Joshua 9 – If you can’t beat ‘em, become slaves to ‘em. That’s what the Gibeonites thought when they deceived the Israelites into making a treaty with them in chapter 9. If was the first of many times that the Israelites failed to fully eradicate the inhabitants of the Promised Land. The important words in that chapter are in verse 14; “The men of Israel…did not inquire of the LORD.” If they would have, then they would have known who the Gibeonites were and would have destroyed them accordingly. On the contrary, this seems like a merciful thing to do – even preferable to God’s instructions to kill them all. But in future generations we will find that those people who were allowed to live did indeed turn the Israelites away from God, as God knew that they would.
Joshua 10 – Verse 1: Adoni-Zedek means “my lord is righteous,” calling to mind the name of another “king” of that same city long before, Melchizedek (which means “king of righteousness” in Genesis 14:18) back when Jerusalem was simply called Salem. Melchizedek was called a “priest of God most high” and Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils he had won in battle, recognizing him as a spiritual leader. Adoni-Zedek is an example of how far the residents of the Promised Land had fallen from their godly roots. Though his name resembled his predecessor, he had no understanding or interest in the God of heaven as Melchizedek had, and so was given over to be destroyed.
Verses 2 – 15: Even though the Gibeonites had made a treaty with Israel by deception, Israel still honored it, perhaps partly on behalf of the Gibeonites and partly because their city was apparently a strategic one. They came out against the 5 kings and were given victory over them because of the supernatural assistance of God, who rained down hailstones on them. Joshua also prayed to God that the daylight would continue so that they would be able to destroy their enemies and none would escape. There have been some rumors going around, mostly circulated on the internet, that Joshua’s long day was “discovered” by NASA computer analysis. Though some of the articles I’ve read about it sound very convincing, the Creation ministry Answers in Genesis cautions against using that story as proof of the Bible’s authenticity, saying that there is no known scientific test that is able to detect the presence of a long day.
Verses 16 – 28: No mercy was shown to the five Amorite kings who had escaped to the cave. As a sign of power over them, and to show the Israelites that they never needed to be afraid of any of their enemies, Joshua had his army commanders put their feet on their necks, reminiscent of Psalm 110:1. “The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Peter connects that Psalm to Jesus himself in Acts 2:34 – 35. The Amorites, by the way, were descendents of Noah’s grandson Canaan, as well as the 6 other people groups God was giving into the Israelites hands (see Genesis 10:15).
Verses 29 – 43: The conquest of the Promised Land commenced primarily in the south to begin with. It will be interesting to see if the conquest in the north is as complete as these verses indicate. Later, in the books of Kings and Chronicles, we’ll find that the Israelites who lived in the north were more apt to wander from God than those who lived in the south, possibly due to the influence of those nations that were never fully eradicated.
Joshua 11 – The biggest army of Canaanites yet banned together and came to attack Israel in this chapter. It was by God’s design that they did this (see verse 20) so that they would be totally destroyed rather than being able to arrange terms of peace. Numbers of soldiers didn’t matter to God, as He once again delivered them into the Israelites’ hands.
Joshua 12 – This list of defeated kings must have looked pretty impressive in those days, and was a way for the Israelites to remember God’s power and deliverance for them.
Joshua 13 – Verses 1 – 7: Chapter 11 ends with the words, “Then the land had rest from war.” Now in chapter 13 there are territories that God still wants the Israelites to conquer so that the Canaanites will be driven completely out of the Promised Land. God knew, however, that the people would need respite from war before a new campaign could begin again.
Verses 8 – 33: The division of the lands for the tribes doesn’t mean a whole lot to us, since we don’t know where those places are, but 80% can be found on a Bible atlas, and the description is helpful for scholars to be able to roughly map out the allotment of territory for each Israelite tribe. Another purpose for these chapters (like many of the other chapters that give very specific historical or genealogical details) is to establish the Bible as a historical document, not just a work of legend or fiction. If the Bible is anything other than a historical document, the internal evidence (from the pages of the Bible itself) certainly doesn’t point in that direction.
Joshua 14 – Verses 1 – 5: As has been said many times throughout Exodus through Deuteronomy, the LORD was the inheritance of the Levites, so they had no specific inheritance of land but were spread throughout Israel to tend to the spiritual needs of the people.
