Now we will be studying the faith-building book of Joshua. It shows how the people of God entered into the experience of all the promises that He had made to them.

If you have not met the man yet, start with Joshua the Man — forty years of preparation before he gave a single order.

Exodus showed us a picture of deliverance from sin and bondage. In Numbers we saw how the people should have gone directly from Sinai to Canaan, but through unbelief excluded themselves and perished in the wilderness. Joshua is the story of their children, who finally possess all that God had given so long ago.

In receiving Christ, we receive all that God has promised to us in the New Covenant. We must possess our possessions. Hebrews 4 sees the entrance into Canaan as the ultimate rest of faith for the Israelites — it would be their personal trust in God. Read that chapter carefully alongside this book.

A second-hand faith

Keep the two generations clear as you read, because everything turns on the difference between them.

The fathers had trusted God on more than one occasion, but it had always been a faith that depended on Moses. They saw God at work in Egypt, but they were spectators, not participants. Moses was the channel of faith through whom the miracles came, and the Israelites watched and applauded. Faith was something removed from them, vested in him. They had no personal rest in the faithfulness of God.

At the Red Sea they entered into the faith of Moses, for their own faith was so shallow that they could only cry out to God in horror. Exodus 14:10–15

When they fought with Amalek they saw Moses with his hands raised, interceding on their behalf. They experienced the power that came from his intercession, but their faith was not involved. Exodus 17

Now look at who is standing on the bank of the Jordan, and understand how they got there. God had said that everyone who came out of Egypt would fall in the wilderness, and over forty years that is exactly what happened — the entire generation died off, one funeral at a time. Only Joshua and Caleb were left. Numbers 14:29–30

Which means the people about to cross were born in the wilderness. Scripture says so plainly: those who came out of Egypt had all died, and these were the ones born along the way. Joshua 5:5

So they had not seen the plagues. They had not seen the sea open, or Moses on the hill above Amalek. They knew every one of those stories and not one of them from memory. They had it all second-hand, from parents who had seen it with their own eyes and still failed to believe.

That is the point. This generation could not lean on what they had watched, because they had watched nothing. Their faith had to be their own from the very beginning. It is exactly what God was after — and it is why the Jordan was at flood stage when they got there.

The rest of faith

At Kadesh Barnea their personal faith had to be involved. They had to learn to rest in a God who is faithful to His word.

Faith is resting in His faithfulness. The rest of faith is turning our whole attention to God, not to ourselves. The Israelites turned their attention to themselves and said that they could not possibly enter the land — and in their strength, of course they could not.

Whenever we seek to bring to pass the promises of God in our own strength, we always fail. The rest of faith is bringing to pass His promises by looking to Him and expecting of Him. This is what Paul meant when he said that when he was weak, then he was strong. I fully acknowledge my weakness, and so become the receiver of His strength. If I look to my own strength, I cut myself off from His. 2 Corinthians 12:9–10

Now, a generation after that failure at Kadesh, the children faced not only the challenge of entering the land but the river Jordan in flood. Under Joshua they took the opportunity of weakness, taking the promises of God and walking through on dry land — and this time it was their own faith that carried them, not their father’s.

We face the impossible life. We are called to live as He lived. To even think of such a thing in our own strength is to collapse in despair. If we realize that He is our strength, swallowing up our weakness, we enter into the rest of faith.

Walking through the book

One pass, in order, from the commission to the funeral.

Chapter 1 — the commission

“Moses my servant is dead.” Joshua takes Moses’ place, and the charge given him is repeated four times: be strong and courageous, be careful to obey the Law, meditate on it, be careful to do it. Notice that twice the word is careful — this is deliberate, planned obedience, not a good intention.

And notice the tense God speaks in at verses 2, 3 and 11. It was already theirs, but they must now take it and put down their feet. Faith was simply acting as if it was so. We take all that God has given us in Christ and make choices in the faith that says the inheritance is ours. Joshua 1:1–9

Chapter 3 — the crossing of the Jordan

They are led by the Ark of the Covenant. The river is at flood stage, and they enter at harvest — the worst possible moment, chosen by God.

Chapter 4 — Joshua is established

The Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him as they had revered Moses. Joshua 4:14

Chapter 5 — circumcision, and a change of diet

The new generation had not been circumcised in the wilderness — this is the same fact we saw earlier, that these were the children born along the way. Their fathers had been set apart on leaving Egypt; now this generation is set apart going into Canaan.

Then, at verses 10–12, God’s provision changes: the manna stops and they eat the harvest of the land. We move from being sustained by miracle to relying on the promise of the covenant.

Chapters 6–12 — the conquest of Canaan

• Chapter 6 — Jericho, and trumpets as a warning. They march around the city blowing trumpets, once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh. Jericho was being offered the opportunity to surrender for seven days running. Rahab is spared because of her faith.
• Chapter 8 — the covenant renewed at Ebal.
• Chapter 9 — the covenant with the Gibeonites. It was made under false pretences, and it was honored anyway.
• Chapter 10 — the sun stands still for a day. Read verses 13 and 14 slowly.

We must understand that the invasion of Canaan by the Israelites was God’s judgment come upon the people of the land. In Genesis 15:16 God tells Abraham that at the time Israel would enter, the wickedness of the people would be full — that is, ready for judgment. Their utter depravity as a people is described in Leviticus 18:21–30, and for this reason Israel was commanded to utterly destroy them and not to become tainted with their ways. Deuteronomy 7:1–5

Israel does not walk into an empty land, and the Bible does not pretend otherwise. What it says is that God waited. Six hundred years earlier He had told Abraham that his descendants would not return yet, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then. The judgement was not sudden and it was not opportunistic; it was postponed for four centuries while it was earned.

This study reads that alongside the flood — God bringing an end to a corruption that had run its full course, for the sake of what He had made. Scripture does not draw that line itself, so take it as a reading.

And Moses forecloses the obvious misuse before anyone can make it. Israel is told, twice, that they are not receiving this land because of their righteousness. They are not the deserving party. They are the ones being given something.

Genesis 15:16 · Deuteronomy 9:4–5 · Deuteronomy 20:16–18

The land was given by God to Israel, but it had to be taken. When we receive Christ, we receive everything that He died and rose again to give us. We then walk into the world to put down all that would challenge that. Note Joshua 12:1–24: they conquered thirty-one kings, a victory for every day of the month.

Chapters 13–22 — the division of the land

This section is not easy reading. Read it with a good map of Israel beside you — the tribal boundaries map shows each allotment — and become acquainted with the tribal divisions and the major cities. Get in your mind where each tribe settled.

And note this: every family in Israel was given a portion of land by God. If it was lost by debt, it was to be returned to the family at the year of Jubilee. No one owned land as we understand owning, but received it from the hand of God. Leviticus 25:8–55

Chapters 23–24 — the last days of Joshua

Study Joshua’s appeals for the people to remain steadfast. They did not heed his words, and by the time the book of Judges opens they were in a state of dangerous indifference towards God.

Before you move on

As you study Joshua, realize that you stand, as did the Israelites, before all that God has promised you in Christ. You cannot earn it. It has been paid for. But you must rise and, by the exercise of faith, take what is yours. Begin to walk boldly, making your choices concerning life in a way that proclaims to the world and to the Church that all things are now yours in Christ — and that you are taking them.