10 - The True Joshua | Lessons of Faith from Joshua

When we are angry, sad, or discouraged, our inner compass tells us that what our heart is telling us is not true. Joshua and Caleb trusted God, surrendered their egos, and worked with Him, enabling them to stand firm among the unbelievers.

Joshua was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel to Canaan (Joshua 1:9). But according to Hebrews 4:8, he did not reach rest through the external land. Rest is an inner experience, deliverance from the error of the heart. God repeatedly tried to shake up the people with external trials, but it was an internal process.

Why do we need Jesus? Because Jesus, as the Redeemer, is both God and man and overcame the inner nature of man. Through this, he can give us salvation. A human being cannot create anything new. Even Joshua could only be redeemed through God's salvation in Christ. If external circumstances could solve the problem, man would not need a Redeemer.

Man cannot be controlled from the outside. God appeals to the mind, where the choice of grace lies and the inner problem is revealed. The problem lies within ourselves, not outside. That is why God shows us through the sacrificial lamb that something within us must die. Symbols such as circumcision, Passover, the feasts, the sanctuary, the temple, the law, blessing, and curse also illustrate the necessary exchange of life: It is about changing a state, not just external actions.

Religions and also psychology/medicine focus on external actions. But actions follow the state of the heart, which only a savior could change in himself and now offers to us as well. What this means in concrete terms is discussed in the tenth part of the series “Lessons of the Faith from Joshua.”