Joshua. I love this book! I think I am endeared to it because it has so much to say about the joys, the hardships and the pitfalls of leadership. "Be strong and courageous." Joshua heard that message over and over. Perhaps he was timid at first. After all, he was the man in Moses' shadow for many years. He found strength in the Lord and ultimately the allegiance of the people.
If you look at the lineage of Jesus, you will find some provocative names there. One of them is Rahab the harlot, whom we meet in Joshua 2. Before the story is over, she will end up the wife of the tribal leader of Israel's strongest tribe. The romantic in me hopes I will get to hear their love story in heaven.
Joshua held the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh to the agreement they made with Moses. Accountability!
The Jordan was at flood stage when they crossed. It's possible that it had overflowed its banks out to 20 miles width. It wasn't a calm stream, but a raging torrent and God held it back, just like He had done to the Red Sea 40 years earlier. Note: it takes the miracle of God for you and me to leave our slavery to sin (Egypt), but it also takes the movement of His Spirit to deliver us out of spiritual wilderness into the victorious life He designed for us. We can't discipline our lives into the spiritual Promised Land. We can only humble ourselves in the sight of God and cry out for Him to bring us there.
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