It is quite clear that Joshua is far from being a person of superhuman qualities. Otherwise would he have needed to constantly to be exhorted to “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:6)? This doesn’t seem to indicate that Joshua was a natural for leadership. But this is not an unusual selection for the God who chooses the foolish, the weak, the despised, and “even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:28).

The root of the matter is that Canaan is not conquered by Joshua’s superior military strategy or dominating heroism, but the Lord gives his people the land (Joshua 1:2). That is why the land becomes Israel’s. Joshua is the necessary and highly valued human agent at the heart of the process, but as he learned from his first encounter with the Amalekites, the battle belongs to the Lord. Contemporary Christian leadership badly needs to relearn that lesson. God is the hero of the book of Joshua. Everything is directly and categorically attributed to him, as the end of the book makes abundantly clear. The Lord gave Israel the land. The Lord gave Israel rest as he delivered their enemies into their hands. Every one of his promises was fulfilled (see Joshua 21:43-45).

—David Jackman 

Source: Content taken from Joshua: People of God’s Purpose by David Jackman ©2014. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 

The next time you read the book of Joshua, make a note of the various “memorials” that were raised, some bearing witness to great victories and others to tragic defeats. (See Josh. 2:9, 20-24; 7:26; 8:29-30, 32; 10:27; 22:10ff; 24:26-28).

—Warren Wiersbe

Source: Wiersbe, Warren W. Preaching and Teaching with Imagination: The Quest for Biblical Ministry. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1994.

The book of Joshua has a very practical application to the believer today. The Promised Land cannot be a type of heaven since heaven is not a place of conflict and conquest. Heaven is received as a gift of the grace of God. Rather, the Promised Land represents the place to which believers are brought right here in this world today. The book of Joshua corresponds to the Epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament where we see that the believer is blessed with all spiritual blessings. The practical possession and experience of them depends upon conflict and conquest. These are never attained through the energy of the flesh, but through the power of the Holy Spirit in the yielded life of the believer. The book of Joshua is the pattern, and it illustrates the method by which the believer can possess what God has given to him.

—Dr. J. Vernon McGee

Source: McGee, J. Vernon. Thru the Bible Commentary, Vol. 10: Joshua & Judges. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991. Quote retrieved from Thru the Bible at www.ttb.org.

Note: We would recommend that you read the book of Ephesians in the Bible after reading Joshua, and discuss it as a family in light of this helpful insight!

Here we find the opening chapter where the command is given now by God to march. “Now therefore,” he says, “Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses” (Joshua 1:2-3 ESV).  

Now this is quite a promise. “Everywhere that you go. Every footstep that you take, you will be stepping on land that I will (?) give you”—No. This is one of the fascinating points in this announcement by God. “I’m sending you to the land that I already have given you.” What’s going on here is a command for the people to actualize and realize in time and space in history what God had already decreed from eternity. It’s not that “I will give you this land” but “I have already done it. My sovereign decree is that this land belongs to you, all you have to do now is go in and possess that which I have already given.”

—R.C. Sproul

Source: R.C. Sproul, quoted from his message, “Be Strong and Courageous.” © Ligonier Ministries 2023. Used by permission of Ligonier Ministries. Source: Book of Joshua

The reality is clear that Christians throughout the ages have been called upon to suffer. What God does promise categorically and what he does promise absolutely to Joshua and to us through Jesus is his presence: “I will be with you,” and the negative, “I will not forsake you.” Now there are many times when we feel like God has deserted us. There are many times that we feel the absence of God and we feel like he has forsaken us. But then the test becomes our sensual feelings and the integrity of the Word of God. God didn’t promise that you would never feel his absence. He said you would never live in his absence… The truthfulness of God’s integrity in keeping his word rests not upon my feelings or upon your feelings but on his character. That’s what he was asking Joshua and the people of Israel to believe.

—R.C. Sproul

Source: R.C. Sproul, quoted from his message, “Be Strong and Courageous.” © Ligonier Ministries 2023. Used by permission of Ligonier Ministries. Source: Book of Joshua 

Do you want to be strong in the Lord? Then believe what Joshua believed: That God is all-powerful, that God always keeps His promises, and that God is always with you no matter what. If you believe those three things about God, you will be strong in the Lord!  

