• Week 1:
  • Joshua
  • Chapters
  • 1:
  • 1-11
  • , 3:
  • 1-5, 14-17
  • , 4:
  • 1-7
  • , 5
  • God encourages Joshua
  • Israel crosses the Jordan river on dry ground
  • Israel puts up 12 memorial stones
  • The desert generation is circumcised
  • Joshua commanded to remove his sandals
  • Discussion Questions
  • Some bullet points
  • of what we
  • have
  • read so far
  • from Genesis & Exodus
  • Creation
  • Adam, Eve. & Sin
  • Wicked world leading to flood
  • Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Joseph
  • Joseph in Egypt and as ruler
  • 400+ years go by, Egyptians enslave Israelites
  • Moses chosen by God to lead Israel out of Egypt
  • 10 plagues, death of first born
  • Israelites exit Egypt, hence “Exodus”
  • Receive law, 10 commandments & Law
  • Ark of the Covenant, altars, furnishings
  • Priests & Tabernacle
  • Exodus ends with the Tabernacle being put up
  • Summary of Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy
  • LEVITICUS

: Lays out the Law with all its commandments.

Laws on morality given, alongside the ordinance for feast days, like the Day of Atonement

The ministry of the priests under the Law begins here, so the Law is now fully in effect

  • NUMBERS
  • : The Israelites are
  • numbered

to start this book, hence the name.

The tribe of Levi is set apart to be priests only among the Israelites

The Israelites being to complain and revolt against Moses. 1 notable complaint is about not having meat, so the Lord sends them quail in over abundance.

Their constant complaints lead to God proclaiming a 40 year wandering in the desert before they enter the promised land (Canaan, i.e. current day Palestine/Israel)

The Bronze serpent is raised up, symbolizing Christ on the Cross.

Joshua is marked as Moses’s successor; Aaron, Moses’s brother & first high priest, dies.

  • DEUTERONOMY:

Moses gives a series of commands & warnings as he nears his death

Ex: “You shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth fo God”

Moses officially appoints and ordains Joshua as he prepares the Israelites to enter into the promised land, as the 40 year wandering is over.

Moses sees the promised land from afar atop Mount Nebo, then he dies.

We finish Deuteronomy by being reminded that everything so far that has occurred is in line with God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, & Israel (Jacob).

  • Joshua 1:1-11

What is God doing for Joshua?

He is encouraging him. Remember that Joshua was Moses’s close aid and servant, and thus faithful to Moses. Remember also that Moses was a great prophet, so much so that

Deut. 34:10

says “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face”. So it’s likely that Joshua is nervous just as Moses was when the Lord first called him.

Can we receive any comfort/encouragement from God doing this for Joshua?

Yes! If Moses and Joshua, who were great prophets and leaders, have to receive comfort, strength, and encouragement from God, then how much more do we?

This is not something exclusive to the OT. Here God says

“as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you”

  • , and Christ our God echoes this in
  • Matthew 28:20
  • speaking to His disciples

“Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of age”.

This is incredibly relevant in today’s time because of the uncertainty of the world and loss of faith across the board. But even more so for some of us who are gearing up for life after college, work, maybe even relationships. We have this assurance of guidance from God, and no matter what is thrown at us, if we

“do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded”

  • , meaning Christ’s commands,

“then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success”

As we learned from covering the assurance of guidance, ““TRUST IN THE LORD”, “LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING”, and “IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT.”

ADDITIONAL: ESTABLISHING WHAT JOSHUA PRE-FIGURES

We have seen God’s actions are purposeful; nothing He does is by accident. So when God says “my servant Moses is dead” to Joshua, who will now lead the Israelites into the promised land, recognize that something is pre-figured.

In the NT, Moses is dead; meaning that Law has ceased or been completed, because “the law and the prophets extend only up to John.”,

Matthew 11:13

. Joshua, whose name is the same as Jesus in Greek/Aramaic/Hebrew, is now leading the Israelites, God’s chosen (Christians), into the promised land (Kingdom of Heaven)

Moses dead, Joshua (Esho) ⇒ promised land.

Law done, Jesus (Esho) ⇒ Kingdom of Heaven.

  • Joshua 3:1-5, 14-17

What are the Israelites preparing to do?

Cross the Jordan river into Canaan, which is the promised land. It’s the modern day Palestine/Israel.

Why does the Ark go ahead of the Israelites as they travel?

Because God’s presence must precede us in our movement forward in life, and His Word especially. “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path”,

Psalm 119:105.

