Joshua - Lesson 2

We sometimes get the feeling that the men and women of the Bible were somehow super-beings who reached levels of spiritual living to which we are not able to achieve. But they were human just as we are. So then we must ask the question, why do these biblical characters seem to be so untouchable in terms of role models? What was so different about them?

The answer is such a simple one that is difficult for many of us to accept. They believed God and followed Him in such a way that He was able to reveal Himself and His strength in and through them!!

Most of us really would like to measure up to the saints of the Bible but somehow we just don’t seem to know how to get there. Well, those of us in that situation are in good company. So given that possibility, this study of the Old Testament person of Joshua is designed to give us some directions on achieving the more mature Christian life. The object of this study is to provide biblical authority and encouragement on specifically how we can grow in our faith and become more mature Christians!!! But be forewarned, there is no magic bullet or pill that gets us there.

The man whose life we will now study is Joshua, a person of faith and courage. When we get to the very first chapter of the Book of Joshua you will notice that faith and courage are repeatedly mentioned as God speaks to and directs the life of this man.

The answers to the two questions I raised above have already been answered in the two words, faith and courage. But we will spend this year looking at how we develop those characteristics which result in growing to spiritual maturity.

These two qualities made Joshua a man of action. He was also a man who was submissive to God, obedient to God’s Word and faithful in meeting the obligations and responsibilities placed on him.

Most of what we will be looking at is related to Joshua as he is related to Israel in the conquest of Canaan. But we will necessarily look back at some events in his life. From this study of Joshua we expect to learn some very special spiritual lessons that lead to spiritual maturity. Clearly, Joshua exhibits many of the qualities that will help us with our own spiritual lives.

One of the great characteristics for which he is remembered was his leadership of Israel in conquering Canaan. But as with all successful leaders there were certain events in his life that laid the foundation that led to his successes as a leader.

His life can be divided into three stages. The first stage covered a period of about 40 years, during which time he was in Egypt. You will remember that the Israelites were in Egypt for 400 years, during which they became enslaved by the Pharaohs. This was the condition of Joshua for these 40 years. But even though he was a slave, he was also a servant of God. It was in this capacity of slavery that he learned obedience and submission to a hard task master.

This stage of his life is an example of the spiritual situation that we were in as unregenerates and subject to Satan. We too were under a hard task master. Satan loves to expose us to the harshness of his kingdom.

It was no doubt because of his devotion to God that he became a close friend of Moses, but this friendship developed rather quickly because Moses had been away from Egypt for a long time. This is speculation. At any rate he became very close to Moses as they left Egypt; we might even call him an understudy to Moses.

We don’t know a great deal about his life in these 40 years but we find some interesting information in:

· 1 Chronicles 7:27, Nun his son and Joshua his son.

This tells us that Joshua was the oldest son of Nun. Now what do we know about the oldest sons of the Israelites when they were in Egypt? Need a hint?                      (Think Passover).

That’s right. Joshua was the oldest son of Nun and was subject to the death angel as one of the plagues God brought on Egypt. The Israelites were not exempt from this plague on the firstborn, except as they obeyed God’s plan for there to be a lamb slain and the blood sprinkled on their doorposts. Joshua may have been nervous about this since he was the firstborn, and this could have been a great test of his faith in God. And in the light of the New Testament we know that the Passover was a type for us being spared from the judgment of sin because Jesus died in our place. This time it was the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God that was shed.

The next stage of his life was another 40 year period which was the period that the Israelites were in the wilderness and the third stage was the last 25 years of his life during which he was the leader of the Israelites in their conquest of Canaan.

During all three of these stages Joshua was consistent in his spiritual behavior. We should not be disappointed if we learn that there were failures and shortcomings in his spiritual life, because the Bible is very honest and does not cover up the blemishes in its characters. But he was obviously successful as a leader and particularly as a military leader and this is attributed to the quality of his spiritual life, his faith.

The first time Joshua is mentioned in the Bible is:

· Exodus 17:8-9, The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."

This incident occurred soon after the Israelites left Egypt, probably within the first year. Once in the desert they were faced with opposition by the Amelekites

There is always something interesting about the first mention of a person or thing in the Bible. So in this case we know that Joshua had learned to obey and was therefore qualified to command the Israelites as Moses ordered. So Joshua first appears to us as a warrior and a man of war. This was not only a physical battle but a spiritual one as well, based on his faith.

Do you remember the twin sons of Isaac, Jacob and Esau? Well Esau was the older brother and according to custom, was entitled to the family inheritance. We know that Esau was not the more upright of the two, but it may surprise you to know that Amalek was the grandson of Esau. Amalek in this case is a type of our old nature in the flesh while Israel is a type of the spiritual life and a type of the spiritual battle that confronts each of us. The type becomes clearer when we look at:

· Exodus 17:10-13, So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

You see, Joshua was in the front lines of the physical battle and Moses entered into a spiritual warfare on behalf of Israel. It is clear from the history that Moses’ intercession was essential to Joshua being victorious. Do you get the picture here? It is the same with our lives. If we are to be victorious in our spiritual warfare, we must recognize the need to be dependant on the One who makes intercession for us. Moses in this case is a type of Jesus, our intercessor.

By prayer, faith and physical combat, the battle was won.