I would like, in a special way, to thank God for your commitment ever since we began this Journey of reading the whole Bible. We have so far covered the first five books and here we are in the book of Joshua. I have to remind you that the books we are dealing with are books about the History of God and the first people (Israelites) he revealed himself to.
We do not worship the God of Israel but rather, the universal God who first revealed himself to the Israelites.
I must also say here that the Israelites (officially) did not appreciate this God as Christianity does today.
So we are reading the Bible seeking the revelation of God to the modern man and as we read and share, our lives and minds will never be the same.
Since we are dealing with the history of how God has been revealing himself to the human race, it matters that I point to the fact that we began at the point of origins and we concluded that we were all created by this God (Genesis 1).
This God, unlike all other creatures, had a rational relationship with humanity (Genesis 2). This rational relationship was violated by the choices of man and resulted in death (Genesis 3-11).
After God’s failed attempts to follow man and control his damage (Genesis, 3, 4, 6-7, 11) he (God) decided to reveal himself to one Patriarch by the name Abram (Genesis 12) whom he took away from his People and his gods (Joshua 24:2), and promised him a land (Canaan).
Canaan, it is said, was flowing milk and honey, but what this means is that Canaan’s (modern day Israel) milk and honey are not its geographical positioning in relation to the super-powers of then and now.
What makes it be a land that flows milk and honey is not because life there is better than elsewhere but because it is the significant CENTER of the World.
God did not choose Israelites in preference to other nations, after all, the Israelites were never known as Israelites until Jacob. They were not a tribe.
This land he gave and settled him there, made him a great man (Genesis 14), blessed his son Isaac until his grandson Jacob walked out of this land in search of food and went settled and died in Egypt leaving the descendants of this man (Abraham) as captives for over 400 yrs.
Again, we see God back to the mission of rescuing his people from captivity and seeking to restore and institute them as his representative nation among all nations (Exodus 1-18). This is what the book of Exodus is about. He makes them a covenant nation on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24), decides to make this nation, unlike all other nations, a theocratic nation (Exodus 25, Leviticus 1-27).
After the nation of Isreal has installed God as its king, it embarks on its way back to Canaan and, after 40 years in the wilderness, and except for Caleb and Joshua, an entire generation is wiped out (Numbers 1-36) and we have a new generation (children of those who left Egypt) addressed by a dying Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. It is at that point that we enter the book of Joshua.
For the first time, we are face to face with a book named after an individual. So far no book has been named after Abraham and Moses the two greatest of Israel but here is this Joshua having a book named after him.
I can only think of two reasons:
1. The meaning of the name, and
2. The part he plays in the entire mission.
In Hebrew, the name we know as Joshua has four forms:
1. Yehoshu’a (Deuteronomy 3:21),
2. Hoshe’a (Deuteronomy 32:44),
3. Yeshoshua’a (Joshua 1:1), and
4. Yeshu’a (Nehemiah 8:17).
The Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) the name appears as Iesous (Yesus). The name Joshua means: Yahweh is Salvation.
At least now we have the first reason why the book is named after an individual. It is not so much on the personality and individuality of the son of Nun but what the name stands for.
Secondly, the book is named after Joshua because while Abraham believed people and ended up in Canaan, his descendants walked out and ended up in slavery.
While the great Moses led people out of Egypt, they all perished in the wilderness. It is Joshua who led the people into Canaan. Through victory after victory, Joshua leads the Israelites into Canaan and it becomes their forever dwelling.
Jesus’ life and ministry were filled with miracles, teachings and wonders, but that never saved us from death. Jesus took on the task and died on the cross for our sins, but that did not let the dead out of the grave. Jesus resurrected and the dead could break out. Hallelujah!! But that did not take us out of this world. Jesus Ascended to heaven, and that established our complete salvation.
We are saved from sin, saved from death and its grave, and finally, we will be saved from this environment (corrupt body and the world) to an eternal Canaan by Yeshua the creator and redeemer of this universe.
Here is a simple outline of the book according to Biblical History:
a. The Conquest of Canaan (Joshua 1-12). This includes the preparation for and crossing of the Jordan (Joshua 1-5)
b. The Distribution of the Territory (Joshua 13-22). This provides a record of the area which was assigned to the various tribes (13-19), the appointment of the six cities of refuge (Joshua 20) and the forty-eight cities of the Levites (Joshua 21), as well as the departure of the Transjordanic tribes to their home.
c. Joshua’s farewell addresses (Joshua 23-24). The first of these is a speech of encouragement and warning. The second recalls the history of Israel, with emphasis on divine interventions on their behalf. At the close of this speech, Joshua issued the famous statement, “choose you this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
So enjoy the book of Joshua in the lens of a saviour who is willing to go to war with all the principalities in all versions and overalls against the SALVATION and DESTINY of his people.
God bless you, I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH.
Pr. ITM WHITE
The Gospel Hawker
iTiS Well of Worship Ministries (John 4:24)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 