The book of Joshua begins where Deuteronomy ends. Moses having died on mount Pisgah, it is now Joshua who, by divine appointment (Num. 27:18-23, Deut. 1:38, 3:28), leads the children of Israel into the promised land—“unto the land which I do give to them” (Josh. 1:2). It was not for the lawgiver Moses to bring them into the land of Canaan. They would not claim the land on the ground of their righteousness, but according to the promises made to their fathers (Josh. 1:6). For the children of Israel, it was simply a question of their entering into that which God had given them for a possession. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you” (Josh. 1:3).
Come out of Egypt, Joshua pictures to us Christ as the leader or captain of His saints. In Hebrew, Joshua means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is translated in the Greek as Jesus (Acts 7:45). The expression, “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life” (Josh. 1:5) is to Joshua. As with the children of Israel, we have One in whose strength we stand—“be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Eph. 6:10).
The book may be divided historically thus: preparation for entry into the land of Canaan (ch. 1-2); the crossing of the river Jordan (ch. 3-4); circumcision at Gilgal (ch. 5); Jericho destroyed and cursed (ch. 6); the failures and victories of the people (ch. 7-12); division of the land (ch. 13-22); Joshua’s dying charge (ch. 23-24).
While the passage through the Red Sea typifies Christ’s death for the believer, the passage through the Jordan typifies the believer’s death with Christ and being raised with Him. Jordan is not what we have been delivered from, but what we have been brought into. It is resurrection in type, and its application is found in the book of Colossians. “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances. ... If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Col. 2:20, 3:1).
The wilderness is the character that the world takes when we have been redeemed. It is where the flesh is sifted. Circumcision was not carried out in the wilderness. In contrast, death, and our entrance into heavenly places, judges the whole nature in which we live in this world. Circumcision is the application of the Spirit’s power to the mortification of the flesh. Our Gilgal is found in Colossians 3:5, “Mortify therefore”. It does not say, “die to sin”. “Mortify” is active power; it rests on the power of that which is already true to faith: “Ye are dead” (Col. 3:3), “mortify therefore” (Col. 3:5).
Before conflict begins, they eat of the old corn of the land (Josh. 5:11)—a picture to us of a heavenly Christ, upon whom those who have spiritually passed through Jordan feed. The manna—a humbled Christ for our wilderness circumstances—ceased on the next day, and from that day forward they ate of the fruit of the land (Josh. 5:12; John 6:31-33).