“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses” —Joshua 1:2, 3.
THE book of Joshua is, in the Old Testament, what the Epistle to the Ephesians is in the New. It sets before us the inheritance of the people of God. Of old they were blessed with all temporal blessings in earthly places in the land of promise through Joshua. Today we are blessed “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Joshua and Jesus are really the same names. Both mean “Jehovah, the Saviour.” Joshua is from the Hebrew, Jesus from the Greek. This explains the seemingly strange statements in Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8. The “Jesus” of those verses is, of course, really the Hebrew general, Joshua, who succeeded Moses as leader of Israel. He was distinguished for his faithfulness to God and to Moses, whose assistant he was (Num. 14:6; 26:65). He and Caleb were the two spies who encouraged the people to go up and take possession of the land when the ten brought back their evil report. By divine command Joshua was selected by Moses to be his successor (Deut. 34:9), and was filled with the spirit of wisdom so as to enable him to lead the people into their inheritance. He was a valiant man of unimpeachable integrity, whose life and character challenged all to devotion to God and obedience to His Word.
“Oh for a faith that will not shrink.
Tho’ pressed by every foe;
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe.
Lord, give us such a faith as this.
And then, whate’er may come,
We’ll taste, e’en here, the hallowed bliss
Of our eternal home.”
―W. H. Bathurst.