August 16, 2024 • 19 mins
Ready to uncover the secrets of a biblical hero whose journey from slavery to leadership has inspired generations? Join us as we navigate the extraordinary life of Joshua, the man who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. We'll shed light on Joshua's early days as an Israelite slave in Egypt, and how his rigorous military training from the age of five shaped his destiny. Listen closely as we recount his first triumphant moments on the battlefield against the Amalekites and his unwavering faith that led to his selection as Moses' successor.
Discover the profound connections between Joshua's leadership and the future coming of Jesus, both embodying the divine promise of salvation. As we follow Joshua's path, we'll highlight God's constant encouragement for him to be strong and courageous, not only in warfare but also in upholding the divine law. To wrap up, we’ll take a poignant moment to read from Joshua, Chapter 1, reflecting on the promises and support that guided him. Grab your cup of coffee and prepare for an enriching narrative that blends faith, leadership, and divine purpose.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to our Ancient Future Story, navigating
Scripture Through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around the dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and his
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:32):
impacts.
We will be looking at the storyfrom the perspective of our
ancestors, through the lens andancient times, in hopes of
learning more about our family.
This is our Ancient FuturesStory.
Welcome back to our AncientFutures Story.
(01:04):
I'm and I am so excited toshare with you a new story today
.
It has been a while since welast met together, but I cannot
wait to dive into these storiesof the life of my favorite Bible
character, joshua.
Joshua is one of the most famouspeople in the Bible.
He is most known as the one Godchose to lead the people of
(01:25):
Israel into the promised land.
But he didn't start out thatway.
He started as a fantasticmilitary leader and the
assistant to Moses, but evenbefore that he was just an
Israelite boy growing up inslavery under the oppression of
Egypt.
Joshua's story is my favoritebecause he is one of the only
two people who grew up in Egyptand lived to enter the promised
(01:49):
land, and today we are going tostart at the beginning of his
journey as the leader of Israel.
But before we dive into it, Iwant to catch us up through the
genealogy of where Joshua is inthe lineage of Israel, so we
start with our two patriarchs.
Is in the lineage of Israel, sowe start with our two
patriarchs.
So we start with our patriarchs, abraham and Sarah, who had
(02:11):
Isaac, who had Jacob, whose namewas later changed to Israel,
who had 12 sons.
Joseph was son number 11 and hehad a son named Ephraim.
In ten generations later, fromEphraim's line, joshua was born
to a man named Nun.
So now that we know where weare and where Joshua came from,
(02:34):
let's grab a cup of coffee orsomething to drink and let's get
ready to dive into the life ofJoshua.
Joshua.
Chapter 1 opens with After thedeath of Moses, the word of the
(02:56):
Lord came to Joshua, son of Nun,but his story starts long
before this sentence.
We are going to go backward abit, back before God's mighty
rescue, back before the plagues,even back before Moses returns
to Egypt.
This story starts with a youngboy named Yeshua, born into
slavery in Egypt.
We aren't told about hischildhood, but we can assume he
(03:20):
grew up like all the Israeliteslaves.
He was forced to work from ayoung age but, as the Egyptian
custom, they enlisted young boyseven those who were enslaved
into the Egyptian army, someeven as young as five years old
Now.
They did not engage inhand-in-hand combat that young,
but they served the olderwarriors until they were of age
(03:43):
to join the infantry.
Joshua was very likely one ofthese young men who were forced
to join the Egyptian militaryand throughout his life Joshua's
Egyptian military influencewill be an ongoing theme.
We will discuss the differencesin the Egyptian military
strategy and the one that Yahwehgives Joshua as the battle plan
(04:03):
as we continue his story.
The first time Joshua appears inour Bible is in Exodus 17.
He is in a military leader roleshortly after the Exodus when
he leads the Israelites tovictory over the Amalekites.
