Lesson
74 Joshua 6–10 (for Dec 8th
combined with lesson 73)
Introduction
After
the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the promised land, the Lord
instructed them to destroy the city of Jericho and everything in it. An
Israelite named Achan took items from Jericho that were forbidden. As a result,
the Israelites were defeated when they tried to destroy the city of Ai. After
Achan was held accountable, the Lord again assisted Israel in battle.
---Before
class, list on the board a few standards or commandments that some youth may
find difficult to obey, such as the following (these phrases come from For the
Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 4, 7, 30–31):
“You should not date until you are at
least 16 years old. … Avoid going on frequent dates with the same person.”
“Do not disfigure yourself with tattoos or
body piercings. Young women, if you desire to have your ears pierced, wear only
one pair of earrings.”
“Honoring the Sabbath day includes
attending all your Church meetings. … Sunday is not a day for shopping,
recreation, or athletic events.”
---As
class begins, invite students to read the statements on the board. Ask the
class if they or someone they know has ever questioned why these standards are
important to obey.
---What other commandments or
standards has the Lord given that some may question the importance of?
(As
students respond, you may want to list their answers on the board.)
---Explain
that as the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, the Lord gave them unusual
commandments or instructions for how they were to attack the well-fortified
city of Jericho. To some of the Israelites, these commandments may have seemed
strange or unreasonable. Invite students to look for truths as they study Joshua 6 that can guide
them when they or others may not understand the purposes for the Lord’s
commandments.
---Invite
a few students to take turns reading aloud from Joshua
6:1–5.
Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Lord instructed the
Israelites to attack the city of Jericho. (You may need to explain that to
compass the city means to go around it.)
---What did the Lord instruct
the Israelites to do?
---If you had been in the
position of an Israelite soldier, what might seem strange to you about these
instructions?
---What do you imagine the
soldiers’ conversations were like that first night as they finished walking
around Jericho and then returned to camp?
---Invite
a student to read Joshua
6:12–15
aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Israelites showed
their faith in the Lord and His prophet.
---How did the Israelites show
faith? (The Israelites obeyed the Lord when His instructions may not have made
sense to them, and they did so with exactness.)
---Invite
several students to take turns reading aloud from Joshua
6:16, 20–21, 27.
Ask the class to follow along, looking for what happened because Joshua and the
Israelites obeyed the Lord with exactness. (You may want to remind the class
that the Lord had previously commanded Israel to “utterly destroy” the
inhabitants of the promised land to prevent their sins from spreading to the
children of Israel [see Deuteronomy
20:15–18].)
---What happened because Joshua
and the Israelites obeyed with exactness?
---Invite
students to imagine themselves as Israelite soldiers who perhaps did not
understand the purpose of the Lord’s instructions for how to attack Jericho.
However, they chose to obey with exactness and then witnessed the walls of
Jericho fall.
---Ask
students to respond to the following question by writing in their class
notebooks or scripture study journals:
---What principles would you
have learned from this experience of following the Lord’s commands?
---Invite
a few students to report what they wrote. As students share the principles they
have identified, emphasize the following: We can show faith
in the Lord by choosing to obey His commandments, even when we do not
understand the purposes for them, and as we act in faith to obey the Lord with
exactness, He will be with us and help us do things we could not do by
ourselves.
---To
help students understand and feel the truth and importance of these principles,
you may want to discuss some or all of the following questions:
---When have you shown faith in
the Lord by choosing to obey His commandments even when you did not understand
the purposes for them?
---What are some examples of how
people might only partially obey the standards and commandments described on
the board?
---How have you felt blessed as
you have sought to obey the Lord with exactness?
---You
may want to testify that students will be blessed as they faithfully obey with
exactness.
---Invite
students to look through the For the Strength of Youth booklet (if available)
for standards they feel they could obey with greater faith or exactness.
---Invite
them to write on a piece of paper how they will obey that commandment or
standard with greater faith or exactness.
---Encourage
them to place this paper where they can be reminded daily of their goal.
