Joshua: Servant of the Lord - Lesson 1
Overview
Joshua: Servant of the Lord — Foundations in the Covenants
The book of Joshua is dramatic history with deep relevance for our walk of faith, and like every book of Scripture it ultimately points us to Jesus Christ. Although the human author is debated—Samuel is a plausible candidate, with internal evidence pointing to the period of the later judges (around 1100 B.C.)—we confess that whoever held the pen was carried along by the Holy Spirit. To read Joshua well, we need to understand the two covenants that shape its background: the covenant with Abraham and the covenant with Moses.
The Abrahamic Covenant: Unilateral Grace
In Genesis 12:1–3, God makes seven promises to Abram: a great people, blessing, a great name, that Abram would be a blessing, that God would bless those who bless him, curse those who curse him, and that in him all families of the earth would be blessed. This is a unilateral covenant—God alone acts to fulfill it. Abraham contributes nothing; God declares, "This is what I will do." Paul reaffirms this in Galatians 3:6–9, where those who believe are counted as Abraham's offspring and share in his blessing.
This unilateral pattern is exactly what we confess about Holy Baptism. God forgives sins, gives the Holy Spirit, grants faith, and makes us part of His family. Even the faith that receives this gift is itself God's gift Ephesians 2:8–9. Salvation is monergistic—God's work alone—not synergistic, as if we cooperated to earn a share of the credit. God will not share His glory with another.
The Mosaic Covenant: Bilateral, and Pointing to Our Need
Four hundred and thirty years after Abraham, the covenant given through Moses takes a different shape. Deuteronomy 28:1–2 speaks in the language of "if… then": if you obey, then blessings will follow. This is a bilateral covenant, and it belongs to the category of law, not gospel. Gospel speaks in the language of "because… therefore"—because Christ died for you, because you have been claimed in Baptism, therefore you belong to Him. Luther warned that mixing law and gospel produces a muddy mess.
Crucially, the Mosaic covenant was never given to save. It was given to expose our sin and drive us to a Savior. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:21, if a law could have given life, righteousness would indeed come through the law—but it cannot. When someone says, "I'm trying really hard to be good so God will let me into heaven," that is law-thinking misapplied. No amount of effort tips the scale; the law shows us we need Christ.
Joshua Points to Jesus
The Abrahamic promise finds its fulfillment in Christ. Galatians 3:26–29 declares that those baptized into Christ are clothed with Him and are therefore Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. Colossians 1:19–23 celebrates that in Christ all the fullness of God dwells, and through His cross we who were once estranged are reconciled, presented holy and blameless before Him.
Notice as well that Jesus' Hebrew name is Joshua. The Old Testament Joshua foreshadows the New Testament Joshua. The rest Israel received in the promised land was real but partial and temporary; the rest Christ gives is complete and eternal. As we walk through this book together, we will see how Joshua's story continually points ahead to Jesus, how to understand difficult questions about warfare and judgment, and how this ancient account speaks directly to our daily life of faith—a faith founded not on our striving, but on the unilateral grace of God in Christ.
Transcript
Well, good morning. 7s
What a joy Raleigh Sunday is. 9s
As we rally a new around the Word of God and so great to start this new season. 11s
With you, why don't we join in prayer, please? 18s
Gracious Heavenly Father, we do indeed. 21s
Thank you for this day that you have made a unique day in all of history. 23s
And we ask Father for your blessings upon this time of study throughout this year's 29s
house. 35s
From the youngest among us to this class here, we ask Father for your Word to go forth 36s
in the confidence that you will use that Word to accomplish what you desire. 44s
Bless now we pray this time of study to your glory and praise in Jesus' name. 49s
Amen. 55s
Well, we start a new cycle and the season for adult classes they stretch from Raleigh Sunday 56s
until just before Memorial Day of next year. 63s
And so that's our new cycle that we have started. 68s
And we're very, very excited about the various classes that we're going to bring. 71s
Of course, this is Joshua and I'm going to spend these next nine weeks with you. 76s
Following Joshua, Pastor Melanak is going to teach a class in the month of November into early 81s
December and that class is going to be on the confessions. 88s
What an important, important class. 92s
And so I commend that to you. 95s
And then she'll teach a class from December 21st until January 18th in that month slot. 97s
That's going to be on angels. 105s
That's an interesting topic. 107s
Then I'll be back in January until mid-March and we're going to examine 109s
together about the life of David. 116s
What a fascinating person in Holy Scripture. 119s
What an important person obviously in Holy Scripture. 123s
So we're going to study that together. 126s
And then Pastor Melanak is going to conclude the season on the later part of March 128s
until mid-May and she's going to take a look at Romans 9 to 11. 132s
Key, key passages in Holy Scripture, Romans 9 to 11. 140s
So Joshua confessions, angels, David and Romans 9 to 11. 146s
And so it's great to start our walk together. 151s
So welcome to this nine study. 155s
As I mentioned, Joshua is just a fascinating book. 157s
In Holy Scripture. 162s
It has dramatic historical writings for us to grasp. 164s
And it has a tremendous relevance and meaning for our walk in the faith. 170s
And the message all centers in on the Lord Jesus Christ. 176s
The authorship of Joshua, that's a matter of scholarly debate. 183s
We know that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. 188s
When you come to Joshua, there's a little bit of debate with regard to who was the author. 194s
Evidence shows that it was written during the period of the later Judges, 200s
which is around 1100 years before the birth of Christ. 205s
A good probability is that the author is Samuel. 211s
If you have to make a case for someone, Samuel is a real plausible candidate. 216s
But in the end, it's going to be an open question. 223s
But we do know that whomever was the author of Joshua, that the Holy Spirit was inspiring them, 226s
that they were carried along by the Holy Spirit to write what they wrote. 233s
And indeed, it is a part of Holy Scripture. 238s
In order to understand Joshua, we need to understand covenants. 242s
So I want to lay some pavement for us today in our time together, 247s
that we're going to drive over in the weeks ahead. 254s
We have to understand covenants. 259s
And Joshua highlights the covenant that was made with Abraham and the covenant that was made 261s
with Moses. Let's go to the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis chapter 12, please. 267s
Genesis chapter 12. 275s
And we'll take a look at verse 1. 281s
Genesis chapter 12. 285s
Verses 1 to 3. 291s
Now the Lord said to Abram, 294s
go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 297s
I will make of you a great nation. 304s
I will bless you and make your name great. 307s
So that you will be a blessing. 310s
I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you, I will curse. 314s
And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 318s
There are seven promises associated with the Abrahamic covenant. 326s
The first is a people. 332s
A people. 335s
Let's go back to verse 1. 338s
Now the Lord said to Abram, 340s
go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 342s
I will make of you a great nation. 346s
There's the first aspect of the Abrahamic covenant is that there's going to be a great people. 351s
Here's the second aspect of it and that is blessing. 359s
Verse 2 again, I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you. 367s
We see that Abraham was blessed with physical possessions. 374s
We also see that he was blessed with faith. 379s
That's Romans the fourth chapter. 382s
So you see people and you also see a blessing. 385s
Here's the third promise associated with it that God would make Abrams name great. 389s
There's two again. 401s
I will make of you a great nation. 402s
There's people. 404s
I will bless you. 405s
There's the blessing and make your name great. 406s
Every time an Israelite referenced Abraham as the father of the Jewish nation, 410s
it was fulfillment of the prophetic word. 418s
What's the next? 422s
That he would be a blessing 424s
to others. 431s
He would be a blessing to others. 434s
Verse 2 again, I will make of you a great nation. 435s
I will bless you. 438s
Make your name great so that you will be a blessing. 440s
Then we go on. 447s
Verse 3, I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you, I will curse. 449s
There are the next two. 456s
That God is going to do a blessing and cursing. 458s
I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you, I will curse. 467s
And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 473s
We see that in the fulfillment of the covenant in Messiah. 479s
So you've got seven aspects here to the covenant. 486s
People blessing, make his name great. 489s
He will be a blessing to others. 492s
God is going to bless. 493s
That's one. 494s
God will also curse and that there will be the Messiah that will come forward from this line of people. 495s
Let's go to the New Testament, please. 504s
Galatians the third chapter. 506s
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and then Romans. 509s
1st and 2nd Corinthians. 512s
Then Galatians. 516s
Galatians chapter 3. 517s
And we'll pick up in verse 6. 520s
Just as Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 533s
So you see those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. 539s
And the scripture for seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, Gentiles are non-Jews. 544s
And the scripture for seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith declared the gospel 553s
beforehand to Abraham saying, all the Gentiles shall be blessed in you. 559s
For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed. 566s
The Abrahamic covenant is what is called a unilateral covenant. 575s
A unilateral covenant. 589s
And by what I mean by that is it did not require Abraham to do anything. 592s
God says, this is what I am going to do. 600s
These are the gifts that I am going to give. 604s
It's a unilateral covenant. 609s
God is saying, this is what I am going to accomplish, this is what I am going to do, 610s
this is what I am going to happen. 615s
You follow through the pages of scripture. 616s
You see all seven aspects of that promise lived out. 618s
It's absolutely unilateral. 622s
God was the one acting to enact and fulfill the covenant. 625s
Now translate that to baptism. 631s
Is baptism a unilateral covenant? 635s
Absolutely it is. 638s
God says, this is what I do with someone who is baptized. 640s
I forgive them other sins. 646s
I give them eternal life. 649s
I make them a member of the family. 651s
I give them the Holy Spirit. 654s
This is what I do. 657s
It is God's decision about the child in the waters of baptism. 658s
That is a unilateral covenant. 664s
Well, doesn't the person have to believe? 668s
Well, who is the author of belief? 671s
Who is the author of faith? 674s
That's Ephesians 2. 675s
For by grace you have been saved through faith. 676s
And then what does it say? 680s
And this is not your own doing. 681s
It is a gift of God. 684s
That's unilateral covenant. 687s
That's what God says. 689s
That's what he gives to a child in the waters of baptism. 692s
It is unconscious. 697s
But there is still faith that then comes to a conscious reality. 700s
Unilateral covenant. 705s
God will not share his glory with anyone. 709s
So God is not going to share his glory by saying. 714s
I am going to give you the opportunity to believe. 719s
And so now it is really up to your decision whether or not you are going to believe or not. 723s
Because if that was the case, that is what is called synergism. 728s
Where we cooperate in terms of coming to faith. 732s
If it is synergistic then, then who gets a little credit? 735s
Well, we do. 740s
Right? 742s
Because we made the decision for Jesus. 742s
No. 745s
God says it is monogistic. 746s
That's what you see in Scripture. 749s
That's what's rooted in Lutheran theology. 750s
It is monogistic. 753s
It is God's work. 754s
God is the one that claims this. 755s
God is the one that gives us faith. 757s
God is the one that keeps us in the faith through word and sacrament. 759s
That is a unilateral covenant. 764s
The covenant with Abraham. 766s
Unilateral covenant and baptism. 768s
Unilateral covenant. 772s
So you have got the Abrahamic covenant. 773s
430 years after the Abrahamic covenant, you have the covenant with Moses. 777s
And the covenant with Moses is bilateral. 785s
It is a different form of covenant. 792s
Remember, this is unilateral. 795s
God says to Abraham, this is what I am going to do. 797s
With Moses, the covenant that was established was bilateral. 801s
In other words, the people's obedience was part of the equation now. 807s
Let's see the bilateral nature of that. 814s
Let's go to Deuteronomy, chapter 28. 817s
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. 820s
Deuteronomy, chapter 28. 827s
There is no more beautiful sound in the world than that. 833s
The turning of pages of Scripture. 837s
There is no more beautiful sound than that in the entire world. 840s
That is the best. 845s
Deuteronomy, chapter 28, verse 1. 846s
If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments, 850s
that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of 859s
the earth. All these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God. 866s
Hear the difference in language there? 877s
In the Abrahamic covenant, God is saying, this is what's going to happen. 879s
Now in the mosaic covenant, you have if, then, that's the categories of law. 884s
We've talked about it in the past, permit me to say it again. 896s
Law categories is then, gospel categories are because therefore. 900s
And so, it's very important not to mix law and gospel. 906s
So if you're in the category of if, then, then you're in the category of if you eat your 913s
peas, then you get deserved. That's law, right? We all got that growing up. 920s
We all use it, right? His parents are grandparents. 928s
If you do this, then this will happen. Gospel categories is because Christ died for you, 931s
because Christ has claimed you as his own in the waters of baptism, because you have been washed 940s
in the promises of God, therefore, then you belong to him. Hear the difference? 946s
What? 952s
What never wants to mix law and gospel? 954s
Luther said, you mix law and gospel, you get a muddy mess. It's a muddy mess. 958s
What you've got here with Abraham, the covenant, that's unilateral. 964s
God's saying, because of who I am, then this is what's going to happen. 970s
With Moses, you've got the bilateral covenant where God says, now, if you do this, 976s
then it's a whole different framework of a covenant. The Mosaic covenant was not 983s
instituted to save us. It was instituted to show us our sin. Let me say that again. 995s
The Mosaic covenant was never instituted to save us. It was instituted to show us our sin. 1008s
Now, translate that to some language that you can hear. 1021s
I'm trying to be really, really good so that when I die, God will take me into heaven. 1029s
Now, that's problematic language, isn't it? Right? That's works righteousness 1043s
language. That's if I do this, then this will happen. If I follow the Ten Commandments and I am a 1049s
good person, then God will be so impressed with me that He opens up the gates of heaven for me. 1059s
You see? Now, of course, the logical fallacy on that is to say, well, how many good things you have 1067s
to do? This is not the Egyptian scale. The Egyptians put it on in terms of a scale that as long 1073s
as you're good, outweighed your bad, you're okay with their concept of the afterlife. So often, 1081s
that's how people think. That if I'm a good person, then this is what's going to happen for me. 1090s
I'm going to get into heaven. That's law categories. That's using the Ten Commandments that's using 1098s
God's law in the wrong way because God's law was never, ever given to save us. Never. 1110s
It was given to show us that we need a savior. It's what is used with confirmation, kids. It's 1124s
what Abraham, you've got bilateral with Moses and this covenant was never given to save. Now, 1153s
think about it further. It was given how many years after the covenant with Abraham, 430, right? 1162s
The covenant with Abraham was given first, not the covenant with regard to Moses. Then you go 1174s
to Ephesians, the first chapter, where God talks about his plan of salvation before the foundations of 1183s
the world were ever put in place. In other words, before God ever said, let there be the plan of 1192s
salvation was already in place. God puts his grace and his mercy on display so that we understand 1200s
in our limited way about the graciousness and beauty and the love of God. If anyone ever says to 1212s
you, I'm trying really, really hard to be good because I really, really want to go to heaven. 1223s
That's a great opportunity to witness, isn't it? It's a great opportunity to witness. You can even 1230s
get into covenant language there. Let me tell you about you in a lateral and bilateral covenant 1235s
here. That might be too much there with that kind of comment. It's like I was reminded my first 1242s
call. One day a person came in. We're in a member of the congregation. They came in and they said, 1248s
do you do funerals for people that are not members of the church that you serve? I said, if they 1255s
don't have a church home and they're a Christian, yes, we would do that. Then the very next words 1264s
out of his mouth was, as he started to talk about, I can't remember whether his mother or father 1273s
was a say father. As he starts talking about his father, he says, he was a really, really, really good 1278s
person. First words out of his mouth. Because he then finished the argument, he was going to start 1288s
making with me, that because he was a really, really good person, therefore he'd be in heaven. He'd 1296s