Moses had told Joshua to gathermen and go fight the Amalekites
, while he, aaron and Hur weregoing to the top of the mountain
(04:23):
, and Joshua followed orders,gathered men and fought against
the Amalekites while he, aaronand Hur were going to the top of
the mountain and Joshuafollowed orders, gathered men
and fought against theAmalekites.
And when Moses' staff was inthe air, pointed toward heaven
Israel was winning.
When his hands were lowered,they were losing.
So Aaron and Hur propped upMoses' hands the whole day so
that Israel would prevail.
And when Israel had won thebattle, yahweh told Moses to
(04:47):
write this message and tell itto Joshua over and over again
that I, yahweh, will erase thememory of the Amalekites on
earth.
So Moses wrote it down and hetold it to Joshua over and over
and over again.
The next time we meet Joshua isin Exodus 24.
When he is the assistant toMoses, he climbs Mount Sinai and
(05:09):
sits in the tents of meeting.
He learns from Moses not onlyhow to lead, but also how to
talk to Yahweh face to face.
Throughout this experience,joshua learns to trust Yahweh,
so much so that when Moses sends12 spies into Canaan to check
out the land, joshua is one ofonly two positive reports.
(05:29):
Everyone else brought back fear, saying that God brought them
out of Egypt to kill them in thewilderness.
But Joshua did not fear.
He urged the Israelites tobelieve that Yahweh is on their
side and that he will give themthe land that he promised to
Abraham, isaac and Jacob.
Joshua showed his faithfulnessto Yahweh throughout his life.
(05:51):
So when Moses had to choose asuccessor, yahweh told him to
choose Joshua because he wouldlead the people of Israel into
the promised land.
And that is where we pick upour story.
Egypt has been devastated.
Israel was now wandering in thedesert for 40 years.
The surrounding nations wereterrified of Yahweh because his
(06:13):
power and fame had spreadthroughout the known world.
Our boy, joshua, is now about59 or 60 years old.
When Moses has died, theleadership role in Israel
officially passes to Joshua, andYahweh comes to him and says
Joshua, my servant, moses, hasdied.
Now get up and lead my people,israel, across the Jordan into
(06:34):
the land I have promised them.
Everywhere you set your feet.
I have given you that land,from Lebanon as far north as the
great river Euphrates, all theland from the Mediterranean Sea
to the Jordan River.
No man or tribe or people groupwill be able to stand against
you.
Just as I was with Moses, so Iwill be with you.
(06:56):
I will never leave you, norforsake you.
Be strong and courageous, foryou will lead my people and
distribute the inheritance ofthe land to them Only.
Be strong and courageous touphold the law, just as Moses
commanded you.
Don't turn from it evenslightly to the right or to the
left, so that you may havesuccess.
Wherever you go, recite thebook of the law.
(07:17):
Let it never depart from yourlips, but meditate it on a day
and night so that it getsingrained into your heart.
Haven't I commanded you?
Be strong and courageous, donot be afraid.
I, the Lord, your God, am withyou wherever you go.
So Joshua gathered the officialsof Israel and told them to
prepare themselves and theirhouseholds for in three days we
(07:41):
will pass over the Jordan Riverand take possession of the land
that Yahweh has given you as apossession.
Then Joshua turned to theReubenites, the Gadites and half
the tribe of Manasseh and saidRemember the words of Moses.
You have settled in your landon this side of the Jordan, but
all able-bodied men must makethe journey with us to support
your brothers, to secure theirinheritance.
(08:03):
Once all of Israel has takentheir possession, then you can
return to the land on this sideof the Jordan.
And all the people answeredJoshua, we will do everything
you tell us to do.
Just as we listened to Mosesand followed his command.
So we will do with you.
May God be with you, just as hewas with Moses.
And there's anyone who does notlisten to you, they will be put
(08:26):
to death.
Only be strong and courageous.
And that is where our storyends, for today, the people of
Israel rallying around andsupporting their new leader,
joshua, as he steps into his newrole as the leader.
