Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the book of Joshua.

At face value, this story of the establishment of Israel in its promised land is a combination of glory and horror - there is new life for God’s people, but a lot of death for almost everyone else.

It’s important to consider how people at the time would have heard and understood these stories, which don’t fit together in a way which allows anyone to take them too literally. Scholars differ in their interpretations, but there is a strong case for finding the truth in the meaning of what is shared through symbols and hyperbole.

What does it mean that God was credited for bringing people across the river and acting decisively in battle? What difference does it make that this was not a kingdom being established by human effort but by God? And what difference would it make to us today if we recognised that what we thought was ours really belongs to God, and that we can trust him to guide us?

The next part of our boxset will look at the book of Judges. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.