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Rating: 
Summary: "Be Strong and of Good Courage"
Review: A phrase repeated at least four times in the book of Joshua.In my opinion this series of workbooks for Bible study surpasses them all. Joshua is a key book in the Bible for understanding clearly that God gave the jews the land of Israel. An entire book in the Bible is devoted to describing how the land was taken by the jews to be their reclaimed homeland; Jacob's sons and family went to Egypt because of a severe famine over the whole earth and stayed there 400 plus years until Moses. Moses dies but not before he has transferred the leadership to Joshua. In Joshua, you'll find the stories of the jews' crossing of the Jordan, the taking of Jericho, how Rahab, an ancestor of Jesus, protects two jewish spies, how the sun and moon stood still at Joshua's command at the battle of Gibeon, and how each of the 12 tribes of Jacob/Israel fought to get the land. This guide divides the 24 Chapters of Joshua into 16 palatable lessons. Each lesson asks 15 or so questions along with additional questions in the margins under three different categories: optional application, for thought and discussion, for further study. A few summers back, a few women and myself studied Joshua; our leader chose this study guide. (For my own enrichment, I also used as references a jewish commentary from Soncino Press which contains the original hebrew plus english translation and my treasured Josephus's account of Joshua in his Antiquities of the Jews). My favorite lesson was the seventh which covered Joshua Chapter 7 and the Israelite's defeat because of Achan's sin. Navpress includes the information absolutely necessary in understanding G_d's anger at all Israel for one man, Achan's sin. When Jericho's walls fell, the jews were to take nothing, the whole town to be destoyed save Rahab and her family. Achan took for himself some gold coins and a royal robe woven of gold from Shinar (Babylon). The jews were defeated, (not badly), at Ai after Jericho. To understand this strange story, you have to understand the meaning of the hebrew word in all its connotations. That information is supplied in lesson 6 and 7 of this series. That whole episode of God's judgement of Jericho and His correction of the Israelites revealed so many things to me: His immense displeasure at how nations normally operate by war, power, trade, and terror, how He was grooming Israel to be His nation operating under His miraculous power and direction, and how He was purifying Israel training her to be a nation of intercessors. But Achan's sin was not just one of disobedience, greed, or selfish desires, Achan's taking of the booty of these warlords symbolized the legitimacy of those nations' modus operandi, one which G-d detested so much that Jericho was utterly destroyed save brave Rahab and her family. Joshua is a must read for all christians; just because it's an old testament book, does not mean that the contents have little relevance today. On the contrary!!! The topic which today troubles the international community is the rightful ownership of the land of Israel inhabited by jews, arabs and christians.
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