Day 10: Joshua 1
Generations before Moses, God had promised Abraham that he and his descendants would live in the Promised Land. He renewed that promise to Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. When Moses led the people out of Egypt, they were on their way to inhabit that land. However, due to the people’s sin and rebellion, God declared that the generation that had come out of slavery in Egypt would not see that good land. Instead, they wandered in the desert for 40 years. God took care of them in miraculous ways during this time, such as feeding them with manna from heaven and guiding them through his presence in the tabernacle. But Moses and the Israelites who followed him would die before entering the land that God had promised to their forefathers.
When Moses died, a new leader arose in Israel: Moses’ former aide, Joshua. He would be the one to lead God’s people across the Jordan River and into the land God had designated for them. Here in the first chapter of Joshua, we see God’s encouragement and challenge to Joshua and then Joshua’s subsequent encouragement and challenge to the people. The land God had promised was occupied by other tribes who did not worship the one true God. Their lifestyles and cultures were marked by sexual sin, child sacrifice, and idol worship. Joshua and the army of Israelites would have to drive out these various peoples in a series of battles that probably seemed terrifying to the people. A few tribes of Israel - the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh - would eventually occupy land outside the boundaries that God had set for the Promised Land, but they too were to go in with their brothers until they found rest in the land.
There, on the banks of the Jordan River as they prepare to cross and fight for God’s kingdom, God tells Joshua to live by his laws and to be strong and courageous: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (vv. 8-9). God’s word and laws were to guide them, and his presence would strengthen them as they entered into this new and unfamiliar territory.
The remainder of the book of Joshua details how God led the people of Israel to occupy this land. The evil in the land was driven out, and the good rule of God led the people to their promised rest. However, the next book of the Bible, Judges, shows us how temporary this rest was, because the people were still full of sin and rebellion. One greater than Joshua was needed. And when Jesus - whose name is the Greek form of the name Joshua - came, he completed what the first Joshua had started by overcoming the powers of evil and bringing God’s people into their eternal and permanent rest. Jesus, like Joshua, came up out of Egypt (see Matthew 2:13-23) and fulfilled the purpose that God had called him to. (For another connection, see Hebrews 4:1-13.)
Questions for reflection and discussion: How can God’s word and God’s presence guide you as you enter new and unfamiliar territory in your life? What evil is God calling you to fight against and drive out in your own life or in the world? In what ways does this part of the Old Testament narrative foreshadow what is yet to come in the person and work of Jesus?
