Introduction to the Book of Joshua Study

Welcome to this Book of Joshua Study! The book of Joshua is my favorite book in the Bible. Why? Simply because it is full of God’s people taking hold of God’s promises and charging ahead to claim the land that was theirs. Isn’t that what the Christians of this generation need? We need people who truly love and trust God whole-heartedly and are willing to charge into a foreign territory unafraid simply because God made a promise.

Joshua himself was the model leader. Though his leadership was different than that of Moses, the Lord blessed both of them. Moses was a diplomat and was more of a politician, but Joshua was a general. Moses waged war with words and Joshua with his hands. The Lord designed this for a specific reason. Out in the wilderness, the biggest enemy to the children of Israel was themselves; their negative attitude and lack of trust in God. Because of this, Moses was the ideal leader for them because his ministry was focused on the people under his charge. Moses cared for the people and saw to their needs and interceded on the people’s behalf before God.

However, when the forty years of wandering was up and God called His people into Canaan, Moses would not be fit to lead the people into the battles ahead. And so the Lord spent those forty years growing and raising up a military leader who could properly lead Israel when the time for conquest came. Joshua was ideally suited for his mission and properly equipped for his purpose. Our Father does that for all of us! Take a serious look at your talents and gifts…they are there as tools to help you achieve the great mission God has called you to!

I know that when I think of Joshua, I think of a young and strong man…a fresh face in contrast to the ancient Moses. Yet this is not correct. Thoughtful study into Joshua’s life shows that he was born in Egypt. He was around during the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. And when Israel got to Canaan the first time and sent out the twelve spies, Joshua was among them. And we know, that God did not allow the Israelites to enter Canaan for another forty years upon hearing the report of the ten unfaithful spies. So add another forty years to Joshua’s life before he ever becomes the leader. In truth, Joshua was around eighty years old when the conquest for the Promised Land began. That is not the strong young man I always imagined…yet he still achieved great military victories!

The Bible never speaks badly of Joshua. And when you consider the honesty of the Bible in correctly portraying its people, this is astounding! The Bible is full of jealous Sauls, traitorous Judas Iscariots, denying Peters, and yet Joshua stands in a spotlight that few others did. In fact, the only major mistake in leadership Joshua made was that he left no man to replace him as Moses had done. And so the era of judges began following his death in which “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25)

Joshua’s failure to produce a successor was a big one as it paved the way for Israel to desire a king…and they got Saul. Things after Joshua really went downhill until David entered the scene. But throughout Joshua’s life, he was faithful to the Lord and obeyed His every command. That was the secret to his success and his closeness to God has always been something I admire and long to imitate.

The book of Joshua is full of great victories and moves of God! It is eye-opening and encouraging to see the power that God will display in our lives when we lay our will down and serve Him completely.

I am looking forward to going through this study with you all! Now a final note before I close: I do not want this study to be me speaking, you all listening. Please read Joshua along with me, a chapter a day and let us study the book together! Please make comments on what you have been learning in your own personal study and let this study be an opportunity for us all to teach and encourage each other to trust in God and His promises. Every post I write, I write with the hope that it will spark something inside the readers to make them want to go and look for themselves. Please realize that my dearest hope behind this study is that I will not be the only one who opens and searches the Word of God through this time. If this study accomplishes nothing else, I hope it encourages you to truly read and search the Scriptures. This study is not about me, but what God is teaching me that I believe He wants to teach us all. I hope we are all able to study this great book of the Bible as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and teach and encourage each other.

As the John the Baptist said “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)