Joshua: Conquering Warrior
Story after epic story in the Scripture, God tells His account of the world, the journey of His people, His plan of salvation, and the plunder of the wicked. The whole of scripture is consistent, culminating in the coming of Christ into the world and the work of His spirit among people. Of Him it was said, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”(Ps. 2:8) One of the epic stories is the account of Joshua and the conquest of Canaan. In this exposition I will seek to distinguish Joshua as an Old Testament type of Christ and the conquest of the promised land as a shadow of the subjugation of the world and the vanquishment of all Christ’s enemies.
Gathered Against The Lord
Joshua was a man among boys and a warrior among men. He was a man who bore the marks of devotion to Yahweh and the conviction to lead. Exodus 33:11 reveals Joshua’s unwillingness to depart from the presence of God in the tent of meeting as he lingered there. In the spying out of the land of Canaan, Joshua, along with Caleb, believed the promise of God even among giants. The depiction we get in the early portions of Joshua’s life before his military conquest is that of a man who has been captured by a passionate desire to serve the Lord.
Born out of this passionate devotion came a warrior who led the Israelites in the God-given mandate to put to flight all the enemies of the Lord. Out of this military excursion we get stories like that of the miraculous destruction of Jericho, the sun standing still, and the route of the five kings that gathered themselves against the people of God. Joshua 10 gives us the account of the five kings. Adoni-zedek, who was king over Jerusalem, hears of all that Israel has done to the nations and kings before him and is filled with fear. He gathers up four other Amorite kings to go up against Israel to defeat them. It was a battle for the ages, as Lord himself came and fought for his people, throwing the Amorite kings and their warriors into great confusion and putting them to flight before Israel. In their flight God rained down giant hailstones on the fleeing kings and their fighting men, killing more from the hail than were killed by the sword. It is then that Joshua speaks with the Lord to keep the sun still so that the total of their enemies would be destroyed. It is said that “… there was no day like that before it or after it, when Yahweh listened to the voice of a man; for Yahweh fought for Israel.” (Josh. 10:14 LSB)
The battle didn’t end when the armies fled, for Joshua pursued them as far as Makkedah where he found the five kings cowering in a cave. After completely destroying all the enemies of the Lord that remained outside the city walls, he turned his attention to the five kings in the presence of the army of Israel. He had the five kings brought out into the midst of his fighting men and called all of the captains of the army to come and put their feet on the necks of the Amorite kings. He said, “Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus Yahweh will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.” (Josh. 10:25 LSB)
Here we get this graphic yet prophetic image beginning to form in the wording of this story. The nations have been given to Joshua and the people of Israel. “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you…” (Josh. 1:3 LSB) It has been given in order that they might put all their enemies under their feet. “Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings…. For thus Yahweh will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.” (Josh. 10:24b & 25b LSB) This suddenly becomes a familiar theme as it was previously noted from Psalm 2 that its was promised to the anointed one in the pre-incarnate existence that the nations would be given to Him, Daniel 7 foresees the coronation of the messiah, the gospels announce the inauguration of the kingdom, and 1 Corinthians 15 highlights the expectation of mission success. “For He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” (1 Cor. 15:25 LSB)
It All Ties In
Abraham was promised an heir and a land in which his descendants and all the nations would be blessed. Isaac was the fulfillment of the promise for an heir (Gen. 21:12) and Canaan was the fulfillment of the land. (Josh. 1:3) Yet even the immediate fulfilment of the promise was a promise in itself for it is in Christ and the whole of the world that the fulfillment comes. Isaac was the son of the promise and the one through whom the nations of the earth would be blessed. However, we know from Old Testament implications and New Testament interpretation that Christ is in fact the culminating fulfillment of the promise. “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And TO YOUR SEED,” that is, Christ.” (Gal. 3:16 LSB)
To Abraham, and to all the subsequent generations following, a land is given for their possession. The land that is guaranteed is the land of Canaan, which Joshua conquered. This land, however, is not the ultimate fulfillment of the promise. The promised land is expanded in the New Testament and is the whole of the earth … “For the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.” (Rom. 4:13 LSB) Thus the promised seed, shadowed in Isaac, is Christ as heir of all things and all the children of Abraham by faith as co-heirs (Rom. 8:17) with him such that we shall “inherit the earth” (Matt. 5) as the nations have been given to Christ (Matt. 28:18) as promised. (Ps. 2:8)
Till The Nations Are His
In the same way as the land of Canaan was given to the people of Israel, so shall the earth be given to all those who call upon the name of the Lord. Just as the promise was fulfilled in Isaac, so the nations were blessed in the coming of Messiah. Furthermore, Joshua conquered Canaan and crushed the enemies of God by military conquest just as Christ has conquered by the cross and is now putting all His enemies under his feet by the work of His spirit, the ministry of the church and the power of the gospel. The vivid picture we get of Joshua and his military leaders with their feet upon the necks of their enemies is the same picture we see today in figurative form as Christ is placing every enemy under his feet.
Christ is currently fulfilling the mandate that was set forth by the promise to Abraham that he would possess the land and that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Canaan is currently being conquered and the necks of the enemies of God are being placed under the boot of our warrior king.
“The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110:1)
According to Hebrews 10:12 Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father right after he made atonement for sin and ascended into heaven to be coronated in the heavenly courts. He is currently sitting at the Father’s right hand while his enemies are being placed under his feet.
The first enemy we see defeated in the New Testament is that of the devil himself. Though he bruised the heel of the anointed, Christ crushed his head through his resurrection in power. The imagery of the crushing of the head brings us back to the foot of Joshua on the necks of the pagan, Canaanite kings.
The story of Joshua’s conquest of Canaan is a vivid picture of the Messiah and his conquest of the world. He, like Joshua, has placed his foot on the necks of his enemies, the last enemy being death. He will crush them until all the earth is his footstool, for he must reign till all the nations are His. All those who are of the seed of Abraham are heirs of this promise and we can have a bold confidence that “…thus Yahweh will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.” (Josh. 10:25b LSB)
There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!
– Abraham Kuyper
