Antioch Ministries

I have been meeting with a friend, Jason Amerson, lately, and we've been talking about leadership.  We thought a study of Joshua, a government worker and God's man might be productive as he was able to walk successfully in two realms. We're going to open a dialogue here and begin a study of Joshua's life. You're invited to join in.

Joshua was one of only two men who experienced slavery in Egypt, wandering in the desert, and victory in the promised land. Somehow he survived.

1. The reproach of Egypt -- slavery comes with a reproach, that is, a sense of embarrassment over the captivity. You remember Joshua's encounter with the Lord before their conquest of the promised land began. “And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.”
   (Joshua 5:9 ESV)
2. The testing of the desert -- a point of crisis came when the Israelites had left the twelve springs of Elim and struck off into the desert. After generations of despair in Egypt, they had bought into the milk and honey/glory land talk of Moses -- and all those miracles! This was the big turnaround; the world set on its ear and pharaoh put in his place. "We always knew it was the destiny of the Jews to rule. After all, we're God's people!" But after Elim they ran out of water, things turned grim and boy did they crash! But in it all, Joshua remained firm and did not get caught up in the complaining, whining chatter around him.
3. The spy debacle -- Joshua was one of twelve spies sent into the Promised Land before the invasion. it was a beautiful place, but full of over sized warriors who were intimidating. Ten spied returned saying it would be impossible to win an invasion. Joshua and Caleb both stood firm that God would bless the invasion, and that Moses should proceed with his plans.

We're going to look at how and why Joshua succeeded and perhaps along the way get some understanding of how God makes a leader.