‘YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU’ – Joshua, Introduction, 1:1-9
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 31, 2013 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group; July 31, 2013
Joshua, Introduction, 1:1-9
Theme: In this introductory study, we see how God would guide Joshua in leading his people as they took possession of what God gave them.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from
This morning, we begin a study of a wonderfully practical book of the Old Testament—the book of Joshua.
Many have compared this great Old Testament book with the New Testament letter to the Ephesians. Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians is a book that shows us how God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3); and how He urges us to rise up and take full possession of those spiritual blessings. Similarly, the Old Testament book of Joshua is about how the people of Israel—having been delivered from their bondage in Egypt and brought to the borders of the land God was giving them—were urged to rise up and take possession of the land.
The book of Joshua, you might say, gives us an Old Testament picture of the New Testament reality described to us in Ephesians. Or you could think in terms of what we’re told in Hebrews 4:8-9; where we’re told that Joshua had given the people of God only an incomplete and temporal “rest” that was yet to be fulfilled. “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9); and that rest is found only in Christ. This Old Testament book illustrates for us how to take possession of New Testament blessings.
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The Book of Joshua follows in our Bibles after the first five books of the Old Testament written by Moses—that is, the section called the Pentateuch (Greek) or the Torah (Hebrew). Joshua itself is reckoned to be in the second of the great division of the Old Testament books—that is, the historical books. There are twelve historical books in the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 &2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. The historical books tell us the story of the dealings of God with the people of Israel, while they were in their own land before the promised Messiah was born to them—that is, from the time of their possession of the land, all the way to the time of their Babylonian exile and return. Joshua is the first book of this division—telling us the story of how God brought them into possession of the land.
It was written by an eyewitness to the events that it describes—that is, none other than Joshua himself. He was not only one of the greatest military leaders in all of ancient history, but he was also a man of outstanding godliness and faith—a sanctified man of action. He was born in Egypt as a slave; and would have been a first-hand witness to—among other things—such noteworthy historical events as the plagues God brought upon the Egyptians, the miraculous delivery of his people from bondage, the parting of the Red Sea, the forty years of wilderness wanderings, and the entry into the land by the second generation after the exodus.
We first meet him in Scripture when he was taken by Moses up the mountain when God affirmed His covenant with the people of Israel (Exodus 24:13)—at which time he was referred to as Moses’ “assistant”. Joshua was the one that informed Moses of what he thought was “a noise of war in the camp” (Exodus 32:17); but which, in reality, was the people in sinful revelry around the golden calf.
We next encounter Joshua as one of the twelve that Moses sent to spy-out the promised land in Numbers 13. We’re told that his name was “Hoshea the son of Nun” from the tribe of Ephraim (Numbers 13:8). He and Caleb were the only two men of the twelve that came back and gave a favorable report to the people (14:6-10). And these two men, Joshua and Caleb, would be the only ones from that first generation who would live to enter the promised land with the second generation (Numbers 14:30; Deuteronomy 1:34-36)—a distinction that not even Moses enjoyed.
Joshua was, by all human measures, the man to lead the people into the promised land. But it wasn’t by human measures that he was called. Moses had sinned and was forbidden from entering the promised land (Numbers 20:1-13). Instead, God Himself appointed Joshua to perform that task in Moses’ place (Deuteronomy 3:28). Just before he died, Moses affirmed this; and urged Joshua, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:7-8). We’re told that “Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses” (34:9).
Joshua’s original name, Hoshea, means “Salvation”. But we’re told in Numbers 13:16 that “Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua”—which means “Yahweh Is Salvation”. Does that name sound familiar? The Greek form of it is Iesous—that is, Jesus. And as we’re told in Matthew 1:21, our Savior was given that name “for He will save His people from their sins”. Isn’t that interesting? The man in the Old Testament that led God’s chosen people to the blessings God had for them was called by the same name as our Savior; who is “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2)!
