LESSONS FROM JOSHUA
Poul Madsen
IN the New Testament we are exhorted to share in suffering as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Joshua provides a good example for us, since this phrase, 'good soldier', describes his whole life from a young man to old age. The first mention of him is when he was given the great responsibility of leading Israel into battle and he was told that there would be more battles ahead (Exodus 17:8-16).
But he also fought another kind of battle. When Moses pitched a tent of meeting outside the camp, his servant Joshua did not depart out of the Tent. A good soldier does not flinch when the battle is on, but nor does he neglect to seek God when there is no danger. We suffer most of our defeats on the inner front, as we allow the enemy to tempt us away from personal close contact with the Lord. No doubt this action of Joshua's made him the more ready to triumph in faith when ten of his fellow spies reported that it was impossible to enter the land.
We see, then, that this young man did not develop all at once, but grew as he faced one test after another. Perhaps his most difficult test was that of being just a servant; he had been in the limelight when he fought against Amalek and was prominent with Caleb in resisting unbelief, and then he just had to serve Moses day by day through the years. It is always easier to give orders than to receive them, but for forty [38/39] years Joshua served under orders from Moses. The good soldier of the Lord Jesus needs spiritual character as well as spiritual equipment; his first qualifications must be endurance, humility and conscientiousness.
The good fight is the fight of faith. This means that we must learn to fight with quite different weapons from those which our carnal natures would employ and above all we must listen to God. "Now it came to pass after the death of Moses ... that the Lord spake unto Joshua" (Joshua 1:1). Moses was dead, but the Lord never dies. Joshua was to die as we read at the end of his book -- but the Lord never dies. We are grateful for those whom the Lord raises up as leaders, but they all must disappear. The promises of God, though, do not change or diminish with the passage of time. But in addition to His promises, we must listen continually to His commands: "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth ... that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein" (1:8).
A good soldier of Jesus Christ makes obedience his first business. Joshua had lots of things to attend to, his workload was enormous, but he was careful to preserve unbroken his fellowship with God and he listened unceasingly to God's speaking. He was different in many ways from the subsequent Judges, for they were often only instruments which God used, but Joshua was a true servant. He was also used, but as this happened he was changed and became more and more like the One whom he served.
