CHAPTER 1

1. Now what took place after the death of Moshe, servant of YHWH, was [that] YHWH spoke to Y'hoshua the son of Nun--the one who waited on Moshe--saying,

   Who waited on Moshe: his assistant, a menial servant, who attends to his master like a butler contributes to what another is doing.  In most transfers of power in the ancient Near East, when someone ascended to the throne, he often treated his predecessors with contempt, often even obliterating their images and records about them.  But instead of saying, “Now I’m in charge and we’re going to do things the right way!”, Y’hoshua describes himself humbly as one who was a small part of what Moshe had been about.  Instead of setting out to build his own legacy, he builds on Moshe’s legacy.  Moshe was the one who put him in this office, and he honors him accordingly.  It is not about himself, or even about Moshe, but about taking Israel home.  He does not even call himself YHWH’s servant; Moshe had that role, and Y’hoshua sees himself only as Moshe’s attendant, although now that Moshe is gone, YHWH does speak directly to Y’hoshua, but he remains humble about this too.  Even when Moshe was said to have been alone, we see Y’hoshua turn out to have been with him after all.  It was as if he was Moshe’s shadow, and was probably nearly the only true friend Moshe had.  When Avraham became YHWH’s friend, the world was changed forever.  And Moshe was another with whom YHWH spoke face to face.  But Y’hoshua was Moshe’s friend.  He was there whenever he was needed.  A true friend on whom one can count to look out for him and watch his back is a treasure indeed.  Yahshua often used “Moshe” as an idiom for the Torah he wrote, so in this we we are the Torah’s attendants as it in turn serves YHWH.  While Y’hoshua does give due honor to his parentage, he calls himself by the name Moshe gave h im rather than the name his father gave him, to emphasize that he himself is not Israel’s salvation, as his original name “Hoshea” would suggest, but that YHWH is the true Savior  (Yeshayahu 43:3) and he is only the agent of YHWH’s salvation—as the one who later bore his name also was.  We must let the Torah define us, too, for it defines what Israel is and what salvation is.  Salvation, for Israel, is not about going to heaven, but, as here, about returning to the Land of our ancestors and being in YHWH’s presence as a people.

2. "Moshe My servant is dead, so get up and cross over this Yarden--you and this whole people--into the Land that I am giving to them (to the sons of Israel).

  

My servant: Only Avraham, Iyov, Kalev, David, and a very few others are

directly called YHWH’s servants.  Only the very faithful merit this title. 

So this is a true compliment from YHWH.  Get up: Stand up with a

purpose, in order to accomplish something and make progress.  “School

is out”, and now it is time to do what we have been training for.  Cross

over: The definition of what it means to be a Hebrew.  This Y’hoshua has

been in the Land before—ahead of the rest—just as Yahshua has gone on

before us into the Kingdom.  But he did not cross the Yarden to get there

the first time; he came up the mountain ridge from the south instead. 

This Yarden: for there will be many crossings-over; this is not the last

thing we will have to get to the other side of.  Yarden means “that which

causes to descend”.  We need to overcome all such things that would rob us of the progress we have made.  So stand up and walk in what we have learned.  But we only get past one at a time; we have to focus on getting over the current one before we can deal with the next. 

3. "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given to you, as I told Moshe.

   Your …to you: plural in both cases.  YHWH chose a man whose feet had already trodden this Land as one of the 12 spies, and although he knew what it was like—its terrain, its people, and their fortifications—he stood up and said, “No problem!  We can take it, because YHWH is on our side!”  Out of several million Israelites, he was one of the only two alive who had ever walked in the Promised Land.  He knows how to operate there, and YHWH therefore found him a useful candidate for the leader at this stage.  The things we develop in ourselves that make us better, even in seemingly-unrelated areas, make us more desirable to YHWH.  He wants the best for His children and friends, so He weighs out not only our skills but our loyalty and commitment.  He chooses those who have been faithful in what they have already put their hands to—not quitters, but those who see things through to their proper conclusion.  YHWH does not give us what we only hope for or dream about, but what we walk out.  This is the test of how badly we want to possess our inheritance.  Do we want the Land?  Then we must go in and take it; He offers us the Kingdom, but if we do not walk into it, we will never have it.  When we take the first step, He will come out to meet us.  The more we walk, the more we receive.  The more merciful we are, the more we will obtain mercy.  The more we allow ourselves to be corrected, the better we will be able to see to correct others.  We should not ask for anything we are not putting our hands—and feet—to.  That way we also “own” it through participation in what He is doing.  Only as we walk into the river will He prove that it was He who called us to step out in faith. 

4. "From the uninhabited land and this Levanon and as far as the great river (the River Ferath), the whole land of the Chittites and as far as the Great Sea of the Sunset will become your territory.

   This Levanon: the term means "whitest".  Prior to the great 6-degree polar shift of 701 B.C.E., the climate at this latitude was cooler than it is today, and there very well might have been a snow cover on the mountains directly across from them.  But that it is called "this" Levanon indicates that there is another. And indeed, we can see a significance on the level of the meanings of all these places: the "uninhabited land" means "place of the word" in Hebrew. Ferath means "fruitful". Chittites means "terrorizers". If we walk out what YHWH has given us from His word, we will become very pure and bear much fruit--and dispossess all terrorists! He will not make us pure by magic, if we are not walking in purity, nor will He make us wiser if we do not use the wisdom He has already given. The Holy Spirit cannot recall to our memory things form YHWH's Word that we never learned.  To this day Israel has not completed this job, for our borders have  never reached to the Euphrates.  The demonized “settlers” in Israel deserve great credit for doing what YHWH said to do.  He said this was their Land; no one else has any say in the matter.  Oppose us and it will come back on you.

5. "Not a man will be able to keep himself standing before you all the days of your life! As I was with Moshe, I will be with you. I will not let you drop nor will I abandon you.

   Could there be any promise that could instill courage more effectively than this? Right away He takes care of two major concerns: “What if someone more powerful than we are opposes us?” and “Will you always be there for us?”  If we go where He tells us, eventually those who oppose us will fall.  They cannot defeat YHWH.  He has our back, being our truest Friend.  No matter what we go through, He will not go anywhere, but will stick with us if we pass this test of confidence in Him—if we let what we say we believe define what we actually step out and face head-on.

6. "Keep your grip strong and [your heart] firm, because you will enable this people to receive as an inheritance the land that I swore to their ancestors that I would give them.

   Because YHWH's grip on us is firm (v. 5), He can ask us to hold on tightly as well. This people: Those already here; do not wait for the next generation and settle for letting this one only make the preparations.  Move before you have time to get soft or lose the vision.  Strike while you still remember Moshe and everything you went through in the wilderness.  Enable: Do not hold them back, but let them go as far as they can go.  Or, cause them to inherit.  Why would this be such a difficult task?  Why does it require such bravery and strength?  Wouldn’t they be eager to inherit?  Yet the terms said they had to work for it, and this they did not desire.  They were used to the manna falling from heaven, but those days are over, and those days may be quickly approaching for us, too, who grew up hearing that everything from YHWH is free.  Why should we have to work for what has been given to us?  Yet even with a gift there are certain expectations of performance in how we will care for what we are given, or it may be taken back from us.  That work also included killing even the youngest of the nations that had reached their limit of sin, and they may not have been so sure they wanted the Land that badly.  They would have plenty of excuses, so Y’hoshua had to be ready to overcome these.  Y’hoshua also needs to let the people do much of the work; he cannot do it all himself.  It is a relief for any leader when those he leads step up and do their part.  It may be easier to do it all oneself than to decide who would do best in which role, but a great leader lets them know what he expects, sets them about it, gets out of the way, and holds them accountable.

7. "Just keep your grip strong and be very determined to be careful to act in accordance with the whole instruction about which My servant Moshe gave you orders. Do not turn from it to the right hand or the left, in order that you may cause [them] to act with insight [and succeed]  in every [place] you go.

Determined: Be stubborn about this; that is, use your Israelite tendency to be stiff-necked for a worthwhile purpose.  Insist on the right things.  If YHWH said it, don’t turn to the right hand or the left in this matter.  Act intelligently: or prosper, have success, act wisely, have insight, walk circumspectly—that is, be aware of every angle on what you are doing and what may be coming at you from any direction.  Even if you are not very smart, do things the way He says to, and those around you will at least think you are wise and understanding. (D’varim 4:6)  Even King Shlomoh got his wisdom simply from reading the Torah and carrying the principles over to analogous situations.  This is a heavenly secret that is right out in the open.  Act like you have some sense, even if you don't. Walk it out, and it will become a part of you; you actually will become smarter!

8. "This legal document of the Torah must not recede from your mouth, but you must muse on it by day and by night, in order that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that it written in it, because then you will advance your march and then you will cause [them] to act prudently.

   From your mouth: Most kosher animals chew the cud, and this is a picture of what He is talking about here: digesting what we can, absorbing what we can understand into our lifestyles, then coming back to the parts we could not comprehend the first time.  With His word in our mouths, there is no room for gossip, useless communication (Eph. 4:29), or the names of pagan deities. (Ex. 23:13)  Muse: think and meditate about, with the additional aspect of speaking about it. Talk to yourself about it; ask yourself, “What does the Torah say?” when you have a decision to make. Go find the answer.  Then speak to others also.  This way it does not just remain in one person’s mind, but inspires others within Israel to act on it as well. Advance your march: or, make progress in your journey, make your way successful, prosperous, or profitable. There are many definitions of prosperity that the Church has claimed, but which are not warranted by Scripture. The kind of progress YHWH promises is Israel spreading out and taking over His Land again. Other kinds of prosperity often stand in the way.

9. "Haven't I [already] given you the order? Keep your grip strong and [your heart] firm! Do not be in dread or lose your composure, because YHWH your Elohim is [the One who goes] with you in every [place] you go."

   The order: Not a suggestion. We need to "take the bull by the horns." It will indeed buck, because the Kingdom is the biggest threat to the power that men currently hold, but He leaves us no excuse to let go. The easiest way for it to impede our progress is to make us comfortable where we are. This was why so few returned from Babylon with Nekhemyah. They were respected and placed in high positions there, so life was much easier than in a land full of the ruins of war. The "other abundant life" is what keeps us from the inheritance YHWH intends for us. It keeps us wrapped up in responsibilities on the Sabbath, or even with morals that tell us to take care of our children before matters of the Kingdom. But YHWH can take better care of them than we can, and His reputation is at stake if He does not, so who will we trust? We need to learn to recognize the traps and not be intimidated by anything but YHWH. Only He is worthy to make our jaws drop.  This is very important to Him, because He does not stop saying it!  YHWH does not like to be around the fear of anything but Himself; He does not want to be the general of a cowardly army.  There is no reason to fear if we are on His side.  He told us He would not leave us, but if we stop trusting Him, He will not fight for us.  He likes to be trusted and to have people He can trust, for trust eradicates fear.  The most fearful people are those who are not trustworthy, because they cannot even trust themselves.  Y’hoshua would have cause to be nervous, with Moshe goine and a people whom he has seen rebel so many times, and YHWH is aware of these legitimate concerns, so He reassures Y’hoshua that He is not going anywhere, and even if he “screws things up”, He will help him find a way to fix the damage.

