Joshua had a life worthy of one of the great biographical authors. He was the Hebrew equivalent of several of the important fathers of the United States. He was born in Egypt, then served under the George Washington of his nation. And then upon the death of Moses, he became the leader, the president, if you will, of infant Israel. He was a military man, a politician, a family man, a man of God. He had his ups and downs in every aspect of his life, as most of us do. And in Joshua 24 he was nearing the end of his illustrious life, and he knew it. He had served God and Israel with strong leadership for over a hundred years. Verse 29 – “And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.”
In his great and final national exhortation to the nation, Joshua reached the climax with these words: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” I’ve chosen some of those words for my title this evening: “But as for me.” But I’m going to allegorize the “me” for the sake of a few thoughts. In looking at Joshua we can see glimpses of the Lord Jesus.
First, there is HIS NAME.
“Joshua” was not the man’s first name. Originally it was “Oshea.” The man who was sent out as a spy for the tribe of Ephraim was “Oshea the son of Nun.” But in the chapter following that we find his more common name – “Joshua, the son of Nun.” “Oshea,” is similar to “Joshua,” but it essentially the same as “Hosea” and means “salvation.” Some people speculate that just as Abram and Sarai had their names changed so did Oshea. If it was changed to honour his faith, as they say, why didn’t the Lord change Caleb’s name as well? For whatever reason, in addition to “Oshea,” this man bore the name “Jehoshua” or “Joshua.” They are almost the same name, and they have the same meaning “Jehovah’s salvation” or “Jehovah saves.” And, of course, this is an Hebrew name.
I hope that you are familiar with the history of Israel from the time of Joshua to the end of Old Testament. After the death of Joshua and the few remaining men of his generation, Israel began to rebel against the Lord in worshiping the idols of their heathen neighbors. Israel eventually went into Assyrian and Babylonian captivity because of her idolatry and other sins. During that captivity and following, one of the things that changed included their language. By the time of the New Testament, many of their words and names took on an Aramaic form. Their day-to-day language changed to Aramaic, although most Jews could speak some Hebrew.
The New Testament name “Jesus” is the Aramaic form of the Old Testament name “Joshua.” The meaning behind both words is essentially same: “Jehovah’s salvation” or “Jehovah saves.” In fact in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, he touches on the history of Israel and calls Joshua by the New Testament version of his name – “Jesus.” Joshua is a type of Christ at least in one aspect – they bare the same name.
In Numbers 27, we learn that Joshua was an ANSWER TO PRAYER.
Moses knew that the nation of Israel was nothing more than a flock of ignorant sheep. He knew from experience that unless they had a discipline-instilling shepherd they would wander. He also knew that despite his good health, that God was bringing his earthly life to an end. So he prayed that the Lord would provide another shepherd. God had already prepared Joshua.
Looking into the New Testament we see two people – representing perhaps thousands of others. First there was Simeon, “a just and devout man who was earnestly waiting for the consolation of Israel.” In other words, Simeon was awaiting the coming of the Messiah. The tone of the description that we find in Luke 2 tells me that Simeon spent hours every week praying for the coming of the Lord. When he was finally lead of the Spirit to see the infant Jesus, “then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”
Both Jesus and Joshua were answers to the prayers of the righteous.
And both men came out of rather OBSCURE and INSIGNIFICANT BEGINNINGS.
Don’t you find it rather curious that Joshua was the son of Nun? That’s almost as if he was the son of no-one. Of course, I’m being silly – “Nun” isn’t the same as “no-one.”
And yet what do you know about this man named “Nun”. All that I know for sure is that he was a descendent of Ephraim and that he had a son named Joshua. And similarly how much more do we know about the Lord Jesus’ immediate family? We know a little, but not a great deal – other than the genealogy. When it came to Jesus’ ministry one of the criticisms against Him was that he came from a common, inconsequential, family from up there in common, but inconsequential, Galilee.
Jesus and Joshua had the same sort of family history. Except of course that Jesus was also the incarnate Son of God while Joshua was not.
And then there is the fact that both men were OBEDIENT to their CALLING.
Joshua was a man who needed periodic encouragement. He may have been a somewhat timid man – humble and meek – as was his predecessor. But just because Joshua may have lacked decisive courage from time to time, that doesn’t mean that he was necessarily reluctant to pick up his responsibilities or his sword. It appears to me that MOSES balked at his commission more than Joshua did. Joshua served the Lord to the best of his ability – he didn’t ever run the way that Elijah did.
