Iare but the clothes and buttons of the man—the biography of the man himself cannot be written.”
The book of Joshua is not a biography of Joshua in the strictest sense, but it certainly tells us a great deal about this godly man. Like the rest of the Old Testament Scriptures, this book was written both to warn us (1 Cor. 10:11) and to encourage us (Rom. 15:4). Therefore, we ought to take time to review Joshua’s life and ministry and learn from him lessons that will help us know the Lord better and serve Him more effectively.
Joshua’s preparation When God wants to accomplish something, He prepares a servant for the task and prepares the task for His servant. The Lord invested seventeen years preparing Joseph for His work in Egypt and eighty years getting Moses ready for forty years of ministry to the people of Israel. David experienced many years of trials and testings before he ascended the throne of Israel. “A prepared servant for a prepared place” is God’s approach to ministry.
What were some of the “tools” God used to prepare Joshua for his ministry?
Suffering. Joshua was born into Egyptian slavery and knew what it was to suffer. In Exodus 3:7–9, the Lord’s words make it clear that the Jews experienced great affliction in Egypt and cried out to God for deliverance. Nevertheless they had at least three encouragements as they suffered: God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land (Gen. 12:7); God’s prophecy concerning their deliverance from bondage (15:12–17; see Deut. 4:20); and Joseph’s words concerning Israel’s deliverance and possession of the Promised Land (Gen. 50:22–26).
God’s pattern for life is that suffering must come before glory. This was true of our Savior (Luke 24:26; 1 Peter 1:11) and it is true of His people (1 Peter 4:13; 5:10). When we suffer in the will of God and depend on His grace, that suffering has a maturing and purifying effect on our lives. Sadly, we have too many leaders today who proudly display their medals, but they can’t show you any scars. Our Lord’s Calvary wounds are now glorified in heaven, eternal reminders that suffering and glory go together in the purposes of God.
Of itself, suffering doesn’t make people better. Sometimes it makes them bitter. But when suffering is mixed with faith and God’s grace, then it becomes a wonderful tool for building godly character (2 Cor. 12:1–10). If suffering alone gave people wisdom and character, then our world would be a far better place, because everybody suffers in one way or another. When we accept our suffering as a gift from God and use it for His glory, then it can work in us and for us to accomplish the will of God.
Submission. Joshua knew how to submit to authority. As leader of the Jewish army, he followed Moses’ orders and defeated the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8–16). As Moses’ “assistant” for many years (24:13), Joshua stayed with his master and served him faithfully. God’s pattern for leadership is summarized in Matthew 25:21, and that pattern still stands today: when we prove ourselves faithful as servants over a few things, then God can make us rulers over many things. Joshua was able to give orders because he’d learned how to take orders.
Because he was submitted to authority, Joshua was an obedient servant. During the first half of his life, he obeyed Moses, and during the last half, he received his orders from the Lord. The key verse in Joshua’s life was, “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go” (Josh. 1: niv). This should be balanced with 11:15, “As the Lord commanded Moses, his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.”
Delay. It’s through faith and patience that we inherit what God has promised (Heb. 6:12). Had the people of Israel listened to Joshua and Caleb, they would have entered their inheritance four decades sooner and enjoyed it that much longer (Num. 13:26—14:10). Both Joshua and Caleb patiently endured the trials of the wilderness because they knew they would one day claim their inheritance in the Promised Land. In their unbelief, the Jews rejected “the work of faith” and refused to enter the land, but they couldn’t rob Joshua of his “patience of hope” (1 Thess. 1:3).
Leaders must learn how to wait. Often their followers don’t always see as far as they see or have the faith that they have. The vision of future victory is what motivates a true leader; but, like Israel, too often the people are looking back. I suppose every leader has at one time or another identified with Jesus when He said, “O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?” (Luke 9: niv). On more than one occasion Joshua witnessed Moses pouring out his heart to God because of the unbelief and stubbornness of the people.
Joshua’s leadership Are leaders born or made? Probably both. God gives them the genetic structure they need and then develops their gifts and abilities in the “school of life.” Management seminars promise to teach leadership, but if there isn’t some fuel there to ignite, the fire won’t burn. Principles of leadership certainly may be taught, but what it means to be a leader can only be learned on the field of action. To think you’re a leader because you attended a seminar is as dangerous as thinking you’re an athlete because you watched the Olympics on television.
What were the characteristics of Joshua’s leadership style?
He walked with God. Like Moses, his predecessor, Joshua was a man of God. Whoever the Holy Spirit selected to complete the book of Joshua was led to call him “the servant of the Lord,” a title not given to everybody in Scripture. We aren’t told that God spoke with Joshua face to face, as He had with Moses (Deut. 34:10), but we do know that God communicated His will to Joshua and that he was obedient. Joshua meditated daily on the law of the Lord (Josh. 1:8) and did what it said (11:15). He was a man of prayer (7:6–9), for the Word of God and prayer go together (Acts 6:4).