10. Then Y'hoshua gave orders to the officers of the people, saying,

   YHWH had just given orders to Y’hoshua (1:9), and Y’hoshua did not ask for more time to get acclimated, or for more training, or for a worthy assistant.  He went right to work and began to command the people to do what YHWH had commanded him.  He did not make excuses.  He had enough information to get started: he knew that YHWH was with us and that he should be speaking the Torah to himself. (1:8)  He did not ask for more details.  In fact, more often than not, if you give too much information to those who are working for you, they will apply their own ideas of what you said at first, even though along the way you realize that a different strategy is needed.  He did not ask YHWH “how”, because he realized that one never really knows the answers until he starts doing what he is told.  Enter in, put your hand to it, and most of your questions will be answered, because it will become obvious that it can only work this way, or that that method does not work.  If it is only an academic exercise, and nothing more, you will never get the answers.  The answers lie in getting up and walking.  We learn as we go.  In fact, there are many Hebrew words for “walk”, and the intention and context of that walking is found right in the words, whereas in English we usually only say “walk”.  One word means just traveling from place to place, while another means to walk while carrying a burden, and another denotes just meandering with no particular purpose.  The kind of walking we are after here is the kind where we pay attention to what we can learn, and look for something to pick up and take with us, so that we can apply it to all areas of life.  Bringing Israel as a gathered people back into the Land has never been done before, but Y’hoshua does not let this keep him from starting.  He does not ask if there is a grant available for a five-year study.  “Start to walk” is enough information for him.  Besides, if you know what the end result will be, why enter into the experiment to begin with?  Sometimes we over-think the science and assume we need to have a hypothesis every time.  If YHWH is in the equation, your predictions will usually be wrong anyway.  Do as much as you can with what you have been told already, and more information will come.  Y’hoshua’s first step is to command the officers (that is, the administrators who write detailed records of the proceedings so that it is clear who has what responsibility; they answer for those of whom they keep track, as contrasted with those who merely record history).  This part he already knew, so he did not procrastinate.   In the wilderness he learned from Moshe, who in turn had learned from Yithro, that one must delegate authority or very soon he will be overworked.  So Y’hoshua trained others to put in charge.  We cannot enter the Land without leaders.  No matter how badly we have been “burned” before, Israel cannot travel without order.  YHWH will not tolerate a chaotic mess in His Land.  This fact behooves us to raise up leaders who will be faithful to love the sheep more than wealth.

11. "Pass through the inside of the camp and give orders to the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves because within another three days you are crossing over this Yarden to go in to seize the Land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you to take possession of.'"

   He started by teaching the officers to do what he was doing—to give orders.  YHWH had told him, “Let them inherit the Land”, and Y’hoshua begins by making them responsible.  He does not gather all of the people.  He probably gathers only 70 men—leaders of thousands or even the level above them—and they will give orders to the people under their authority, who in turn will give orders to those under them.  What does he tell them to do?  Prepare provisions.  The word (tzedah) has the root meaning of something lain in wait for—that is, something hunted or trapped, so he is mainly talking about food for the journey, and not the kind that falls from the sky.  Finding their own food is something these people have never had to do before.  They have grown up being given manna, and their parents, who were slaves, were provided with food by the Egyptian taskmasters—the “fleshpots of Egypt” that they had longed for so irrationally.  So while they are in this familiar situation, while the manna is still falling, Y’hoshua tells them to learn to feed themselves before it becomes absolutely necessary, so that when it stops, it will not be as difficult for them.  One of the things it means to enter the Land of Israel is to be able to “pack your own lunch”—to get what we need out of YHWH’s Word, because eventually the manna will stop falling, and we are far past the point where we would go back to Egypt.  There will be times when there is no one else to feed us—situations for which no one’s words except YHWH’s will be able to prepare us.  We will need to interact with the Land itself, set our own attitudes, because Y’hoshua will certainly not be able to cook meals for us every day.  You need to know how to respond to unfamiliar settings.  The best way to prepare is to study as much Torah as you can, because you will never be full; the more you “eat” it, the fuller your plate will become.  If you know the Torah in its context, and how it is practiced (because you practice it), you have a bag full of food.  There is always something in it that applies to every part of life, not just the “spiritual” areas, because Torah is not about religion; it is a covenant that is for every day.  We use what we learn from it in our work, our legal dealings, even our haggling over prices.  Study how the wise people like Avraham and Shlomoh did things.  Store it up, so that you will always have something to “eat”, and so that you can feed others with the same thing that you just “ate”.  How miraculous!  This is a new level of responsibility.  Will we starve without the manna, because we expect someone else to feed us, or will we be able to hunt and capture what we will need down the road?  Start with what you already know and can already apply right now.  Take inventory of what you can do and what you have learned, and use that, and in the process you will increase your readiness even more.  Remember what the five virgins who had prepared enough oil said to those who had not: “Go buy your own!” (Mat. 25:1ff)  Being unprepared, they missed the appointment with the Bridegroom.

12. Then Y'hoshua spoke to the Re'uvenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Menashe, saying,

13. "Remember the matter about which Moshe, the servant of YHWH, gave you orders, saying, 'YHWH your Elohim is letting you settle down, and has granted you this land.

14. "'Your wives, your toddlers, and your livestock may remain on the land that Moshe granted you across the Yarden, but you must cross over armed in front of your brothers--all the brave men of the army--and you must help them

   Armed: literally, by fives. This is apparently the order in which they were arranged to be ready for battle. Mystically, it is obvious that the way to be armed is to know the five books of Moshe inside and out.

15. "'until YHWH has given rest to your brothers as [He has] to you, and they too have taken possession of the Land that YHWH your Elohim is assigning to them. Then you may come back to the land you have taken possession of, and occupy it, as Moshe the servant of YHWH permitted you on the other side of the Yarden, where the sun rises."

16. And they answered Y'hoshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us, we will do, and we will go anywhere you may send us.

17. "In anything about which we listened to Moshe, we will listen to you in the same way; only may YHWH your Elohim be with you just as He has been with Moshe.

   Like the Bereans (Acts 17), though they were eager, they only promised to be loyal to Y'hoshua as long as YHWH was with him--that is, as long as he remained loyal to YHWH. The moment it became about Y'hoshua, they would not be there for him, because Moshe was not about Moshe but about YHWH. And finally, they echo what YHWH has already told Y'hoshua three times:

18. "Any man who resists your mouth and will not listen to your words, for all that you may command him, may be killed. Just keep your grip strong and [your heart] firm!"

CHAPTER 2

1. So Y'hoshua the son of Nun [began by] quietly sending two men on foot from the Acacias, saying, "Go, observe the Land [by way of] Y'rikho." So they went and entered the house of a woman--a prostitute--and her name was Rahav. And they lodged there.

   The Acacias: They had been in this place before (Num. 25:1), and had ended up being persuaded to worship Moavite elohim. The acacia is a tree largely made up of thorny twigs rather than something lumber can be obtained from.  Yet the Ark of the Covenant, the Table of the Bread of the Faces, and the understructure of the brazen altar were all made of this wood.  It would necessitate fitting together many carefully-planed pieces—a picture of Israel in unity.  Alone, the pieces are nearly useless, together they performed an awesome function. The last time Israel was here, many chose to act as individuals, but this time they remained in unity. Observe: LXX, spy out.  He is acting on what he saw Moshe do, but also learning from the mistakes made while Moshe was leader.  Even the people had told him to be strong and courageous (1:18), but still he had learned his lesson.  He sent only two, because only two of the twelve sent 38 years earlier (of which Y’hoshua himself was one) had given a favorable report, after there had been much publicity among the nation about their mission, causing mass hysteria when the other 10 gave their opinion.  He sent them quietly (or secretly) rather than publicly, not so much so that the enemies would not be as alert to their approach, as that Israel would not begin to fear because they thought Y’hoshua needed extra reassurance about the condition of the Land. These were his spies, not the people’s.  They reported directly to him.  He undoubtedly chose men whom he trusted—possibly Kalev’s sons—and who were not inclined to panic.  This was a reconnaissance mission in order to know the best means to defeat the city, not to decide whether or not to do so.  Why did they go by way of Y’rikho?  It was already a very ancient city and very influential—an excellent place to gather intelligence about what the people of the Land trusted in and what they feared.  If they knew these two things, they could conquer the people.  It is an oasis town about four miles west of the Yarden River, and less than two miles east of the edge of the Great Rift Valley.  Rahav means “broad”, hence the colloquial term for a prostitute, related also to the type of wall in which she had her home, termed a Broad Wall.  Lay down: often a euphemism for sexual relations. (Gen. 39:11, Ex. 22:16, et al)  Because prostitution often took place in the context of pagan religious worship, this would help answer their first question.  As in virtually every spy’s autobiography, this is also probably the best place to hear the gossip that would help them gauge the city’s readiness for war.  This is where all secrets spill out—and maybe why they are called “under cover agents”!  Since pagan temples were often placed near the city gate since the deity was thought to protect the city, she would be in a place where everyone passed through, and information would be readily available here.  In any case, it turned out to be an appointment from YHWH. 

2. And the king of Y'rikho was told, "Look here! Men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the Land!"

   Undoubtedly many of the peoples in this region had been watching this spectacle of a several-million strong war camp surrounding the Tabernacle from their hilltop watch-posts.  They would be watching for anyone out of the ordinary, and even the smallest clue that Israelites were in the city would be noticed.  Did the prostitutes in Rahav’s house notice their circumcision?

3. So the king of Y'rikho sent [word] to Rahav to say, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house! They have come to search out the whole Land!"

4. Now the woman had taken the two men and hidden them away. And she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had originated from.

5. "When the gate began to be shut at dark, the men went out. I don't know where the men have gone. Quickly, chase after them, because you can catch up with them!"

   If the FBI got word that you had a terrorist in your home, they would not ask you to bring them in; they would break down your door in a surprise “visit”.  But this king did not send a sheriff or soldiers to storm the house—only a request to release the men.  Rahav must have had some clout in this city—probably because she was a part of the religious establishment, and someone with whom the king himself had interacted often, for him to trust her to produce the men.  Her lie goes against modern morals, but Yaaqov (James 2:25) commends her for both her faith and the works that evidenced it. A pagan, lying prostitute was found worthy to be an ancestress of both King David and the Messiah! (Mat. 1:5)  This may be one reason Yahshua saw more potential in prostitutes than most others did.  Habitual liars will not inherit the Kingdom, because truthfulness is a characteristic of Israel, but one who lies in season—when innocent lives are at stake (especially Israelite lives, as in the Holocaust)—is not a liar.  She was not bearing false witness in court against her neighbors, and even the Renewed Covenant only commands us not to lie to one another—that is, among fellow Israelites (Colossians 3:9, nearly an exact quote of Lev. 19:11).  How much more benefit could we bring from telling the truth in season!

6. (Now she had had them go up on the roof, and had concealed them with flax--the stalks that were arranged in order for herself on the roof.)

   Flax is used to spin thread to make linen.  Stalks: Aramaic, loads, as if they had been delivered in bundles. The Hebrew term actually means “trees”, and it may be a reference to bolts of linen.  A house of prostitution would be expected to need a constant supply of clean sheets.  Or she may have had another business on the side.

7. So the men chased after them in the direction of the Yarden around the fords, and they shut the gate afterwards, when the pursuers hade gone out after them.

8. Now [as for] them: before they lay down, she had come up to them on the roof,

9. and she had said to the men, "I have recognized that YHWH has given you the Land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the Land have gone soft because of your presence

   YHWH’s fame had preceded them. It is clear that Israel was using His actual name and not a substitute when the Kanaanite spies overheard them speaking about Him!  Gone soft: fainted or dissolved. They “had no fight left in them”. They recognized that they were beaten before Israel even lifted a finger. The easiest enemy in the world to defeat is a worried, fearful one, for it is as if they have already started draining their own blood before the battle.  This fear on the part of our enemies brought joy to the spies’ hearts.

10. "because we have heard how YHWH dried up the water of the Reed Sea from in front of you as you were leaving Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Emorites who [were] across the Yarden--to Sikhon and to Og--how you devoted them to destruction.

   Devoted them to destruction: i.e., took no spoils. This would tell the people of the Land that it was for the purpose of justice and not plunder or expansionism that this people was on the move, and they knew they deserved the same, because four generations earlier, YHWH had emplaced Avraham there--not to mention Melkhitzedeq--to teach them the right way, and the Emorites in particular had allowed their "cup" of sins to fill up instead. (Gen. 15:16)

11. "When we heard, our courage melted away, and spirit has not risen up again in [any] man because of your presence, because YHWH your Elohim--He is Elohim in the heavens above and the earth below!

   Courage: literally, heart (singular).  Spirit: or vigor, breath; i.e., they were “breathless”!  When Israel is gathered in YHWH’s presence, it is obvious to everyone else that they cannot stand against it.  We must be thankful to Moshe for persuading YHWH to let Israel remain, and for foreseeing that His care for Israel could make its enemies so fearful.

