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-- © GodSpeak International 2004 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <copyright@godspeak.org> --

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Author: Teresa Seputis ts@godspeak.net http://www.godspeak.net
Editor: Kevin Nolan

Are You Part Of
The Joshua Generation?

Lesson 2
Who was Joshua?

By Teresa Seputis

Joshua was the man who God chose to replace Moses, to lead the people of Israel across the River Jordan to possess their promised land. Who was this man that God chose for this job? Why did God choose him? Are there things we can learn from his life that will help us in our own walk with God?

Let's look at early events in Joshua's life to see what sort of man he was, why God chose him, and how God formed leadership characteristics in him.

Our first encounter with Joshua is in Exodus 17:8. This is shortly after God led the people of Israel out of Egypt, and it is immediately after they came to the dry river bed at Rephidim. I am sure you remember the story. The people where thirsty and upset because they crossed a portion of the desert and expected to find water at this river, but there wasn't any. So they began to complain and grumble and even to make plans to overthrow Moses (stone him) and select a new leader to take them back to Egypt. Moses went to God and God directed him to strike a rock in the dry river bed with his staff. When He struck it, God miraculously provided water, e.g., the dry river began to flow again.

As soon as the king of that area heard about this, he sent soldiers to fight with Israel in Rephidim. Why? It was probably because that was where the water was. The fact that the river bed was dry indicates the land was suffering from a drought, which made that water a very valuable commodity, one worth fighting over. The king of Amalek probably felt that he was entitled to the water since it was on his land and his people needed it. He probably was not all that keen on having a huge mass of foreigners in his land either, and he may not have understood that they intended to pass through, not remain permanently. Also, those foreigners (the Israelites) had all sorts of jewelry and gold and silver and riches they had taken from Egypt, and those would go to the king if he defeated them, making him very rich. The king of Amalek had lots of things that motivated him to attack God's people. So he sent his soldiers to Rephidim where the Israelites were camped.

Suddenly the Israelites had an army massing around them, getting ready to attack. Moses had to do something to respond to the situation. His normal approach to any problem was to go to God for directions, so we assume he did that in this case as well. And God told him to send Joshua and some soldiers to fight while he stood on a hill overlooking the battle and held his staff up.

That is where Joshua first enters the picture. The passage does not make it clear if God specified Joshua as the one to lead the soldiers, or if God told Moses to select someone and Moses was the one who chose Joshua. Either way, we can assume that Joshua was a natural leader, the type who people would be willing to follow. Otherwise, he would not have had any chance of finding people who he could lead into battle.

Moses told Joshua to, "Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek." The Israelites were not a people of great faith -- every time anything went wrong, they complained and murmured and threatened to turn their back on God. They panicked when the Egyptian army chased them to the Red Sea, so it is reasonable to assume that they also panicked when the Amalekite soldiers gathered around them, preparing to attack. They were not the type of people who made brave soldiers. They were not the type who would willingly follow just anyone into battle. So the person who led them into battle had to be someone they felt they could trust.

If Joshua had not already demonstrated some sort leadership skills, he would not have had a chance of finding men to go into battle with him. That means that he was probably a man of integrity and godly character who people trusted. He was probably a man of good judgment, since Moses asked him to select soldiers instead of dictating which ones to take. That indicated that Moses trusted Joshua's judgment. In other words, Joshua already demonstrated a level of maturity and character, and that is why he was chosen.

How did he get to that point? He got there by allowing himself to grow and mature in the Lord when he was a "nobody." God worked in his life behind the scenes to develop a godly character in him before God promoted him into any form of leadership. That should be an encouragement to us as we grow and mature in our own walk with the Lord. God is at work behind the scenes in our life, just like he was at work behind the scenes in Joshua's life.

We must allow God to develop our character and need to learn to use the gifting He has placed within us. God wants each of us to mature until we reflect the character and nature of His son. That is why He put His indwelling Holy Spirit inside of us -- to change us and make us more like Jesus. He works in our lives and transforms us as we cooperate with Him. He prepares us for what He has called us to do. And as we yield to His preparation, God will set us into place. He will give us real kingdom work to do. He will glorify His name and advance His kingdom through us, just like He did with Joshua.

