⚔️WEB · Joshua 24:7
What does Joshua 24:7 mean?
"When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days."
— Joshua 24:7 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
“‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea.
When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days.
“‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you.
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,
but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.
Explanation
Joshua 24:7 comes in the middle of a speech Joshua delivers to the assembled tribes of Israel near the end of his life, at Shechem. In plain terms, the verse recalls a specific moment from the exodus story: when the Israelites, fleeing Egypt, cried out to God in fear as Pharaoh's army pursued them, God responded by putting darkness between the two camps (shielding Israel from the Egyptians) and then bringing the sea down upon the Egyptian army, drowning them. Joshua reminds the people that they themselves witnessed this—"your eyes saw what I did in Egypt"—and then notes that they lived for a long stretch of time in the wilderness afterward, referring to the forty years of wandering before entering the promised land.
The context is crucial. Joshua is an old man nearing death, and he gathers the tribes to renew Israel's covenant with Yahweh before he departs. The bulk of chapter 24 is a historical recital—Joshua walks through Israel's entire story, from Abraham through the exodus, the wilderness years, and the conquest of Canaan, all as a way of demonstrating God's faithfulness. This particular verse recalls Exodus 14, the account of the crossing of the Red Sea, where God used darkness and the sea itself as instruments to protect his people and destroy the pursuing Egyptian army. Joshua isn't teaching new information here; he's reminding a generation (and the children of the generation) who either witnessed this or grew up hearing about it, so that they will renew
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