Joshua 5 & 6

Wasilla Bible Church

Joshua 5 & 6

Joshua 5&6

September 18, 2024

There are two different stories that are here that are connected here in the book of Joshua that we will be tackling this week.

Chapter 5

The first one is the account of the second circumcision of the people Hebrew people. The two places in scripture that would be used to further reveal the spiritual and even physical significance of this are Deuteronomy 10:12-22 and Genesis 17:1-14.

In Genesis 17 we have the Abrahamic covenant. Here we see God making a covenant with Abraham that has three distinct places or relevance to this story.

-God promises Abraham, he will greatly multiply him and make nations out of him

-His offspring will take the land of Cannan

-They ought to keep circumcision as a sign of the promise of God

When we get to Joshua 5, we see that Joshua is recognizing that God has kept his end of the Abrahamic Covenant, the number of descendants has become great, and the people are beginning to take the land of Canaan. Therefore, Joshua upholds the righteousness of the people and commands them to fulfill their part by bearing the sign of the covenant given to Abraham. This is why it is important that this passage is here because it shows that the people are aware that their taking of the land of Canaan is fully the works and acts of God alone.

Deuteronomy 10 is also helpful because it shows us the end goal of circumcision being that of the heart and not just a physical event. We see this being further supported in Joshua 5:9 where the end result of the mass circumcision is the removal of reproach of the people.

Take aways form chapter 5

-Are there places where we have seen God be faithful to us despite our disobedience?

-What are step we can take or ways we can live lives that honor the works God has done in our lives?

Chapter 6

As for chapter 6 it is much more straight forward and for the most part can be completely understood within the book of Joshua. There are two things that are taking place; God is giving the people the city of Jericho, but they have to take it in a way that is very unconventional way, and that God is honoring the promise the spies made to Rahab.

Take aways from chapters six would be

-Obedience often results in lives that do not look normal by the worldly standards

-No matter our background or origins we all stand just one commitment away from salvation. God can overcome all sins and situations we might be stuck in no matter how daunting they may be to us. Just as Rahab was saved from destruction, so can we be saved.

Joshua 23 & 24

December 11, 2024 • Joshua 23, Joshua 24

A few weeks ago, we took some time to reflect on the ways God has revealed Himself to us in the past, and this week’s focus is somewhat similar. In Joshua 23, much time has passed, and we find ourselves at a point where Joshua knows his time is nearing its end. He wants to solidify Israel’s faith and ensure that he finishes well in his role as their leader. In this chapter, Joshua reminds the people of who God is, emphasizes His promises to Israel, and ensures that they have an accurate understanding and representation of God. In chapter 24, Joshua delivers a long monologue recounting everything God has accomplished—from the exodus from Egypt to the present time. He does this not only to thank God for His works, as we did a few weeks ago, but also to clarify who he means when he refers to God. Joshua makes it clear that God is not defined by what we say about Him but by who He says He is. To add to or take away from God’s attributes or actions is to misrepresent Him. For example, one cannot claim to believe in the Jesus of the Bible while denying that He physically rose from the dead. After clearly defining who God is, Joshua challenges the people to make a choice: not only to believe and trust in God but also to make Him their Lord and serve Him alone. Similarly, we, like the people of Israel, must decide whether we will make Jesus not only our Savior but also our Lord—serving Him exclusively. Please take time to ask the students: Do they understand that being a Christian means more than simply believing the Bible as a set of facts? Encourage them to compare and contrast the difference between merely believing something and becoming a servant of it. Challenge them to go beyond belief and choose to be servants of Jesus Christ.

Joshua 13 & 14

November 13, 2024 • Joshua 13:8–33, Joshua 14

Over the past few weeks, we have been talking about the ways that God has kept his promises and how we can trust him to do so in the future. Here we see a continuation of that theme, and we see how we might have to wait a significant amount of time for God’s fulfilled word. Also, we see that God does not always bless people in the order of their obedience. If you were to go back to when the people of Israel were in the wilderness (Numbers Ch 13-14) Moses sent out twelve spies to spy out the land. Ten of the spies came back and told Moses that they were fearful of the people in the land and did not believe that they could take the land, but there were two spies that believed that they could. The two spies that believed were Caleb and Joshua, who trusted in God’s promise, and are now conversing in chapter 14. Caleb fully believed God and was going to see things through and be true to his word and despite this he ended up being one of the last people to receive the blessing of land. This is something that we might feel uncomfortable with because we normally believe that the people who are the most faithful should be the first to receive blessings. As unfair as we might believe this to be it is something comforting to us. The good things that happen to us are not indicators of our faithfulness to God, because if they were then God hated the Apostle Paul (2 Cor 11:21-29). Therefore, we should look to God’s word as the standard of our obedience to God. This week the main goal will be to encourage the students to continue devoting their lives to God despite seeing others receiving good that they might feel they deserve. God will honor their faithfulness in his way at his timing.

Joshua 12

November 6, 2024 • Joshua 12, Joshua 13:1–7

In C.S. Lewis book “Out of the Silent Planet” he writes about a man traveling to another world and meeting many different peoples and creatures. All the groups that he meets have very unique cultures that the main character finds very different from those of earth. One of these groups sets an age cut off for some of the enjoyable activities they do and the reason for that is very interesting. They say they stop because that is the only way that they could bring about a completion of the joy of doing the activity itself. They believe that it is necessary to look back on and remember good things for the joy of them to be competed. This in a way is what we see here in this chapter. Joshua is looking back at what God has done and the land that he has given the people over the past few years. Likewise, we ought to look back on the good things that God has done in our lives and the lives of others around us and remember them. It is very easy to get caught up in all of life’s troubles so we must have times of reflection where we take account of the victories God has wrought in our lives. Therefore, please set aside time to go through the word doc attached to this lesson.