Lesson 316: JOSHUA - THE CAPTAIN OF ISRAEL

Full Lesson HERE

INTRODUCTION. The name Joshua (Heb.) is the Old Testament form of Jesus

(Gr.) which means the Lord is salvation. Joshua is first introduced in the scriptures

when the children of Israel came to a place called Rephidim on the way to Mount Sinai

about two months after they left Egypt. Here the Israelites were attacked by the

Amalekites, desert nomads who were descendants of Esau. Moses appointed

Joshua to command the Israelites in the ensuing battle, which he did successfully

(Ex. 17). Joshua then served as Moses' servant while Moses was receiving the law

from God at Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:13; 32:17; 33:11).

When the children of Israel left Mount Sinai in the second month of the second year,

they journeyed northward, camping at the southern border of Canaan which was

their destination. Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land, one man from each of

the twelve tribes, and Joshua was the man chosen from the tribe of Ephraim. When

the spies returned after forty days, only Joshua and Caleb, the man chosen from the

tribe of Judah, reported that the Israelites were strong enough to conquer the land.

When the congregation of people believed the evil report of the ten other spies

rather than the good report of Joshua and Caleb, the Lord decreed that Israel should

wander in the wilderness for forty years, one year for each of the days spent spying

out the land. All the Israelites twenty years and older, except for Joshua and Caleb,

would perish in the wilderness because of their unbelief–their children would be the

ones allowed to enter the land of promise (Num. 13-14).

When the forty years had passed and the death of Moses was near, God chose

Joshua to succeed Moses (Num. 27:18-23). Joshua's task, therefore, was to lead

the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, conquer it, and occupy it–fulfilling

God's land promise to Abraham.