Joshua 1-4 / March 22 (Day 82)

Chapter 1
Fear, dread, worry, panic, disbelief, fret, anxiety; these are the reactions of normal people to things that look daunting. The LORD has given us a “license” to be “strong and very courageous” no matter the situation because He is with us. He told Joshua in Joshua 1:5, “I will be with you… I will not leave you nor forsake you.” The words the Lord spoke to Joshua in Joshua chapter one, He echoes to His disciples in Matthew 28. He tells them in verses 19 and 20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,” then He says, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Taking new ground means there will be opposition that looks bigger, greater and stronger than we are; we must remember He will fight for us and bring us to victory.

Chapter 2
Hebrews 11:31 says, “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” Rahab had the power to blow the whistle on the two spies and be a hero to her people, but she didn’t dare. Rahab knew her people had zero chance against the God of the Israelites, so she made the decision in her heart to become an Israelite. Her faith saved her family and herself.

Chapter 3
Joshua is a type and foreshadow of Jesus Christ; Joshua chapter 3 is full of these foreshadows.  The true Hebrew rendition of their names is the same: Yeshua. In verse one it sets the course for how they took the Promised Land; it says, “Joshua (Yeshua) rose early in the morning.” This is a picture of how Jesus rose early on the third day after His death, so we could come into the promised righteousness of God. In verse 16 it says the waters of the Jordan were held back all the way to the city of “Adam.” How powerful is that? When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, sin was taken care of all the way back to Adam!