Wrested Scriptures

Church of Christ
Unique
Catholic
Mormon
SDA
JW
British Israel
Church
of Christ
  Preliminary
  Kingdom of God
  Joshua 21:43-45
  Joshua 23:14
  Nehemiah 9:8
  Isaiah 66:1
  Jeremiah 22:30
  Daniel 2:44
  Daniel 7:7-9
  Micah 4:1-2
  Matthew 3:2
  Matthew 4:17
  Matthew 11:12
  Mark 9:1
  Luke 16:16
  Luke 17:20-21
  John 18:36
  Acts 15:14-17
  Romans 14:17
  1 Cor. 15:25
  Eph. 1:3; 2:6
  Colossians 1:13
  Colossians 3:16
  1 Peter 2:9
  Revelation 1:9
  Revelation 5:10
Pentecostal
Islam

Common
Trinity
Soul
Heaven
Hell
Satan/Demons
"Saved"
Baptism
Resurrection
Antichrist

Science
Miracles
Evolution
Creation
Carbon Dating

Inspiration
Partial
Contradictions
& Inaccuracies

Joshua 21:43
"And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein."

Joshua 21:45
"There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass."

Joshua 23:14
". . . not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof."

Problem:
These verses are usually cited with Neh. 9:8 by the Church of Christ in an attempt to prove that the Abrahamic "land promise" of Gen. 13:15; 15:18 was fulfilled when the land of Canaan was occupied by the twelve tribes under Joshua.

Solution:
  1. These passages in Joshua do not refer to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic "land promise" for the following reasons:
    1. Abraham's seed was promised the land from the "river of Egypt [the Nile] to the Euphrates." (Gen. 15:18). The nation of Israel under Joshua never occupied this complete territory.
    2. Abraham was promised the land for ever. (Gen. 13:15). This personal promise has never been fulfilled as the following passages indicate:
      1. "And he [God] gave him [Abraham] none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." (Acts 7:5).
      2. "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed . . . These all died in faith, not having received the promises . . ." (Heb. 11:8,13)

  2. "All"1 good things is qualified as the following examples indicate:
    1. It was promised, "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee [Moses], and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." (Deut. 18:18). This promise was not fulfilled, as Peter points out, until the coming of the Messiah. (Acts 3:22).
    2. "For if Jesus [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (Heb. 4:8,9)

  3. The "all good things" of Josh. 23:14 refers to Exod. 3:8,12; Deut. 28:1-14. The "evil things" of Josh. 23:15,16 refers to Deut. 28:15-68; Lev. 26:14-39.

  4. The land promised unto the "fathers" alludes to the promise made to Moses (Deut. 11:24) and which referred to land taken by conquest: "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses." (Joshua 1:3). This promise was fulfilled when Israel possessed Canaan.
Footnotes:
  1. "All is frequently qualified in Scripture. See for example. "All living" (Gen. 3:20) refers to humans not animals. Similarly, "all flesh" (Gen. 6:13) did not include those animals and persons saved in the ark. Return