12. "So now, please swear to me by YHWH that, since I have acted mercifully toward you, you will deal mercifully with my father's household, and give me a token of reliability,

13. "and let my father and my mother, my brothers and my sisters live, along with all that is theirs, and that you will cause our souls to be recovered from death!"

   Recovered: snatched away, as if being plucked out of a fire already set.

14. So the men told her, "Our soul in exchange for yours, to death! If you do not report this matter of ours, then it will be [the case that] when YHWH gives us the Land, we will deal with you in mercy and truthfulness."

   If YHWH had already said that everyone in Kanaan was to be put under the ban (dedicated to destruction), how could they agree to let her remain alive in the Land?  The only way she could be spared was if she became part of Israel.  What did Yaaqov (James) mean when he said Rahav was justified by her works?  When she said, “I see that YHWH is the Maker of heavens and earth and He is the one I need to spare me,” she had made a covenant to become part of Israel.    She already believed that He was Elohim, but she still had to do something to be “saved”—which for her was a very tangible, physical thing (to be rescued from the Israelite army).  It was not about living forever; it was about living tomorrow!  What she did not do was to go out on the streets and tell everyone in Y’rikho that YHWH is the Creator, trying to convert the Kanaanites.  Nor did she try to make Y’rikho the “new Israel” and say that they would now receive all the promises—as some people have done.  She did not try to rewrite the Torah or move the promises of YHWH.  (No one can co-opt them; the prophets say that even in the latter days, it is Israel that will be raised back up, not a cheap substitute.)  Instead, Rahav recognized that there was already a people of promise who worshipped YHWH, and decided that she wanted to become a part of that.  Anyone can become part of the covenant if they, as she did, commit to taking care of those who take care of her—in short, to loving her neighbor as herself. At her convcersion, there was no ceremony.  No blood was drawn (though her father was probably later circumcised).  There was no long process of indoctrination after which she would be considered a candidate.  It was much simpler—but not easy, because now the one named “broad” had to become very narrow in what she allowed herself to say.  She could not openbly sing, “Salvation has come!”  She had to turn her back on all those she had grown up with, and look toward her new family.  What justified her was that she protected other Israelites.  Like many who helped during the Holocaust, she was considered a righteous Gentile, and in a very real way part of Israel’s own.   She has recognized who YHWH is and that Israel is blessed by Him (v. 11), and has sided with Israel even against her own people. The fact that Israel was acting in unity (see note on v. 1) earned them allies even within the walled cities of the enemy!  Even a prostitute who bears witness to YHWH was worthy of their consideration as a recipient for the glad news of the Kingdom.  (See Mat. 10:11)

15. Then she let them down with a rope through the window, because her house was in the dug-out part of the wall; that is, she lived on the wall.

   It may have been common to lower garbage in baskets from the wall by night, and not attracted any attention. Paul's disciples used the same method with him. (Acts 9:23-25)

16. And she told them, "Go onto the mountain [range] to avoid having the pursuers meet up with you, and stay hidden there three days until the pursuers return; then you can go your way."

   The mountain [range]: scarcely two miles west of Y’rikho (see

photo)is the front range of the plateau from which the Great Rift

Valley split off and sank during the S’dom and Ghamorah catastrophe. 

At this point it is relatively easy to ascend, and is in the opposite

direction from the fords to which she sent the pursuers.  It would be

easy to look down from the mountain and see the search party return

to Y’rikho, their cue that it was safe to come out of hiding.

17. And the men told her, "We will be exempt from [obligation to]

this oath of yours which you have had us swear.

18. "Look! We are coming into the Land! You must tie this collection of scarlet thread into the window by which you let us down, and gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and all of your father's household to yourself in the house,

   There has to be a sign of redemption on her house, red like the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts in Egypt.  Collection: tiqvah, the same as the word for “hope” in Hebrew, and the name of Israel’s national anthem. In Hebrew, “hope” does not mean a mere wish, which would be nice if it were true, but whose outcome is in doubt; rather, it means a confident expectation of attainment.  As a three-fold cord is not easily broken (Qoheleth/ Eccles.4:12), our hope is made up of many threads bound together.  It was not a tiny individual thread, but a strong rope that one could expect to hold a ship to its moorings in a storm; it had to be something Israel could see when they arrived at the city. Our hope for the salvation of the nation is not only in Yeshua and YHWH, but also in one another. There have to be enough of us bound together to be noticeable, or YHWH may be released from the oath He made to us.  There is a story about Yehudah, the ancestor of the tribe she joined, which has many of the same components—a harlot, a righteous act, an oath, mercy that allowed her to live, a cord that identified the owner’s house, and a scarlet thread that identified a brother. (Gen. 38:24ff)  From this family came the line of David. (Ruth 4) 

19. "and if anyone should go abroad outside the doors of your house, his blood is on his own head, and we [will be held] innocent, but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood is on our head if a hand comes upon him.

   The spies took responsibility to ensure that no one else in Israel would kill those in this house.  But as on the night of the Passover, they had to remain in the house that was now attached to Israel (a parallel with our return to being part of the House of Israel), not out on their own.  If they went back to being part of the people of Kanaan, they would be killed along with them. 

20. "But if you report this matter of ours, then we will be exempt from the oath that you have made us swear."

21. And she said, "According to your words, so it [will be]." And she sent them off, and they left, and she tied the collection of scarlet in the window.

   She did not wait until the last minute to obey their condition, but moved on it right away, though she might have run the risk of someone asking what this cord was for, and exposing the fact that she had lied to the king. But she identified with Israel, and was true to who she now was even if her countrymen said she could not.

22. And they walked, and arrived at the mountain-range and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had searched along the whole road, but had not found them.

23. So both of the men turned back and came down from the mountain-range, and crossed over and came to Y'hoshua the son of Nun and recounted to Y'hoshua the son of Nun everything that had befallen them.

24. And they told Y'hoshua, "…because YHWH has given the whole Land into our hands, and all the inhabitants of the Land have even gone soft because of our presence!"

   The whole land: based on what the king ‘s messengers told Rahav, they deduced that the rest of the Kanaanites were just as fearful as those who inhabited Y’rikho.  They began to repair the error of the previous generation by giving a unanimously-favorable report.  Their expectation of living in the Land was not a cord frayed by the careless words of fear spoken by the faint-hearted, but a strong cord in the window that welcomes the family home.  If you are bound instead to strangers or any covering that is not part of the Torah, untie the knot and be attached to the house that expects victory. 

CHAPTER 3

1. And Y'hoshua had them rise early [in the morning] and set out from the Acacias, and they came as far as the Yarden--he and all the descendants of Israel--and they lodged there before crossing over.

   Rise early: Following in the pattern of Avraham (Gen. 19:27; 21:14; 22:3), Yitzhaq (Gen. 26:31), Yaaqov (Gen. 28:18), and Moshe (Ex. 8:20; 24:4), Y’hoshua rose early—and this seems to imply even earlier than he usually rose--to do YHWH’s business.  Elqanah and Hannah (1 Shmu’el 1:19) and David (1 Shmu’el 17:20) would do the same later.  Even YHWH said that He Himself rose early to warn Yehudah not to make the same mistakes as the Northern Kingdom had. (Yirmeyahu 7:12ff)  When Y’hoshua heard the report from the spies and knew YHWH had “opened the gates” for him, he knew the time to act was now, and he decided to get it done as soon as possible—as soon as there was enough daylight to see what he needed to do.  Putting off this difficult task would only give him more time to seat and worry about what could go wrong.  When he had gone to the Land the first time, there was time for the other spies to spread fear and panic, so Y’hoshua did not allow any room for that this time.  The hard things in life only get harder, at least in our minds, if we procrastinate.  But the term for rising early is actually based on the word for “shoulder”, and even in English we have a similar idiom: to “shoulder a burden” or “shoulder responsibility”. The overall idea is to face something right away, before it has time to grow and become bigger than we can handle.  Prioritizing the most important things was absolutely essential for someone who had hundreds of thousands of people to lead.  Sometimes it is difficult to decide what is most crucial, but simply the fact that you have committed to doing something makes it a priority, because your trustworthiness and honor are on the line.   It is wise also to tackle the hardest things first; David did this when he faced Goliath immediately,

and because he did, the battle was won when

only one soldier was killed.  His lack of hesitancy put strength in

the hearts of a whole army that had lost its courage, because someone

was mocking YHWH and no one was defending His Name.  Also, if we do

not get to work immediately on the things we know we have to do,

we could miss many beneficial doors that open up to us,

simply because we have no time left for them.   Even when it was something

difficult YHWH asked of him, he took up the weight of the day in the

morning, when his mind was freshly rested and working at its best.  Studies

have shown that sleep before midnight is much more productive than sleep

later in the night, so, to paraphrase Ben Franklin, the earlier we start our rest, the more effective we will be in the morning, and the earlier we will be able to get to work.  It is not the ancient way to be “night people”; Hebrews are people of the day! Y’hoshua did not wait until the day was halfway gone or take care of other interests of his own first. That would be a form of idolatry. He got to YHWH’s work as quickly as he could, with eagerness and commitment. Yahshua also warned us to take up the burden of only one day at a time. (Mat. 6:34)  Worrying about tomorrow is a pagan act, because is it another form of worshipping that which is really nothing, like an idol.  We wait until this day to bear this day’s burden.  Starting the day in prayer and YHWH’s word can help us focus properly on His priorities.  As the last place they camped before their staging-point, “the Acacias” symbolizes a place of preparation to enter the Land.  Meaning “sticks” (because it is a tree made up mainly of small twigs), its name implies that it is a place where we recognize that we are the “sticks” (Y’hezq’el 37:15-28) that form the whole House of Israel—that it is made up of many, and it is not just about oneself.  They had been here a very long time—possibly even years.  For the youngest of them, it might have been the only home they had known.  Others might have been married here, so they would have had emotional attachment to this camp.  They had probably adapted to the topography and decorated the place to make it a home. (Num. 25-32 and the whole book of Deuteronomy took place here.) But only when we reach the Land of Promise should we be satisfied enough to truly rest.  Here at the Acacias, those who made up the army of Israel had been counted.  Here Pin’khas had established justice in Israel after we had committed harlotry with the elohim of Moav because of Bilaam’s counsel.  Here Moshe had proclaimed Y’hoshua’s authority, established the offerings and the laws about vows, confirmed YHWH’s covenant, defeated Midyan, the people of strife.  These are the things we must again accomplish before we can leave the place of our preparation to enter the Land again.  But now, leaving here was Y’hoshua’s priority.  This is the way of the Hebrew: whenever we are accustomed to a place, it is usually time to move on.  The place had served its purpose, and was to be left behind for something better. His covenant does not change—it is carved in stone—but the place of walking it out moves often. Though we might have fought tooth and nail to establish the progress we made at this place, if we stayed when YHWH’s presence moved on, it would become just another dry, dusty museum of a denomination.  They did not get very far before they stopped one more time—but the key to this is that it was at the Yarden, which means “going down”.  “Hebrew” means “one that crosses over”, and rivers always flow at the lowest place.  This means that the lowest places are where the most water is.  There will be low points before we cross over—challenges and tests to make sure we are strong enough for what lies ahead of us.  Are we committed enough to shoulder the burden of what awaits us on the other side?  Will what you now believe really stand the tests?  But just beyond the negative situations is our Home.  This was such a significant moment that they could not rush into it.  They were not merely preparing for a battle, as momentous as that would be. They were entering holy ground, and many of the commands YHWH had given (which began with “When you have come into the Land which YHWH will give you…” ) would now begin to be applicable and binding on them.  They were now responsible to higher standards, and there would be less grace.  They needed to pause to reflect on the implications of this, recognize what they were getting into, and be sure they were ready.  But if they had not gotten up early, they would not have even gotten this far. 

2. Then when they had reached the end of three days, the recording officials passed through the middle of the camp,

   The concept of three days has great significance over and over in Scripture.  Three days is the time Yonah was in the belly of the fish and that Yahshua was in the heart of the earth. It is thus symbolic of the need to die to self before we can move on into a higher degree of YHWH's presence. They also had an appointment about which they did not know, and had to wait for the right time even to cross the river.

