Biblical Figures – Joshua ben Nun
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III offers an educational and spiritual lesson about the life of Joshua son of Nun as an example of true discipleship and reliance on God’s promises. He explains how Joshua, despite his fear, was chosen to complete Moses’ mission and lead the people into the Promised Land with confidence based on God’s promise and a life of discipleship.
Joshua a disciple of Moses:
Joshua lived with Moses for forty years and learned from him wisdom, patience, meekness, and practical example. Discipleship is not only the transmission of information but the absorption of the teacher’s spirit and his ways of acting in problems and work.
Fear mixed with faith:
Joshua’s fear of responsibility was not a denial of faith but a sign of the reverence of the situation; God encouraged him with the promise: “I will not leave you nor forsake you” and this promise became his source of strength.
The importance of the word and spiritual training:
The text emphasizes the necessity that God’s word be in the mouth and the heart, “meditating on it day and night,” so that it becomes practical training by which work is preserved and bears spiritual and leadership fruit.
Practical leadership process:
Joshua prepared the people wisely: he sanctified them, sent spies, adopted wise measures before entry, and relied on an appearance of the commander of the Lord to encourage him; all are elements of spiritual and practical administration for leadership.
Awareness of sin and its communal effect:
The incident of Achan teaches that one person’s sin can cause collective defeat, and that confession, honesty, and communal holiness are necessary for the deliverance of the work.
Repentance and divine mercy:
The story of Rahab shows that God looks at a person’s present and future, and that repentance qualifies even past faults to be transformed into a source of blessing and salvation.
Final spiritual message:
A call to living discipleship: to learn from our role models spiritually and behaviorally, to keep God’s word in our hearts, and to hold fast to God’s promises practically not theoretically, so that we lead others into the spiritual Promised Land.
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