Joshua Introduction Explained: From Wilderness to God’s Best (Session 1)

In this introduction to the book of Joshua, Reasoning Through the Bible sets the biblical context for one of the most important historical and symbolic books in the Old Testament. This session traces the story from Genesis to Exodus, from slavery in Egypt to the wilderness, and from Moses to Joshua, showing where the book begins and why Joshua matters so much in the larger flow of Scripture. 

This study also explores Joshua’s background, the faith of Joshua and Caleb, the failure of the generation that refused to trust God, and the significance of Joshua’s name. It highlights how the book of Joshua is not only real history, but also a powerful picture of salvation, faith, and following the Savior into God’s promises. 

A major emphasis in this session is the connection between Joshua and Jesus. The discussion explains how Joshua’s name, role, and mission point beyond himself and help illustrate how God leads His people out of bondage and into blessing. It also shows why the Christian life is not merely following rules, but following a person in relationship and faith. 

Topics in this episode include:

•  introduction to Joshua 
•  Joshua and Caleb 
•  Israel in Egypt and the wilderness 
•  Moses, law, and promise 
•  Joshua’s name and meaning 
•  Joshua as a picture of salvation 
•  Joshua and Jesus connection 
•  the Christian life as relationship 
•  why Old Testament history still matters 

Reasoning Through the Bible is a verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry committed to careful exposition, biblical context, and faithful application.

Transcript

Setting the Biblical Context

Speaker 1 0:19

What we want to do is to start off with a little bit of an introduction to Joshua and talk about where we are in the book . So let's just dive in right there and then we'll get into the actual verse by verse in just a little bit . If you remember where we are in the Bible at this point the book of Joshua picks up kind of in the middle of a story . And if we just really quickly start with Adam and Eve back in Genesis most people think that Genesis , they think of Adam and Eve , but really there's just two , three chapters with Adam and Eve and then there's like 39 chapters .

Speaker 1 0:54

That's the beginning of Israel , but the end of Genesis Israel is in Egypt and by the beginning of the next book , exodus , it's been a gap of 400 years approximately and they're slaves by now . So the book of Exodus is God bringing his people out of the land of Egypt to try to get them to the promised land . So we have there in that story between Genesis and Exodus , there's Jacob whose name was changed to Israel and he had 12 sons . That's the beginning of Israel . They go to Egypt , they become slaves . Through a very interesting story with Joseph , they get led out of Egypt .

Speaker 2 1:38

When you said an interesting story , one of the things is that God had told them before they went in Abraham , he told him that you're going to be here in slavery for 400 years , so it was something that God had told and predicted before it actually happened .

Speaker 1 1:54

Right . So then the story of Moses . Remember Moses ? Picked up by Pharaoh's daughter , moses ends up leading the people of Israel out of Egypt . It's supposed to go into the promised land . Moses sent out the 12 spies . Ten of them came back and said what ? No , no , they're too big , they're giants in the land , we're like little grasshoppers . But then two of them , joshua and Caleb , said no , we can take it with God's help . And the people of Israel at that point were ready to stone Joshua and go back to Egypt . They wanted to go back to Egypt into slavery Think about that Rather than go into God's promised land . They were ready to give up and go back to slavery in Egypt , which is just really amazing to me . But Joshua and Caleb had the faith . They said with God's help , we can do it . God judges Israel by having them wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that entire generation at least all of the adults died off . So only the children less than 20 years old and two people who Joshua and Caleb .

Speaker 1 3:07

Joshua and Caleb were the ones that made it into the promised land . So at the beginning of the books of Joshua , that's where we are in the story . Joshua is about to lead the people into the promised land . That's really the book of Joshua . A couple of things about this guy , joshua . He was one of the 12 spies , of course , like we just said , and when he came back he had the faith . The people that were in Moses' day when they first sent out the 12 spies , what had they seen God do up to that point ? Count the miracles . What were all the miracles they had seen from coming out of Egypt ? What all did they see ?

Speaker 2 3:47

Obviously , when they crossed the Red Sea , they saw it part . They walked across on dry land and of course it's not just a small group . Then also , as he went across , god was with them . He was a pillar of smoke during the day , cloud by day , fire by night . Then also , as they went through the wilderness , he gave them sustenance , gave them manna , gave them manna every morning and he also .

Speaker 1 4:14

And then they complained and said we don't have any meat . And what did he do ? He gives them meat , Sent quail .

