THE BOOK OF
JOSHUA
O U T L I N E
Joshua. Joshua was a believer in the Old Testament known for his great faithfulness, courage, and leadership. Joshua a man of the tribe of Ephraim, best known as the successor to Moses as the leader of Israel. It was Joshua's privilege to lead Israel over the Jordan river and into Canaan. He set the people off on a good heading in their new land, and worked with them to defeat the tribes of the Canaanites and possess their inheritance.
His life.1 Joshua first becomes known to us as a young man in the book of Exodus. His father's name was "Nun", and he is frequently called "Joshua, the son of Nun". His name from birth was "Oshea", meaning 'salvation' (Num 13:16). But when Moses chose him as the representative spy from the tribe of Ephraim, he changed his name to "Jehoshua", meaning 'Jehovah saves". This touching modification speaks to us of how deliverance, in every way, is only of and through God. Jehoshua was then contracted into Joshua. The Greek form of Joshua is Jesus; the very name chosen by God the Messiah, and given by the angel Gabriel to Mary before the conception (Lk. 1:31) and separately by another angel to Joseph after the conception (Matt. 1:21).
War with Amalek. The first time we read of Joshua is in Exodus 17 in the battle with Amalek. And that battle Moses trusted Joshua as the field commander of the armies of Israel, while Moses and Aaron were up on the mountain. In that chapter Joshua is a type of Christ working in His people, while Moses is a type of Christ interceding for them.
As Moses Minister. We then find Joshua as the minister or servant to Moses, and it appears that he went up on Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:13; 32:17). If this is indeed the case, it would have been an incredible privilege to witness the interaction between Moses and Jehovah, to see Moses receive the tables, etc. Joshua's inexperience is noted when he perceives the noise of Israel's idolatrous feasting as the noise of war, and is corrected by Moses that it was the noise of singing. We see Joshua's inexperience again when he exhorted Moses to forbid Eldad and Medad who prophesied under the power of the Spirit of God in the camp of Israel, after Moses had fainted under the weight of administrative responsibility. Joshua demonstrated that he was loyal to Moses, but Moses correctly pointed out that what was needed was not loyalty to him but loyalty to God. God was certainly resource enough for Moses to depend on to be the sole channel of God's communication to Israel. However, since Moses was unwilling, God's would simply use other vessels. Joshua witnessed a lesson in meekness in that Moses replied: "Enviest thou for my sake? would that all Jehovah's people were prophets, and that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them!"
In the tent of meeting. Before the Tabernacle was built, there was a tent where the Lord's presence was, called the "tent of meeting". When Moses came down from the mountain and found the people going on wickedly, he broke the tables of the law lest the holy standard of God enter where His people, bound to it by their oath, were in such a state. Moses then temporarily removed the tent of meeting outside of the camp of Israel. Moses would speak with the Lord in the tent, and return to the people. It is noted that Joshua did not depart from that tent. It shows that he valued the presence of the Lord. "But his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from within the tent." (Exodus 33:11).
As a spy. When Israel reached Kadesh-Barnea, Moses sent twelve spies across to survey the land (Num. 13-14). He sent one man from each tribe, and chose Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim. After surveying the land and returning with evidence of its fruitfulness, ten of the spies brought back an evil report, which the people believed. Joshua and Caleb on the other hand brought back a good report. Israel simply refused to believe that God was able to bring them into the land and give it to them. This was the tenth of the ten temptations. As a result of Israel's sin of unbelief, they would not be allowed to enter the land. As discipline, they would be forced to wander, going in a great circle through the wilderness for forty years, during which time all those at least twenty years old would die, except for Caleb and Joshua. Nevertheless, Caleb and Joshua would bear the trials of the wilderness along with the people. It is remarkable that we do not hear one word of complaint or rebuke from Joshua or Caleb. After forty years, they came again to Kadesh-Barnea, and from thence approached the land to enter it.
