The first few chapters of the Bible fill us in on God’s good creation and man’s wicked rebellion that brings about sin, death, and brokenness everywhere. However, even in the midst of humanity’s fall, God declares that He will one day make all things right again by sending a Snake Crusher (Genesis 3:15). This news is so important, good, and gracious. Even though humanity rebelled against Him, God made a promise to send a deliverer. This promise making and promise keeping God is what the story of the Bible is all about. Tim Chester rightly summarizes that, “The Bible is the story of God’s salvation” and that “at the heart of God’s story is a promise.” God’s promise gets more clearly articulated in Genesis 12:1-7 when God makes His covenant with father Abraham. One of the main elements of God’s promise to Abraham is that He will give His people a place. And this is what the book of Joshua is all about. We see in the book of Joshua that God is continuing to fulfil His promise to His people to give them a place of blessing and rest. Through our time in Joshua we will see at least three things. 

First, we will see that God is faithful to keep His promises. God has already begun fulfilling His promise to Abraham in the story of Exodus, when He raised up Moses and redeemed His people out of slavery in Egypt. However, by the end of Moses’ life, God’s people are still wandering in the wilderness. Joshua is the successor to Moses and the book of Joshua can be seen as a part two of the Exodus story. The book opens with God telling Joshua that He is going to give His people the land He promised (Joshua 1:1-5) and then we see in Joshua 21:45 after they had taken and divided the land, “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (ESV). God always keeps His promises and delivers on them in His perfect timing. This is to be such a great encouragement to us as His people today and everyday. We serve a faithful, promise keeping God. He will do what He says He will do. Joshua reminds us again and again of this reality. In the midst of the turbulent and uncertain times we find ourselves in, we can and should trust in Him with the entirety of our lives. 

Second, we will see that Jesus (whose name in Hebrew actually is Joshua) is the better Joshua. The book of Joshua begins with the death of Moses (Joshua 1:1-3) and ends with the death of Joshua (Joshua 24:29-30). Both Moses and Joshua helped fulfil part of God’s promise to His people, but in the end both left God’s people looking for a better deliverer who would completely fulfil every promise of God. This is precisely who Jesus is and what He does. He is the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham that He would provide a place of peace, rest, and blessing for his offspring. He provides us peace and rest from the bondage of sin and guilt and invites into a life of blessing as He brings us back into a relationship with Him. The peace, rest, and blessing that humanity is looking for is only found in the work of Christ. God never intended a plot of land in the middle east to be the final place of rest for His people. If we are to have true rest and peace now and for all eternity, the only place we will find it is in Christ. 

Third, we will see that as we find peace, rest, and blessing in the place God has provided for us, we are to share this good news with the world around us. God’s people were to live in the land that God provided as a set apart people. They were to reject the idols of the land and worship the one true God for all the world to see how a redeemed people were intended to live as worshipers of God in this broken world (Joshua 24:1-28). They were to be a light to the nations. Now, as we come to Christ, the true place of rest, peace, and blessing, we are to shine His light and hope in the world He has sent us to.

I am so excited and hopeful to journey through the book of Joshua with you over the next few months. I am confident that our promise keeping God has wonderful things in store for us all as we walk through His word together. As we find our rest in Christ, I am praying He grows us into a people who trust Him more fully so that we might “be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:6-7, 9, 18) as we live Sent declaring the gospel to our broken and needy world. I certainly hope you will join us (and invite a friend or seven) either in person or online through our time together in Joshua.

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1 Chester, Tim. “From Creation to New Creation”, p. 10

2  Ibid. p. 10