3. and gave the people orders, saying, "As you see the ark of the covenant of YHWH your Elohim and the cohanim of the Levites carrying it, then pull up stakes from your place and walk behind it.

   We know they also blew trumpets and shofars, but here all that is said is that when we see the ark move, it is time for us to move.  Only the covenant can lead us home.  In Christianity and even some of Judaism, the covenant is about getting to heaven, but D’varim 30:12 tells us specifically that the covenant is NOT in heaven!  Many have changed the covenant; no wonder people do not understand it.  They think we do not need to rise up because “Jesus” has already risen for us.  How completely opposite the covenant, which emphasizes that we must take responsibility.  It is a corrupted covenant full of religion, with a taste of paganism and most of it just Disneyland nonsense.  YHWH’s covenant, in contrast, makes sense.  Follow it, and you will end up in the right place.  It will get us across and out of the low places.  They had to travel light to be ready to break camp so quickly.  We will be shaken up when His presence moves, because this is not yet our resting-place. The covenant does not change, but it moves.  But the journey will be anything but boring as the scenery keeps changing, though the path is the same.  If you are wondering where to go, look for where the covenant has people on the move.  But if the ark has not moved, we should not allow our fears or desires or other emotions to drag us in any direction.  All Israel must set out together, remaining in His presence, rather than traveling as individuals who are merely seeking His “presents”.  There is a protective clause here: If the Levitical priests are not the ones carrying the covenant, it has been hijacked.  Do not follow that.  It must be upheld and supported not by just any priests; if they are pedophile Catholic priests, it is not your covenant.  If it does not uphold the Levites, but says there is now a better covenant, stay clear of that also.

4. "However, there must be a distance between you and it--about two thousand cubits by the measurement; you must not come any closer to it, in order that you may be familiar with the direction in which you are to walk, because you have not passed this way before."

   The reason to keep our distance is not because it will shoot out gamma rays and kill us, but because we must not be right on top of it, or we will not be able to see where it is going.  Do not be foolish enough to assume you know where you are going.  Many will be surprised when they find out that the end of the journey is not heaven!  Listen to what the covenant is really saying, rather than “trying to finish its sentences”.  Keep checking whether what you think you know is still valid.  While YHWH tells us where the path begins and ends, He does not tell us every step of the way until we get to it.  If we knew, we would probably try to find a shortcut.  The covenant is not going to go the same way every time; if you think you know which path it will take, you will undoubtedly miss a turn and end up walking alone.  Y’hoshua did not tell the people that he had sent spies, because if they had given a public report, the people would probably have followed them instead of the priests, who, unlike them, had not been to the Land yet.  Or they might ask if there isn’t a less costly way.  But the priests are where the provision is.  They were established as the example for all Israel, and as teachers of the Torah.  Two thousand cubits is about 3,000 feet or close to one kilometer.  The only other place in Scripture that this measurement appears is the distance from the center of a Levitical city to the end of the first zone outside the city within which their animals were kept, but stopping short of where their crops grew. (Num. 35:1-5)  The tradition of a “Sabbath Day’s journey” (alluded to in the Renewed Covenant but not directly defined anywhere in Scripture) was based on this, for since their animals also rested on the Sabbath, they could go that far from the city for bodily necessities, but not as far as the place that would get their minds back on their daily work.  When YHWH appears to be leading, it may be a test.  We must not implement our interpretations of Scripture too quickly, but wait at least until the next Sabbath, where they can be presented to gathered Israel and our own blind spots tested against the pooled wisdom of others who know the Torah. The burdens you are thinking of bearing may only be something you yourself dreamed up. There are angles that you have not considered that someone else has.  There is wisdom in much counsel. We have not passed this way before.  So we must not be hasty, but watch closely. When you think you need to turn right or left, let it rest for a Sabbath and see if it is really the covenant that is leading us and that it is really heading in a certain direction, not just sidestepping an obstacle first. 

5. Then Y'hoshua told the people, "Keep yourselves set apart, because tomorrow YHWH will do extraordinary things among you!"

   Keep…set apart: In what way?  The Aramaic targum says, “Prepare yourselves”, and this seems appropriate, because it is not the kind of preparation needed at Mt. Sinai, where the men had to remain separate from their wives for three days.  The three days was taken care of above (v. 2), but rather it is related to YHWH doing wonders and being in our midst.  It is part of the preparation for this.  He does not tell them that YHWH will set them apart.  He has already appointed us to be a set-apart people, but it is up to each person to make sure he is set apart, so that we as a whole people can walk in the Torah.  If we remain in our other pursuits, it will not actually be true of us, just as someone appointed to a government post could not claim that as his title if he did not leave his other employer, move to the seat of his office, and start doing that job.  Israel thus has a huge part to play in the miracles YHWH does.  Our part is to look at the other side of the Yarden as our home now.  We start by looking at ourselves differently—as a people who are set apart.  We must do the mental preparation because we have to see ourselves in a certain way to be able to deal with whatever is to take place.  They have been away from the Acacias (Shittim) for three days, so they are somewhat accustomed to being away from where they had lived for so long.  But they are not going back there; this is not just a camping trip.  It is a permanent move.  They will soon be part of a new place with new approaches to life. Everything will be different.  They have until tomorrow to get used to that idea—not longer, so that they will not have time to get cold feet or raise “What if” questions that will make other people worry.  They will not miraculously lose all attachment to their old homes or associations; they have to deal with whatever might want to keep us from crossing over.  If they are not ready when it is time to walk across, they will be left to their own devices to get across, and they and their possessions will get soaked, and their children and livestock might drown.  It seems rather sudden, but they have, after all, known since their childhood that they belong on the other side.  We might have been Sunday keepers, but have seen from YHWH’s word that His Sabbath is the seventh day, and at some point He makes it clear that it is now or never.  When the water recedes, we must enter in, or forget it.  If we try to make the transition gradually, we usually never get there.  It is usually trouble that moves Israel—like when Pharaoh drove us out of Egypt.  When YHWH takes Israel Home again, will it be this quick?  There may be no time to sell our houses, or bury our fathers and mothers.  We must see ourselves as separate from whoever and whatever we are attached to now.  We must begin to “see” ourselves in the Land, and we will end up there if we also start walking in that direction.  Set yourself apart, and YHWH will work if we give Him room.  Do not let doubt or fear have any place, because these repel YHWH.  He has already made the first move by instructing us to get ready, and now the ball is in our court.   Not that He needs our energy to accomplish anything, but if we are not doing anything to show that we really believe we belong on the other side, why should He do anything to get us there?  If we told our children, “Get packed and get in the car; we’re going to Disney World!” and they went and played their favorite game instead, they would end up staying home, because we are not the ones interested in going there.  We are so used to seeing YHWH as Santa Claus that we do not recognize that He takes it personally if we have to check our schedules and try to fit Him in when He wants to give us a great treasure.  

6. And Y'hoshua spoke to the cohanim, saying, "Pick up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people." So they picked up the ark of the covenant and walked ahead of the people.

7. Then YHWH said to Y'hoshua, "This day I will make a breakthrough in causing you to be great in the eyes of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I was with Moshe, I will be with you.

   A breakthrough: Though the preparation Y’hoshua received as Moshe’s apprentice, and the authority conferred openly on him by Moshe, should have been enough to establish his role as unquestioned leader, YHWH knew that most of this generation needed a more spectacular sign, so in His mercy He would give them one that would make Y’hoshua an “instant celebrity” in their eyes. This would also curb anyone’s jealousy of his position before it had time to fester. This, more than the need to get the people across a rushing river, was the stated purpose for the miracle He was about to perform.  But YHWH gave Y’hoshua none of this reassurance until Y’hoshua took the risk of saying, “We’re going ahead with this” and gave the order to move.  All of Y’hoshua’s fruit gave honor to his teacher Moshe, but YHWH’s response of greater support is the fruit of his being brave enough to enter in and set this in motion.  What YHWH makes of us is depends directly on what we are doing.

8. "And you must give orders to the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you arrive at the edge of the waters of the Yarden, you must stand still in the Yarden.'"

   The constituted ruler of Israel has authority over the priesthood. (2 Kings 22:3-5)  Still, to command them must have made Y’hoshua pretty nervous.  And going into the water would seem stranger still, when they were carrying the central furnishing of YHWH’s sanctuary.  So YHWH reassures him by providing specific instruction.

9. So Y'hoshua said to the descendants of Israel, "Come close and listen to the words of YHWH your Elohim!"

   If we do not draw near to YHWH, we may think we heard Him say something different from what He actually said.  But recognize the magnitude of Y’hoshua’s bravery here: he is saying. “What I am about to say are the words of the Creator of the universe”!  Most people who say such things probably believe they are right, but a tree is known by its fruit.  It has to line up with the words of the faithful ones who came before us.

10. Then Y'hoshua said, "By this you will recognize that the living El is in your midst, and [know that] He will certainly cause the Kanaanites, the Chittites, the Chiwites, the Prizzites, the Girgashites, the Emorites, and the Y'vusites to be dispossessed before you:

11. "Watch! The ark of the covenant of the Master of the whole earth is passing on ahead of you into the Yarden.

   The people had asked Y’hoshua to be sure YHWH was with him (1:17), so this would be their evidence.  He does not understate anything, but becomes braver still, saying, “This is how you can test whether what I am saying is true.  If it is true, this is what you will experience.  But if I am right, then I am the one in charge.”

12. "So now, fetch for yourselves twelve men out of the tribes of Israel--one man per tribe.

   If they are to have a miracle in their midst, they have the responsibility to put their own necks on the line too. They have to prove they stand with Y’hoshua by sending a representative to participate.  If they want their share, no one can sit on the sidelines and merely watch.  They must stand behind him and uphold the proceedings.  Do everyone a favor if you are not fully committed, and do not pretend to be in when you are not.  It sends the wrong message—that you will be there when you are needed.  If you will not, do not break people’s hearts by appearing attached and then disappointing them.

13. "And when the soles of the feet of the cohanim who are carrying the ark of YHWH, the Master of the whole earth, come to rest in the waters of the Yarden, the waters of the Yarden will be cut off from the waters coming down from up[stream], and they will stand still as a single heap.

   Coming down: related to the word Yarden.

14. And as it turned out, when the people set out from their tents to cross the Yarden, the cohanim [were] carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of the people,

15. and as those who were carrying the ark arrived at the Yarden, and the feet of the cohanim who were carrying the ark were plunged into the edge of the water (and the Yarden was full, over[flowing] both its banks the whole period of the harvest),

   As this was not long before Passover, this may have been just after the rainy season of the late winter.  YHWH set them up for an even greater miracle by bringing them at the time when crossing the river looked even less possible than usual. Today the Yarden is a very small river, but at that time the climate was much wetter, and the river has shifted its course with every earthquake, being directly over a fault line.  Infrared satellite photos show that its course has been much different and the river much wider in times past.  At this time there were probably rapids.

16. the waters of the Yarden [coming] from up[stream] stood still; they rose up in a single heap far in the distance above Adam, the city that is beside Tzarthan, and those [waters] going down into the sea of the Aravah (the Salt Sea) stopped, being blocked off, and the people crossed over opposite Y'rikho.

