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Can you see in this one fact alone how God’s patience, great grace, and eternal plan for us takes time? Do you think that there is anyone alive today who is willing to take 600 years to build or prepare anything? Can you see how short-sighted we have become when we tend to measure things in our time and within our own view of the world? No wonder Peter said that with God, a day is like a thousand years.

As we look at the beginning of the book of Joshua, and we see the many, perhaps millions, of Israelites gathered on the flooded banks of the Jordan anxiously awaiting the order to move we can see three things: They were excited about the coming new land, empowered by God to occupy it, and embarking on a totally new journey in a strange land.

So to begin our study, put on your Bible history hat, read Joshua Chapter 1 and answer the following:

1. Can you fill in these blanks (the dates are rounded approximations)? You may need a Bible with a chronology or a Bible atlas, but I bet that you can do it without them.
   1. 2075 BC: Birth of Abraham
   2. 2000 BC: Call of Abraham
   3. 1840 BC: 400 years of slavery begins
   4. 1440 BC: _____________________________________
   5. 1400 BC: _____________________________________
   6. 1000 BC: Period of the Judges ends, Saul is anointed King
   7. 960 BC: _______ is anointed King
   8. 920 BC: _______ is anointed King
   9. 880 BC: With Solomon’s death, Israel divides into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms
   10. 722 BC: Northern Kingdom (Israel) falls to Assyria
   11. 585 BC: Southern Kingdom (Judah) falls to the Babylonians
   12. 2 BC – 4 AD: _________ is born in Bethlehem. "He shall be called Emmanuel, God with us."
2. Reading Joshua 1:1, how can we tell that this journey will be the beginning of a new era?
3. In Joshua 1:1-9, God makes some powerful statements that empowered Joshua to lead the Israelites in many victories. Can you see any parallels in these verses with passages in the New Testament that empower us to both inherit the Kingdom of God and to have victory over the prince of this world? See John 3:34-36 and John 14:26-27 for some examples. Can you list others? (There are many.)
4. In Joshua 1:1-9, some instructions are given to the Israelites regarding holy living. Some 400 years later, David would write a Psalm with similar instructions –- words we should be living by today. Read Psalm 1 and see if it contains instructions similar to those in Joshua. What are they, and are they written for us today as well?
5. In Joshua 1:10-11, God’s orders to prepare to move are given. The Israelites are told to pack, and to get supplies; some versions say food or victuals. What food had the Israelites raised, or grown, or lived on, during the forty years in the wilderness? (see Exodus 16:35)
6. What clothing, armor and shoes had they learned to make during their wandering days?
7. What happened to the mighty men, their fighting men, who had come out of Egypt with them? (see Numbers 1:1-3, 1:18 and 14:29)
8. From our study so far, we see that during the 40 years in the desert, the Israelites were completely dependent on God for their food, clothing, shelter, and protection. Even though there was no possible way for humans to survive in the desert, God miraculously provided. Now, their children stand on the banks of the Jordan ready to possess the Promised Land. Can you name some characteristics that would have been different about this group of Israelites compared to those of their parents at the time when God led them out of Egypt?
9. Do you suppose this tells us we also need to change our attitudes and reexamine our faith if we want God to lead us?
10. Can you describe in general the kind of people that God led out into the wilderness versus the kind of people that he led from there over the Jordan?
11. Can you see a time in your life where God’s transforming power led you into the wilderness as one person, and brought you over the Jordan a changed person whose faith was strengthened by the experience?

As we will see in the lessons to come, an eager, excited and empowered people will cross unimaginable barriers to live victorious in the Promised Land. Their story will inspire us, and cause us to see God’s nature as Judge, Sovereign, and Provider for His people. This same God provides for us today through His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit present who is present with us.

May God bless you as you study this book, and may you experience the transformation that can occur when God is in control!

Yours in Christ,

Wes

[2002]