Speaker 2 4:20

So yeah , they've seen a lot of things . There was a series of things .

Speaker 1 4:25

Oh , we're hungry , here's some manna . Oh , we need meat . Here's some quail that just fall out of the sky . Oh , we're thirsty . What did he do ? Had them split the rock and the water came out of the rock . They had also seen God work in Mount Sinai . When Moses went up to get the Ten Commandments . There was earthquakes , lightning . There were the ten plagues of Egypt that he saw . They saw all of these things . There was even one guy , remember Korah ? Korah was the guy who came up and said Moses , you're leading us out in the middle of nowhere . I'm going to take them and go back to Egypt . God basically judged them . The earth opened up and swallowed up Korah and his followers and any more questions about who's in charge here , and so the people . By the time they had gotten to sending out the 12 spies , they had seen all of that and it's also something , Glenn , that comes through throughout the history .

Speaker 2 5:18

God continues to remind them of that over and over and over again . I am the God that brought you out of Egypt . So it wasn't a small deal to God .

Speaker 1 5:30

It was something that was like a core thing for them to remember God kept reminding them so they had seen all of these miracles 10 plagues , red Sea parting , judgment of Korah , all those things . They get to the land oh , there's giants there . We got to go back . Why in the world wouldn't they trust God at that point ? Why would they not trust God ? Well , here's a question why don't we trust God ?

Speaker 1 5:54

Easy to point fingers at Israel . How many times in my life and your life that we get to a point where what has God done for us ? Over and over ? And we get to a point and we say , oh , there's giants in the land ? How many times have I been guilty of the same thing ? Next , in Numbers , chapter 14 is where all that happened . And then Numbers 26, . They all die in the wilderness . Numbers 27 , god chooses Joshua . So that's where we are now . Now think of this guy , joshua . He was born a slave and he came out of slavery to be one of the greatest leaders in the history of

Joshua's Background and Leadership

Speaker 1 6:30

Israel . Was it from his own strength or his own ? Was he born in the right family and came up with the right resources , went to the right schools ? No , what was it that created Joshua into a great leader ? Faith , I'd have to say faith .

Speaker 1 6:44

Yeah , he trusted God . It's because he followed a good God . It wasn't that there was anything in Joshua . Now there's also a parallel between Joshua and Moses . How old was Joshua when he first went out into the spies ? You remember he was 40 years old .

Speaker 1 7:02

And he wandered the wilderness . For how long ? 40 . 40 makes him 80 . Even I could remember that non-math major . So he's 80 years old , which is the same age that Moses was when he started leading the people out in Israel . Here's the question of explaining all that . Can God use older people ? Absolutely , both Moses and Joshua . Their greatest works were done after they're 80 years old . We get to the point oh well , I'm retiring , I have to ride off into the sunset . No , god has a purpose for us , even when we're older , don't you ?

Speaker 2 7:37

think yeah , absolutely , absolutely . And it's not a time for you to sit and enjoy your old age . It's actually a time , a freeze-up time that you have that you can actually devote more time to God .

Speaker 1 7:48

Now here's a question . Do you remember Joshua's original name ? Trivia question . His name was changed . Remember what it was originally ?

Speaker 2 7:56

No I don't .

Speaker 1 7:57

It was Oshea . Oshea In Numbers , chapter 13 , God changes his name from Oshea , which means he has saved , to Joshua , which means what God saved Now . So he changes his name . Who else do we find in the Bible whose name is changed ?

Speaker 2 8:17

Well , just about everybody . Not everybody , but many , many people . You have Abram .

Speaker 1 8:22

Abram was changed to Abraham .

Speaker 2 8:24

Jacob , which you mentioned before , was changed to Israel .

Speaker 1 8:27

Who , over in the New Testament , had their name changed . The 12 . Peter , yeah , peter . Peter was originally Simon . Paul was changed from Saul to Paul . So we have this pattern in the scriptures of people's names being changed . Some cultures do this today , even today , when people become Christian , and it's a sign of leaving the old way of life and starting a new life and following God . It's a sign of the old way is and I'm leading the new one .

Speaker 2 8:59

We also have a new name whenever we get to heaven , that our name will be changed as well . So remember the old hymn there's a new name written in heaven and it's mine and it's mine . Of course , that's talking about your name , but I believe that there's a place where we're also said that we'll have a new name as well .