(08:51):
If you grew up in church, youhave probably heard this story
many, many times, and even ifyou didn't grow up in church,
you may have heard this storybefore.
But I think there are a fewthings for us to take note of
that will help shape the contextof the story for us.
First location Our story opensin Egypt during the 400 years of
slavery.
It is believed that Joshua wasborn around 1465 BC if you take
(09:16):
the early date of the Exodus, orabout 1294 BC if you take the
late date.
Remember there are potentiallytwo dates for the Exodus the
early date, around 1446, and1275 as the late date.
This means that if Joshua wasborn in 1465 BC, he was born
(09:37):
under the reign of Thutmose III,but if he was born in 1294 BC,
he was born under the reign ofHorenheb, the pharaoh who took
over after King Tut's mysteriousdeath.
Under the leadership of thesepharaohs, egypt was in excellent
condition, the height ofancient Egyptian dynasties.
But after the epic showdown ofYahweh and the gods of Egypt,
(10:01):
egypt is left in ruin and ayoung Joshua flees with the rest
of Israel through the Red Seaand away from Egypt in God's
greatest rescue.
Now we know that these pharaohswere known for their military
campaigns, so the Egyptian armywas a prominent part of their
leadership.
As I said earlier, egypt wasknown to enlist boys as young as
(10:24):
five years old into themilitary.
Many of these boys would servetheir entire lives.
Children in the Egyptianmilitary before their 14th
birthday served as armor bearers, chariot drivers and campaign
aides, and on their 14thbirthday they were considered
adults and could join theinfantry, but they did not see
(10:45):
war for another six years.
And could join the infantry,but they did not see war for
another six years.
After their 20th birthday theycould be sent to war or on
military campaigns.
So Joshua's age at this time isan important factor for us
because if he was enlisted intothe Egyptian army around five,
he would have spent hischildhood and adolescent eating,
breathing, sleeping.
(11:05):
The Egyptian military childhoodand adolescent, eating,
breathing, sleeping the Egyptianmilitary.
Then he would have joined theinfantry at age 14 under the
reign of tut much the third orin the last year of said to the
first, joshua, like all otherEgyptian boys, in the infantry,
would spend his days trainingwith weapons in hand-to-hand
combat and studying militarystrategy.
(11:25):
Now this gets interesting whenit comes to the Exodus of Egypt,
because Joshua has spent hisentire life enslaved as a child
soldier.
Many scholars have argued thatJoshua was only 19 years old
when Israel fled Egypt, whichmeans he was one year shy of
officially joining the Egyptianarmy and being sent out on
(11:46):
campaigns into Canaan.
But how did scholars work outhow old Joshua was?
Well, that has to do with thecensus that Israel took in the
wilderness after leaving Egypt.
Joshua was excluded from thecensus found in Numbers 1, where
God told Moses to take a censusof all able-bodied men 20 years
(12:07):
and older.
Presumably, joshua was not yet20 years of age.
However, joshua is specificallymentioned as excluded from the
curse in Numbers 14, in thesecond census in the wilderness
taken off after the spies wentinto canaan and only joshua and
caleb would return with a goodreport.
(12:27):
So if joshua was 20 years oldwhen they spied out canaan.
He would have been 60 or soyears when he takes over from
moses in 1405 BC or 1234 BC.
The next thing I want to talkabout is this reoccurring phrase
be strong and courageous.
Three times, god tells Joshuato be strong and courageous.
(12:51):
We tend to hear this a lot insermons, but it isn't just about
being physically strong andleading without fear.
God is telling Joshua to bestrong and courageous to keep
the law.
Yes, god is encouraging Joshuathat he can lead the Israelites
in Moses's place, but he istelling him how to lead the
(13:12):
Israelites in Moses's place.
God tells Joshua to keep thewords of the law that Moses had
written down.
These are the instructions thatGod gave to Israel on Mount
Sinai on how they were to live.
By keeping these laws, theywould not only survive, but also
live differently from thenations that surround them.