The book of Joshua can easily be divided into two main divisions. A very basic outline might look like this:
I. INTRODUCTION (1:1-9).
II. CONQUEST OF THE LAND (1:10-12:24).
A. Preparations (1:20-5:15).
B. Central Canaan (6:1-8:35).
C. Southern Canaan (9:1-10:43).
D. Northern Canaan (11:1-15).
E. Summary (11:16-12:24).
III. SETTLEMENT IN THE LAND (13:1-24:28).
A. Boundaries (13:1-33).
B. Settlements for The People (14:1-19:51).
C. Settlements for Religious Life (20:1-21:42).
D. Return of The Eastern Tribes (21:43-22-34).
E. Farewell (23:1-24:28)
IV. CLOSING (24:29-33).
A good portion of Joshua that would summarize this book might be 21:43-45:
So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.
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Let’s begin our study by looking at the first nine verses. In these opening words, it’s God Himself who speaks. In them, He establish for us how it would be that He would guide Joshua and His chosen people into all that He had for them.
I. GOD’S COMMISSION OF JOSHUA (vv. 1-2).
A. We’re told the historical context of this passage in the first verse; “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant . . .” (v. 1). Moses was eighty years old when he began to lead the people out of Egypt. He died at the age of 120—still a mighty leader of his people. Joshua would be about eighty years old at the death of Moses. He would have spent the last forty years watching as his people wandered in the wilderness because of their disobedience; and would have seen many of his fellow countrymen die in the desert. But he had completed forty years of mentorship under Moses; and thus would have been taught by the greatest leader in all of human history.
B. By the time God spoke to Joshua, He had already trained him well. And so, we read that God spoke to him saying, “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel” (v. 2). What a humanly-impossible task! And by the same token, what a humanly-impossible task is ours!—to take possession of the rich spiritual blessings that God has given us in Christ! But we should always remember that the God who calls is also the God who enables. The hand that points the way is also the hand that carries us there.
II. GOD’S PROMISE TO JOSHUA (vv. 3-6).
A. God tells Joshua, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory” (vv. 3-4). This sounds very much like the remarkable promise God had given to Abraham in Genesis 13:14-17; “And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.’” That promise to Abraham was now about to be fulfilled by Joshua and his people.
B. But what a daunting task! What a great territory! It was filled with enemies! How could it be done? In human terms, the prospect of seizing the possession God was giving them would have been terrifying. But God tells Joshua; “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you”
(v. 5). The same is true for us. As Paul put it in Ephesians 3:20; “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us . . .” “Be strong and of good courage,” God tells Joshua, “for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them” (v. 6). It was God’s part of the task to give them the land; and it was their’s to possess what He gives them.
III. GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS TO JOSHUA (vv. 7-9).
A. But what was Joshua’s part? There were three things he was to be sure to do. The first was to have good courage. It had been fear that had caused the spies long ago to fail to take the land the first time. Fear was not to now paralyze Joshua. And it was not that he was to have courage to do things in His own power. He was to be courageous in obeying God. God told him, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go” (v. 7). In our Christian lives, we don’t need to work up an attitude of self-assertive ‘courage’. That’s foolish; and God won’t bless it. But when God says to do something, and we rise up in confidence in Him and do what He says—even in spite of the apparent human impossibilities, we have a courage He will bless. And we can have courage because of “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe . . .” (Ephesians 1:19)!
B. The second thing was to keep true to the Book. At that time, of course, all the Scripture that Joshua had was the books that God had given to the Jewish people through Moses. But Joshua was to walk in the light of the truth He had been given. His success depended upon obedience to the revelation of God. God told him, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (v. 8). Keeping God’s word in our mouth; meditating upon it in our mind; observing it with our heart so as to do what is written in it—this is the pathway to prosperity and good success in taking hold of the inheritance God has given us in Christ. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:15-17; “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” We understand the Lord’s will, so as to walk circumspectly, by clinging to God’s word.
C. The third thing was to depend on God’s presence. Perhaps Joshua was beginning to be fearful because of the task that was ahead of him. Maybe He needed to be reminded that he wasn’t being called to perform this great task in His own power. God told him, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (v. 9). When Paul wrote his marvelous letter to the Ephesians—a book that instructs us to take hold of our inheritance in Christ—he didn’t deny that there would be a struggle involved. He even wrote a whole section about putting on the armor! But he began it by saying, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).
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The lessons that are ahead for us in this book are truly great! May God teach us from it how to possess all our possessions in Christ! We can! Our God is with us! And as Paul affirmed, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