What happens when they enter the Jordan River ?

The rivers go back on either side once the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant enter, giving them and the Israelites behind them dry ground to walk on.

  • Joshua 4:1-7

What is the point of the 12 memorial stones?

See verses 6 & 7 (👀).

Why is this relevant to us?

So that each and everyone one of us may know that we are obligated to teach our children, others’ kids and

especially our own

, our faith in Christ. Teaching involves both teaching others and then practicing what you preach too!

So if you plan to have children and the Lord blesses you with them, know that you have a MAJOR responsibility to grow them up in the Faith. They have to grow up in the Church, learning Scripture, Liturgy, practices and traditions, and the pricelessness of our Faith and the history of what God has done for us, particularly for our Assyrian nation which

has a history made significant because of God and His hand

in our story.

Some church fathers use this verse to defend the use of icons too. Icons are not banned or discouraged in the ACoE. They just went out of fashion because ACoE faithful historically lived around Muslims, and Islam forbids the use of icons.

  • Joshua 5

Why did Joshua circumcise this ‘second generation’?

They were never circumcised in the desert.

Why weren’t they circumcised in the desert if they were supposed to on the 8th day after birth?

This is a puzzling question! Here we start to realize the severity of God’s displeasure with the desert generation. We know that circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, and that males had to undergo it in order to have a portion in God’s covenant, but from this text we learn that the desert generation, despite being in the midst of Moses, did not undergo this!

Seeing that they do eventually circumcise, we see that this temporary pause of circumcision is just that, a delay/suspension, and it’s because of the disobedience and unbelief of the desert generation.

They were in such disobedience to God, as we saw in their constant revolts and complaining, that they did not even uphold this imperative command. Some C.F. go on to add that God, who was so displeased with them, allowed this to occur, which makes sense seeing as they died in the desert and did not enter the promised land. But now, this generation IS entering the promised land, which entails God’s covenant to Abraham, so they had to circumcise.

Recall again that Joshua prefigures Christ, that these men were circumcised with a rock, AND that we looked at Moses telling the Israelites to circumcise their hearts, i.e. meaning to have humility and

compunction (a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad)

Well, if we recall that Christ is the spiritual rock that accompanied the Israelites,

  • 1 Cor. 10:4
  • , we are taught 2 things here:

Delayed baptism is better than no baptism.

Someone born in the wilderness, i.e. someone who converts to Christianity as an adult, must undergo baptism, just like these adult Israelites had to be circumcised.

Christ’s words, which command us to have humility and compunction, is a circumcision we have to undergo in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven

. Christ still calls for circumcision in the New Covenant, it’s just a spiritual one, as physically we are baptized now. We know that Christ’s words “cut the heart” AND are accompanied by Baptism as evidenced by St. Peter’s 1st preaching on the Day of Pentecost,

Acts 2:37-38.

Why did the Manna cease?

The Israelites had entered into the promised land, which had abundant food, and exited the barren wilderness, so the manna stopped in accordance with that.

Who is the man with his sword drawn that Joshua saw?

This is yet another instance from the O.T. of us wondering who is who! We had the 3 men who visited Abraham, the angel that wrestled with Jacob, the voice from the burning bush speaking to Moses, and now this!

What we have discussed in the past is that sometimes angel “speak as God” in that they are delivering a message directly from God, but one thing that is important here is that the man told Joshua to remove his shoes, which is what Moses was told from the voice in the burning bush,

Exod 3:5.

, where the C.F. generally agreed was God. Either way, we know that God’s presence is there!

So why were both Moses, and now Joshua, commanded to remove their sandals?

The Lord’s presence makes any place holy, because He is Holy. So when His presence is in front of Moses and Joshua, they remove their footwear, which represents worldly toil, sin, and lowliness, whereas bare feet represent humility, and receptivity to God’s command. So do not be surprised that the apse/chancel (qankeh), which houses the altar, upon which the Holy Spirit hallows the bread and wine and mystically transforms then into the Body & Blood of Jesus Christ, calls for clergy to remove their footwear, or wear special footwear set apart for service. If in the Old, God’s presence makes somewhere Holy, then will it not do the same in the NT? Know that Christ’s Body & Blood are God’s presence, and so is the Holy Spirit.

This isn’t a stretch, because we see the same thing in the Tabernacle in terms of who can go where when entering God’s presence, which we covered in Exodus.

  • This Week's Study

Nothing!