And in order for Israel tocontinue to live faithfully to
(13:35):
Yahweh, joshua had to live andlead out of his own faithfulness
to Yahweh, but in doing so, itwould take strength and courage.
By the end of this chapter,israel accepts Joshua as the new
leader.
They swear to follow him justas they followed Moses.
Moses had a unique role inIsrael.
(13:55):
As Sandra Richter puts it,moses was the first to serve
Israel as prophet, priest andking.
The role of the prophet was tospeak to Israel the words of
Yahweh, the priest was to speakto God on behalf of the people,
and the king and judge was to bethe military leader and point
(14:16):
the nation to the true king andjudge, yahweh.
And this is the role thatJoshua is stepping into.
This is what the people ofIsrael are agreeing to at the
end of the chapter to acceptJoshua as the prophet and judge.
Joshua was not a part of thepriesthood.
Aaron's son, eleazar, wouldfulfill that role, but still the
(14:38):
leaders of the tribes of Israelvowed to listen to Joshua just
as they had listened to Moses,meaning they acknowledged that
Yahweh will speak to themthrough Joshua and they will
follow his instructions.
So how does this point us toYahweh?
Each time we gather together, wewill talk about how the story
points to Yahweh.
(14:59):
In today's story, yahweh placeda new leader in charge of
Israel and tells him that he haswhat it takes to lead in Moses'
place.
And almost 1600 years later,yahweh would send his son, jesus
.
And the name of Jesus we getfrom the Latin Greek
translations Yesus, but theHebrew word for Jesus is Yeshua
(15:23):
or Joshua, which means Yahwehsaves.
And as we continue our journeywith Joshua, we will see how he
is the foreshadow of our Messiahto come and how Yahweh takes on
the name of Yeshua to show thepeople that he does indeed save
them.
So, as we end our time together,I want to spend time reading
(15:46):
the scripture from where ourstory comes from today, in
Joshua, chapter one.
I hope that as we read thistogether in light of everything
that we have just learned, thatthe story will be illuminated
(16:15):
for you.
Let's read every place that thesole of your foot will tread
upon.
I've given to you just as Ipromised to Moses, from the
wilderness and this Lebanon, asfar as the great river, the
river Euphrates, all the land ofthe Hittites to the great sea,
toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.
(16:35):
No man shall be able to standbefore you all the days of your
life.
Just as I was with Moses, so Iwill be with you.
I will not leave you or forsakeyou.
Be strong and courageous, foryou shall cause the people to
inherit the land that I swore totheir fathers to give them Only
.
Be strong and courageous, becareful to do according to all
(16:57):
the law that Moses, my servant,commanded.
You Do not turn from it, fromthe right hand or to the left,
that you may have good successwherever you go.
The book of the law shall notdepart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate it on it day andnight, so that you may be
careful to do according to allthat is written in it, for then
you will make your wayprosperous, then you will have
(17:19):
good success.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous, donot be frightened, do not be
dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.
And Joshua commanded theofficers of the people pass
through the midst of the campand command the people prepare
your provisions, for withinthree days you are to pass over
the Jordan to go and takepossession of the land the Lord,
(17:42):
your God, has given you topossess, and the Reubenites and
Gadites and half the tribe ofManasseh.
Joshua said remember the wordof Moses, the servant of the
Lord, commanded you, saying theLord, your God, is providing a
place of rest and will give youthis land.
Your wives and your little onesand your livestock shall remain
in the land that moses gave youbeyond the jordan, but all the
(18:06):
men of valor among you shallpass over armed before your
brothers and shall help themuntil the lord gives rest to
your brothers, as he has to you,and they also take possession
of the land that the lord, yourgod, is giving them.
Then you shall return to theland of your possession and you
shall possess it, the land thatMoses, the servant of the Lord,
gave you beyond the Jordan,toward the sunrise.
(18:28):
And they answered Joshua allthat you have commanded us, we
will do, and wherever you sendus we will go.