   Historian Henry Howling notes that in 1927, an earthquake at Adam caused a landslide that blocked the Yarden’s flow for 21 hours, so the same things may have occurred at this time.  The miracle was in the timing—and they had to act while there was this narrow window to get through.  Tzarthan means “their distress”. Someone had to step into the unsafe situation first, so those who were expected to be closest to YHWH took the lead.  If we do not risk moving into what we fear, we will spend our whole lives waiting on the shore, because it will never look safe.  The object of our faith is never proven if we stay in the easy places.  YHWH does not begin to provide until we begin to do what we know we cannot do without Him.  Though they had the promise of crossing on dry land, at least two of the priests had to get their feet wet.  But the right response would not be to complain that everyone else had it easy and they had to pay a greater price.  It is not a reason to whine, but a privilege.  They had to have greater faith, but they did, and this brought well-deserved honor.  Nothing changed at all until they stepped into the water.  There is no safety until we obediently enter an unsafe situation. There is no help unless we walk into a place where there appears to be no help.  When we enter into what looks hopeless, their turns out to be hope, if we are doing it for the sake of obedience.  There is a way where there was no way, once someone invests himself in it.  Where it says YHWH will work wonders “among you” in verse 5 above, it is not the usual Hebrew word for being in our midst; it more literally says, “In your drawing near”—i.e., when you approach or come close, He will do miracles.  For too long we have believed that if we invited YHWH into our situation, He would come and bring us comfort.  We cannot expect Him to join us in our self-pity; instead, we have to find out where He is standing, then leave our situation and move into His.  Get into His seasons and His timing, and watch the water divide.  Return to Him and He will return to you.  Do we want to see Him work in our generation?  Then we have to get involved in what He is already planning and doing, even if we do not have the resources.  When we move to where He wants us to be, and make what is important to Him our priority too, He will move as well.

17. While the priests who [were] carrying the ark of the covenant of YHWH remained standing firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Yarden, all Israel crossed over on dry ground until the whole nation had completely crossed the Yarden.

   It was not damp, wobbly ground, but dry and firm.  This was the Reed Sea again for this generation.  Because they have committed to being on the other side whatever it might take, they could share in the same excitement as in Moshe’s day.  There were a few million people lined up here.  No one could come closer to crossing until the person in front of him took a step.  But each step he then took allowed the person behind him to move closer.  Others are depending on us to take steps in the right direction.  As we approach, we make a way for others to take the same step.  If we follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before us, we can be sure we are on the right path.  Once on the other side, they were now more vulnerable, were it not for YHWH’s presence.  But the people of Y’rikho were already undermining the stability of their own walls as they trembled in fear of this huge multitude whom they undoubtedly saw from their wall!

CHAPTER 4

1.  Now what took place when the whole nation had finished crossing over the Yarden [was] that YHWH spoke to Y’hoshua, saying,

  Notice that YHWH did not give Y’hoshua any further instruction until all the people had crossed over completely—until he had accomplished all that He had already given him.  In many cases YHWH chose people to represent a tribe or even the whole nation, but some things have to be done by everyone involved.  Experiencing them is much more meaningful than merely hearing about them, and in this case, Y’hoshua could not cross over on their behalf.  Some commitments have to be made by all of us so that we can all end up in the same place.  If they did not move forward together, they simply would not be on the other side of the river.  It is not acceptable for only some of us to make progress.  We cannot do like the church and expect the pastor to make all the progress, and fire him if he does not.  That is not how Israel works.  Here, everyone needs to come all the way into the covenant.  We all depend on each person continuing to walk.  Until we are all on the same page and doing what we need to do, we will not be given the next step.  Many books are sold and conferences held concerning end-time prophecy, because people have an insatiable desire to know what is coming.  But even if someone got every point of prophecy correct, when we get to the events they foretell, we would still need instruction on how to walk through them, and that is not found in the prophets.  They are there to motivate us with the hope and confidence that YHWH will come through for us no matter how strong our enemies are, but they only tell us what YHWH is going to do.  But He never does all of the work without giving us some responsibility in the accomplishment, and our part is found in the Torah, so that is where we must focus.  No one was magically transported across the Yarden.  When Israel was obedient, YHWH stopped the water, and the obstacle was right back in place when they were finished, so if anyone was late getting there, he had to swim across.

2.  “Pick for yourselves twelve men from the people—one man out of each tribe--

3.  “and give them orders, saying, ‘Pick up twelve stones for yourselves from this [site]—from within the middle of the Yarden, from where the priests’ feet stood firm—and bring them across with you and set them down in the lodging-place where you spend the night.’”

   Now we see YHWH using representatives, because for everyone to carry a stone would have been too much for this purpose.  The tribes had previously chosen these men, and now Y’hoshua approved them and put them to work. 

4. So Y'hoshua called the twelve men of the sons of Israel whom he had prepared--a man out of each tribe--

   Had prepared: Y'hoshua had been walking directly in Moshe's footsteps for nearly 40 years, so his steps had been established by the Torah. He had seen the pattern by which YHWH works, so he had anticipated that these men would be needed before YHWH said anything about them. (3:12) Even if YHWH had never said He needed them, it was better for Y'hoshua to be prepared than preoccupied with his own matters and not ready if they were needed. He knew there was a "house" to build, so he counted the cost in advance, taking inventory. As we see today, one tribe alone cannot occupy the whole Land effectively; all twelve are needed in order to bear this burden. So there is no need to be apologetic to the Jews about being Efrayim and not converting to Judaism. Rocks are not unobtrusive; they cannot just be kicked over, try as they may. They just stand where they are and force those who want to get past them to deal with them. Who we are is clearly explained in the Book; all others are the ones who have to explain why theirs is not, yet they are trying to press us to accept it. We bear witness to what we accept as authoritative. We have to be aware of where our priorities come from, and be sure we are bearing witness to the right things by our actions.

5. And Y'hoshua told them, "Cross over in front of the ark of YHWH your Elohim to the middle of the Yarden, and each of you take up one stone on his shoulder for the number of the tribes of the descendants of Israel,

   TThey would literally “bear” witness of the twelve tribes having crossed over.  To carry heavy stones on their shoulder, they could not have been much larger than a basketball.  YHWH often chooses what is small to remind us His deeds.  He chose one man (Avraham) rather than an existing empire to accomplish what He is still doing today through that man’s descendants.  The room where His presence was represented in the Tabernacle was the smallest of all.  When Eliyahu was on the mountain, it was the still, small voice in which YHWH spoke, after the pomp and parade of more attention-getting things had already passed by.  It only took one small stone to fell Golyath.  As the one who sets the twelve tribes in order and commands the bringing of the stones, Y’hoshua is a precedent for the one who bears his name.  Yahshua chose twelve unknown men (representing the twelve tribes) whom others considered illiterate, and who clearly had never attended a Yeshiva. (Acts 4:13)  Even though Yeshua was the rightful king of Israel, the throne had been stripped of all its wealth and power by that time.  YHWH does not need His witnesses to be huge to accomplish His purposes; the smaller they are, the more easily we see that He is the one doing the work. 

6. "in order that this may be a sign in your very midst later when your children ask, 'What are these stones to you?'

   Like Passover (Ex. 13:8), the witness is for the sake of the generations to come. Each generation must have a personal sense of the meaning of this event so they can present it to the next generation as if it had only recently taken place and it was fresh in mind. Stones often represent a witness to an encounter or event that has taken place on a particular site.  Yaaqov used them to commemorate a vision he had of YHWH’s house. (Gen. 28:18)  He used a heap of stones as a monument to the peace treaty between himself and Lavan. (Gen. 31:45ff)  It was essentially a fence to keep them from conflict with each other.  The stones were about remembering.  They served the purpose that a photograph or video serve today—but they were better, because they did not make us lazy; they make us responsible. Stones do not tell the story on their own; they are only a hint that something took place there.  They make people ask why they are there, and they require us to tell them.  A photograph leaves room for many interpretations, but this story is simply meant to be transmitted. The stones remind us to tell the next generation where we cam e from and what we accomplished, and thus also where they came from and what they can accomplish.  We have to keep the story alive.   The Hebrew word for stone is related to both the word for “build” and the word for “son” or “offspring”.  Children are the “stones” that build up our “house”, and thus these stones represented the children of Israel. (Ex. 28:12)   Stones used to build an Israelite altar are not to have been altered by human tools (Ex. 20:25), for this profanes them; it represents being shaped by human doctrines rather than set apart to YHWH.  Those taken from a river (which represents the water of the Word of YHWH) or deep underground would be the ones best suited for this job.  Most of us have been shaped by human doctrines, so the only thing we can do to become suitable for His altar (which must be built before His Temple) is to get back into the river and let those edges be rounded back off, until there is not much of self left. 

7. "Then tell them that the waters of the Yarden were cut off from before the ark of the covenant of YHWH: 'When it passed through the Yarden, the waters of the Yarden were cut off, and these stones have become a memorial for the descendants of Israel forever."

   YHWH brought them across when the water was highest, so that there could be no doubt who had brought them over. Nothing could stand in His way. When He delivers us again, it will not be in a time when we can easily get to where He is taking us, but when there is a flood and the foundations are being washed away. Yet He will come through nonetheless, in a season of harvest when the twelve tribes are again all together.

8. So the descendants of Israel did just as Y'hoshua had ordered, and picked up twelve stones out of the middle of the Yarden, as YHWH had told Y'hoshua, for the number of the tribes of the descendants of Israel, brought them over with them to the lodging place, and set them down there.

   The witness must be brought from the place where YHWH acted into the camp where we dwell together.

9. And Y'hoshua stood twelve stones up in the middle of the Yarden in the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood firm, and they remain there to this day.

   This is a second set of stones.  YHWH did not tell Y’hoshua to do this, but he understood the need for a second witness.  While it was important that one witness be where the people lived, it was also important to be able to point back to the where the path was by which they had crossed.  The stones would look out of place in the river because they were standing up.  They would beg the question, “Why are they there?”  The elders are to tell the young how we got where we are, because they will need to tell others who want to get there where the path is.  We need to set up “signs” to tell them what  helped us pass over the rivers we have encountered.  Which Scripture or piece of advice or experience helped bring us out of that problem?  It is great to make progress, but to help someone else make progress—that is the Kingdom.  What path led us home the first time?  The path of Moshe—the Torah.  Many who bear witness to the Scriptures today think only back to the last “old country” their ancestors came from, and thus think that this is the norm to which they need to shape those to whom they carry the message today.  It makes all the difference in the world to remember that it is Israel from which we originally came.  Signposts are needed to point us back to where we came from. (Yirmeyahu/Jer. 31:21)  And indeed there are many signposts right in the “water”—the Word. One says YHWH will shepherd His lost sheep back from all the places He dispersed them. ((Yirm. 31:10; compare Y’hezq’el 34:12, 23)  Another says both houses of Israel will again have one shepherd from the House of David. (Y’hezq’el 37:24)  Another says Yahshua came only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. (Mat. 15:48)  Still another, that his sheep hear his voice. (Mat. 10:16-27)  While they have not yet been located in modern times, there is at least one record where we do see someone pointing to “these stones”.  Yochanan the Immerser appealed to them as a witness against those who trusted the fact that they were descendants of Avraham to be enough to spare them in the day of YHWH’s wrath (Mat. 3:9), as at this time he was immersing at the “Place of the Crossing Over”. (Yoch. 1:28)  He said YHWH was able to raise up descendants of Avraham not just from his physical seed, but from “these stones”—i.e., anyone who is willing to cross over. 

10. And the priests who carried the ark [were] standing in the middle of the Yarden until every matter [about] which YHWH had told Y'hoshua to speak to the people was completed in accordance with all the orders that Moshe had given Y'hoshua, so the people had hurried when they crossed over!

   Even a one-pound weight can become very heavy after 30 minutes.  The ark was much heavier than that, and they had to be careful not to touch it lest they die, yet several million people had to cross while they held it.  They must have been in pain.   But they had a special calling from YHWH, and had to stay there no matter what.  So the people were considerate of the priests’ burden and did not dawdle as they walked.  They took up this part of the burden themselves, and thus showed appreciation for those who had made it much easier for them to cross over, since they had no right to expect this act of mercy.  They could not help bear the load in any other way except by hurrying, so they did.  The priests worked for YHWH, but the only way we can tell if we are working for YHWH is if Israel is benefitting from it.  So show your gratitude for those who, though human beings, take on extraordinary tasks by easing their burdens.

11. And when all the people had finished crossing over, what took place [next was] that the ark of YHWH and the priests passed by to the front of the people.

12. Now the sons of Re'uven, the sons of Gad, and half of the tribe of Menashe had crossed at the front of the sons of Israel, armed in battle array [by fives], as Moshe had told them.

