Project 119: Introduction to Joshua
| Project 119 | Amy Hirsch
Introduction
Here at the beginning of the year, it seems appropriate that we study Joshua. Joshua wraps up the old—this book completes the story which began in Exodus as we waited with hope for God’s people to be freed from their bondage, to receive the land and home promised to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joshua is the realization of that hope fulfilled. The book begins on the brink of the land, as the Israelites look out on this promised possession. And in that sense, the book of Joshua is also the beginning of something new. No longer are God’s people slaves in a foreign land or nomads wandering around the desert; His promises to give Abraham a people, a name, and a place have been fulfilled (Genesis 12:1-3). Under the leadership of Joshua, Moses’ servant and successor, the Israelites gain access to this promised place and must learn what it means to live faithfully in the land as God’s people.
The book of Joshua may be named after the successor of Moses, but Joshua isn’t the hero of the book: the text emphasizes over and over again the might and authority of the LORD of hosts. Israel doesn’t succeed because of the strength of their army. They aren’t able to overtake Canaan and call this promised land home because of their own prowess. Rather, over and over our eyes are turned away from the Israelites, who are weak and helpless in many respects, and turned toward the God who has given them victory and fulfilled the promises He made to Abraham. And why has He given them this land? His purpose is to make Himself known to all of the earth—“so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear Him” (Joshua 4:24).
The book of Joshua isn’t without controversy, of course. As you read though this narrative, perhaps you will be reminded that the Old Testament certainly isn’t G-rated! We see lots of battle scenes and wars which might make us shake our heads in concern. The Israelites come in and seem to take over Canaan, with God’s blessing. Isn’t God a God of love and peace? Yes, of course—but He is also a God who seeks justice. He has waited for many years for the Canaanites, who inhabit this land, to repent (Deuteronomy 9:5, Leviticus 20:22-26). We are reminded that the earth is the Lord’s alone, and He can choose to give portions of His land to whomever He wills. God used the Israelites to punish Canaan, but He also warned them that He could remove them from the land in the same way if they refused to walk in His ways and worship Him alone.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end in Joshua. Although the covenant first made in Exodus is renewed at the end of the book, we have enough foreshadowings throughout the story that remind us of the Israelites’ fallenness. The people declare that, as for their house, they will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:14-18), but these words eventually become bitter as they tempted by the idolatry of foreign nations. Eventually Assyria and Babylon will come to wage war against God’s people, punishing them in the same way that God used the Israelites to enact His judgment on Canaan. But the hope is that the promise of a land for God’s people has not been lost. In Christ, every promise God has made is fulfilled—and one day, the saints of old and new will gather together in the new heaven and the new earth, in a place where sin will be no more, and we will all live in peace in the presence of the Lord Almighty.