Mark’s Memos

“So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood...

"Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the LORD said to him: ‘You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. This is the land that yet remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Geshurites, …’” (Josh....

The tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua and asked him why they weren’t given more land since they were a great people (Josh. 17:14). “So Joshua answered them, ‘If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of...

God had instructed the Israelites to completely drive out certain people groups in the Promised Land. Why? Because He knew that if they didn’t, they would eventually be led into idolatry from those nations and would be defeated by them. Because Israel stopped short of...

“Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.” (Josh. 11:18) In Joshua 11:16-18 it lists all the land that Joshua took up to that time in the Promised Land. It says that he captured all their kings and struck them down and killed them (Josh. 11:17). It then tells...

The king of Jerusalem (Adoni-Zedek) had heard what the people of God had done to Jericho and Ai and how Gibeon had made a covenant with Israel (Josh. 10). He was afraid because Gibeon was a great city, greater than Ai and its men were mighty. So, Adoni-Zedek got the...

“… but they did not seek the counsel of the Lord.” (Josh. 9:14) The people of Gibeon heard what the people of God had done to Jericho and Ai, so they pretended they had come from a faraway country to deceive the Israelites to entering into a covenant with them, which...

When the Israelites went against the city of Ai, God gave them a unique strategy for the battle (Josh. 8). Joshua had three groups of soldiers surround the city and lie in ambush on three sides at night. The rest of the people openly approached the city from the front...

Now the LORD said to Joshua: "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. (Josh. 8:1) The Israelites lost a battle...

We’ve been seeing that God declared Jericho (the first city Israel would conquer in the Promised Land) as “cherem” which means devoted to God or devoted [doomed] to destruction (Josh. 6:17). After defeating the strong city of Jericho, Israel lost a battle to the much...