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)
Awesome! I'm excited.
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