Joshua

Overview – June 2014 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Joshua

“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.” —Joshua 1:3 NKJV

Joshua means “Jehovah-Savior,” the same name as Jesus in the Greek language. This is a book of militant conquest and victory. Israel is seen calmly dependent on God, not rushing eagerly to battle, but with quiet deliberation taking each step as led by the word of God. They enter the Promised Land by the divine stepping into the Jordan River – a type of the death and resurrection of Christ as linked with His people. Each enemy in turn must give way to God’s power among His armies. Though there were painful setbacks for Israel because of their lack of faith, yet the general theme of Joshua is taking possession of the land God had given them and doing so by dispossessing their enemies.

The book compares with Ephesians in the New Testament, for the land of Canaan speaks of “heavenly places” or “the heavenlies” – the present blessed sphere into which believers are brought “in Christ Jesus.” Our blessings (Eph. 1:3), position (Eph. 2:6) and conflict (Eph. 6:12) are in heavenly places. And, for us to take proper possession of our spiritual possessions we must have on “the whole armor of God” by which to resist and defeat the hosts of Satan who would hinder our enjoying what is rightly ours. Therefore, the Word of God is to be our meditation “day and night” (Josh. 1:8). Further, Joshua is a type of “Christ in you,” that is in all His saints, leading them in victory over the enemy’s power. By faith let our feet tread in that good land and make it experimentally [by experience] our own.

By Leslie M. Grant

This column is taken from the book: The Bible, Its 66 Books In Brief.
It is available from the publisher:Believer’s Bookshelf USA.