A successor to Moses. In Numbers 27:12-23 Joshua is formally named as Moses' successor. Having been told that he would not go up into the land, Moses cried out to the Lord, concerned about the people in his absence. He prayed to the Lord for a leader to take his place. The Lord answers beautifully: "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and thou shalt lay thy hand upon him, etc." Moses would put his honor upon Joshua, and the whole assembly of the children of Israel would obey him. Joshua did lead Israel into Canaan, and the book of Joshua records the progress of entering, possessing, and dwelling in the land. The great lesson in the book of Joshua is that God gives His people a portion, and His presence will be with them along the way, but there is courage, energy, and faith required to possess and dwell in it!
Overview of the Book. The book of Joshua is the natural link between the five books of Moses and the history of Israel in the land. It is the first of the twelve historical books. The majority of the book was written by Joshua (Josh. 18:9, 24:26) which is supported by several things; the author says “us” (Josh. 5:6) and Rahab was alive when it was writtten (Josh. 6:25). Many scholars believe the book was completed by Eleazar and Phineas after his death. Joshua gives us the historical progress of the possession of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, the son of Nun. The book can be divided into three parts. A verse that summarizes these three parts is Deuteronomy 26:1, where we get three distinct phases of the conquest of Canaan: “when thou comest into the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein“. In Joshua 1-4 we have Israel coming into the land, in Joshua 5-12 we have them possessing the land, and in Joshua 13-24 we have them dwelling in the land.
Practically, there is much for instruction and encouragement in the book of Joshua. There was a new generation in Israel. The older generation had died in the wilderness as a result of their unbelief. There were some left that had experienced the Passover, the Exodus, and Moses coming down from Mount Sinai (twenty years and younger). These had wandered the forty years, witnessed their parents die, and had grown up in their place, having families of their own. The benefited from Moses’ ministry, his special instructions being recorded in Deuteronomy. This repopulated people was probably at least two million (600,000 fighting men, Num. 26:51). The task was left to them, under the leadership of Joshua, to take the inheritance, promised to them by God. The record is flush with practical lessons, whether it be the example of faith in Joshua, the amazing victory over Jericho, or the trickery of the Gibeonites. God had given Israel the land, and would be with them as they drove out the Canaanites, but energy, courage, and faith would be required on their part in order to possess and dwell in it. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses… Be strong and of a good courage” (Joshua 1:3,6). In fact, God seems to be more eager for His people to possess the land than the people are! May God give us the spiritual eyesight to see the true value in His things, and the energy to obey His directions, for His glory and our blessing.
Typically, the books of Joshua can be applied to us as individual believers. Just as Israel crossed the Jordan and possessed their inheritance, so the Christian has died and risen with Christ, and has been brought into a spiritual inheritance. It is neither the wilderness, nor dying and going to heaven, but the possession of our heavenly inheritance while still in the world. In fact, Joshua is a parallel to the epistle to the Ephesians (also Colossians, which we see pictured by the Jordan). In Ephesians, the believer is encouraged to apprehend their spiritual inheritance: laying hold of it, enjoying it, and being prepared for conflict in the defense of it. Canaan therefore typifies our spiritual inheritance, just as Israel had a physical inheritance. We read in Ephesians 1:3; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ”. Like Israel, we too are engaged in a warfare, and must take to us the whole armor of God. Every believer has entered Canaan, but no every believer has possessed it for themselves, and some have chosen not to dwell there, but instead to dwell east of Jordan like the 2 1/2 tribes. The typical meaning of the Jordan, Canaan, and circumcision are all connected in the book of Joshua.
Dispensationally, we find in the New Testament that Joshua was unable to bring Israel into the full portion that God intends for them. “For if Jesus [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” (Hebrews 4:8-9). The reason, as Hebrews shows us, was the unbelief of Israel. Unbelief barred them from entering the rest of God. This is why in Canaan they found not rest, but labor, and conflict with the enemy. Yet there still remains a rest, “a sabbatism”, to the people of God. Who will lead Israel into their true rest? Jesus. The sabbath or rest that is referred to is the Millennium, when Israel will enter into rest and Christ will be vindicated. We see this in a number of ways. The two spies sent into Canaan are a type of the Jewish remnant, and Rahab is a type of the nations who receive the remnant as messengers of the gospel of the kingdom. The Millennium will then give way to the eternal state, where all is of God. Read more… However, it is important to see that it is “his rest”. That is what makes it a perfect rest, because it is a state of things in which God will find His satisfaction.