|
|
|
|
|
|
Cheerful |
 |
 |
 |
|||
|
 |
The Conquest of Canaan
Lesson 6 The Conquest
We concluded the previous lesson with Israel just east of the Jordan
River, ready to enter the promised land.
Moses was dead and Joshua was now in charge of the conquest of
Canaan and the settlement to follow.
The story of these events is related in the book of Joshua, which
may be divided as follows: (1)
conquering Canaan chapters 1 to 12; (2) dividing the land among the
tribes of Israel, chapters 13 to 22; and (3) Joshua’s farewell
address, chapters 23 and 24. In the path of Joshua’s army lay the great walled city of Jericho. Joshua selected two spies, who slipped into the city and were
given sanctuary by Rahab the Harlot.
When they were discovered, she aided them in their escape.
Because of her favor to the people of God, her life was spared
when Jericho later fell to Israel.
Having received a favorable report from the spies, the Israelites were
certain that God would deliver the enemy into their hands.
They prepared to cross the
Before Israel lay Jericho. God
commanded the people to march around the city for seven days and when
they had done all that he had commanded, the walls fell and the city was
conquered. Modern archeologists have discovered remarkable testimony of
this event. True to the
Biblical account, they have found that the walls feel outward down the
hillside rather than inward as would have been true had battered rams
been used.
The next city before Israel was Ai, small in comparison with Jericho. But Joshua and his people were soundly defeated because of
the sin of an Israelite named Achan.
He had taken that which did not belong to him and brought defeat
on God’s people (Joshua 7). This
was a terrible lesson that God will not tolerate sin among His children. Achan was punished with death and Ai was then easily
conquered. So frightened
were the neighboring people of Gibeon that they made peace with Israel.
This, in turn, so angered the surrounding nations, that five
Amorite kings went out in battle against Gibeon.
The resulting encounter (Joshua 10) between the five kings of one
side, and Israel and Gibeon on the other, was one of the world’s
history battles. God made
the sun and moon stand still that His people might be victorious.
The enemy was soundly beaten and the way was opened for the
conquest of Canaan, which followed. In this, 31 kings fell to the surging forces of Israel. Having conquered Canaan, the tribes of Israel now cast lots for the
territory they were to possess. Gad,
Reuben, and half of the tribe of Manasseh had already been allotted
territory east of the Jordan. The
Levites were given 48 cities. Six
cities of refuge were provided for those who had accidentally killed
anyone. Eighty-five-year-old
Caleb, one of the twelve spies, was rewarded with a special inheritance.
The tabernacle was set up at Shiloh, where it was to remain for
several hundred years. With
the people now settled in the land of promise, Joshua assembled them at
Shechem for his farewell address in which he exhorted them to be
faithful to God. He closes
with the words, “choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for
me and my house, we will serve the Lord”(Joshua 24:15. Having thus exhorted the people, Joshua died at the age of
110. The Judges After
Joshua’s death, Israel was left without any organized government.
The twelve tribes, which had cooperated so closely in conquering
Canaan, now went their separate ways.
During the next 300 years, Israel seven times apostatized,
turning to idol gods. Seven
times Jehovah sent foreign oppressors upon them to bring repentance, and
when they did repent, seven times He sent them delivers, called
Why did the Israelites so often apostatize?
There are several reasons: (1)
the people around them worshipped idols—they desired to be like their
neighbors; (2) the generation which conquered Canaan died, and
succeeding generations forgot how God had delivered their fathers; (3)
Israel had no strong leader, such as Moses or Joshua, to keep them
faithful to Jehovah; the people, doing what was right in their own eyes,
sought to please themselves rather than God—again
and again they forsook Him, only to cry out for help when they
were chastised.
From the story of the judges, we may learn the meaning of
repentance. God punished the Israelites to make them realize that they
had sinned. This filled
them with remorse and their sorrow caused them to change their ways. Sorrow itself is not repentance, but we are told, “For fodly
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10).
Repentance is a change of heart, which produces a change in life.
Of some of the judges we are told little, but of others we know quite a
bit. Deborah, who judged
jointly with Barak, was the only woman judge (Judges 4:5.)
Gideon, with 300 chosen men, defeated the whole Midianite army
(Judges 7). One of the
greatest judges was Jephthah, who, nevertheless, made a foolish vow to
sacrifice to God that which he first met coming out his house as he
returned home from battle. To
his great sorrow, it was his daughter (Judges 11).
And we all remember the story of Samson who, with his great
physical strength, single-handedly sought to defeat the Philistines
(Judges 14-16). The last
and greatest judge was Samuel, who was promised to God by his mother,
Hannah, before his birth. He
brought integrity to his people and prepared the way for an united
Israel. Read the entire
book of Judges to study the history of this era. Ruth The story of the period of the judges would not be complete without some notice of the book of Ruth, which some call the greatest love story of all time. It is the account of a young Moabitish woman, who forsook her own people to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, to a new home in a distant land. Ruth eventually met and married Boaz to become the great-grandmother of David and an ancestress of Christ—a Gentile in the lineage of our Savior! Read the whole book. It will take you only a short time and you will find it well worth your while. “Seek and Ye Shall Find” Fill in correctly. (All
references in book of Joshua.) 1.
The children of Israel marched around the walls of Jericho a
total of _______________
times. [6:3-4] 2. Joshua saved ______________ the harlot alive, because she had hidden the messengers sent to
spy out Jericho. [6:25] 3.
Ai defeated Israel because _______________ hid the spoils of war in his ______________
[7:18-22] 4. The inhabitants of ______________ pretended they were people from a far country and
deceived Joshua. [9:3-6] 5.
The kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, _____________, _________________, and _______________
made a league to fight against Gibeon and Israel [10:3-5} 6. During the battle, the __________________ stood still upon Gibeon and the _______________ in
the valley of Ajalon. [10:12] 7. The ________________, and _______________, and half tribe of _________________
received and inheritance east of the Jordan River. 8. ______________ was given the city of ______________ because he was one of the twelve spies
who had wholly followed God. [14:4.]
Fill in the blanks in the following scriptures: Ruth 1:16 “In treat me not to ________________ thee, or to return form following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will ___________: Thy people shall be my people, and thy _________________ my God.” Joshua 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto ye to serve the ______________ choose you this day whom ye will _______________; whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my __________
we will sever the Lord.” Judges 17:6 “
Everyman did that which was _________________ in his own eyes.” Judges 7:5 “ Every one that lappeth of the water whit his tongue as a ______________ lappeth, him shalt thou set by ________________.” Read the story of Gideon and his 300 valiant soldiers in Judges 7:1-23 and the story of Samson and Delilah in judges 16:4-21. Answer the questions by true or false. ________ 1.
Before he sent home those who were afraid, Gideon had 22,000
men in his army. ________
2. Gideon equipped the
300 who finally went into battle with
a picture and a lam; ________
3. When Gideon and his
men blew their trumpets, the Midianite
so frightened that thy fled and were pursued by the ________
4. The Philistines
selected a woman named Bathsheba to entice
Samson. ________
5. The first time
Delilah tempted him, Samson told her
bound with seven green withes he would ________
6. The secret of
Samson’s strength lay in the fact that he had
eaten green apples. ________
7. When Samson lost
his strength, the Philistines captured him
put out his eyes. Student may write here any comment, question, or request.
Name Grade Address
Date
City, State, Zip By
|
 |
|||
|
3703
North Memorial Parkway Huntsville, Alabama 35810 256-852-3801
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
flood-swollen Jordan River, perhaps
remembering how God had delivered them forty years before as they passed
through the Red Sea.
Judges.