Speaker 1 9:17

In the book of Revelation . The names are in the book of life . So we have in the scriptures this idea that there's a point in people's lives when God touches them and they're changed . Remember the verse in New Testament where it says old things are passed away . Behold , all things become new . We're a new creation in Christ . Well , a lot of times people recognize that by changing their names you and I , followers of Christ . Nobody went down to the courthouse when I became a Christian and legally changed my name . But I can tell you I'm a different person . And same thing here with this Joshua . There comes to be a point in time where God puts his hand on him and he's changed .

Speaker 1 9:58

And the story here is Joshua's leading people out of the wilderness across the Jordan River into the promised land . And that's a historical fact . The book records real history . There was real guy with a real river and actual promised land flowing with milk and honey . But it's also an allegory . There's some symbolism there . Do you know what they are , what people have traditionally had with the symbol ? It's a great story , it's really fun . The idea is that Israel is coming out of the wilderness , crossing into God's best a land flowing with milk and honey . And we have here the crossing from out of the wilderness into God's best . It's a symbol of a saved person coming from a lost state into a state of where God's blessing . At the beginning of the book , the first verse

The Symbolism of Names Changed

Speaker 1 10:50

in Joshua says Moses is dead . Well , what did Moses represent ? The law . So the law is by Moses , the law of Israel . It's a list of rules . Do this , don't do that . Can following rules get you into God's kingdom ? No , why ?

Speaker 2 11:09

Because you can't keep them on , because we can't keep them .

Speaker 1 11:11

Following the law just according to the New Testament , brings what Brings death . Crossing into God's kingdom is what's presented in Joshua . It's a symbol of salvation , of going from a lost state , following the old way , with the law , miraculously leading . What was Joshua's name mean ? Again , god saves . By the way of God saving us , we can get into salvation Again . It's actual history , but there's also this wonderful symbolic story . When we get into the Christian life , is it always downhill on greased grooves ? No , that's certainly not . In the Christian life , is there ever ? Maybe possibly just a little bit of conflict , or maybe a whole lot ? Sometimes , yeah , there's conflict , just like what happens with Joshua in the land . What are the things we have ? Conflict on the world , temptation , sin .

Speaker 2 12:05

We still have these things With our own selves as well , wrestling with our own self , our fleshly self .

Speaker 1 12:11

Yeah , and so what we have here in Joshua is this wonderful story and , yes , it's accurate history , but it's also a story of the saved life moving from a lost state , trying to please God through keeping rules , through following the Savior into God's best and living the life of victory through God's help and not through our own strength .

Speaker 2 12:35

And living the life of victory through God's help and not through our own strength . You know , paul in 1 Corinthians uses and says that Israel is there as an example that we have in order to look back upon . And there's many people today that say , oh , that's Old Testament . The Old Testament doesn't have anything to do ever since Jesus came and we now have the New Testament . And the Old Testament doesn't have anything to do ever since Jesus came and we now have the New Testament , and the Old Testament is old news . But what you just described shows that the Old Testament is not old news and that it is something that shouldn't be neglected . It plays a part in the New Testament and obviously it sets up whenever Jesus shows up on the scene .

Speaker 1 13:17

Right . So that's what basically Joshua is about . It's this historical story that talks about Joshua leading these people into the promised land and having conquest in there , but it's also a story of our salvation and following the Savior . Matter of fact , it gets even spookier than that . Do you know the connection between Joshua's name and somebody else that's important in the New Testament .

Speaker 2 13:45

I think it was Jesus , wasn't it ?

Speaker 1 13:47

Yeah , do you know where that came about , as ?

Speaker 2 13:49

far as his name or the connection . Well , the connection , well , yeah , I think you hear people say Jesus's name is actually Yeshua and of course , in the Greek it's Isus is where we get Jesus from , but Yeshua is actually Joshua's name itself Joshua .

Speaker 1 14:09

Joshua's name is a Hebrew name , of course , and the Old Testament scholars translated all of the Old Testament 200 or 300 BC . There was a translation called the

Joshua as a Type of Jesus

Speaker 1 14:20

Septuagint and it was the Greek translation of the original Hebrew in the Old Testament , and they translated Joshua's name with the same word they used for Jesus the English Jesus in Greek is Iesus , which is the same word they use for Joshua , so the symbolism is very strong . We have the Savior , whose name means God saves , leading people out of a wilderness because they couldn't follow the law , they didn't have the faith for God , leading them in a miraculous way into God's best , the land flowing with milk and honey , which symbolizes salvation .

Speaker 2 14:58

It's a great story and a lot of people don't make that connection .

