Joshua

The book of Joshua comes in two parts. First the Conquest of the Promised Land; and second the Occupation of the Promised Land. If we imagine that the Promised Land is our hearts, then the conquest of God of our hearts is won as we surrender and allow Him to overcome us and occupy us. His relentless and faithful pursuit of us is evidenced throughout the books of the Holy Bible. For God to continue to occupy our hearts, His Promised Land, we must be equally relentless in our faithful pursuit to know Him more deeply than ever before. During a time of great uncertainty, Joshua trusted God to lead him. When we allow God to lead us through this perilous life, He works in mysterious, unfamiliar, surprising, awesome ways. As we walk around our Jericho six times, trusting God, clarity replaces our uncertainty every time! Joshua was born in slavery in Egypt, and yet God chose a young, uneducated slave to become a valiant captain of His great army. We too have been drafted into His service. This is a fabulous illustrated commentary on the book of Joshua.

God spoke directly to Moses and after his death the Lord spoke directly to Joshua. “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I sore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law.” (Josh 1:5-7)

The name Joshua means salvation. Joshua is called the servant of Jehovah, the one to whom God issued His orders, and Joshua accomplished God’s purpose by his fearless obedience.

The book of Joshua dramatically paints a picture of Jesus, as the Captain of our Salvation. He was commissioned to courageously take possession of the Holy Land of Israel. Our heavenly Father faithfully ushered His chosen people into the Promised Land with miracles, military victories and treaties. God parted the Red Sea for Moses and He parted the Jordan so that Joshua could take the Ark of the Covenant safely across on dry land. Moses was a great man; however, all mighty men of valor are but servants to the one true God.

God told Joshua, and therefore us: Set your foot down! In other words take a stand for God. We are to take it all the promises of God to heart! God is always working, and His Spirit is always moving. As His instruments of peace, we are to follow God with courage. We are warned NOT to become stagnant in our walk with God. We are the soldiers in His army. Our weapons are not guns. Our weapon against the enemy, who roams around to destroy us, is the sword, the Word of God. “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth.” (Josh 1:8) Go forward into a full life! “Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” (John 1:16)

The first stronghold Joshua faced was Jericho. The people of Jericho were convinced that the Jordan River was their protection. When the spies entered Jericho the prostitute Rahab confided “We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt…our hearts sank and everyone’s courage failed…for the Lord your God is God in heaven above an on the earth below.” (Josh 2:10-11)

God goes before us and says “Follow Me…His Holy Spirit whispers “this is the way, walk ye in it.” The walls of Jericho came down because of God’s faithfulness, and Joshua’s fearless trust in what God would do. The Israelites resisted God’s way for 40 years and entering the Promised Land was delayed.

In the same way our walls of resistance must come down so that God can conquer our hearts and take possession. The fall of the wall before the blast of the seven horns was a miracle! In this we see that it was NOT Joshua’s hard work that made the wall fall, but it was his obedience to march around seven times, and to shout in the name of the Lord!

Joshua took all the land that God instructed him to take. We too must trust and obey God. With faith we can speak a word and heal people, and we can share our testimony that we can share the Gospel with all the souls we can. Joshua died when he was 110 years old, and in His parting admonitions he said “Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness.” (Josh 24:14)

The Word of God focuses on overcoming the enemy so that God may fully occupy our minds, hearts and body. Think on this: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9)

Barb Roose wrote a book called “Winning the Battle of Worry” Click link to Worry No More