Just as we obeyed Moses and allthings, so we will obey you
only.
May the Lord, your God, be withyou, as he was with Moses.
Whoever rebels against yourcommandment and disobeys your
words, whatever you command him,shall be put to death.
(18:48):
Only be strong and courageous.
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our Ancient
Future Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me.
Vic Harmon Music is Embarkingon an Adventure by Evan
MacDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
(19:11):
if you would like to know moreor grow deeper, check out our
website atourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye.
Welcome to our Ancient Future Story, navigating
Scripture Through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around the dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and his
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:32):
impacts.
We will be looking at the storyfrom the perspective of our
ancestors, through the lens andancient times, in hopes of
learning more about our family.
This is our Ancient FuturesStory.
Welcome back to our AncientFutures Story.
(01:04):
I'm and I am so excited toshare with you a new story today
.
It has been a while since welast met together, but I cannot
wait to dive into these storiesof the life of my favorite Bible
character, joshua.
Joshua is one of the most famouspeople in the Bible.
He is most known as the one Godchose to lead the people of
(01:25):
Israel into the promised land.
But he didn't start out thatway.
He started as a fantasticmilitary leader and the
assistant to Moses, but evenbefore that he was just an
Israelite boy growing up inslavery under the oppression of
Egypt.
Joshua's story is my favoritebecause he is one of the only
two people who grew up in Egyptand lived to enter the promised
(01:49):
land, and today we are going tostart at the beginning of his
journey as the leader of Israel.
But before we dive into it, Iwant to catch us up through the
genealogy of where Joshua is inthe lineage of Israel, so we
start with our two patriarchs.
Is in the lineage of Israel, sowe start with our two
patriarchs.
So we start with our patriarchs, abraham and Sarah, who had
(02:11):
Isaac, who had Jacob, whose namewas later changed to Israel,
who had 12 sons.
Joseph was son number 11 and hehad a son named Ephraim.
In ten generations later, fromEphraim's line, joshua was born
to a man named Nun.
So now that we know where weare and where Joshua came from,
(02:34):
let's grab a cup of coffee orsomething to drink and let's get
ready to dive into the life ofJoshua.
Joshua.
Chapter 1 opens with After thedeath of Moses, the word of the
(02:56):
Lord came to Joshua, son of Nun,but his story starts long
before this sentence.
We are going to go backward abit, back before God's mighty
rescue, back before the plagues,even back before Moses returns
to Egypt.
This story starts with a youngboy named Yeshua, born into
slavery in Egypt.
We aren't told about hischildhood, but we can assume he
(03:20):
grew up like all the Israeliteslaves.
He was forced to work from ayoung age but, as the Egyptian
custom, they enlisted young boyseven those who were enslaved
into the Egyptian army, someeven as young as five years old
Now.
They did not engage inhand-in-hand combat that young,
but they served the olderwarriors until they were of age
(03:43):
to join the infantry.
Joshua was very likely one ofthese young men who were forced
to join the Egyptian militaryand throughout his life Joshua's
Egyptian military influencewill be an ongoing theme.
We will discuss the differencesin the Egyptian military
strategy and the one that Yahwehgives Joshua as the battle plan
(04:03):
as we continue his story.
The first time Joshua appears inour Bible is in Exodus 17.
He is in a military leader roleshortly after the Exodus when
he leads the Israelites tovictory over the Amalekites.
Moses had told Joshua to gathermen and go fight the Amalekites
, while he, aaron and Hur weregoing to the top of the mountain
(04:23):
, and Joshua followed orders,gathered men and fought against
the Amalekites while he, aaronand Hur were going to the top of
the mountain and Joshuafollowed orders, gathered men
and fought against theAmalekites.
And when Moses' staff was inthe air, pointed toward heaven
Israel was winning.
When his hands were lowered,they were losing.
So Aaron and Hur propped upMoses' hands the whole day so
that Israel would prevail.
