Why the Modern Church Needs to Learn From the Ancient Israelites and Joshua

I’m launching a 40-day online, interactive, in-depth journey through the Old Testament book of Joshua. Even though Christians today are people of the new covenant through Jesus and not the old covenant through Moses, there is still a wealth of information and truth we can glean from the Old Testament.

There is a driving similarity between the book of Joshua and the modern church today: there is a mission to accomplish that remains unfinished. At the beginning of the book of Joshua, the Israelites find themselves on the edge of the Promised Land, a land promised to them by God Himself but one that still remained to be possessed by the Israelites. The book of Joshua recounts how the Israelites came to possess what had been promised. The mission was clear and success was promised. But the Israelites still had to go in and conquer the land, fulfill the mission, and possess the promise. It wasn’t quick, easy or painless, but they ultimately succeeded.

The parallel to today is striking: we as Christians have been given a mission by Jesus himself. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). The mission isn’t to occupy real estate or conquer a city but to make disciples of all nations. Like the conquest of Canaan, our mission today hasn’t been quick, easy or painless. The task still remains unfinished. The promise has been made by Jesus himself that he will be with us to the very end. We read in the book of Revelation that the mission will be successful, 

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: