Moses had sinned, and thus the Lord would not allow the great man of God into the Land of Canaan, but the Lord still wanted someone to take the children of Israel into the Promised Land,

“Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it” (Deuteronomy 1.38).

“And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so will the Lord do to all the kingdoms through which you pass…But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see’” (Deuteronomy 3.21, 28).

“The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said”…Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it” (Deuteronomy 31.3, 7).

Joshua would bring Israel over the Jordan, and so Moses came to represent the Law, that it could not help us enter the true Land of Canaan, heaven, but Joshua, representing Jesus can enable us to enter the true Promised Land.

However, Joshua himself only led Israel to rest in the Land of Canaan, and not into heaven. Therefore, the writer of the Book of Hebrews said,

“For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day” (Hebrews 4.8).

Joshua was a type of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

Related Articles

• Shammua and His Brethren (thebiblemeditator.wordpress.com)
• Joshua 8. The capture and destruction of Ai (bummyla.wordpress.com)
• Deuteronomy 31. Joshua becomes Moses’ successor. Joshua the new leader of Israel (bummyla.wordpress.com)
• Deuteronomy 28.7 – Obedience to the Lord would cause the enemy to flee seven ways (sevensinthebible.com)
• Deuteronomy 28.25 – For disobedience Israel would flee seven ways from their enemies (sevensinthebible.com)
• Bulletin Articles from March 24, AD 2013: Following the Lord’s Orders & Massive Temptation (grantspasschurchofchrist.com)