Part 17 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

Looking at the book of Joshua, David Pawson points out that the first two towns the Israelites came to are written about a lot because of their significance. Jericho was a great victory, Ai, a great loss. God told them not to loot Jericho as it was the firstfruits. They made 2 errors. One was over-confidence because of their first victory. The second was that one man did loot from Jericho. One man’s sin caused the people of God to fail. Joshua preaches his final sermon. He didn’t appoint a successor like Moses because from now on, one man couldn’t do the job alone. So each tribe had its own elders, a very significant move. It actually failed as the people wanted one-man leadership again and demanded a king. But it wasn’t God’s will. Joshua made the people swear an oath of loyalty to God. Through Joshua, God says, I have done all of this for you. I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities which you did not build, and you live in them, and you eat from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant. Out of gratitude Joshua says, ‘so fear the Lord and be faithful to Him and throw away all other gods. As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.’ As long as Joshua’s generation lived, the people were faithful to God, but then, things went badly wrong. Each generation has to rediscover God for themselves.