of the land out of the land little by little. Okay? Exodus 23, 30, 33, in Deuteronomy, chapter 7, 22, 23. Make that really, really, really, really clear. So I'm just going to give us a bunch of nerdy nuggets as we kind of work through the content. So here's the first one. In Joshua, chapter 22, verse 10 to 13, you know, the two and a half tribes that are on the east side of the Jordan, they actually set up an altar. Okay? And World War 8 is about to break out. This is not good. If you go to Joshua chapter 22, when they came to the region near the Jordan that lies in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of great size. So this is not good. Okay? This right here, Not. Not good. Okay? And let's kind of get context on why this is just a bad idea, okay? Bad idea all around. It's so bad that the rest of the Israelites prepare to invade and, like, go fight them. Hey. So they've built an altar, and they have not built an altar at Shiloh. They've built an altar almost like no man's land in between the tribal allotments on the east side of the river. But they've built this thing out of convenience because, you know, they got across a whole river just to get to the place where they can worship with their brethren, where they can worship with the other tribes, which means Moses's concession that they can live on the east side of the Jordan is really, like, not the best decision. But the Bible does not tell us that. It shows us that. And it shows us that with stuff like this, they built this altar. The rest of the people of Israel are pissed, okay, because they just displaced and killed a bunch of people who are guilty of idol worship. So building an altar is a big, big, big, big, big no. No. I want you to listen or read along with me. Deuteronomy, chapter 12, verse 4. Deuteronomy, chapter 12D, verse 4. This is Yahweh talking. You shall not worship the Lord your God in such ways, but you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes as his habitation, to put his name there. You shall go there, bringing there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations, your votive gifts. You get the gist. Okay. Hey, there's a place that you're supposed to worship. That place is going to become Shiloh for at least 369 years until it gets moved to Jerusalem. But, hey, there's a place you're not eligible to just worship wherever you want. You have to actually confine your worship to this particular place. So the people of Israel actually send. They. They're. There's. The other tribes are sending delegates to talk to these dudes because they're. They're going to fight. Like, they're. They're ready to, like, to get violent. The two and a half tribes make it really clear. They're like, no, we weren't building an altar to sacrifice. It was like a memorial to just, like, remember, you know, like, how faithful God's been. Kind of a. You know, they backpedal like crazy. Maybe it could have been, you know, legitimate motivation. I don't know. It's hard for me to believe that they just wanted to set up some memorial to remember to worship Yahweh. That's a little odd. That is Joshua, chapter 22, verse 10 to 13, and Deuteronomy, chapter 12, verse 4, really, all the way to 14, really helps us to kind of understand what's going on here in the book of Joshua. Then we got the bones of Joseph, who got brought up out of Egypt and now can finally get buried. And this is a good one because essentially what the text is saying is that if God was faithful to Joseph, even in death, God will be even more faithful to Us, even in death. Okay, so the penultimate of the Christian faith is that we're trusting that death will lead to life. Okay, we follow Jesus in every arena, but we ultimately follow him to death. And we follow him because we believe that what we typically see as the end, God doesn't see as the end. So Joseph is not even alive. And God is simply faithful to make sure that his descendants fulfill a vow that they've made to him. Man, if God can do that for Joseph, we can have faith that when we die that God will be faithful to resurrect our bodies, that God will be faithful to honor prayers even in our death, not just in our life. So powerful, powerful moment of them actually burying Joseph's bones. Also creepy that they have his bones, but we won't say nothing about that. Joshua chapter 23 feels a whole lot like Moses speech in the Book of Deuteronomy. There's this one verse that I think the author is throwing some shade. It's Joshua chapter 24. And we're going to read in verse 31, Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel. So Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua. Now what is this setting us up for? The text is definitely showing you while, you know, foreshadowing that once Joshua dies, the people are not going to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, which is going to get us into our spiral of our out of control spiral that is going to be the Book of Judges. One of the things that the Book of Judges is actually going to highlight is that the way a society treats women is a massive indicator of the health of that society. So things like Zelophehad's daughters, Rahab, like these positive stories of women interacting with God's people or interacting in the people of Israel's community are actually a big, big, big deal. Because when you get to the Book of Judges, women are treated terribly. Like, I mean, really bad. Okay, really bad. The end of the Book of Judges is really intense. So these cities of refuge are actually, they belong to the Levites, but again, they're scattered, okay, throughout the whole land. And here's what happens. If I accidentally murder someone, I can flee to the city of refuge so that their closest of kin doesn't kill me. Now remember, there's no police officers in Israel in 1400 BC. Ain't no police force. So if someone killed my brother, it would be my responsibility to go kill the person who killed my brother. The cities of refuge are acknowledging that, well, it may be accidental, which means it's manslaughter, not murder. And if it's manslaughter, not murder, then God wants to put some kind of cap or limit onto the vengeance. Now, here's where you're gonna see the gospel is that as long as the high priest is functioning, then the person who enters into the city of refuge can't leave, or else the party who wants them dead can 100% go after them and kill them. However, when the high priest dies, that's when you, as a person who's committed manslaughter, can go free. So it's almost like the high priest's life can be your ransom so that you can get. So that you can be able to go free. This is 100% a foreshadow of Jesus, okay, that Jesus is the high priest who, because he dies, we can go free. Okay? So this is cities of refuge that are set up. God does not want the land to spiral into chaos or to spiral into blood guilt. And so the cities of refuge are set up as a system, okay, that The Levites can 100% operate, so they don't own anything, but they do have cities of refuge that are under their authority.