Joshua 4 anticipates the need to answer the curiosity of a future generation of children who will ask, “What do these stones mean?” (4:6, 21). Joshua 4 memorializes Israel’s crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land with the construction of a 12 stone memorial, one stone for each tribe of the Israelite nation. The stones were taken from the dry riverbed of the Jordan where the priests bearing of the ark of the covenant stood and were...

Leadership, direction, (Joshua 3:3-4), assurance (Joshua 3:7), and victory (Joshua 3:9-10) are the key themes in Joshua 3 that are associated with the ark of the covenant. The ark of the covenant was a chest-like object that contained a pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the Law (Hebrews 9:4-5). The ark was more than an acacia wood chest, with a gold-plated lid, and cherubim placed on top. It was a symbol of the Lord’s...

Joshua 1 details a very exciting moment in the history of Israel. After being in Egypt for 430 years (1876-1446 BC) and after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years the nation is positioned to receive the long awaited gift of land. Unfortunately, the gift of land could not be unwrapped and enjoyed without a challenging fight. The land that God promised to Israel was occupied and the residents had to be driven out. Now, although a challenge...

“Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.” These are the words that John Sammis wrote in connection with an 1887 Dwight L. Moody evangelistic meeting. In this song, Sammis captured one of the core messages found in the Old and New Testaments. This message to trust and obey seems so simple and so familiar that often we either don’t hear it or we read right over it. Well, I invite you to slow down and...

In the previous posts of this blog I noted that the opening verses of Joshua 1:1-9 detail four themes that are prominent in the content of the book of Joshua. The themes are leadership (1:1-2); land (1:2-4); supernatural triumph of land inhabitants (1:5); and Word obedience (1:6-9). As I summarized each theme I offered a contextual pathway from the Joshua 1 text to the person of Christ. The last and most difficult theme to be considered is...

In this post I want to share with you how I dealt with the obedience theme in Joshua 1:7-9. As I mentioned in a previous post, answering the question “how do I get to Jesus from here” comes after working the details of the text to understand the author’s intention. Once this is done I look for the legitimate canonical trajectories that point me to Christ. In Joshua 1:7-8 the Divine King is calling His servant Joshua to...