He had courage. At the beginning of his ministry Joshua was told four times to “be courageous” (Josh. 1:6–7, 9, 18). It takes courage to be a successful leader, courage to stand for what you believe, and courage to do what you know God wants you to do. All of us need to imitate Martin Luther when he said, “Here I stand. I can do no other.”
General Omar Bradley defined bravery as “the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.” We aren’t told whether Joshua was ever afraid as he faced the enemy, but we do know that he did his job and won battle after battle. Most of us aren’t called upon to lead armies, but any kind of leadership involves risks and demands moral courage. “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12: nkjv). If we’re timid about life and ministry, we’ll never accomplish much for the Lord. It was because the servant was afraid that he hid his master’s wealth and didn’t take the risk of investing it (Matt. 25:24–30).
Joshua’s courage involved much more than fighting the enemy, as great as that was. He also had the courage to deal with sin in the camp of Israel (Josh. 7) and to challenge the tribes to “get with it” and claim their inheritance (17:14–18). Sometimes it takes more courage to face your own people at home than it takes to face the enemy on the battlefield.
He had a plan and followed it. The conquest of Canaan wasn’t a haphazard affair; it was carefully planned and skillfully executed. First, Joshua cut straight across the land and isolated the north from the south. Then he conquered the cities in the south, followed by the invasion of the north. He moved quickly to subdue the population centers and take control of the whole land. More than once, Joshua led his men on an all-night march in order to catch the enemy by surprise.
It takes planning and strategy to do the work of the Lord successfully. The leader who drifts with the tide and changes direction with every new wind isn’t a leader at all. A Roman proverb says, “When the pilot doesn’t know what port he’s heading for, no wind is the right wind.” If you know where you’re going, you can adjust your sails when the storm starts to blow and still arrive at the right port.
He didn’t quit. When he was defeated at Ai, Joshua admitted failure, sought the face of the Lord, went back, and won the battle. When he foolishly made a league with the Gibeonites, he admitted his mistake and put it to work for him. The successful leader isn’t the one who is always right, because no such person exists. Successful leaders are people who make the best decisions they can and keep on going when they make mistakes. They learn from their mistakes and know how to snatch victory out of defeat.
The American humorist Elbert Hubbard said, “Experience is the name everyone gives his mistakes.” Someone has said that experience is a tough teacher because it always gives the exam first and teaches the lesson afterward. If we turn our mistakes into mirrors, we’ll see only ourselves, and this will make us miserable. But if by faith we turn our mistakes into windows, we’ll see the Lord and get the strength we need to try again. To quote Elbert Hubbard again: “There is no failure except in no longer trying.”
He enlisted others and commanded their respect. Except for Achan, the traitor at Jericho, and Caleb, the man of faith, we don’t know the names of any of the soldiers who served with Joshua, but he couldn’t have done the job without them. The conquest of Canaan wasn’t the work of one man; it was the work of thousands of people who served faithfully in the battle and behind the lines.
True leaders don’t demand respect; they command it. When you read Joshua 1:10–18 and see the way the troops responded to Joshua’s orders, you can’t help but conclude that he commanded their respect and loyalty. He was serving the Lord and the Lord’s people, and they followed him because they knew they could trust him. His motives were pure, his life was godly, and his character was above reproach.
As Moses’ successor and God’s appointed leader, Joshua had authority, but it takes more than authority to lead others. It also takes stature, the kind of character and achievement that will make people look up to you and listen to you. In this day of “media magic,” a public relations firm can “hype” a nobody into becoming an international celebrity, but they can’t give that celebrity the kind of stature that can come only from sacrifice and service. We don’t need more celebrities, but we certainly do need more servants.
Real leaders don’t use people to build their authority; they use their authority to build people. Many a soldier in the Jewish army became a hero because Joshua was in command. A true leader is one who leaves behind people who have achieved far more than they would have achieved had they not followed his or her leadership.
He was concerned about the future. When King Hezekiah was told that the kingdom of Judah would eventually go into captivity in Babylon, his response was, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days” (Isa. 39: nkjv). I don’t want to be critical of a great king, but this statement seems to reek of selfishness. Isn’t a king supposed to be concerned about the generations to come?
Joshua’s two farewell speeches (chaps. 23—24) give ample evidence that he was a true leader, burdened for the future of his country. He wanted to be sure that the people knew the Lord and wanted to serve Him with their whole heart. People who think only of what they can get today are only opportunists and not true leaders. Leadership means planting the right seeds that will bear fruit in years to come for the benefit of others, and Joshua did that.
He glorified God. There was a time in Joshua’s life when he was jealous for the honor of his master, Moses (Num. 11:24–30), but he learned that the most important thing was the glory of the Lord. When the nation crossed the Jordan, it was God who received the glory. “By this you shall know that the living God is among you!” he told the people (Josh. 3: nkjv). When that miracle march was over, Joshua put up a monument so that Israel and “all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty” (4: nkjv). A lesser man would have put up a monument glorifying himself.