Verses 6 – 15: The first tribe to be allotted land in the west side of the Jordan river would be Judah, and the first member of the tribe of Judah to receive special land of his own was Caleb, one of two spies who brought back a good report of the Promised Land, trusting in the LORD that He would give it to them in spite of the strength of the nations that lived there. God, through Moses, promised Caleb a special inheritance as a result of his trust in God. Caleb now takes it upon himself to claim that promise, which says something about the promises of God. Once a promise has been made, there are many precedents in the Bible of God’s people boldly claiming those promises. One thing we don’t do, however, is prescribe for God what He should do and expect Him to comply.
Caleb had been blessed by God in more ways than one. At 85 years old, he was still serving in the Israelite army as well as anyone. The city he asked for was most likely one of the most appealing in all Israel. David had used it as his capital city for 7 years before moving to Jerusalem. As it was one of the most appealing towns, it was also inhabited by some of the most imposing people – the Anakites, legendarily large people, the ancestors of such people as the giant Goliath. Caleb, however, was unconcerned about driving them out, continuing to trust that God would give him success.
Joshua 15 – Most of this chapter deals with the allotments of land and towns for the people of Judah. Thankfully, you can consult a good Bible atlas to see the general territory each tribe was allotted. Most of the specific towns have been discovered today, showing the Bible to be a document rooted firmly in history. Two items in this chapter are worth a brief comment.
Verses 13 – 17: Caleb remained true to his word and conquered Hebron and some surrounding towns including Kiriath Sepher through a promise to the conqueror of his daughter’s hand in marriage. The person who took that challenge, Othniel, served as a judge over Israel some years later.
Verse 63: The other item is the fact that the people of Judah were unable to drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem. No explanation was given, but the fact says something about the defensibility of Jerusalem, located on small mountain peaks as it was. This failure could also be due to the Israelites tiring of the task of driving out all these peoples. Dislodging the Jebusites would have required a lengthy siege, and perhaps the Judahites weren’t willing to do it. Carrying out God’s will to the fullest degree often requires perseverance and a tremendous level of faithfulness.
Joshua 16 – Verse 4: Why was Joseph the only son of Jacob to receive a double inheritance? After all, every other tribe received only one inheritance per tribe. This goes back to Genesis 48:5 when Israel (also known as Jacob), the father of Joseph, “adopted” Joseph’s two sons as his own.
Joshua 17 – Verse 14 – 18: As predicted by Israel in Genesis 48:13 – 19, the people of Ephraim (Joseph’s younger son) would one day be very numerous. They asked Joshua for more space, but were a little unwilling to do what it would take to get the space. In spite of the fact that God had given the Israelites such success in the early campaigns in the Promised Land, doubts began to creep in to the later campaigns. The “iron chariots” of the Canaanites caused the people of Ephraim to doubt if they could defeat them.
Joshua 18 – Verses 1 – 10: 7 tribes still had to receive their tribal allotments. Gad, Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh had asked Moses for territory on the eastern side of the Jordan River and had received it. The other half of Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah had already received allotments on the west side of the Jordan, leaving Simeon, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin to receive their inheritances.
Verses 11 – 27: As you read the description of Benjamin’s tribal allotment, notice the detail that is mentioned. Benjamin, being the smallest tribe, also had the smallest allotment of land, though the land was good and well populated with towns and villages. Yet the description would lead a person to believe that it was a very large tract of land because of the detail included, further showing the Bible to be a volume of history, not simply a book about religion or morality, or even legend as many have suggested.
Joshua 19 – Verses 1 – 9: The remaining six tribes allotments are described in this chapter. Simeon’s lot came up first, and was given territory within the inheritance of Judah. In Genesis 49:5 – 7 Jacob lamented Simeon and Levi’s violent tendencies and predicted that the two brothers’ (they were both sons of Leah) descendents would be scattered in Israel. Simeon’s inheritance was fairly small, within Judah’s, and over the course of time Simeon was swallowed up by Judah and was not very prominent any more. Levi, as a result of their service to God, was scattered throughout all of Israel, a “punishment,” I suppose, for their forefather’s violence, but many times God’s punishments also have a good side. In Levi’s case it was the opportunity to give their lives in service to God.
Verses 10 – 48: The remaining five allotments are given out. See a map to see what these allotments looked like. At this point, you could say that the term Promised Land was now obsolete. It was, instead, the fulfilled land, as all that remained now were for the tribes to settle on their properties and, with God’s power and help, drive out the remaining inhabitants.
Verses 49 – 51: Like Caleb, Joshua was one of the 2 spies who were faithful to God and also received his own town to settle in. Being from the tribe of Ephraim, their allotted land is where he chose to settle. | 
