HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 563
Joshua
W H E N W A S the last time you felt defeated? You lost something
very precious or important to you—your marriage, a relationship
with one of your children, your best friend, your job, the chance
for a promotion, your self-esteem, your health. You fought hard,
but the score on your side of the board was nothing, a big zero.
Now what?
Joshua is a book about winning and losing. In
What you will be
reading about
order to conquer and settle the Promised Land,
the Israelites had to win a series of battles and,
1:1– 5:15
ultimately, a war. The Israelites prevailed.
The Israelites cross the
Jordan River into the
But warning flags were going up. After the
Promised Land
exhilaration of battle, real life would settle in
6:1-27
again. Idolatry and an immoral culture were
The walls of Jericho fall
still around. And so even in winning, the Israel7:1– 8:35
ites could lose. They could gain the whole land
The man who caused Israel
of Canaan but lose their own souls. A military
to lose a battle
victory could bring with it the fruits of a moral
9:1-27
defeat. Israel could conquer the Canaanites miliThe people of Gibeon trick
tarily but be defeated by the Canaanite culture.
Joshua
The military losers could actually become the
10:1–12:24
cultural victors. Does this sound familiar?
Joshua conquers the land
Today some of us who love the Lord enjoy rela13:1–21:45
tive wealth and prestige. But in our economic and
The land is divided among
the tribes
social victories, we must beware that we are not
defeated spiritually. We must be careful that we
22:1-34
A great misunderstanding
do not gain all that we desire at the cost of losing
among the people
our souls.
23:1–24:33
Military victory in Canaan was, in part, the
Joshua’s final words to
direct fruit of Joshua’s military leadership. He
his people
was a great soldier, an effective general, a worthy
successor to Moses. But more important, Joshua was a spiritual leader, a man
of God. He pleased and obeyed God. Thus, he led on both the military front,
where raw power rules, and on the spiritual front, where raw power is subservient to simple trust in God. Joshua learned that you win by doing it God’s way.
The power of the military was a weapon in the hand of the Lord. Victory came
not because of the weapon but because of the Lord who held it.
Do you feel defeated? Are you longing for the sweet taste of victory? We are
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