And when Israel had won thebattle, yahweh told Moses to
(04:47):
write this message and tell itto Joshua over and over again
that I, yahweh, will erase thememory of the Amalekites on
earth.
So Moses wrote it down and hetold it to Joshua over and over
and over again.
The next time we meet Joshua isin Exodus 24.
When he is the assistant toMoses, he climbs Mount Sinai and
(05:09):
sits in the tents of meeting.
He learns from Moses not onlyhow to lead, but also how to
talk to Yahweh face to face.
Throughout this experience,joshua learns to trust Yahweh,
so much so that when Moses sends12 spies into Canaan to check
out the land, joshua is one ofonly two positive reports.
(05:29):
Everyone else brought back fear, saying that God brought them
out of Egypt to kill them in thewilderness.
But Joshua did not fear.
He urged the Israelites tobelieve that Yahweh is on their
side and that he will give themthe land that he promised to
Abraham, isaac and Jacob.
Joshua showed his faithfulnessto Yahweh throughout his life.
(05:51):
So when Moses had to choose asuccessor, yahweh told him to
choose Joshua because he wouldlead the people of Israel into
the promised land.
And that is where we pick upour story.
Egypt has been devastated.
Israel was now wandering in thedesert for 40 years.
The surrounding nations wereterrified of Yahweh because his
(06:13):
power and fame had spreadthroughout the known world.
Our boy, joshua, is now about59 or 60 years old.
When Moses has died, theleadership role in Israel
officially passes to Joshua, andYahweh comes to him and says
Joshua, my servant, moses, hasdied.
Now get up and lead my people,israel, across the Jordan into
(06:34):
the land I have promised them.
Everywhere you set your feet.
I have given you that land,from Lebanon as far north as the
great river Euphrates, all theland from the Mediterranean Sea
to the Jordan River.
No man or tribe or people groupwill be able to stand against
you.
Just as I was with Moses, so Iwill be with you.
(06:56):
I will never leave you, norforsake you.
Be strong and courageous, foryou will lead my people and
distribute the inheritance ofthe land to them Only.
Be strong and courageous touphold the law, just as Moses
commanded you.
Don't turn from it evenslightly to the right or to the
left, so that you may havesuccess.
Wherever you go, recite thebook of the law.
(07:17):
Let it never depart from yourlips, but meditate it on a day
and night so that it getsingrained into your heart.
Haven't I commanded you?
Be strong and courageous, donot be afraid.
I, the Lord, your God, am withyou wherever you go.
So Joshua gathered the officialsof Israel and told them to
prepare themselves and theirhouseholds for in three days we
(07:41):
will pass over the Jordan Riverand take possession of the land
that Yahweh has given you as apossession.
Then Joshua turned to theReubenites, the Gadites and half
the tribe of Manasseh and saidRemember the words of Moses.
You have settled in your landon this side of the Jordan, but
all able-bodied men must makethe journey with us to support
your brothers, to secure theirinheritance.
(08:03):
Once all of Israel has takentheir possession, then you can
return to the land on this sideof the Jordan.
And all the people answeredJoshua, we will do everything
you tell us to do.
Just as we listened to Mosesand followed his command.
So we will do with you.
May God be with you, just as hewas with Moses.
And there's anyone who does notlisten to you, they will be put
(08:26):
to death.
Only be strong and courageous.
And that is where our storyends, for today, the people of
Israel rallying around andsupporting their new leader,
joshua, as he steps into his newrole as the leader.
(08:51):
If you grew up in church, youhave probably heard this story
many, many times, and even ifyou didn't grow up in church,
you may have heard this storybefore.
But I think there are a fewthings for us to take note of
that will help shape the contextof the story for us.
First location Our story opensin Egypt during the 400 years of
slavery.
It is believed that Joshua wasborn around 1465 BC if you take
(09:16):
the early date of the Exodus, orabout 1294 BC if you take the
late date.
Remember there are potentiallytwo dates for the Exodus the
early date, around 1446, and1275 as the late date.
