Joshua-An Introduction

Introduction

The purpose of our Bible study is to augment the Sunday service sermon series on Spiritual Warfare.

There are three purposes for this study:

Know God (God revels Himself through His Word).

Know the spiritual challenges of the human experience from God’s perspective.

Know the redemptive message (the plan of God).

Why should anybody today study the Book of Joshua, an ancient book that gives a grim account of war, slaughter, and conquest? If the Book of Joshua were fiction, we might accept it as an exciting adventure story; but the book conveys real history and is a part of inspired Holy Scripture. What does it mean to us today?

The Book of Joshua is the book of new beginnings for the people of God, and many believers today need a new beginning.

After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel claimed their inheritance and enjoyed the blessings of the land that God had prepared for them, “as the days of heaven upon the earth” (Deut. 11:21).

Jesus Christ, our Joshua, wants to lead us in conquest now and share with us all the treasures of His wonderful inheritance. He has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings” (Eph. 1:3), but too often we live like defeated paupers.

The New Leader

From Exodus 3 to Deuteronomy 34, the Bible focuses attention on the ministry of Moses, God’s chosen servant to lead the nation of Israel. But Moses died; and though he would not be forgotten (he’s named over fifty times in the Book of Joshua), a new “servant of the Lord” (Josh. 24:29) would take his place.

Joshua 1:1–2 ESV

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.

Joshua the Slave

God spent many years preparing Joshua for his calling. He was born into slavery in Egypt and was given the name Hoshea (Num. 13:8), which means “salvation.”

Moses later changed it to Joshua (v. 16, NIV), “Jehovah is salvation,” which is the Hebrew form of “Jesus” (Matt. 1:21; see Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8).

Joshua was a man of faith who knew the Lord and trusted Him to do wonders for His people.

Joshua the Soldier

Joshua was a general with exceptional military skills. He was also a man of great courage, who wasn’t afraid to confront the enemy and trust the Lord for victory.

According to Exodus 17:14, the writer suggests that God had chosen Joshua for a special work in the future. Unknown to Joshua, the battle with Amalek was a testing time when God was examining his faith and courage. “Make every occasion a great occasion, for you can never tell when someone may be taking your measure for a larger place” (Marsden). Joshua’s conflict with Amalek was the preparation for many battles he would fight in the Promised Land.

Joshua the Servant

It wasn’t enough that Joshua be a good warrior; he also had to know the God of Israel and the holy laws God gave His people to obey.

We shall discover that the secret of Joshua’s victories was not his skill with the sword but his submission to the Word of God (Josh. 1:8) and to the God of the Word (5:13–15).

During Israel’s wilderness journey, Moses had a special tent set up outside the camp where he could meet with God (Ex. 33:7–11). It was Joshua’s responsibility to stay at the tent and guard it. Not only was Joshua a warrior, but he was also a worshiper and knew how to live in the presence of God.

It’s worth noting that when the inheritance was allotted after the conquest of the Promised Land, Joshua took his share last (Josh. 19:49–51).

Joshua the spy

When Israel arrived at Kadesh Barnea, on the border of the Promised Land, God commanded Moses to appoint twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan—Joshua among them (Num. 13). After forty days of investigating the land, the spies returned to Moses and reported that the land was indeed a good one. But ten of the spies discouraged the people by saying that Israel wasn’t strong enough to overcome the enemy, while two of the spies—Caleb and Joshua—encouraged the people to trust God and move into the land. Sadly the people listened to the faithless ten spies. It was this act of unbelief and rebellion that delayed the conquest of the land for forty years.

This crisis revealed some fine leadership qualities in Joshua.

He was not blind to the realities of the situation, but he didn’t allow the problems and difficulties to rob him of his faith in God.

The ten spies looked at God through the difficulties, while Joshua and Caleb looked at the difficulties through what they knew about God. Their God was big enough for the battles that lay ahead!

Leaders must know not only how to win victories but also how to accept defeats.

Joshua the Successor

Throughout that wilderness journey, God was preparing Joshua for his ministry as successor to Moses.

Like Moses, Joshua was human and made his share of mistakes; but he was still God’s chosen and anointed leader, and the people knew this. This is why they said to Joshua, “Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you” (Josh. 1:17, NKJV).

God’s people in the church today need to acknowledge God’s leaders and give them the respect that they deserve as the servants of God (1 Thes. 5:12–13).

The secret of Joshua’s success was his faith in the Word of God (Josh. 1:7–9), its commandments and its promises. God’s Word to Joshua was “Be strong!” (vv. 6–7, 9, 18; and see Deut. 31:6–7, 23); and this is His Word to His people today.

The New Land

The word “land” is found eighty-seven times in the Book of Joshua because this book is the record of Israel’s entering, conquering, and claiming the Promised Land.

After enduring slavery in Egypt and misery in the wilderness, the Jews would finally find rest in their Promised Land (Josh. 1:13, 15; 11:23; 21:44; 22:4; 23:1). This concept of “rest” will show up again in Psalm 95:11 and Hebrews 4 as an illustration of the victory Christians can have if they give their all to the Lord.

The importance of the Land:

God chose the land of Israel to be the “stage” on which the great drama of redemption would be presented.

The New Life

The events recorded in the Book of Joshua have to do with the life of God’s people and not their death!

The Book of Joshua records battles, defeats, sins, and failures—none of which will take place in heaven.

This book illustrates how believers today can say good-bye to the old life and enter into their rich inheritance in Jesus Christ. It explains how we can meet our enemies and defeat them, and how to claim for ourselves all that we have in Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:3).

What Paul’s letter to the Ephesians explains doctrinally, the Book of Joshua illustrates practically. It shows us how to claim our riches in Christ.

As you look at your life and the life of the church where you fellowship, do you see yourself and your fellow believers wandering in the wilderness or conquering in the Promised Land?