Day 353 - Joshua 1

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
Listen from:
• BibleTruthPublishers.com
A Reminder. The Old Testament gives us pictures of the steps in the believer’s life. First step — salvation. Then separation from the world, then worship, then service and now in Joshua, warfare. Joshua has replaced Moses as leader. There were a few battles in the wilderness, but it is now going to be one after another in “the land.” Joshua was leading the people to conquer the whole land. God had promised to give them the land, so now they have to take possession of it. Notice carefully the wording of verse 3. Not “I will give you.” For us today, the “promised land” is not so much heaven as the heavenly blessings we have now while here on earth. The book of Joshua is a picture, an illustration, a type of the book of Ephesians. The “heavenly places” (Eph. 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3)) are our Canaan, into which we enter when we accept Christ as Savior. As we enjoy our rich blessings we realize it means warfare against Satan, the one who robs us of our joys if we are unwilling to resist him (James 4:77Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)).
It is a battle! Satan will do all in his power to keep you from understanding this.
V.1-9 The name “Joshua” means “Jehovah the Savior.” It is the same name as “Jesus” in the New Testament. Christ is our Leader in the battles to defend the truth (Eph. 6:1111Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)).
V.10-15 Preparation for the battles ahead! “Victuals,” verse 11, means food which they would need during the difficult days. Christ, through God’s Word, is the food for us Christians (John 6:3535And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)). “Armed,” verse 14, means they were to go “five in a rank,” or in a very orderly way. See the end of 1 Corinthians 14:40.
V.16-18 What respect they had for their leader! Are we Christians as reverent toward Christ?