Bible Study with Dr. Thomas Constable

After Joshua's death, the tribes of Israel begin their settlement of Canaan with initial successes under Judah, but the pattern quickly shifts to failure. Tribe after tribe fails to drive out the Canaanites — Benjamin cannot take Jerusalem, Manasseh fails at Megiddo, Dan is driven into the hills. Each compromise plants the seeds of future apostasy. The lesson: partial obedience is disobedience, an...

An introduction to the Book of Judges: its title, authorship (likely Samuel), date, and overarching theme — the downward spiral of Israel's national and spiritual life into chaos and rebellion. Dr. Constable introduces the recurring cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance, and the key theological truth that Israel's spiritual condition determined its political and material situation....

In his final addresses Joshua charges Israel to love the LORD, cling to Him, and drive out the remaining Canaanites — warning that compromise will be a snare. At Shechem he leads a solemn covenant renewal: reciting Yahweh's acts from Abraham to the conquest, calling the people to choose whom they will serve, and setting up a stone as a witness. Joshua dies at 110. The book closes with the burial o...

Joshua releases the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh to cross back to their Transjordanian inheritance with his blessing. When they build a large altar at the Jordan, the western tribes fear apostasy and nearly go to war. A delegation hears the explanation — the altar is a witness, not a place of competing sacrifice — and the crisis is averted. Unity within the covenant community is...

With the major campaigns complete, Joshua and Eleazar the high priest divide the land by lot among the nine-and-a-half tribes west of the Jordan. Caleb at 85 boldly claims his mountain stronghold at Hebron. Boundaries and town lists are recorded for Judah, Ephraim, Manasseh, and the remaining tribes. Cities of refuge are established for unintentional manslaughter, and 48 cities are assigned to the...

Joshua defeats a coalition of southern Canaanite kings in rapid succession — Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir — then turns north to crush Jabin of Hazor and his allied city-states at the Waters of Merom. A summary lists 31 conquered kings west of the Jordan and confirms that Israel took the whole land as God commanded, leaving no one breathing who had been devoted to destruction...

Five Amorite kings attack Gibeon for making peace with Israel. Joshua marches through the night and launches a surprise dawn assault. God throws the enemy into panic, rains giant hailstones on them, and in response to Joshua's prayer famously causes the sun and moon to stand still — extending the day until the battle is won. The LORD fights for Israel more than Israel fights for itself.

The Gibeonites, fearing Israel's God, disguise themselves as distant travelers and trick the Israelites into a peace treaty sworn in the name of Yahweh. Israel's leaders fail to inquire of the LORD before making the covenant. When the deception is discovered, Israel honors its oath but reduces the Gibeonites to permanent servants — woodcutters and water carriers for the tabernacle. The lesson: alw...

With sin judged, God directs a brilliantly executed ambush at Ai. The city is burned and its king hanged on a tree. Joshua then leads all Israel north to Shechem — the site of God's first promise to Abraham — where he builds an altar, writes the Law on plastered stones, and reads every word to the assembled nation. Obedience is renewed as the foundation for life in the land.

Achan secretly takes devoted plunder from Jericho. God withdraws His blessing, and Israel suffers a shocking defeat at the small town of Ai. Joshua mourns before the LORD until the hidden sin is exposed by lot. Achan confesses and is executed with his household in the Valley of Achor. The episode teaches that private sin affects the entire community and that there can be no spiritual power without...

Israel marches around Jericho for seven days in complete silence, led by priests carrying the Ark. On the seventh day they circle seven times, the trumpets sound, the people shout, and the walls collapse. Rahab and her household are spared. The victory is entirely God's — won not by siege engines but by obedient faith — establishing the pattern for all that follows.

The conquest generation is circumcised at Gilgal, completing what was neglected in the wilderness. Israel then celebrates Passover for the first time in Canaan, and the manna ceases as they eat from the fruit of the land. Joshua encounters the 'captain of the LORD's army' — a theophany that recalls Moses' burning bush, reminding Joshua that God, not man, leads the campaign.