   They fulfilled their promise to go first (Numbers 32:17)--after the Levites bearing the ark, of course. Had crossed: no different from simply "crossed" in Hebrew, so on the surface of the text itself it appears that there was a second crossing over by the sons of Israel. While literally this was not the case, there is a prophetic importance in the way it is written that applies to us today as we prepare to cross over again. First there is a crossing over in attitude--a choice to go through with it, coming to terms with what it means, so as to make the commitment firm; then the actual doing.

13. About 40,000 men equipped for war passed in front of YHWH onto the steppe-plains of Y'rikho.

   40,000: apparently only from these two and a half tribes, for the tribe of Gad alone was able to muster over 40,000 a short time prior to this. (Numbers 26:18) Passed in front of: He was reviewing His troops!

14. On that day, YHWH made Y'hoshua great in the eyes of all Israel, and they respected him all the days of his life, just as they had respected Moshe.

   Respected: Everyone did their part just as Y’hoshua had told them, and the plan worked, so they knew they could trust him.  Those who do not follow directions have no right to complain when things do not work out, because they can never tell what the results would have been if they had done as they were told.

15.  When YHWH spoke to Y’hoshua, saying,

16.  “Order the priests who are carrying the ark of the testimony that they should come up out of the Yarden”,

17.  Y’hoshua had given orders to the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Yarden!”

  He did not add to YHWH’s words or take anything from them.

18. Then, when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of YHWH had come up out of the middle of the Yarden, and the soles of the feet of the priests had been pulled up onto the dry land, the waters of the Yarden began to return to their place and went up over both of its banks as [they had] previously.

19. And the people came up from the Yarden on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the outskirts of Y'rikho to the east

   One Aramaic translation leaves no doubt as to which of the two "first months" it is, specifying "Nisan" (the same as Aviv). This is the day the lamb is to be chosen for Passover, and on this day Israel accepted Y’hoshua as their leader. (v. 14)  He is essentially saying, “Remember the Passover story?  Add this to it!”  YHWH’s miracle of parting the sea for those willing to go forward no matter what the cost was not a one-time thing.  It can occur again—and again.  As we are willing and proceed to walk when the season is right, we can add to the story of YHWH’s Passover miracles.  So remind our children of when our ancestors did this, so that they will do the same.

20. Thus Y'hoshua had those twelve stones that they had taken out of the Yarden set up in Gilgal.

   The history behind the name Gilgal will show up in the next chapter.

21. Then he spoke to the descendants of Israel, saying, "After [this], whenever your children ask their parents, saying, 'What are these stones [for]?',

22. "then let your children know, saying, 'Israel crossed over this Yarden on dry ground',

   What YHWH has done for Israel is our heritage, and we must pass it on. It is much more important than your ancestor having been a Cherokee princess or come over on the Mayflower--or a slave ship. Embrace who we are, because it is who you are meant to be. The ground will be dried up again for those who bear the burden of what it means to be an Israelite; there is no such promise for anyone else. Our hope is that our children, who are being raised in a day when the signposts have been uncovered again, will have new stones to point out to their children from when we cross over this time. But regardless, our ancestors were there, so all of us who were not yet there still crossed over while we were within them. This is not just about them; it is about us. What YHWH does for Israel applies to every Israelite for eternity. Israel has already crossed over; why does any Israelite not live as one who has crossed over? We are not waiting for the Kingdom to come; it is waiting for us to become it.

23. "as YHWH your Elohim dried up the waters of the Yarden from in front of you until you had crossed over, just as YHWH your Elohim had done to the Sea of Reeds, which He dried up from in front of us until we had crossed over,

24. "in order that all the people of the Land may recognize the hand of YHWH, because it is firm, so that you might fear YHWH your Elohim [for] all time."

People of the Land: or people of the earth.  YHWH’s reputation rests on what His people accomplish.  He responds based on how we act, so do not profane His name.  Exodus 20:7 (one of the ten commandments) literally says, “Do not bring [His} name to nothing.”  How do we do that?  By doing nothing.   How do we avoid doing that?  By doing what He has told us to do, even if there is a river in the way, believing that there must be a way nonetheless.  That is how people will know and recognize who YHWH is.

CHAPTER 5

1. Now when all the kings of the Emorites who were on the seaward side of the Yarden and all the kings of the Kanaanites who were on the sea heard that YHWH had dried up the waters of the Yarden from in front of the descendants of Israel until we had had crossed over, their courage began to melt, nor was there any more spirit in them due to the presence of the descendants of Israel.

   We had crossed: This very different narrative pattern is very telling.  It emphasizes that all of us crossed over.  None of the army was left on the other side, even those who had settled there.  This news traveled very quickly, even some 40 or 50 miles away to those on the Mediterranean coast—all without e-mail or instant messaging!  There were people watching this approaching war camp, an undoubtedly trying to arm themselves better or prepare supplies for a siege.  Because of “our lady on the wall”, we know that Y’rikho, the main gateway to the Land, was already fearful, and it was a place from which news would go forth.  This nervousness was YHWH’s intent, because if we take an enemy’s confidence away, he will fall.  How can one plot a military strategy against the Elohim who controlled such things as rivers?  But it was not even the anomaly of the Yarden drying up that made them afraid; it was the fact that this army all had one mind and the same purpose.  They did not straggle, but hurried across because they respected those who made this easy crossing possible.  They are united behind their leader, and actually followed his instructions.  They were not selfishly vying for first place. The stories these children had heard while growing up included that of Qorakh and others who refused to obey Moshe’s orders.  They witnessed their parents dying because they could not be united behind the leader YHWH chose.  This generation was different.  It had promised to obey Y’hoshua, and not only that but to kill anyone who did not. (1:16)  They put themselves and their own ideas and opinions aside to do what YHWH wanted done in the way He wanted it done. This is a much bigger miracle than the river drying up.  These people were the real miracle.  Many have tried to outsmart YHWH, and could not, so they attack His people instead.  But because Israel was walking in obedience to YHWH under the authority of the one He had put in place, there was no chink in their armor.  This people that had been lost for 40 years were now a military powerhouse, and their every move was watched.  People are watching us today in the same way from the sidelines, to see if we are really are who we say we are or if this is just another fad, to see if we will be successful and if YHWH is indeed with us and Israel will come back together as we say. 

2. At that time, YHWH told Y'hoshua, "Make for yourself stone blades, and return [and] circumcise the sons of Israel a second time."

  At that time: when the window was open to strike because the enemies were at their weakest, and they had just come from a “mountaintop experience” (though they were at the lowest place on earth), because this vantage point showed that there was still something keeping them from being able to complete the Passover.  Stone: traditionally it was specifically flint, but the text actually uses the generic word for a large rock. If bronze and iron tools were already common, why did they use this seemingly antiquated method? Actually the flint knife was the way of mercy, because when broken along the right plane and filed to an edge, it is as sharp as any modern surgical instrument, and therefore less painful. It still was not pleasant for these people who were not circumcised on the eighth day, when the prothrombin and vitamin K are at their highest in one's lifetime and the blood clots readily. There was a price to pay for their parents' disobedience: it hurt!  This is a very tender area, but every man had to submit to this before the people as a whole could go any further.  Flint is not as easy to shape as metal, and thus the people had not continued making them once they were sentenced to die without entering the Promised Land. They probably assumed their children would also die in the wilderness as well, since they saw YHWH as cruel, when the fault was their own; He specifically promised to take their children to the place they themselves had forfeited. The fact that Y’hoshua had to make these knives shows that they did not have any, and thus that they had not intended to keep this command.  If we do not have the sign of the covenant, we have broken the covenant itself, and where there is no sign, it means we are not “open for business”, or at least that there is nothing in the “store” that is worth having.  How can we say we are Israelites but not bear the identifying mark?  But few other than the Levites and Y’hoshua and Kalev were circumcised anymore.  A second time: When was the first?  Not when their parents were circumcised, for they did not walk in obedience to what it represented, so this circumcision did not count.  The one they were to parallel was the circumcision of Avraham’s household (Gen. 17:10ff), for he used a flint knife.  So maybe it was a blessing that their parents had not circumcised them, so they couild identify with Avraham rather than their immediate forefathers, who had the sign of the covenant, but did not live up to it.  There are many external signs—wedding rings, or colors that identify someone as a member of a street gang or motorcycle gang.  But this sign is different.  It is kept “in your pants”—not seen by anyone except those you are most intimate with.  It is concealed, for it is more of a reminder to the individual that he is part of the covenant.  But sometimes even the hidden things come out through other signs that the covenant is real in us.  Circumcision is a removal of obstructing and unnecessary flesh, and it symbolizes putting away anything in us that is not serving YHWH, as when Avram left his whole heritage and culture behind to go where YHWH commanded him.  Elsewhere in Scripture, we read of uncircumcised hearts, eyes, ears, and lips—i.e., anywhere there is flesh in a place that needs to be exposed to the “knife” YHWH uses to remove it.

3. So Y'hoshua made himself [some] stone blades and began circumcising the sons of Israel toward the Hill of Foreskins.

   This site received a new name, as most of the other places in the Land now would.

4. And this is the reason that Y'hoshua circumcised all the people who came out of Egypt: The males--all the men of war--had died in the wilderness on the journey, as they came out from Egypt,

5. because all the people who had come out had been circumcised, but none of the people who had been born in the wilderness on the journey as they came out of Egypt had been circumcised,

6. since the sons of Israel had walked [for] forty years in the wilderness until the whole nation--the men of war who had come out of Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of YHWH, to whom YHWH had sworn not to let them see the Land that YHWH had sworn to their ancestors to give to us (a Land that gushes forth milk and honey)--had been consumed.

   For 40 years, they were without the prescribed sign of the Covenant.  YHWH had still dwelt among them and given them protection, provision, and the Torah for instruction.  But these blessings only meant that He was extremely merciful. He upheld His side of the covenant for Avraham’s sake.  Just because things are “coming up roses” for us does not imply that we are doing everything right.  Had Moshe known that no one was circumcising their children, he might have been less patient about it, though he himself had hesitated to carry out this practice (Ex. 4:24ff) because it did not sit well with his wife.  But as when he was about to take up his role as leader, YHWH gave him no choice but to obey or die, and now that the Israelites were in the Land and ready to carry out justice on the Kanaanites, they had to be more blameless than they. The season left no room for compromise or neglect, just like ours today.

7. But He raised up sons in their place; them Y'hoshua circumcised, because they had not circumcised them on the way.

8. And what took place when the whole nation was finished being circumcised was that they stayed in their places in the camp until they had recovered.

   Revived: i.e., healed and regained their strength. Since the tenth and the fourteenth of the month are both identified (v.10 and 4:19), there are three days between, at the end of which they "came back to life". The long delay before any attack would also serve to increase the fearfulness of the Kanaanites.  This army has been through pain and bleeding together.  Now they are in full unity, and that is truly scary to their enemies.

9. And YHWH told Y'hoshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from upon you." So he called the name of that place Gilgal to this day.

   Gilgal means “rolling” or a wheel, undoubtedly a reference to the “circle” that has been cut away.  Reproach: shame or disgrace, but from a root word meaning to pull off or expose, or even to betrothe.  Having a foreskin is thus a sign of being betrothed to Egypt.  (1 Maccabees tells us that many Jews, when courting Greek culture to enhance their own standing in the world, actually had operations to make it appear that they had never undergone this ritual.  YHWH was angry at Egypt for taking His wife into its harem (as it had done to Avram).  Egypt is not kind to its betrothed; it enslaves them.  B y this sign—the sign that symbolizes exposing our lives to one another—He removes the betrothals of Egypt from us, tearing down the wrong wall and building another in the right place.  He was giving them what their fathers had not, and what their fathers had but misused.  He “bled” out of them what was left of Egypt.  Most of them have never seen Egypt, being too young, but they had carried things over that their parents had bred into them—enslaving ideas that their parents had brought out with them.  Now that they had crossed the river, they could deal with the remnants of something they had never seen but which had left them with the wrong priorities, just as the Church or a culture that says “it is all about me” had done for us.  But even Yahshua said a sword would sometimes have to come between us and our parents.  We would bleed for this covenant.

