Bible Timeline · About 1406 to 1375 BC, or the 1200s BC

Joshua, Jericho and the Promised Land

After Moses died, Joshua led Israel across the Jordan River into Canaan. The walls of Jericho fell, Rahab was saved, and over about seven years Israel took the land and divided it among the twelve tribes. Joshua's last challenge was choose this day whom you will serve.

Read it in the Bible: Joshua 1:1-9 Joshua 2:1-24 Joshua 3:1-6:27 Joshua 10:1-15 Joshua 24:1-31 Hebrews 11:30-31

The conquest of Canaan is the story of how Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land after Moses died. God stopped the Jordan River so they could cross, the walls of Jericho fell after Israel marched around the city for seven days, and over about seven years of fighting Israel took control of the land and divided it among the twelve tribes. The early date puts the crossing about 1406 BC, based on 1 Kings 6:1, and the late date puts it in the 1200s BC. It matters because it shows that God keeps His promises. What He told Abraham centuries earlier finally came true.

Who Was Joshua?

Joshua had been Moses' assistant since the Exodus. He fought Israel's first battle, Exodus 17, went up Mount Sinai with Moses, and was one of only two spies who trusted God, Numbers 14. His name in Hebrew is Yehoshua, which means Yahweh saves. In Greek that name becomes Iesous, the same name as Jesus. God's first words to him as leader were a command and a promise.

Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Who Was Rahab?

Joshua sent two spies to Jericho, and they ended up at the house of a prostitute named Rahab, Joshua 2:1. When the king's men came looking, she hid the spies on her roof under stalks of flax. Then she explained why.

When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for Yahweh your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. Joshua 2:11

A Canaanite woman made one of the clearest statements of faith in the book. The spies told her to tie a scarlet cord in her window, and her family would be spared. She did, and Joshua kept the promise, Joshua 6:25. Rahab later married an Israelite named Salmon and became the mother of Boaz. That puts her in the family line of King David and of Jesus, Matthew 1:5. Hebrews 11:31 lists her among the heroes of faith, and James 2:25 praises her too. God's grace has always been bigger than anyone's past.

How Did Israel Cross the Jordan?

The Jordan was at flood stage, Joshua 3:15. God told the priests carrying the ark to step into the water. The moment their feet touched it, the river stopped flowing and piled up upstream.

The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan. Joshua 3:17

It was a second Red Sea for a new generation. They set up twelve stones from the riverbed at Gilgal so their children would ask what they meant, Joshua 4. They renewed circumcision, celebrated Passover, and the next day the manna stopped. Then Joshua met a mysterious man with a drawn sword who called himself Commander of Yahweh's army, Joshua 5:14. Joshua asked whose side he was on. He said, Neither. The real question was whether Joshua was on God's side.

How Did the Walls of Jericho Fall?

God's battle plan sounded crazy. For six days the army marched once around Jericho in silence, with seven priests blowing rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day they marched around seven times. Then the priests blew the horns and the people shouted.

So when the rams’ horns sounded, the people shouted. When they heard the blast of the horn, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. Then all the people charged straight into the city and captured it. Joshua 6:20

No siege ramps. No battering rams. Just obedience, worship and a very loud shout. Hebrews 11:30 says the walls fell by faith.

Did the Sun Really Stand Still?

After a loss at Ai, caused by a man named Achan who stole from the spoils, and a trick by the Gibeonites, five Amorite kings attacked. Joshua prayed a bold prayer.

So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” Joshua 10:13

Christians read this in a few ways. Many take it as a literal miracle in which God lengthened the day. Others think the language describes the event as it looked from the ground, the same way we still say sunrise. Some read it as poetry quoted from the Book of Jashar, a lost book of songs. All agree that God fought for Israel that day, and verse 14 says there has never been a day like it.

How Long Did the Conquest Take?

About seven years. Caleb says he was 40 when Moses sent him as a spy and is now 85, Joshua 14:7 to 10. Subtract the 38 years of wandering, and the fighting took about seven years. The land then had rest from war, Joshua 11:23, though some Canaanite towns remained, as Judges 1 explains. Chapters 13 to 21 divide the land among the tribes. Joshua died at 110, Joshua 24:29. Before he died, he gathered the nation one last time.

But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve Yahweh, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh!” Joshua 24:15

What Does Archaeology Say About Jericho?

Jericho is one of the most debated sites in Bible archaeology, and both sides deserve a fair hearing.

John Garstang dug there in the 1930s. He found a burned city with fallen walls and dated its destruction to about 1400 BC, which fits the early date.
Kathleen Kenyon dug there in the 1950s. She dated that destruction to about 1550 BC and concluded there was little or no walled city left for Joshua to conquer. Most archaeologists have followed her view.
Bryant Wood argued in 1990 that Kenyon misread the pottery and that Garstang's date of about 1400 BC was right. Radiocarbon tests on burned grain, published in 1995, pointed back toward Kenyon's earlier date. Wood answers that those tests are caught up in a wider dispute over ancient dates. The debate continues.

Those who prefer the late date, in the 1200s BC, often point to cities like Hazor, which has a burn layer from that era. The Big Question page When Was the Conquest? in Joshua lays out both cases, and the Archaeology page on this site has more.

Many readers also struggle with the violence of the conquest. That is an honest question. The Bible says God waited centuries until the sin of the Amorites was complete, Genesis 15:16, so this was judgment, not a land grab. Rahab shows that any Canaanite who turned to God could be saved. Many scholars also note that ancient war reports used sweeping language, which helps explain why Judges says many Canaanites remained.

How Joshua Points to Jesus

Joshua and Jesus share the same name, Yahweh saves. Moses, who stood for the law, could not bring Israel into the land. Joshua did. In the same way, the law shows us where we fall short, but only Jesus brings us into God's rest. Hebrews makes the link directly.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Hebrews 4:8 to 9

And Rahab's scarlet cord in the window is a lot like the Passover blood on the door. Everyone under its protection was saved. God was already showing that His family would include people from every nation.

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Questions People Ask

How did the walls of Jericho fall?

Israel marched around Jericho once a day for six days, then seven times on the seventh day. When the priests blew the rams' horns and the people shouted, the wall collapsed, Joshua 6:20. Hebrews 11:30 says it happened by faith.

Who was Rahab in the Bible?

Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho who hid Israel's spies because she believed Yahweh was the true God, Joshua 2. She and her family were spared, and she became the mother of Boaz and an ancestor of David and Jesus, Matthew 1:5.

When did the conquest of Canaan happen?

The early date, based on 1 Kings 6:1, puts Israel's crossing of the Jordan about 1406 BC, with the main fighting over about seven years. The late date places the conquest in the 1200s BC.

What does archaeology say about Jericho?

John Garstang dated Jericho's destruction to about 1400 BC, matching the early date. Kathleen Kenyon redated it to about 1550 BC, and most archaeologists follow her, while Bryant Wood argued for Garstang's date. The question is still debated.

What does choose this day whom you will serve mean?

It is Joshua's final challenge to Israel in Joshua 24:15. He called the nation to decide between the false gods of their ancestors and Yahweh, and he declared that he and his household would serve Yahweh.

Sources

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