—Ken Baugh 

Source: Baugh, Ken. Introduction to Be Strong (Joshua): Putting God’s Power to Work in Your Life, by Warren Wiersbe, 7-10. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook Publishing, 1993. 

Sin in the life of the church grieves the person of the Holy Spirit and quenches his power. If sin remains unchecked by the loving application of church discipline in a body of believers, the Holy Spirit must abandon such a church to its own carnal resources. The unavoidable result will be the loss of the Lord’s blessing until the sin is dealt with. The defeat of Israel because of the sin of Achan in Joshua 7 illustrates the principle.

—J. Hampton Keathley

Source: J. Hampton Keathley III, Church Discipline. Copyright © 1996-2023 Bible.org, published with permission. Quote retrieved from Grace Quotes at gracequotes.org. 

[Nancy Guthrie asks Dale Ralph Davis why the story of Achan is in the Bible] I think it’s there partly to say that if you want to enjoy the benefits of Yahweh’s presence among you, you have to deal with open and public sin among the people of God. You really have a disciplinary procedure among God’s people. And Yahweh makes it pretty plain—“I will be with you no more unless you destroy the devoted things from among you” (7:12). If they’re going to enjoy the presence and the provision of God, they’ve got to take care of sin in their midst. Sin can’t be ignored. 

—Dale Ralph Davis

Source: Davis, Dale Ralph. Interview with Nancy Guthrie. Help Me Teach the Bible. Podcast audio. July 9, 2015. This podcast originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition. 

From Bibles.net: We strongly encourage your family to listen to this podcast! It answers many great questions about how to study, interpret, and learn from the book of Joshua.

The other factor to remember is how daunting and seemingly impossible this task must have appeared as Joshua and the people faced the crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of the land. That was why they needed constantly to be exhorted to listen to, remember, and put their faith in the word of their God, revealed in his promises. This was to be the first generation dependent on the written instruction of God in the Torah and on the requirements of faith and obedience recorded in the book of the covenant. Face-to-face conversation with the Lord was not Joshua’s constant privilege, as it had been Moses’. He had to lead the people dependent on the written word and the spirit of wisdom, just as Christian leaders do today. When we face the daunting task of reaching our increasingly hostile culture with the good news of Christ, our equivalent dependence on the Word of God in the hands of the Spirit of God to accomplish the work of God is just as vital. That is our only means of advance too. So as we unpack the book of Joshua, we are not dealing with ancient history so much as with the living God who rules all history for the accomplishment of his eternal purposes of grace and glory.

—David Jackman

Source: Content taken from Joshua: People of God’s Purpose by David Jackman ©2014. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Is there anywhere in your life where the enemy is persisting? You need to make sure you’re resisting. James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” He is a persistent thing. Is there anywhere in your life where the devil is persisting? Be sure that you are resisting. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Stand firm on the promises of God. Cling to the person of Jesus Christ—he is a warrior on behalf of his people, the Lord is. The great failure of Israel in these chapters (Joshua 15-21) was they failed to drive out the enemy from some key regions. They allowed the enemy to remain and the enemy got a stronghold and that would come back to haunt them and to pull future generations away from following after God. Is there anywhere in your life where you’ve let the enemy persist? There’s a stronghold or maybe just a foothold, or maybe just a finger-grab, but you’re letting it remain. You’re not routing the enemy out of that area. You’re letting him have that place in your life. Brother, sister, don’t do it. Rout the enemy out today in the name of Jesus Christ. You stand firm and resist him. You come forward to the prayer team and you have them all lay hands on you. You cry out on God. You do what you got to do to get the victory today because the enemy comes to kill and steal and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Any area where you’re allowing the enemy to maintain ground in your life—don’t do it.  (Joshua 15-21). 

—Britt Merrick  

Source: Britt Merrick, quoted from his message, “Will You Serve the Lord?” on Joshua 24, preached at Reality Carpinteria on September 9, 2007. Used by permission of Britt Merrick.

Oh, that all Christians would simply lean on their faithful Joshua and follow him only! Christ wants to lead us into what he has purchased on the cross for us.

. . .

