3.16.25: Weeks 12, Joshua
Key Verse for 2025 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely.[1] 1 Timothy 4:16
Opener: This week, we will explore the Book of Joshua. Joshua succeeds Moses and leads the Israelites in crossing the Jordan River into Canaan. Under Joshua’s leadership, the people successfully campaigned to conquer Canaan and enter the promised land. The book concludes with the division of the land among the 12 tribes. Many of the native people still needed to be conquered.
A theme picked up in the book of Joshua is the idea of rest. The book of Hebrews further explores this concept of rest. Terry’s sermon this week examines the idea of rest and its implications for followers of Jesus.
What does “rest” mean? Rest is a change in activity that restores us. Many people who are busy, burdened, and overwhelmed by work, worries, children, and health issues believe their greatest need is more rest. I don’t doubt this is true, but the greatest human need is a different kind of rest than we often recognize. In many areas, our real needs frequently exceed our felt needs. Some individuals may get plenty of physical rest yet remain far from living a life of resting in Christ. Rest is an important biblical concept, but it is much more than simply “taking a day off” or saying, “I need more time for myself.” The Sabbath is one commandment that is not reiterated as normative for Christians in the New Testament because we are to find our Sabbath, our rest, in Christ; He is the Lord of the Sabbath.
Discussion: Have someone in your group read aloud 21:43-45 and 23:1-16. Joshua, it seems, accomplished the purposes of God in his life. After reading, respond to the discussion questions below.
Questions From the Reading:
Q1: What does it mean that “the Lord gave them rest on every side”?
Q2: How does the passage emphasize the importance of obedience and trust in God?
Q3: What was the ultimate purpose of the people entering the land?
Note: The rest that Joshua referred to for that generation was their entrance into Canaan and victory over their enemies. God gave them rest, but they discarded that rest…it was not permanent. However, there was always more to this promise of rest than just the land. God’s purposes for a people, in a place with laws, included restoring their relationship with Him—a kind of life intended to spread to all nations. The ultimate point of the promise of land was that the people would discover their true rest in their relationship with God.
Now read Hebrews 4:1-12
Q3: Verses 1-2. The promise of rest remains, but who is it for? How did the Israelites receive the gospel way back then?
Note: The point of this warning is not to get those with genuine faith to doubt their faith, but rather to challenge the readers, to examine themselves and to not miss the opportunity of resting in God…like those who died in the wilderness did.
Q4: Verses 3-5. How do we enter this rest? What keeps us from this rest?
Q5: Verses 6-10. God’s word speaks in the ever-present “today,” calling people from all times and places to hear the gospel and respond today. How have you witnessed this reality in your own life? What does it mean that “he who has entered into his rest has also rested from his works?
Q6: Verse 11. Why does the author urge believers to “make every effort” to enter this rest? How can we “make every effort” to enter God’s rest in our daily lives?
Discuss the following statement: The problem is a restless heart. If we don’t rein in our hearts, if we don’t rest in Christ, we will simply feed our restless, foolish hearts.
Question: What can we as a group do to help each other rest in Christ? How can we avoid having a restless and foolish heart?
Main Takeaway: Give your full effort to living in the rest of Christ…but remember, you need the daily encouragement of others, or the heart-hardening deception of sin will keep you from that rest. Hebrews 3:13, 4:11
Application: After reflecting on this passage and the sermon, is there anything in your life that needs to change? How can we help?
[1] The New International Version (1 Ti 4:16). (2011). Zondervan.