A Flashback To The Days of Joshua And the Days of Faithfulness (Judges 2:6-9).
‘ Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.'
What a time of triumph and hope that had been. Joshua had sent them to their inheritances strong in faith. They had been confident that this was their inheritance from God through the covenant, and that nothing could finally stand against them. They must empty it of Canaanites and set up a new manner of life, the way of life of Yahweh. But that had been then. How different it was now. Doubt, and fear, and trouble through the years, with more troubles to come, as the book will demonstrate. And why? Because their ‘knowing of Yahweh' had grown dim (Judges 2:10).
Faith to remain firm has to be constantly renewed. That was the purpose of their gatherings at the central sanctuary. But it had to be accompanied by obedience to remain afire. And that had been what was lacking. Their faith was half-hearted. Is ours?
‘ And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of Yahweh that he had wrought for Israel.'
For forty or so years the people had remained faithful to Yahweh and His covenant, during which period Joshua had died, and then the elders who had served with him who had outlived him also died. Some few had, as children, seen the great works that God had wrought in Egypt and at Sinai and in the wilderness, others the great works since leaving Kadesh, including the continued provision of manna to keep them alive (Joshua 5:12). They had experienced the crossing of Jordan and the first unbelievable act of God at Jericho. And reminders of these things at the regular covenant feasts (see Joshua 24) had kept their faith alive.
‘ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, had died, being a hundred and ten years old.'
Compare Genesis 50:26. Here had been another Joseph. One hundred and ten years was seen by the Egyptians as the perfect life span, a tradition seemingly carried on in Israel at this stage. As with all numbers in these early narratives, they are not to be taken too literally. It is a round number indicating the perfect fulfilment of his life and only secondarily indicating a good old age.
“The servant of Yahweh.” Here was one man who had been true to Yahweh, no longer the servant of Moses but ‘the servant of Yahweh', a type of the great Servant yet to come (Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12). It had been the title of honour given to Moses at his death (Deuteronomy 34:5; Joshua 1:13; Joshua 8:31; Joshua 8:33; and regularly) and later to Joshua at his death (Joshua 24:29). It was the final accolade. It was given to no one else by man.
‘ And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.'
Timnath-heres is called Timnath-serah in Joshua 19:50; Joshua 24:30, the letters of "serah" being there inverted from "heres," which means the sun. This may have been in order to avoid connection with idolatrous religion of sun worshippers. There may have been a number of mountains called Heres for this reason (Judges 1:35; Judges 8:13; Isaiah 19:18 Hebrew).