---Explain
that in addition to the instructions the Lord gave for how Israel was to attack
Jericho, Joshua instructed Israel regarding what they should do once they had
taken the city.
---Invite
a student to read Joshua
6:17–19
aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what Joshua instructed the
Israelites to do with all that was in Jericho.
---What did Joshua instruct the
Israelites to do with all that was in Jericho?
---Explain
that the word accursed in these verses refers to all things associated with
wickedness and disobedience. All the people (except for Rahab and her kindred
[see verses 17,
22–23, 25])
and all the objects in Jericho were considered accursed. The Israelites were
not to keep anything in the city for themselves but were to turn the wealth of
the city over to Joshua to be consecrated to the Lord.
---According to verse 18, what would be
the consequence if an Israelite took something that was accursed?
---Display
a piece of clothing and a few coins (or draw them on the board).
---If you had been in the
position of an Israelite soldier, what might you have wanted to do if you saw
some valuable items in Jericho?
---Invite
students to read Joshua
7:1
silently, looking for what an Israelite named Achan did that was contrary to
the Lord’s commandments.
---What choice did Achan make?
What was wrong with his choice?
---Invite
a student to read Joshua
7:2–5
aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what happened to Israel when
they went to destroy the city of Ai.
---Why did the Israelites send
fewer soldiers against the city of Ai than they sent against Jericho?
(Ai
was small and seemed easy to conquer.)
---How many Israelites died in
the battle against the men of Ai?
---Summary
of Joshua
7:6–9:
Joshua grieved after hearing the news of Israel’s defeat. Joshua asked the Lord
to reveal to him why Israel had suffered this defeat.
---Invite
a student to read Joshua
7:11–12
aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the reason the Lord gave for
Israel’s defeat.
---Why could Israel not stand
before their enemies?
---How did Achan’s choice affect
the rest of the children of Israel?
---What principle can we learn
from this story about the consequences of choosing to disobey the Lord?
(Students
may use different words, but make sure it is clear that if
we choose to disobey the commandments, it can bring negative consequences upon
ourselves and others.
Consider writing this principle on the board.)
---Invite
a student to read Joshua
7:13
aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the Lord commanded the
Israelites to do so they could prevail against their enemies.
---What did the Lord command the
Israelites to do?
---You
may need to explain that one meaning of the word sanctify is to become free
from sin.
---Summary
of Joshua
7:14–18:
The Lord instructed Joshua to gather Israel according to their tribes and that
the Lord would reveal to Joshua the person who was guilty of harboring the
accursed thing. When called upon, Achan stood before Joshua.
---Invite
a student to read Joshua
7:19–21
aloud. Ask students to follow along and look for what happened when Joshua
confronted Achan.
---What truth can we learn from
Joshua’s words to Achan that apply to us today?
(Students
may use different words, but make sure it is clear that we
cannot hide our sins from the Lord.)
To
help students understand why we cannot hide our sins from the Lord, ask a
student to read aloud the following statement by Elder Richard G. Scott of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
“Do
not take comfort in the fact that your transgressions are not known by others.
That is like an ostrich with his head buried in the sand. He sees only darkness
and feels comfortably hidden. In reality he is ridiculously conspicuous.
Likewise our every act is seen by our Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son” (“Finding Forgiveness,” Ensign, May
1995, 77).
---How can understanding that we
cannot hide our sins from the Lord affect our choices?
---Explain
that in Joshua
7:22–26,
we read that Achan was held accountable for his sins. Achan and his children
were put to death, and the accursed things he took were destroyed as the Lord
commanded. Joshua would have been aware of the law that children were not to be
punished for the acts of their parents (see Deuteronomy
24:16).
Thus, the deaths of Achan’s children suggest that they were guilty of the same
sin as their father; otherwise they would have been spared.
---Summary
of Joshua
8–10:
After Israel punished Achan and removed the “accursed thing” from among them,
the Lord helped them to defeat the people of Ai, the Amorites, and many of the
cities in Canaan.
---Invite
students to read Joshua
10:42
silently and look for why the armies of Israel were so successful in battle.