10. As the descendants of Israel camped at Gilgal, they prepared the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, on the steppe-plains of Y'rikho.

   Just when one would have thought they would be rewarded, Y’hoshua does ythis instead, for there is a much bigger job in front of them, so he does not let them pat themselves on the back.  They could not even celebrate the huge accomplishment they had just undergone.  There was no time to wait, since the Passover cannot be eaten by any uncircumcised male, but the third day is when there is the most pain. (Gen. 34:25)  So at this time each year, at minimum, we each need to “check our circumcision” to see if we are really living up to the covenant, because it is surprising what can grow back that you thought was all gone.  At Gilgal they restored two of the signs of the covenant, circumcision and the Passover.  The prophets Eliyah and Elisha spent a great deal of time at this gateway to the Land. (2 Kings 2:1; 4;38)  Shmu’el is said to have renewed the kingdom at Gilgal (1 Shmu’el 11), at the beginning of the reign of Sha’ul.  But how could it be renewed if he was the first king of Israel?  Because there had been a “king” confirmed here before—Y’hoshua, for the people confirmed their support for him here. (4:14)  And here YHWH confirmed His support for the later Yeshua by calling Him “My Beloved Son”—an idiom for a king of Israel. (Psalm 2:7 et al)  Not much later, we find idols at Gilgal. (Judges 3:19)  We are told the stones set up in the river “are here to this day”, but the same is not said of those on the shore at Gilgal, possibly because they became these idols that were worshipped there, much like the bronze serpent Moshe had made.  Were the things YHWH gave as a memorial reshaped to suit a later generation’s tastes? The event of Yeshua’s immersion here has likewise been used to establish Mithraic forms of baptism, the doctrine of the trinity, etc.  So this may be why Gilgal is a turning wheel: we need to leave Gilgal behind so we can return to it and re-establish the original witness that was there.  Evening…plains: both words stem from the same root in Hebrew.  The word means “to mix”.  One is the mixing of light and darkness, and the other is the transitional zone from desert to vegetated land.

11. And they ate of the overflow of the Land the morning after the Passover--unleavened bread and parched grain on this same day.

   Overflow: We are not permitted to eat of new crops until after the firstfruits are brought the day after the Sabbath after Passover. (Lev. 23:14)  Parched grain is specifically forbidden until “that same day”—the same phrase used here—suggesting that the Passover fell at the end of a Sabbath this year (meaning they could not roast a lamb until after sunset).  This could be hinted at in v. 8 when compared with Ex. 16:29.  The Aramaic text adds “the first fruits”, reflecting the halakhic argument over when the sheaf is offered.  But the term here for overflow (based on the word for crossing a boundary or going beyond) implies grain which was not needed for immediate use and therefore stored up.  Thus it was old grain, which would not violate Lev. 23:14. There was a king of Gilgal (12:23), though it would be some time before he would be attacked.  So there must have already been a town with storehouses near their camp.  But with the Israelites on the march, any who did not live within walled cities would head there, leaving their crops behind.  The Land was providing for Israel even before the first battle.

12. And the manna stopped, [beginning] from the next day after they had eaten of the overflow of the Land. And there was no more manna for the descendants of Israel, but they ate from the produce of the land of Kanaan that year.

   Stopped: from the same root word as “Sabbath”.  It almost sounds like they are being punished for doing right.  They were injured and the manna, the only bread most of them had known all their lives, was nowhere to be found.  Had they done the wrong thing by hurrying across the river and keeping the Passover?  Now all of a sudden they have to feed themselves; it does not seem fair!  The more they do, the more YHWH seems to take from them.  But it is called growing up.  These people should have been circumcised at 8 days old, but now they are finally entering the covenant, and now that they have taken responsibility, greater responsibility comes.  YHWH made one form of provision cease, and began another, to remind us that He, not it, is what we depend on.  He continued providing until we were in a position to take responsibility for working the land ourselves. This is how His “grace” works during our exile as well, but we are approaching a time when we will again be able to work, and thus responsible to do so.  The honeymoon period will be over.  The manna never falls in the Land to which we are about to cross over again.  What will change for us?  He still has grain stored up for us, but we have to know how to search it out in His Word.

13. Now it came about that when Y'hoshua was at Y'rikho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo and behold, a man was standing right in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand. So Y'hoshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"

  He is having a “Yaaqov moment”—an unknown man appears, apparently to fight him.  But he has a whole army behind him now, so he can approach anyone who has a sword and demand to know where he stands: Is he loyal to us or to them?  Many do not even get to the point of deciding where they stand, but a leader needs to know where each stands, so he can protect his camp.  So he asks point-blank questions and expects an answer.  That is a true leader.

14. And he said, "No, because I have now come [as] the captain of the army of YHWH." And Y'hoshua fell to his face on the earth and bowed down and said to him, "What is my Master saying to His servant?"

   Are you for us or for them?  “No!”  This unexpected answer indicates that he was for neither, but only for YHWH.  If Y’hoshua also lined up with YHWH’s agenda, there would be no threat from him.  Y’hoshua probably thought he himself was the captain of YHWH’s army, because all Israel was following him, though he has never been called that.  It is not enough to recognize that we are Israel; we need to take on all the signs of what this means, letting our light shine by being a people who love one another.  Only after Israel has again begun walking in the signs of the covenant and given absolute devotion to Y’hoshua are they given the offer of being part of something larger--the army of YHWH.  It was no longer about them or even about bringing judgment on their enemies, but about YHWH.  We need to keep the same perspective.  Who was this man? There are many theories, many of which see him as something superhuman.  But he probably was not a glowing “angel” as we think of them, because Y’hoshua was not terrified, and even challenged him, probably with his own sword drawn.  He might have just been a descendant of Melkhitzedeq who had come down from Yerushalayim, which is only 15 miles away.  We are not told, so it is not necessary to know.  The point is that Y’hoshua found him worthy of honor because, like Moshe in Egypt, he came in YHWH’s name. Y’hoshua has some reason to believe him, and recognizes that he is in the presence of someone greater and with more authority than he--someone to lower himself before. He does not merely back down, but immediately hits his face.

15. And the captain of the army of YHWH said to Y'hoshua, "Take your shoe off your foot, because the place where you are standing is set-apart." So Y'hoshua did so.

   His mentor Moshe had a similar experience at the burning bush (Ex. 3:5)—except that in his case, it was both shoes he needed to remove.  Something is different here.  Was he only wearing one sandal?  Why would he not take both off? The key is in Ruth 4:7.  It says that in earlier times, the customary way to confirm an exchange was to remove and give the other party one of one’s sandals.  This man came to make an offer: “I am from another army.  I am not on your side, but I want you on my side.  Let your army fight not just for you or for their families or even for all Israel, but for YHWH.”  This place was not like the wilderness where he could fight his own petty battles or go to war when he wanted to; this is truly a dangerous place.  He is now on YHWH’s territory, and like Y’hoshua, this man wants to know why he is here.  Any army that comes here is either YHWH’s army or a dead army.  Y’hoshua had already said by his actions that he would join forces with this captain, so he essentially told Y’hoshua to “prove it” with this sign before he took another step on this Land.  And he did confirm it, but it never says he got his shoe back!  As with Cinderella, the shoe is kept by the other party to be able to verify later that the agreement “still fits”.   If he walked back to the camp with only one of his 40-year-old sandals that did not wear out, he would have to pay close attention to where he stepped; he would have appeared to be limping like Yaaqov after his walk was forever changed by a similar encounter. (Gen. 32)

CHAPTER 6

1.  Then Y’rikho was closed up and shut in due to the presence of the descendants of Israel; there was no one going out and no one coming in.

All those who lived outside the city walls went inside because of this large army sitting nearby.  They have known about it for some time now, and have probably been storing up food to try to outlast a siege.  Their only hope was that their walls and gate would hold.  Israel had not sent any threats or terms of surrender, and no one had even shot an arrow, but still Y’rikho was under a self-imposed siege because of the fear that Rahav had told the spies about.  Israel was, for a change, walking in Torah and in unity rather than complaining, because the job before them was huge.  But because they were willing to trust YHWH to help them fight a new enemy in a place they have never seen before, their mere presence terrified those around them, and they would not even dare show their faces.  They already felt that they were doomed.  This is a testimony to the power of a people who are in unity.

2.  And YHWH told Y’hoshua, “Look!  I have given Y’rikho into your hand along with her king—brave heroes of the army!

Along with her king: he represents the whole city-state, but when King Sha’ul spared the king of the Amaleqites (1 Shmu’el 15:8), it came back to haunt the tribe of Yehudah in a major way (Esther 9:24).  The last phrase may be describing the Y’rikhite army mockingly, or it may be addressing the Israelites. Though like Gid’on (Judges 6:12-16) they might not have felt brave, it takes courage to live in a Torah-keeping community.  Humans naturally run in clans, but in our day YHWH has given us a test in that our society allows us and encourages us to be self-sufficient.  Though this is seen as a virtue today, it is what keeps our enemies thriving behind effective defenses.  Only as Israel gathers together again can this change.

3.  “Now you will march a circuit around the city—all the mortal men of war—to encompass the city one time; you must do it this way [for] six days.

Now you: YHWH had just said He had given them the city.  He had made all the arrangements for it to be accomplished and removed all obstacles if they did it His way; if it did not come to pass, it would only be because they did not make it the ruin He had said it already was. March a circuit: encompass or revolve around (Heb., savav), as if they were in its orbit.  YHWH had told them to stop “orbiting” Mt. Seir, because they had already learned the lessons He had for them there, and it was time to move on.  But now He wanted them to focus on this place and learn whatever they could form it.  This was their target, so they were to circle it daily—possibly to look for weak spots, partly by paying attention to when the people on the walls became nervous as they passed, possibly to find the water source or a way to get under the wall.  YHWH also gave us something to orbit around—the Torah.  We need to soak it in, because it is the source from which He wants us to learn.  We will not learn by osmosis or just by reading about it, but by walking out what we study.  This way it becomes part of our experience, just as one could read every book there was about baseball and know the facts about all the players, but would not know how to play baseball unless he got right into the middle of a game.   Thus the first lesson in warfare for this new army has nothing to do with weapons, but has to do with paying attention to what fear is doing to the people of the city.   An alternate meaning for “encompass” is “to strike skin off of”.  This makes the underlying nerves extremely sensitive, and indeed it heightened the suspense for the citizens of Y’rikho to see these people marching around and doing nothing but blowing trumpets.  Imagine the eerie effect if all they did each day was clap their hands once!  It was psychological warfare that created fear in them, making them sweat about all that they have to lose, and once there was enough of that, they were already defeated. It gave them time to think of all the things they stood to lose.  If we see our possessions as YHWH’s, given to us only to use, they will not have such a hold on us.  Like spiritual giftings, if we are not giving them away, we are not doing with them what He gave them to us for.  This idea of striking off seems to be that of a repeated action necessary to accomplish the task, like peeling off the layers of an onion, around and around.  This is upheld by the fact that the words for “one time” literally denote one (rhythmic) beat, with the assumption that there would be more.  This may be a colorful description of how the city was undermined by the vibration of the ground at specific intervals, weakening it a little more each time.  Thus there are two types of encirclings being described here.  Just as both revolution and rotation are needed to sustain life on earth, Israel must both revolve around YHWH and keep his festival cycle, for the term for His festivals (khag) actually means to move in a circle, as in Hebraic dance.  We revolve around each of them and focus, in season, on what each teaches us.  From each we bring out lessons that we can carry over to the next.  As the earth’s rotation forms the needed gravity to keep us grounded, the festivals bring order to our love for YHWH by giving us a community to express His love to.  Israel had tried to do without YHWH’s calendar for 38 years, and many plagues and hardships resulted.  They did not see themselves as a people, but as needy individuals.

4.  “Have seven priests carry seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark, and on the seventh day you must circle the city seven times, then the priests must give a blast on the trumpets.

