THE FIRST PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE OLD TESTMENT
From Moses to Samuel
Message Nine—Joshua (1)
Scripture Reading: Josh. 1:1-3, 6-9,16-18; 5:2-15; Matt. 1:5; Eph. 3:8, 18
I. Joshua is the first book of the twelve books of history from Joshua to Esther; the central thought of the book of Joshua is that God intended to fulfill the promise concerning the good land that Israel might have a place to carry out God’s economy—Josh. 1:1. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
II. The book of Joshua also reveals two types related to Christ—Joshua and the good land—Num. 13:16; Deut. 8:7-10: (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
A. Joshua, whose name means “Jehovah Savior,” or “the salvation of Jehovah”—Josh1:1; Num. 13:16. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
B. The other type of Christ in the book of Joshua is the good land with all its riches typifying the God-given Christ with all His unsearchable riches—Deut. 8:7-10; Eph. 3:8. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
III. The book of Joshua also reveals two types related to Christ—Eph. 2:17-19; 3:18; 6:17, 25: (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
A. The first of the types related to Christ is Israel’s possessing and enjoying the promised land; this typifies the believers’ practical experience of the riches of the blessings in Christ as revealed in the book of Ephesians—3:18. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
B. The second type related to Christ is the scarlet thread through which Rahab the harlot was saved; this scarlet thread typifies the blood of Christ by which the believers are redeemed—Josh—2:17-19; 6:17, 22-23, 25; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25; 1 Pet. 1:18-19: (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
1. Rahab turned to Israel and their God, and she trusted in Him and His people; the scarlet thread tied to the window typifies an open confession of the redeeming blood of Christ Rahab made such an open confession and believed that by this sign she and her household would be delivered—Josh. 2:12-14. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
2. Rahab was a condemned Canaanite qualified to be destroyed, but she became one of the main ancestors of Christ, associated with Christ in His incarnation for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy, by turning to God and His people and by being married to Salmon, the son of a leader of Judah, a leading tribe of Israel, and probably one of the two spies—1 Chron. 2:10-11; Matt. 1:5a. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1)
IV. Joshua led the children of Israel to enter the promised land and to take it, possess it, and enjoy it—Josh. 1:6: (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
A. Joshua was to be occupied with God’s word and let the word occupy him—v. 8. (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
B. The response of Israel to Joshua implied their willingness, their readiness, and their being in one accord not only with Joshua but also with Jehovah their God as expressed by their blessing Joshua in the name of their God—vv. 16-18. (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
C. Israel had become a corporate Joshua, chosen, called, redeemed, saved, trained, prepared, and qualified by God, ready to go on with God as one to take the land of Canaan. (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
D. To gain the all-inclusive Christ, we need to be today’s Joshua, fighting the battle, taking the land, and enjoying Christ as our inheritance. (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
V. The people of Israel were ready to enter into the good land and to take it as their possession; however, in their old man they could not gain the victory; their old man had to be buried so that they could become a new man—4:1-11; Rom. 6:3-6: (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 4)
A. We need to realize that our natural man, our old man, is altogether not qualified to fight the spiritual warfare for the gaining of Christ—v. 6; Eph. 6:10, 11. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 4)
B. God’s intention is to join us to Christ to have an organic union between us and Christ, making us one with Christ, that His history might become our history—2 Cor. 1:21. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 4)
C. Joshua erected these twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan where the ark was, signifying that the Lord wanted Israel in their old nature to remain under the death water of the Jordan; this typifies that the old man of the believers should remain in the death of Christ—Rom. 6:6; Col. 2:20. (Life-study of Joshua, msg. 4)
VI. In order to possess the good land, we need to deal with the flesh, enjoy the Lord’s table, enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the produce of the good land, and see a vision of Christ as our Captain—Josh. 5:2-9, 11-15: (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
A. The circumcision at Gilgal signifies the application of the Lord’s death to our flesh—vv. 2-9; Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:24. (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
B. Israel’s keeping the Passover typifies the believers’ keeping of the Lord’s table to remember the Lord as our Redeemer and Savior—Josh. 5:10; Matt. 26:26-28; 1 Cor. 5:7. (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
C. The produce of the good land typifies Christ as the consummated God-given food to the believers, requiring their labor on Him—Josh. 5:11-12. (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)
D. Joshua saw a vision in which Christ was unveiled as the Captain of Jehovah’s army; whereas Joshua was the visible captain, Christ was the invisible Captain of God’s army—vv. 13-15. (2001 FTTA-S, msg. 1)