Daily Lesson for Wednesday 3rd of December 2025
The story of Joshua must be seen through the prism of typology. The wars Joshua conducted are historical events, constituting an essential segment of Israel’s history. The goal of these wars is to settle the Israelites in the Promised Land, where they can enjoy their allotted inheritance in peace and establish a new society based on the principles of God’s law.
Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com
Later, Old Testament authors, such as Isaiah, present the work of the Messiah as also consisting of allotting the “desolate inheritances [to His people]” (Isaiah 49:8, NIV), using the same terminology that is so frequent in the book of Joshua. As the task of Joshua had been to apportion the land to the Israelites, so the Messiah, portrayed as the new Joshua, assigns the spiritual inheritance to a new Israel.
Read Hebrews 3:7-19; Hebrews 4:1-11. How does the New Testament confirm that Joshua, the new Moses, is himself a type of Jesus Christ?
The authors of the New Testament presented many aspects of the ministry of Jesus Christ in terms of Joshua’s work. As Joshua stepped into Canaan after 40 years in the wilderness, so the “antitypical Joshua,” Jesus, entered His earthly ministry after 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13) and His heavenly ministry after 40 days in the wilderness of this earth (Acts 1:3,9-11; Hebrews 1:2).
After Jesus’ baptism in the river Jordan (His “crossing of the Jordan” [Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11]), the gospel writers quote from Psalms 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1, from a Messianic psalm and from a song about the Suffering Servant of Yahweh (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22). Consequently, through His baptism, Jesus is presented as the Divine Warrior who will—through a life of faithful obedience, even unto death—wage the wars of Yahweh against the evil forces. His life and death on the cross brought about the casting out of Satan, led the conquest over our spiritual enemies, offered spiritual rest to His people, and allotted an inheritance for the redeemed (Ephesians 4:8, Hebrews 1:4, Hebrews 9:15).
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What does it mean to be able to “rest” in what Christ has done for us? That is, how can we have assurance that Jesus has defeated Satan in our behalf? |
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