This means that if Joshua wasborn in 1465 BC, he was born
(09:37):
under the reign of Thutmose III,but if he was born in 1294 BC,
he was born under the reign ofHorenheb, the pharaoh who took
over after King Tut's mysteriousdeath.
Under the leadership of thesepharaohs, egypt was in excellent
condition, the height ofancient Egyptian dynasties.
But after the epic showdown ofYahweh and the gods of Egypt,
(10:01):
egypt is left in ruin and ayoung Joshua flees with the rest
of Israel through the Red Seaand away from Egypt in God's
greatest rescue.
Now we know that these pharaohswere known for their military
campaigns, so the Egyptian armywas a prominent part of their
leadership.
As I said earlier, egypt wasknown to enlist boys as young as
(10:24):
five years old into themilitary.
Many of these boys would servetheir entire lives.
Children in the Egyptianmilitary before their 14th
birthday served as armor bearers, chariot drivers and campaign
aides, and on their 14thbirthday they were considered
adults and could join theinfantry, but they did not see
(10:45):
war for another six years.
And could join the infantry,but they did not see war for
another six years.
After their 20th birthday theycould be sent to war or on
military campaigns.
So Joshua's age at this time isan important factor for us
because if he was enlisted intothe Egyptian army around five,
he would have spent hischildhood and adolescent eating,
breathing, sleeping.
(11:05):
The Egyptian military childhoodand adolescent, eating,
breathing, sleeping the Egyptianmilitary.
Then he would have joined theinfantry at age 14 under the
reign of tut much the third orin the last year of said to the
first, joshua, like all otherEgyptian boys, in the infantry,
would spend his days trainingwith weapons in hand-to-hand
combat and studying militarystrategy.
(11:25):
Now this gets interesting whenit comes to the Exodus of Egypt,
because Joshua has spent hisentire life enslaved as a child
soldier.
Many scholars have argued thatJoshua was only 19 years old
when Israel fled Egypt, whichmeans he was one year shy of
officially joining the Egyptianarmy and being sent out on
(11:46):
campaigns into Canaan.
But how did scholars work outhow old Joshua was?
Well, that has to do with thecensus that Israel took in the
wilderness after leaving Egypt.
Joshua was excluded from thecensus found in Numbers 1, where
God told Moses to take a censusof all able-bodied men 20 years
(12:07):
and older.
Presumably, joshua was not yet20 years of age.
However, joshua is specificallymentioned as excluded from the
curse in Numbers 14, in thesecond census in the wilderness
taken off after the spies wentinto canaan and only joshua and
caleb would return with a goodreport.
(12:27):
So if joshua was 20 years oldwhen they spied out canaan.
He would have been 60 or soyears when he takes over from
moses in 1405 BC or 1234 BC.
The next thing I want to talkabout is this reoccurring phrase
be strong and courageous.
Three times, god tells Joshuato be strong and courageous.
(12:51):
We tend to hear this a lot insermons, but it isn't just about
being physically strong andleading without fear.
God is telling Joshua to bestrong and courageous to keep
the law.
Yes, god is encouraging Joshuathat he can lead the Israelites
in Moses's place, but he istelling him how to lead the
(13:12):
Israelites in Moses's place.
God tells Joshua to keep thewords of the law that Moses had
written down.
These are the instructions thatGod gave to Israel on Mount
Sinai on how they were to live.
By keeping these laws, theywould not only survive, but also
live differently from thenations that surround them.
And in order for Israel tocontinue to live faithfully to
(13:35):
Yahweh, joshua had to live andlead out of his own faithfulness
to Yahweh, but in doing so, itwould take strength and courage.
By the end of this chapter,israel accepts Joshua as the new
leader.
They swear to follow him justas they followed Moses.
Moses had a unique role inIsrael.
(13:55):
As Sandra Richter puts it,moses was the first to serve
Israel as prophet, priest andking.