Speaker 1 15:02

Here's a question , and I know , Steve , you're a believer . Talk about what it's like in the Christian life for a second before we dive into this book . People out there that might not really have an idea . In Joshua it talks about the promised land , the land flowing with milk and honey , and we just said that's kind of a symbol of the saved life . What's it like being in the life of Christ ?

Speaker 2 15:28

Well , in a way it's a little bit surreal from the standpoint that I wouldn't say that my life has all been milk and honey right now , but my life has been so much better since I've been a Christian . And of course , I became a Christian at a young age but then also strayed as I got older and strayed from God , but I came back to Him in my late 20s . The thing is is that I got tired of trying to do it on myself and that was kind of like what you mentioned as far as people trying to keep the law . I finally got to a point that I said I've tried to do everything myself . I can't do it .

Speaker 2 16:07

I want to turn my life completely over to you and let you guide my life , and ever since I've done that , the Lord has blessed me a lot . Have I had trials and tribulations to it ? Yes , but I've had that peace of knowing that God is guiding me and he's leading me , and when I have questions and need answers , I go to him constantly for that guidance . I've never gone away from that Once I got to that point . That said , I need to turn my complete trust over to you to guide me through this life .

Speaker 2 16:40

I've done that , while you still have to live in the world and you have the conflict of the world and the oppression of the world and the things that you go through , there's that inner peace of your spirit of knowing that you have this relationship with God . And , of course , I think that's one thing that people miss is that salvation is a relationship . It's not just a state that we're given , it's also building a relationship with God , building

The Christian Life Experience

Speaker 2 17:10

a relationship with Jesus Christ . Through that relationship it's like with all relationships you get to know the person and you get to like them and you have things that are with your spirit , that are calming in difficult times . So it's a better life being a Christian , I think , than being somebody that's lost .

Speaker 1 17:31

In Joshua . It describes the promised land as a land flowing with milk and honey . As we'll see as we go through the book , we get in there . There's enemies in there , there's temptations , there's sin . It's not perfect , but they're following God and they're getting God's blessings and ultimately , god does bless them . That's what I found in my life with the Christian life .

Speaker 1 17:53

I didn't grow up in a Christian home . I was 25 years old before I had a radical change from the inside out that I wasn't expecting . For about three years afterwards I kept asking why me ? Why did this change happen to me ? It was a big change . And what amazed me at the time ? Me , it was a big change .

Speaker 1 18:14

And what amazed me at the time again two or three years , I was wrestling with this idea that the ways of the world are just 180 degrees opposite from the ways of Christ . Being in Christ is ever since then is just the desire to please Him and the desire to tell other people about Him have just grown . Yeah , I've had conflict . I've had my own failures . I've had my own things that I had to deal with , that I failed God , but he's always been there for me . And it's not a list of rules , it's not a how many rules can I keep ? How many things do I have to do ? It's not that it's following a person , as you said , a relationship , and that's what's beautiful about the Christian life , and I think the book of Joshua will help us find this through .

Speaker 2 18:55

And the other thing is , as we see God's faithfulness as in the story that you talked about , leading up to them getting to the point that they're fixing to go over into the promised land the faithfulness of God , of Him always there , and in Judges , which we'll go into after we go through Joshua , one of the things is that , like with Gideon , when the angel of the Lord shows up and Gideon , one of his arguments is why is it that God has forsaken us ?

Speaker 2 19:24

And the thing is is that God has never forsaken them , never did forsake them . It was always Israel that had forsook God and did not remember God , and that's what got them into trouble was their behavior towards God . God was always faithful in judges to bring them out of that and deliver them out of that oppression and stuff . So I think , even in our personal lives , what we just described , god shows his faithfulness to us in giving us that peace in relation to the relationship that we have with him . If he's not , shows us that he doesn't forsake Israel and others in scripture when he makes a covenant with them , then he's not going to forsake us as well .

Speaker 1 20:10

Right and that's what I've always found . If I wake up in the morning and I'm far from God , it wasn't because God changed , it was because I moved and I've always found if I just go back to him and repent , then he's there for me . He's always been faithful and as we go through Joshua we'll see that . Any other introductory things before we kind of wrap this one up no , I think that's a good start and I'm looking forward to going through this .

Speaker 1 20:34

Okay , so what we're going to do is this has been the introduction , so we're going to wrap this one up here and then we'll start off chapter one , verse one , and kind of work our way through the book as we go through .