Twelve stones are taken from the middle of the Jordan and set up at Gilgal as a permanent memorial of God's miracle. A second set of stones is placed in the river bed itself. The monument is designed so that future generations will ask 'What do these stones mean?' and be told how the LORD dried up the Jordan before the ark — just as He had parted the Red Sea.

Israel miraculously crosses the flooded Jordan River as the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant step into the water and it parts. The crossing deliberately parallels the Red Sea crossing under Moses, confirming Joshua's God-given authority. The event impresses both Israel and the Canaanites that Yahweh, the living God, is fighting for His people.

Joshua sends two spies to reconnoiter Jericho. The spies lodge with Rahab, a prostitute whose faith in Yahweh leads her to hide them and secure her family's safety with a scarlet cord. Her declaration — 'the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below' — marks her as a woman of genuine faith (Heb. 11:31) and an ancestor of David and Jesus Christ.

God commissions Joshua after Moses' death with three great promises: possession of the land, preservation from opposition, and His abiding presence. Joshua is commanded to meditate on the Law day and night and to be strong and courageous. The chapter ends with the two-and-a-half Transjordanian tribes reaffirming their pledge to fight alongside Israel before settling east of the Jordan.

An overview of the Book of Joshua: its title, place in the Hebrew canon, historicity, authorship, and theological themes. Dr. Constable introduces Joshua as a book about Yahweh's faithfulness in giving Israel the Promised Land and God's hatred of sin. Key themes include the land, rest, covenant-keeping, and the role of Joshua as a type of Christ ('Yahweh saves').

The fifth commandment bridges worship of God and the ordering of human society, promising long life in the land to those who honor their parents (Deuteronomy 5:16). Dr. Constable examines how proper respect for parental authority reflects submission to God's authority—and why this commandment is the first to carry an explicit promise of blessing.

Moses recounts Israel's decisive victories over Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, and the distribution of Transjordan to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh (Deuteronomy 2:24–3:29). Dr. Constable shows how these victories were a foretaste of the conquest ahead, and how Moses' own exclusion from Canaan illustrates the sobering consequences of disobedience.

With sin judged, God directs a brilliantly executed ambush at Ai. The city is burned and its king hanged on a tree. Joshua then leads all Israel north to Shechem — the site of God's first promise to Abraham — where he builds an altar, writes the Law on plastered stones, and reads every word to the assembled nation. Obedience is renewed as the foundation for life in the land.

Achan secretly takes devoted plunder from Jericho. God withdraws His blessing, and Israel suffers a shocking defeat at the small town of Ai. Joshua mourns before the LORD until the hidden sin is exposed by lot. Achan confesses and is executed with his household in the Valley of Achor. The episode teaches that private sin affects the entire community and that there can be no spiritual power without...

Israel marches around Jericho for seven days in complete silence, led by priests carrying the Ark. On the seventh day they circle seven times, the trumpets sound, the people shout, and the walls collapse. Rahab and her household are spared. The victory is entirely God's — won not by siege engines but by obedient faith — establishing the pattern for all that follows.

The conquest generation is circumcised at Gilgal, completing what was neglected in the wilderness. Israel then celebrates Passover for the first time in Canaan, and the manna ceases as they eat from the fruit of the land. Joshua encounters the 'captain of the LORD's army' — a theophany that recalls Moses' burning bush, reminding Joshua that God, not man, leads the campaign.

Twelve stones are taken from the middle of the Jordan and set up at Gilgal as a permanent memorial of God's miracle. A second set of stones is placed in the river bed itself. The monument is designed so that future generations will ask 'What do these stones mean?' and be told how the LORD dried up the Jordan before the ark — just as He had parted the Red Sea.

Israel miraculously crosses the flooded Jordan River as the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant step into the water and it parts. The crossing deliberately parallels the Red Sea crossing under Moses, confirming Joshua's God-given authority. The event impresses both Israel and the Canaanites that Yahweh, the living God, is fighting for His people.