The role of the prophet was tospeak to Israel the words of
Yahweh, the priest was to speakto God on behalf of the people,
and the king and judge was to bethe military leader and point
(14:16):
the nation to the true king andjudge, yahweh.
And this is the role thatJoshua is stepping into.
This is what the people ofIsrael are agreeing to at the
end of the chapter to acceptJoshua as the prophet and judge.
Joshua was not a part of thepriesthood.
Aaron's son, eleazar, wouldfulfill that role, but still the
(14:38):
leaders of the tribes of Israelvowed to listen to Joshua just
as they had listened to Moses,meaning they acknowledged that
Yahweh will speak to themthrough Joshua and they will
follow his instructions.
So how does this point us toYahweh?
Each time we gather together, wewill talk about how the story
points to Yahweh.
(14:59):
In today's story, yahweh placeda new leader in charge of
Israel and tells him that he haswhat it takes to lead in Moses'
place.
And almost 1600 years later,yahweh would send his son, jesus
.
And the name of Jesus we getfrom the Latin Greek
translations Yesus, but theHebrew word for Jesus is Yeshua
(15:23):
or Joshua, which means Yahwehsaves.
And as we continue our journeywith Joshua, we will see how he
is the foreshadow of our Messiahto come and how Yahweh takes on
the name of Yeshua to show thepeople that he does indeed save
them.
So, as we end our time together,I want to spend time reading
(15:46):
the scripture from where ourstory comes from today, in
Joshua, chapter one.
I hope that as we read thistogether in light of everything
that we have just learned, thatthe story will be illuminated
(16:15):
for you.
Let's read every place that thesole of your foot will tread
upon.
I've given to you just as Ipromised to Moses, from the
wilderness and this Lebanon, asfar as the great river, the
river Euphrates, all the land ofthe Hittites to the great sea,
toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.
(16:35):
No man shall be able to standbefore you all the days of your
life.
Just as I was with Moses, so Iwill be with you.
I will not leave you or forsakeyou.
Be strong and courageous, foryou shall cause the people to
inherit the land that I swore totheir fathers to give them Only
.
Be strong and courageous, becareful to do according to all
(16:57):
the law that Moses, my servant,commanded.
You Do not turn from it, fromthe right hand or to the left,
that you may have good successwherever you go.
The book of the law shall notdepart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate it on it day andnight, so that you may be
careful to do according to allthat is written in it, for then
you will make your wayprosperous, then you will have
(17:19):
good success.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous, donot be frightened, do not be
dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.
And Joshua commanded theofficers of the people pass
through the midst of the campand command the people prepare
your provisions, for withinthree days you are to pass over
the Jordan to go and takepossession of the land the Lord,
(17:42):
your God, has given you topossess, and the Reubenites and
Gadites and half the tribe ofManasseh.
Joshua said remember the wordof Moses, the servant of the
Lord, commanded you, saying theLord, your God, is providing a
place of rest and will give youthis land.
Your wives and your little onesand your livestock shall remain
in the land that moses gave youbeyond the jordan, but all the
(18:06):
men of valor among you shallpass over armed before your
brothers and shall help themuntil the lord gives rest to
your brothers, as he has to you,and they also take possession
of the land that the lord, yourgod, is giving them.
Then you shall return to theland of your possession and you
shall possess it, the land thatMoses, the servant of the Lord,
gave you beyond the Jordan,toward the sunrise.
(18:28):
And they answered Joshua allthat you have commanded us, we
will do, and wherever you sendus we will go.
Just as we obeyed Moses and allthings, so we will obey you
only.
May the Lord, your God, be withyou, as he was with Moses.
Whoever rebels against yourcommandment and disobeys your
words, whatever you command him,shall be put to death.
(18:48):
Only be strong and courageous.
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our Ancient
Future Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me.
Vic Harmon Music is Embarkingon an Adventure by Evan
MacDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
(19:11):
if you would like to know moreor grow deeper, check out our
website atourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye.
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