And then there was the Lord Jesus. Next Sunday we are going to peer into the Garden of Gethsemane. In that sacred place is some of the most mysterious material found in the New Testament. It appears that Jesus, in his humanity, was expressing his dread of the wrath which was soon to be poured out upon Him for our sins. But neither there, nor any other place or time during His life, did our Lord try to walk away from the work to which He had been called. “He came into the world to save sinners,” and that is exactly what He did.
As Moses asked, Joshua was a man who would go out and come in before the congregation.
“Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, And which may bring them in; that the congregation of LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.” What he was asking was for a genuine leader. And the image that he was using was that of a shepherd leading his flock in and out of the sheep-fold. Moses knew that Israel needed someone who could show them what to do and what not to do. They needed to know where to go and where not to go. The word that he used was “shepherd,” and the fulfillment was Joshua.
Later the Lord Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The Good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.” There has never been a shepherd like our Lord Jesus. Christ Jesus “is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Something else was that Joshua obvious succeeded and in a sense SUPERCEDED MOSES.
Moses was the Law-giver who proved to Israel her inability to satisfy the righteous demands of God. Through him God gave to the nation – and to all of us – a clear declaration of His holy statutes. And Moses was faithful in the declaration of the law. But Moses was a sinner like the rest of his nation. And he was unable to bring Israel into the land of Promise. It was the Old Testament “Jesus” who finally brought God’s chosen people into the Promised Land.
In a similar fashion it is the New Testament “Jesus” who is our Saviour. The Mosaic and moral law was only our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ for salvation. Have you ever taken a deck of cards and tried to build a house? On the rug in the middle of the floor you carefully laid two cards together in a “v” and then two more. After a while you start to put cards across the “v”s and to build a second floor. Unfortunately, soon the whole pile of cards came silently crashing down. To build a palace of salvation around you using the various cards of the law may make you feel safe for a while. But it is impossible to make it sturdy enough to stand against the righteous judgment of God. In Christ alone there is safety and salvation; Moses’ law is nothing but a house of cards. Moses can’t bring us into the Promised Land – but Jesus can.
So In both Jesus and Joshua we find a Saviour.
Not only did Joshua lead Israel into the Promised Land, but we also see him guaranteeing the salvation of Rahab. This lady made a plea for grace and she demonstrated more faith than seen in the average Israelite. She knew that she had no hope outside of the God of Israel. Joshua didn’t initiate the covenant that was made with her. But when he learned about it, he made sure that it would be kept. Joshua 6:25 says, “Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had.” Something else we might add to this point is that Joshua opened the door of salvation to the heathen people of the city of Gibeon.
Of course, the Lord Jesus is our Saviour, not in theory, but in fact. He is the administrator of the covenant between the Father and the Son. The Lord Jesus is the Saviour of both Jews and Gentiles.
Another similarity between the two Jesus can be seen in THEIR VICTORIES.
When Joshua was at the head of his army the man was undefeatable. Look at him at Jericho. Watch him take on Adonizedek and later the massed armies of the northern alliance. When there was no sin to interfere, Joshua could not be beaten. His only defeat was when Israel lacked repentance, hiding her sins. He was victorious even to the point that we can find no records of casualties among the saints.
And then we turn to the pages of the New Testament. Christ is a physician who never lost a patient. He is a Shepherd who never lost a sheep. He is a Saviour who never lost a sinner. “All that the father gave to him, came to him and of them He lost none.”
It would be slightly dishonest not to mention that there are DIFFERENCES between Jesus and Joshua.
Let me close in highlighting a couple of them. Joshua ministered for many more years than the Saviour. He died at 110 and Jesus died at about a third of that age. But at that point Joshua’s ministry ended, while Christ’s will never end.
And Joshua used carnal weapons, but Jesus used only the spiritual. Joshua led Israel into a promised, but temporary land. Furthermore, Joshua’s work was eventually all undone. What Christ has accomplished is eternal.
Joshua may be a picture of Christ Jesus, but we are infinitely better off than Israel – We possess the real thing, while they possessed only the picture. “Praise Him, praise Him, tell of Jesus’ excellent greatness.”