Joshua and the Promise of Rest
For Meditation
Last week we learned about God’s powerful rescue of his people out of Egypt. But while God brought his people out of Egypt, they still had a whole lot of Egypt inside of them. Much of the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy are about the travails and sorrows of God’s rebellious people in the wilderness, as they turned away from God’s faithful rule again and again. The book of Deuteronomy ends with Moses’ death, having gotten a glimpsed of the promised land but never reaching it himself.
So the book of Joshua begins with the Israelites on the brink of Canaan, ready to finally enter into the land. The only thing standing in their way is Jericho, the fortified city with big scary walls and lots of enemies inside. We’ll look this week at the great tale of what happens, and how God uses Joshua and a very odd military strategy to conquer the city.
All of this, of course, is ultimately about God’s promise. We remember God’s promise way back in Genesis 12 to give Abraham and his descendants a land to live in (Gen 12:6-7). On the immediate term, this story is about God fulfilling that promise. But in the bigger Biblical story, this story of Joshua points to the ultimate Hero who will bring God’s people into the land of rest, a “ promise land" that in some ways has already come but in other ways is very much still on the way.
In preparation for worship this week, meditate on Hebrews 4:8-11, and consider how this story about Joshua fits in to the Big Story of Scripture. Ask God to give you the promised rest.
Joshua 5:13–6:5
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord[a] have for his servant?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
1 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”