Faith & Obedience
Why is the distribution of the land so meticulously detailed, and what does this show about God’s faithfulness in specifics?
Every boundary fulfilled a promise. God’s faithfulness is not vague — He remembers names, families, and lines drawn in dust. This is where we have the confidence that God keeps His word.
How does Rahab’s faith stand as a commentary on God’s inclusivity in salvation despite her background?
Joshua 2:8–11; 6:22–25
Rahab’s confession shows that faith, not pedigree, secures salvation. Her belief in Israel’s God brought her into His covenant, proving that grace reaches the repentant, not merely the righteous.
What does the crossing of the Jordan symbolize in the believer’s spiritual journey beyond the wilderness?
Joshua 3:14–17; 4:23–24
ChatGPT: It represents the transition from deliverance to destiny — from wandering faith to active obedience. Crossing the Jordan mirrors moving from receiving miracles to walking in them, stepping into a sanctified life led by God’s presence.
Me: It is an act of immense faith and obedience. During the season described in Joshua, it was rapid. The river Jordan is notorious for its strong currents during the effectively monsoon-type season, and for the priests to place their feet into the rapids before the water would stop shows the confidence they had in God.
Why was Joshua commanded to be “strong and courageous” repeatedly, and what does this reveal about courage as faith rather than emotion?
Joshua 1:6–9
ChatGPT: Courage is not confidence in self but trust in God’s promises. God repeats the command because true courage means obeying despite fear, knowing the Lord goes before you.
Me: Joshua needing to be encouraged all the time speaks to his position; he is replacing Moses, the man who brought Israel out of Egypt, who walked with God the remainder of his life. Joshua had every right to be nervous, but God assured him that as He was with Moses, so too He would be with Joshua. And the same goes with the Israelites who told Joshua, 'be strong and courageous' recognising God selecting him as His chosen vessel to lead Israel. It goes to show that even leaders need to be encouraged, not just by God but by their followers as well.
Why were the Israelites commanded to march in silence around Jericho, and what does that reveal about obedience without understanding?
Joshua 6:3–10
The essence of Obedience is in doing what you do not understand, and find hard to accept, if you can accept it, understand it, or both, then you are not obedient, you are wise.
What tension arises between divine justice and human ethics in the conquest narratives?
Chat: God’s patience delayed judgment for generations. The conquests are not cruelty but justice long withheld — His wrath only falls after mercy is rejected.
Me: In all the stories of Joshua, we see that every single kingdom knows who the Israelites are and what their God can do and has done, yet not a single one comes to repent, and repentance would have worked, as we see with Rahab, a prostitute's repentance was holy and pleasing to God. So far be it that God delights in the killing and destruction of people, rather it is amazing that God gave them so much time to repent and turn yet at the end they did not.
In the sin of Achan, causing the Israelites first defeat in battl,e, what spiritual principle is shown about hidden sin affecting collective blessing?
→ Joshua 7:1, 10–26
ChatGPT: Achan’s secret theft defiled the nation’s purity, teaching that hidden sin breaks corporate blessing. It warns that holiness is communal, and private rebellion can hinder God’s movement among His people.
Me: Achan's secret theft and subsequent first loss of the Israelites reveal that people have a tendency to take the blessings God has given for granted; they assumed that since they are executing the will of God, that they, the Israelites, would be unstoppable, and their faith withered the moment this was proven false, not a single leader amongst the Isrealite prayed, asked, or realigned with the mission, had they asked Him, would He have not revealed that the community was no longer holy (set-apart) to do His bidding? That Achan had stolen what did not belong to Him?