As you read the book that Joshua wrote, you see that he repeatedly gave God the glory for all that happened (6:16; 8:1; 10:14; 11:6–8; 13:6; 18:3; 21:43–45). It was the Lord who conquered the enemy and gave the land to the people. It was the name of the Lord that was to be magnified in all the earth. It has been said that a leader is somebody who takes twice as much blame and half as much credit, and Joshua would qualify on both counts.
Joshua’s message The practical message of the book of Joshua is that God keeps His promises and enables His servants to succeed if they will trust Him and obey His Word. The spiritual message is that God has a rich inheritance for His children now, and they can claim it by faith. This message is amplified in the book of Hebrews, especially chapters 3 and 4.
We have seen that, when it comes to the things of the Lord, there are several different kinds of people in this world. Most people are still in bondage in Egypt and need to be delivered by faith in Jesus Christ. Others have trusted Christ and been delivered from bondage but are wandering in the wilderness of unbelief because they won’t enter into their inheritance by faith. Still others have “sampled” the inheritance but prefer to live on the borders of the blessing. Finally, there are those who follow their Joshua (Jesus = “Jehovah is salvation”) and enter the Promised Land and claim their inheritance.
Remember, crossing the Jordan and entering the land is not a picture of dying and going to heaven. It’s a picture of dying to self and the old life and entering our spiritual inheritance here and now, enjoying the fullness of God’s blessing as we serve the Lord and glorify Him. It’s what Hebrews 4 and 5 call “entering into His rest.”
The greatest need in the church today is for God’s people to see how much they are missing by wandering in unbelief, or by living on the borderline of the blessing, and then to claim God’s promises and enter into their spiritual inheritance. We’re a deprived people because we’ve failed to claim our spiritual riches, and we’re a defeated people because we’ve failed to trust our Joshua to lead us on to victory. Too many of us are like Achan, stealing from God, when we ought to be like Caleb, claiming the mountains and overcoming the giants.
Joshua’s God The Lord, not Joshua, is the key person in this book. As you read the book of Joshua, you discover many wonderful truths about God.
To begin with, He is the God of His people Israel, the God of the covenant that He made with Israel through Moses. Though Moses was dead, the living God was still at work in and through His chosen people. When Joshua commanded the people, he often called God “the Lord your God.” Israel belonged to Him.
But He is also “the Lord of all the earth” (Josh. 3:11). While He has a special relationship to Israel, He established that relationship in order to bring His blessing to all the nations (Gen. 12:1–3). The pagan nations in Canaan heard about what God had done for Israel, and they were frightened (Josh. 2:10–11), for none of their gods had ever done such mighty deeds.
He is the God who keeps His promises. He had promised the fathers of the Jewish nation that He would give them their land, and He kept His promise. He had promised Moses that Israel would drive out the nations in Canaan and defeat them, and He kept that promise too. At the close of his life Joshua was able to say to his people that not one thing had failed of all the good things that the Lord their God spoke concerning them (23:14).
He is a holy God who will not tolerate sin. When Achan disobeyed the ban that God had put on Jericho, God withdrew His blessing. The army of Israel was defeated at Ai, and they could not expect victory until Joshua dealt with the sin in the camp. But He is also a forgiving God who cleanses us when we confess our sins, and then gives us another opportunity for victory.
He is a God who requires obedience on the part of His people. Before Israel could enter the land, they had to submit to the requirements that God had laid down; for they were His covenant people. The Lord told Joshua that the secret of his success would be faith and obedience to the Word of God. God had a plan for the conquest of the land; all Joshua had to do was obey that plan.
He is the God who never fails! We may fail Him, but He will never fail us. “When God ordains our service,” wrote J. Oswald Sanders, “He is morally obligated to see us through” (Robust in Faith, 72).
Although much more could be said, let’s close on this note: He is a God who is gracious. In view of the fact that thousands of people were slain during the conquest of Canaan, it may seem strange to think about God’s grace, but the grace of God was there just the same. God was gracious to delay His judgment for centuries before bringing Israel into the land (Gen. 15:16). He was gracious to send the reports about Israel into the land so that the people could fear and, like Rahab, turn to the Lord. He was gracious to wipe out the filthy religion of the Canaanites so that the Jewish boys and girls could grow up in a land where Jehovah was honored and worshipped.
When I was about to graduate from seminary, our class went on a weekend retreat, and for one of his messages, the speaker used Joshua 3: as his text: “Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” I’ve forgotten the outline, but I remember the message: Our tomorrows can be exciting and wonderful if we are all that God wants us to be.
J U D G E SHe is still the God of wonders, and He is still calling us to be a sanctified people who will trust and obey. The God of Joshua lives—but where are the Joshuas? G e n e s i s 1 S a m u e l E x o d u s 2 S a m u e l L e v i t i c u s 1 K i n g s N u m b e r s 2 K i n g s D e u t e r o n o m y 1 C h r o n i c l e s J o s h u a 2 C h r o n i c l e s
J u d g e s E z r a N e h e m i a h R u t h