---Ask students to report what they find.
---You
may want to conclude by testifying of the truths you have discussed today.
---Invite
students to act on these truths by choosing to faithfully obey the Lord’s
commandments and repent rather than hide any sins they may have committed.
Commentary and
Background Information
Joshua
6:1–16. “The Lord hath given you the city”
President
Howard W. Hunter cited Joshua’s example to explain why it is important for
us to obey the Lord’s instructions with exactness:
“[Joshua’s]
commitment was to complete obedience. His concern was to do precisely as he was
instructed, that the promise of the Lord would be fulfilled. The instructions
no doubt seemed strange, but his faith in the outcome urged him on. …
“Surely
the Lord loves, more than anything else, an unwavering determination to obey
his counsel” (“Commitment to God,” Ensign, Nov.
1982, 57–58).
Joshua
6:21. The commandment to destroy the people of Canaan
The
Lord commanded Moses in Deuteronomy
7:1–2
to “utterly” destroy the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who inhabited the promised land. The
scriptures indicate a few reasons for this commandment. In Deuteronomy
9:4–5,
Moses taught that because of the Canaanites’ wickedness the Lord would drive
them out of the land (see also Deuteronomy
20:15–18).
In the Book of
Mormon,
Nephi taught his brothers that these people “had rejected every word of God,
and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fulness of the wrath of God was upon
them” (1 Nephi
17:35).
The evil acts the Canaanites were guilty of were so infectious and destructive
that to permit them to remain in the land would have led to the spiritual
downfall of Israel. The history of Israel proves this to be true. By failing to
obey the Lord’s commandment to “utterly” destroy the Canaanites, Israel over
time adopted their false beliefs and evil practices, which eventually led to
their spiritual ruin and physical destruction. (See also Old Testament Student
Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel [Church Educational System manual, 2003], 219).
Joshua
7:1–5, 11–12. Achan’s choice and Israel’s defeat by the people of Ai
Elder
Ray H. Wood of the Seventy explained:
“It
may seem difficult for us to understand how the dishonesty of one man could
have had such a far-reaching effect to cause the defeat of the army of Israel
and the death of 36 men. Elder James E. Talmage observed, ‘A law of
righteousness had been violated, and things that were accursed had been
introduced into the camp of the covenant people; this transgression interposed
resistance to the current of divine help, and until the people had sanctified
themselves the power was not renewed unto them’ (The Articles of Faith, 12th
ed. [1924], 105)” (“Made Like unto the Son of God,” Ensign, May
1999, 40).
Speaking
of the influence and effect private choices have on others, President
James E. Faust of the First Presidency taught:
“Private
choices are not private; they all have public consequences. … Our society is
the sum total of what millions of individuals do in their private lives. That
sum total of private behavior has worldwide public consequences of enormous
magnitude. There are no completely private choices” (“Will I Be Happy?” Ensign, May
1987, 80).
Supplemental
Teaching Idea
Joshua
10:1–14. Israel defeats the Amorites and their allies
The
teaching idea below can help emphasize the following principle: As we act in
faith to obey the Lord with exactness, He will be with us and help us do things
we could not do by ourselves. Write or refer to this principle on the board.
Explain
that after Israel obeyed the Lord at Jericho and rectified the situation
involving Achan, the Lord helped them defeat the men of Ai (see Joshua
8:1–27).
Summarize
Joshua
10:1–6
by explaining that ten kings gathered their armies to attack the people of
Gibeon, who had made a treaty with the Israelites. The men of Gibeon sent a
message to Joshua, pleading for help.
Invite
students to take turns reading aloud from Joshua
10:7–14.
Ask the class to follow along and look for how the Lord helped Israel defeat
the armies of the 10 kings.
---How does this account
demonstrate the principle on the board that we identified from the account of
Jericho?
Beginning
a lesson with a relevant question, situation, or problem can lead students to
search the scriptures for gospel principles and doctrines that give them
guidance and direction. If needed, you can make this lesson more meaningful by
using other standards from For the Strength of Youth that may be more relevant
to students’ needs.
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