Here is another important thing to notice about Joshua. Verse 9 tells us, "So Joshua did as Moses said to him..." Joshua was a man of faith who put more credence in God and His anointing than in his own natural reasoning. He was committed to obey God no matter what God asked.

Joshua recognized that Moses was God's chosen leader, so he equated obeying Moses to obeying God. So he did not question his instructions, he just did what he was told. And that is one of the main reasons that Joshua was chosen: because he was committed to obey God no matter what God asked of him. Joshua had the same commitment to obey that Abraham demonstrated when he was willing to offer his beloved son that he had waited so many years for as a sacrifice to God. This is the same heart that Jesus talked about in John 14:15, where He said, "If you love Me, you will obey what I command."

Joshua's heart to obey God was a primary reason that God choose him and groomed him for leadership. He is not the only person that God chose that way. Obedience is an important criterion to God and we see it over and over again in Scripture. Let me give you an example. Look at Saul and David. Saul was chosen as king before David, but he was not at all committed to obey God. So in 1 Sam 15:23, God told Saul, "Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king." God went on to choose David as Saul's replacement. Look at Acts 13:22: "After removing Saul, He made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' "

In short, God looks for those who love Him and have a deep commitment to obey Him. Those are the ones who He promotes into His top leadership positions. I can make you this promise: you will not go very far in serving God until you are fully committed to His lordship in every area of your life. You must be willing to obey God anytime He tells you to do (or not do) something.

Here is another important thing about Joshua. He was willing to obey God in an area where he did not have natural skill or training. He was willing to allow God to empower him instead of relying on his own ability. Joshua was not a trained warrior and neither were any of the men that he picked to go with him to fight the battle. They had just come out of slavery in Egypt, where they worked as brick makers. The Pharaoh of Egypt was paranoid that his slaves might rebel one day; that is why he ordered the baby boys to be killed. He would not have been willing to train those slaves as warriors. He did not want them to learn how to fight because he was afraid they would use that talent to rebel against him.

Joshua's men were masons and former slaves, not trained soldiers. It must have been terrifying for them to go into battle against trained soldiers. But they went anyway. Why? They went because they were committed to obey God no matter what He asked of them. Joshua trusted God to take care of them and to give them the victory. And He did!

There is one last thing we see about Joshua in this passage. It is in verses 11 to 13: "And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword."

Joshua relied on God's anointing instead of on his own abilities. In this case, the anointing came when Moses' hands were uplifted and diminished when Moses lowered his hands. Of course, Joshua did not have a chance to look up at Moses as he fought to see if his hands were raised or lowered -- he was busy darting between swords and ducking and fighting. But the fact remains, his success or failure was tied not to his own ability but to God's anointing.

That is a scary place to be...most of us find it easier to trust ourselves than to trust God. We find it easier to rely on our own ability than on God's anointing. But Joshua was willing to allow God to anoint him. And God wants the same from each of us. We must learn to trust in God's anointing and faithfulness more than in our own ability to get the job done.

Let me review quickly some of the important thing we see from Joshua's life:

  1. Joshua cooperated with God to develop his character and transform him into a mature and Godly person.

  2. Joshua had a heart to obey God no matter what God asked of him. That deep commitment to obey God is possibly the most important characteristic in God's criteria for selecting his leaders and warriors.

  3. Joshua did not limit God based on his own abilities or resources. He had faith in God to go beyond his own limitations.

  4. Joshua trusted God's anointing instead of trusting in his natural strengths and abilities.

Joshua serves as an excellent role model for us in these areas. We can follow is example and develop these same things in our own lives. Then we can be an effective part of the "Joshua generation" that God is raising up today to advance His kingdom and to take our promised land.


-- © GodSpeak International 2004 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <copyright@godspeak.org> --

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