TIMING: In the last story of the Exodus from Egypt we timed the life of Moses to approximately 1400-1201 B.C., and there we also mentioned that Joshua is the leader that took over after Moses to lead the Israelites into the promised land. What is incredibly exciting and interesting is that there is archeological evidence that dates the fall of Jericho to 1400 B.C., which is quite consistent with the biblical timeline (http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/22/world/believers-score-in-battle-over-the-battle-of-jericho.html). The site was first discovered in 1868 by Charles Warren, and in the 1930’s John Garstang discovered the network of collapsed walls, but it was not until the 1980’s that carbon dating corroborated the historical timing of the ruins.   REASON TO READ: Without getting political, let us just say that sometimes a transition of leadership is challenging to an organization, regardless of whether it is a company, a nation, a church, or the descendants of Jacob wandering the desert in prehistoric times. It is remarkable that in the story of Joshua we have such an excellent model of transition of leadership, and in this article, after summarizing the events, we can discuss how Joshua is able to be a little different from Moses, while still serving in the same Spirit and maintaining the same credibility in leading the people of Israel.   BRIEF SUMMA...

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