be worthy enough for the church to have a service for him. See? That's looking at the law of God and 1306s
saying the law was given so that if we just tried hard enough, we could save ourselves. That was not 1319s
the reason for the law. It's different between a unilateral and bilateral covenant. The mosaic 1325s
covenant instituted not to save but to point to our sins. Let's go to Galatians the third chapter. 1335s
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Axon, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, then Galatians. Galatians 1343s
is the law then opposed to the promises of God, certainly not. For if a law had been given that 1370s
could make a live, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. You see, it doesn't. 1379s
Because the law can't make us righteous. We can't adhere to the law so good or so well, 1389s
or well enough that indeed God is impressed with us. The mosaic covenant was instituted not to save 1397s
but to point out our sins until the Abrahamic covenant would be fulfilled. In whom is the Abrahamic 1405s
unilateral covenant fulfilled? Who? Christ. Christ. That was a whole function of the mosaic covenant. 1420s
Point out our sins. Show our need for a Savior and the Abrahamic covenant is fulfilled then in 1429s
Christ. Jump down in Galatians 3 to verse 26. For in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God 1443s
through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 1454s
There's no longer Jew or Greek. There's no longer slave or free. There's no longer male or female. 1463s
For all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, here we go, then you are 1470s
Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the what? Do the promise. We're right back at Genesis 1480s
chapter 12. Joshua and the people of Israel were saved by their faith in God's promise of the Messiah 1494s
to come to come. Christ fulfills the Abrahamic covenant. Let's go to Colossians chapter 1. 1509s
Galatians and keep going toward Revelation, Galatians Ephesians, Philippians, and then Colatians. 1520s
Colatians chapter 1 verse 19. 1528s
Speaking of Christ here, it says, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through 1539s
him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven by making peace 1548s
through the blood of his cross. And you who are once estranged in hostile in mind doing evil deeds, 1558s
he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death so as to present you holy and blameless 1566s
and irreproachable before him. Provided that you continue securely established and steadfast 1575s
in the faith without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard. 1585s
Now be careful there because you need to let Scripture interpret Scripture because you don't 1592s
all of a sudden want to get thrown back on yourself. So you say how is faith understood? Is faith 1598s
a gift? Yes, who is the one that gives and sustains faith? That is God. So it's right back to the gospel. 1603s
You let Scripture interpret Scripture. Without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that 1612s
you heard which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, I pull became a servant of this 1620s
gospel. Jesus's Hebrew name was Joshua. Jesus's Hebrew name was Joshua. The Greek form of his name 1628s
is Jesus. The Scriptures invite us to think of the Old Testament Joshua as foreshadowing the New 1639s
Testament Joshua. God would give the people a rest in the promised land that was only temporary 1652s
and it was only partial and that looks ahead to the complete rest that is ours through Christ in the 1663s
glory of heaven. As children of Abraham then through faith in the New Joshua, Jesus, we look forward 1673s
with hope to the new promised land, a new heaven and a new earth. So as we study through the book of 1683s
Joshua, we're going to see it all pointing ahead to Christ. We're going to see that fulfillment of 1693s
that unilateral covenant. We're going to see the function of the bilateral covenant and we with 1702s
eyes in the reality and beauty of heaven, we know that that is the eternal rest in the land and 1710s
beauty of heaven that God gives us through Christ. So with this background in covenants, we're going 1719s
to begin our walk next week and we've got some great, great fascinating territory to cover. 1726s
The entrance of the people into the promised land, let me put it this way, was not dull. It was not dull 1733s
and we're going to study that. We're going to ask the question, how does the book continually point 1742s
to Jesus? We're going to ask the question, how are we to understand the role of warfare in the 1750s
accounts? How do we understand that when God calls the people to kill? How do we understand that? 1759s
We're going to see what is the relevance of this book to our walk and to each day and to these 1770s
and other questions. We'll turn in the weeks ahead. Blessings. We'll see you next week. 1776s