This is the first post in a multi part series on the book of Joshua. This book covers the entry into the promised land, and the settling of the 12 tribes into the conquered areas. We will also be searching for evidence of Yeshua our messiah, and lessons that we can learn in this portion of scripture.
Chazak!
Joshua (Yehoshua) as we will learn is a prophetic example of our messiah (yeshua) as he will bring the children of God into the promised land. We will be drawing parallels between Joshua and Yeshua throughout our study. In the beginning of this book we see that God contacts Joshua and tells him to take the children of Israel across the Jordan river and into the promised land. He makes him a promise that he will be with them and no one will be able to stand against them all the days of his life. He also restates that He will give them all of the land that their feet touches just as He promised the forefathers. Only He gave them one condition, they had to keep the Torah diligently. Restating Deuteronomy 28:14 not to turn to the right or to the left to go after other gods to worship them. He is reminding them that there are blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Here in chapter 1 we see YHVH is telling Joshua again "be strong" an encouragement and a reminder of what Moses had just finished telling him in deuteronomy 31 that YHVH will be with him always. Then the people reveal that they are finally ready to put their faith in God after their long walk in the wilderness. This seems very much prophetic as we are seeing the fruit of this today! We are seeing Israel repent and God is leading them back into the promised land. The world is trying to destroy them whenever they can but somehow Israel seems to be in God's favour. The People then declare that they will follow Joshua and trust everything that he tells them because God is now with him as he was with Moses.
The Crimson Cord
Chapter 2 begins with Joshua sending 2 spies to Jericho. They come across a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed in her house. She gave them safe passage out of the city in exchange for protection. Because she and her family feared YHVH. Rahab showed a great example of how Faith without works is dead. (James 2). If Rahab had just had faith that YHVH was the one true God but had not done anything about it she would have perished. But instead she proved her Faith by helping the spies. And in return her household would be spared from the wrath of God. All she needed to do was to tie the crimson cord in her window. This seems oddly reminiscent to the passover story. If they would mark their dwellings with the blood of the lamb they would be spared. This is the same thing here. Her household was also covered by the blood (the crimson cord). This all relates to the work of the Messiah and I will refer you to my post on The Spring Feasts for more on that topic. The two spies returned to Joshua and told him what they had experienced.
Promised Land!
in Chapter 3 we shift gears and turn our focus back to the children of Israel. Joshua is about to take the people into the promised land! So YHVH decides it is time to show Israel that He will be with Joshua as he was with Moses. The people consecrated themselves the day before because YHVH is about to do wonders in your midst. The next day YHVH parts the Jordan river just as he had the reed sea, and the nation again passes through the waters on dry ground. This is a beautiful foreshadowing of the work of our messiah. The people sanctify (cleanse)themselves, pass through the waters and are led by Yehoshua into the promised land. This brings to mind 1 Corinthians 6:11, Matthew 28:19, 1 Thessalonians 4:17. We are cleansed in the blood of Messiah, baptised in His name, and we will meet Him at His second coming and we will forever be with Him in paradise!
That's it for this section of Joshua. Thank you all for reading this and I hope you learned something and were blessed! Shalom.