Finding Jesus in Joshua
I am a visual learner so when I want to understand history I picture it on a timeline in my mind. That’s how I want to walk you through the Old Testament. We’ve seen Genesis and Exodus in sequential order in time but now you can see that Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy were written within the timeframe of Exodus when the Jews made their escape from Egypt. Let’s continue looking at that mission as they retake their gifted land in the book of Joshua.
Joshua was another type of Christ (whose Hebrew name was Yeshua); can you see the similarity even in his name? Let’s look at some other ways we see the Messianic Thread in Joshua’s life, remembering the lower and upper story:
• Joshua was a leader of the new generation of Jews entering the Promised Land. Jesus leads a believer into being a new creation with a new spiritual life.
• Joshua was a descendant of Joseph from Ephraim whose name means ‘double fruit’. Jesus was a descendant of Joseph from Bethlehem of Ephratah, which means fruitfulness.
• Joshua is recorded by Moses (Ex. 33:11) as staying near to God’s Presence at the Tabernacle. Luke 2:49 shows us that Jesus needed to be in His Father’s house.
• Joshua was the commander of the physical armies of Israel and Jesus is the spiritual Commander of the Army of the LORD (Josh. 5:14).
• Joshua was filled with the Holy Spirit (Num. 27:18) as was Jesus (Luke 4:1).
• Joshua led the Jewish nation into the ‘rest of the LORD’ (Josh. 23:1) however, it was temporary. Jesus leads us into permanent, spiritual rest (Heb. 4:3, 8).
• Num. 32:12 tells us that Joshua followed God with 100% of his life. Jesus obeyed the will of His Father even unto death (John 10:17-18).
• Both men were commissioned by God (Num. 27:16-23; Luke 2:25-35).
• Both Joshua and Jesus appointed 12 men (Josh. 4:4; Mark 3:13-19).
• Both men stood against the crowd (Num. 14:6-7; Luke 11:14-26).
• Both performed miracles (Josh. 10:12-14; Mark 4:35-41).
God’s Plan of Redemption given in Gen. 3:15 (you may need to review that verse) is in play throughout the book of Joshua. It moves us closer to That Day: the Second Coming of Messiah. On That Day He will not only be Supreme Ruler over Israel but over the entire world.
The lower story of Joshua leading Israel in retaking their land is a type or shadow of the authority a believer has in Yeshua (Jesus). The upper story or the spiritual counterpart is our assignment to retake our ‘land’ from the enemy: our lives, our families, our neighborhoods, and even our nation. We use the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer and our weapon is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:10-20).
Consider a prayer walk through your house and your neighborhood this week and begin to retake your land.
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