Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

We wrapped up the five books of the law yesterday, and we've already hit one of the wisdom books when we read Job.

Today we step into the first of the history books. As we read through

these, remember that their goal isn't so much to reveal history as it is to reveal God, so keep looking

for him. Yesterday, Moses died after 40 years of leading the Israelites through the wilderness. This was

probably around 1400 BC, which is roughly 2,500 years after we first met Adam and Eve.

Before Moses dies, he passes the torch to his assistant Joshua, the man God appointed to lead the people into the promised land.

Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim, which was the smallest non-leviite tribe at this point, so it's a pretty big deal that he gets this role.

Both God and the Israelites tell Joshua to be strong and courageous. He hears that four

times in one chapter alone, three times from God and once from the people. He heard it from

above and from below, from his leader and from his followers. It's already a big deal when God repeats himself,

but when everyone around you is also telling you the same thing,

you know it's something you need to hear.

As they prepare to head into Canaan,

Joshua reminds the 2.5 trans-jordan tribes,

Gad, Ruben, and the half-trib of Vanessa,

that they still have to cross the Jordan and fight for the land

like all the other tribes. Then they can come back east and live in the pasture lands they requested

from God back in Numbers 32. They agreed to do all Joshua commands them, just like they did with Moses,

which honestly doesn't sound like a great promise. These people are pretty forgetful if they

really thought they obeyed Moses, but whatever. Joshua sends two spies into the promised land. Remember, he was a spy

once, along with 11 others, and he probably knew what kind of man made a good spy versus what kind

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