Seven trumpets of ram’s horns: or, the seven shofars that are borne along, seven rams’ horns of the yovel (jubilee).  Seven is the number of completion in unity and purpose, and the Hebrew word comes from the word for swearing an oath.  Hearing the number seven four times would remind Israel of the promises YHWH had kept and those they had made to Him.  They marched around the city for seven days in a row, so whether it was the final day or not, one of them had to be the Sabbath.  Sometimes we have to fight hard to enter into rest.  How can we make war on the day we are meant to rest?  By changing the way we do things—whether by wearing different clothes, eating from different dishes, or simply having different kinds of experiences—we overcome the difficulties of the week that had been so trying.

5.  “And when they make a prolonged [blast] with the horn that is borne along, what must take place is that when you hear the sound of the shofar, all the people must give a war-cry with a great shout, and the wall of the city will collapse [from] beneath it, and the people will climb up, [each] man directly in front of him.”

Until this point, only the army and priests have been involved; now everyone in Israel is needed to finish the job.  Most people have their own agendas, but as we are all like-minded and work toward the same goal, we can win the battle. Collapse from beneath it: or, fall down where it stands/in its place; the Aramaic Targum adds, “and be swallowed up”.

6.   So Y’hoshua the son of Nun summoned the priests and told them, “Pick up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark of YHWH.”

7.  Then they said to the people, “Go over and march around the city, and those who are armed [for war] must go over in front of the ark of YHWH.

8.  So it took place, as Y’hoshua was speaking to the people, that the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns went over and gave a blast with the shofars, and the ark of the covenant of YHWH went behind them.

9.  And whoever was armed went before the priests who were blowing the shofars, and the rear guard went after the ark, walking and blowing the shofars.

It was the ark that was guarded, not the people as such, though the people of Y’rikho might have been able to rain any number of objects down on them from the top of the wall.  Everyone was in this sense a “sapper”—those who risk their lives to undermine a city wall so it can be breached by the next wave of soldiers. But if the covenant is guarded, individual selves do not need to be.

10.  But to the people, Y’hoshua had given orders, saying, “You must not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor shall a word come out of your mouth until [the] day I tell you, ‘Shout!’  Then you will shout.”

Though they must have had an infinite number of questions about why they were doing this, they were to do their part, and no more. They were not to be heard until it was time, and Y’hoshua would let them know when that time was!  Many people would take offense at such an order today, but YHWH did not command Y’hoshua to tell them this; he saw the need for it himself.  When the Messiah beings justice to the entire earth, it will not be through noisy words, but through actions. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 42:1-4)  A word spoken in season has great effects. (Prov. 15:23; 17:28; 25:11; compare Qoheleth/Eccles. 9:17)  Yaaqov (James) says that if we can tame the tongue, we can stop sinning altogether, as it is the hardest member to bring into submission. This is very difficult for people today, but actions are more effective than words, and as the people “fast from speaking”, the result is heavy-duty psychological warfare.  They would also not be likely to brag noisily, because it was obvious that the wars Israel has won were too miraculous to give credit to anyone but YHWH.

11.  So he had the ark of YHWH circle the city, encompassing it once, then they came into the camp, and spent the night in the camp.

12.  And Y’hoshua rose early [to shoulder the burden] in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of YHWH,

13.  and the seven priests who carried the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of YHWH proceeded to walk and gave a blast with the shofars, and whoever was armed walked ahead of them, and the rear guard went after the ark of YHWH.  Walking and blowing the shofars,

14.  they thus circled the city one time on the second day, then returned to the camp.  They did this [same thing for] six days.

15.  Now what took place on the seventh day [was that] they made an early [start] as the dawn came up and encircled the city in this [same] manner seven times; only on that day did they encircle the city seven times.

The pattern of seven times on the seventh day suggests a connection with the festival patterns of the seven weeks after Pesakh, as well as the shouting in the seventh month. (Deut. 16:9)  What YHWH is showing them has little to do with literal warfare, but as we get into this pattern and circle everything with patterns of seven, our battles will be won.  Walk in His cycles, and you will be in the same pattern YHWH Himself is in and you will be able to see from His perspective.  So pay attention to everything you see, and do not let it escape you.  Learn every detail you can about YHWH’s Land , even the tiny things, and you will be able to relive them when you need them.  But we must not only look at all the “sevens”; they went around the city a total of thirteen times.  The total numerical value of letters that make up the Hebrew word ekhad (“one” or “united”) is 13.  Unity is what wins battles when Israel is taking the Land, as will become even clearer in the next chapter.

16.  And what took place on the seventh time [around] was that the priests gave a blast with the shofars, and Y’hoshua told the people, “Shout!  Because YHWH has given you the city!

The way they made war on the Sabbath was by celebrating. YHWH sent a relaxed people against an uptight people.  As we breathe in His wind (ruakh), and never let it become mundane, we can become what His Land tells us to become, we can become the people the Torah defines, in its own context. 

17.  “And the city will be devoted to YHWH—it and everything that is in it; only Rahav the prostitute may remain alive (she and all who are with her in the house), because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

Devoted to YHWH: that is, off limits to everyone else.  In this case it meant it would be completely destroyed, and everyone in it killed.  Messengers: They are not called spies, for they came chiefly to bring a message of deliverance to Rahav when she proved her faith and loyalty.  The term for messengers is the same as that for angels, so she entertained angels.  This is the answer to whom outside of Israel can be saved: those who receive the message.  There were two of them who went into a house to see if anyone there was worthy—a precedent for Yeshua, who sent His disciples out two by two to preach repentance in the same manner. (Mark 6:7-12)  He said He only did what He saw His Father doing. (Yochanan 5:19)  Where did He see this?  In the Scriptures, not in a mystical trance.  Therefore we can do the same.

18.  “But you, by all means keep [clear] of what is off limits, lest you make yourselves dedicated to destruction by taking from what is dedicated to destruction and you appoint the camp of Israel for destruction and bring calamity to it.

What one partakes of affects all of Israel.  Appoint for destruction: the same term as “off limits”, “dedicated”, and “devoted” above.  The term is herem, which means “set apart”, but with a difference in nuance from qadosh, which typically means permanently set apart, for YHWH Himself is called qadosh (holy).  Herem is more “designated for a specific purpose”, or for a particular length of   time.   It is related to the more familiar word harem, which makes us think of desert palaces and belly dancers with veiled faces—because indeed the women in the harem are set apart for the sheikh’s pleasure, and off limits to everyone else.  Hadassah (Esther) was part of Akhashwerosh’s harem, but she became qadosh—the set-apart among set-apart, as the queen and not just a concubine.  But there are things we can bring into our “camp” that bring death or destruction—not just diseases, but attitudes about our rights or about authority, gossip, or even a spouse who does not share the same values and vision.  Recall that it was the fact that Israel had put the cities across the river “under the ban” that struck fear in the Y’rikhites (2:10)  They knew Israel was coming for the purpose of judgment, not booty.  Bear this in mind, for (as per note on verse 3) we see the whole festival year walked out within a matter of days.  They observed Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread, then they walked out a cycle of seven within seven, a microcosm of the seven weeks of counting the days until Shavuoth.  The next thing they do is blow trumpets, which is what Yom T’ruah is all about.  Judgment follows on Yom Kippur, which by tradition also features a scarlet cord like the one Rahav hung in her window.  Afterward follows the salvation of those from other nations, a prominent theme of Sukkoth, the next and final prescribed feast.

19.  “But all silver and gold and articles of copper or iron, they are set apart for YHWH; they will go into YHWH’s treasury.”

In short, “there is nothing in this city for you”.  Some things are strictly for YHWH; anything metal or that can be considered a treasure—anything of value--goes into His storehouse, but the rest is to be destroyed.  You keep none of it in your own house.  No one could even take a sword out.  This was a season for destruction; they were going there to do nothing but tear down in this case.  The pagan objects made from these metals could be melted down and their form changed completely.  And the soldiers were not told to brig them to the storehouse; the Levites themselves, who would be in charge of the storehouses, would probably go retrieve it after the battle.

20.  So the people shouted and blew the shofars, and it did turn out that when the people heard the sound of the shofar, the people raised a great shout, and the wall collapsed under it, and the people went up into the city, each directly in front of [where] he [was], and they captured the city!

21.  And they dedicated everything that was in the city—including both men and women, from young to old, as well as ox and lamb and donkey—to the mouth of the sword.

This was a different kind of being set apart—and involved living things this time.  It is not even easy to kill an animal we are going to eat, but they had to kill everything that lived, for they would be a stumblingblock to Israel if they were just left to coexist in the Land.  The people of Y’rikho had done nothing against Israel in particular, so this was not their vengeance, nor was it a defensive battle.  Israel was the aggressor—a very unchristian concept, and one that does not meet the “standards” of modern humanism.  What earned them this judgment was the fact that they had built a pagan city in a Land that belonged to YHWH and which He had promised to Avraham’s descendants.  They were in the way of this promise being fulfilled, so they had to go.

22.  Now to the two men who had explored the Land by foot, Y’hoshua said, “Go to the house of the woman—the prostitute—and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.”

23.  So the young men who had explored the Land on foot went in and brought out Rahav, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had—that is, they brought all her family [member]s and let them rest outside the camp of Israel.

24.  Then they burned the city and all that was in it with fire.  Only the silver, gold, and articles of copper and iron they entrusted to the treasury of the House of YHWH.

The simplest way to retrieve them would be to wait until after the city was burned, because the fire would not be hot enough to destroy the metals, but might already melt down the idols so they were no longer in the same shape, but were just globs of raw material again.  But note that all the Mammon (wealth) still belongs to YHWH.

25.  And Y’hoshua allowed Rahav the prostitute, and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, to remain alive, and she dwells in the innermost part of Israel to this day, because she held back the messengers whom Y’hoshua had sent to go about Y’rikho on foot.

Her father’s household:  This does not fit with the “personal salvation” formula, for they rode in on the coattails of another, but it is a concept the first believers in Yeshua espoused. (Acts 11:14; 16:31)  This is because they were not thinking about a mere spiritual salvation, but establishing a physical kingdom under the rulership of Y’hoshua.  In ancient Israel, the most basic societal unit was the father’s household, so as the Kingdom is re-established, it makes perfect sense to build it again of father’s houses, not just individuals.

26.  And at that time Y’hoshua made them swear, saying, “Cursed before YHWH is [any] man who may raise up and rebuilt this city, Y’rikho.  May he lay the foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest may he stand its gates up!”

This indeed came to pass in the days of Akhav, king of Israel.  A man from Beyth-El named Khi’el (“El lives”) lost his eldest and youngest sons in the process, just as YHWH had said through Y’hoshua. (1 Kings 16:34)  This took place immediately before the rise of Eliyahu the prophet to prominence, and seeing this prophecy fulfilled may have even been a catalyst that helped him find the confidence to go ahead and dare to prophesy the message he had been given--that it would not rain again until he said so!  Y’rikho means “his (own) moon”.  The new moon is what determines when the biblical festivals will be, so the cycle of feasts is what conquers the city with this name.  This “city” has been “rebuilt” by the Rabbis, who chose their own way of determining when they would be observed, so anyone who follows this calendar will usually be doing things in the wrong season, until the authority they usurped, which really belongs to the moon, is taken back aggressively by Torah-observant Israel.

27. And YHWH came to be with Y'hoshua, and his fame went throughout all the Land.

THE RECORD OF

Y'hoshua

Introduction:

Y'hoshua's name means "YHWH saves." He was renamed as such by Moshe, having been born as Hoshea (which merely means "salvation" in the abstract sense) the son of Nun. He had been Moshe's constant companion ever since Moshe ascended Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah from YHWH. He was thus trained very thoroughly and knew Moshe's mind well enough to carry on his mission with the same spirit. He is also the namesake of our kinsman-redeemer, who will also lead Israel back into our Land again after all Israel is reunited. We will spell the latter's name Yahshua here to make the distinction in identities clearer. By learning about the former, we will gain many insights about the latter's mission.

Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4

             Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapters 7-8

           Chapters 9-16                               Chapters 17-24

The Yarden River. Photo by Jack Hazut.  Used by permission.