What was the Ark? The symbol of the divine Presence. And Christ is the reality of the divine Presence. He says, as God did to Moses and Joshua, “Surely I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). God goes before us and says, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19; 8:22; 16:24; Luke 9:23; John 21:19); and he sends his Holy Spirit to whisper in our ear and say, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). The living Ark of the Covenant is still our guide. He will guide us in the little as well as the great things of life. Yes, “the LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him” (Psalm 37:23).

—Henrietta Mears 

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.  

1. Is there anything right now that has you hemmed in and cut off from where God wants you to be? (Joshua 3)  

2. Is there anything that’s obstructing your view of Jesus Christ? (Joshua 3:5)  

3. Are you willing to get your feet wet, and take a step of faith into where God wants you to be? (Joshua 3:15) 

4. Are you on the Lord’s side? Are you into what the Lord is doing? (Joshua 5:13-15) 

5. Is there any hidden sin you have had that’s keeping you from victory? (Joshua 7) 

6. Is there any hidden sin that we’ve had that is keeping us from victory—those little things that we harbor and say, ‘Lord, this is not for you.’ You need to know that you cannot experience victorious Christian living with sin hidden deep in your heart—with rebellion that you’re harboring. You just will not be able to get the victory. Those things need to be repented of. (Joshua 7)  

7. Is there anywhere in your life that you’re compromising? Is there anything the Lord has called you to do, and you’ve left it undone at this time? Go back and do it, brother. Go back and do it, sister. It will bring peace into your spiritual landscape. Obedience brings peace to our lives. Compromise yields turmoil.  (Joshua 11)  

8. Have you recorded the victories God has given you through Jesus Christ? (Joshua 12)  

9. Is there anywhere in your life where the enemy is persisting? There’s a stronghold or maybe just a foothold, or maybe just a finger-grab, but you’re letting it remain. You’re not routing the enemy out of that area. You’re letting him have that place in your life. Brother, sister, don’t do it. Rout the enemy out today in the name of Jesus Christ. (Joshua 15-21) 

10. Who is the master of your life today? (Joshua 24:15) 

11. Is there anything you’re doing to make the Lord jealous? (Joshua 24:19) 

12. Is there anything in your house that’s an abomination to the Lord? You ought to get it out of your house today. (Joshua 24:23) 

—Britt Merrick  

Source: These are notes adapted from Britt Merrick’s message, “Will You Serve the Lord?” on Joshua 24, preached at Reality Carpinteria on September 9, 2007. Used by permission of Britt Merrick.

“Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:45 ESV). 

Here’s a promise [the promise to give Abraham’s descendants a land] that Yahweh says he’s going to bring to pass here. This is an old promise—depending on when you date the conquest and date Abraham—but you can say “this is 600 years old!” This is an old promise. And yet Yahweh is going to fulfill an old promise.  

We say “Oh, ho-hum, big deal! I don’t have that problem…” No, no. You do have that problem! You’ve got old promises: “I will come again, and will take you to be with myself” (John 14:3) That [promise is] 2000 years old! That’s worse than what Israel had with Abraham’s promise! Our whole faith is based on old promises that you believe that God is going to fulfill.

—Dale Ralph Davis

Source: Davis, Dale Ralph. Interview with Nancy Guthrie. Help Me Teach the Bible. Podcast audio. July 9, 2015. This podcast originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition.

From Bibles.net: We strongly encourage your family to listen to this podcast! It answers many great questions about how to study, interpret, and learn from the book of Joshua.

Joshua was deceived by the Gibeonites and it complicated their life so incredibly. There was only one reason why they were deceived. They didn’t inquire of the Lord (Joshua 9:14). He went ahead and made the decision without stopping and saying, “Lord, what do you think about this?” Let me consult the word of God. Let me seek the Spirit of God. Let me ask God about this moment in my life, this situation, this relationship, this union, this financial reality, this purchase, this decision with my kids, this move. Let me ask the Lord. And if Joshua had just stopped and ask God he would not have been deceived. “You have not because you ask not” (James 4:2) And so many times we just fail to include the Lord in the daily happenings of our lives. He’s wonderfully concerned with all the little things.

Source: These are notes adapted from Britt Merrick’s message, “Will You Serve the Lord?” on Joshua 24, preached at Reality Carpinteria on September 9, 2007. Used by permission of Britt Merrick.