Joshua Becomes Israel s New Leader Joshua 1

Lesson 055 Joshua Becomes Israel’s New Leader Joshua 1 Memor y V er s e: J OS HUA 1:8 “This book of the Law shall not depart from your m outh, but...
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Lesson 055

Joshua Becomes Israel’s New Leader

Joshua 1

Memor y V er s e: J OS HUA 1:8 “This book of the Law shall not depart from your m outh, but you shall m editate in it day and night, that you m ay observ e to do ac c ording to all that is w ritten in it. For then you w ill m ake your w ay prosperous, and then you w ill hav e good suc c ess.”

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: A magnet, paper and paper clips. As many 6” - 8”strips of leather, or 6”- 8” strips of string as the number of children in your class. As many copies of the enclosed artwork sheets as the number of children in your class, markers or crayons, scissors and brads (paper fasteners).

ATTENTION GRABBER! Not Seeing Is Believing You will need a magnet and some paper clips. Using a sheet of paper, put some paper clips on top of the sheet of paper and the magnet underneath. Move the paper clips around using the magnet. You can also allow some of the children to experiment with this, as time allows. As you are moving the paper clips explain that even though we don’t “see” the magnet it is still there moving the paper clips. It is like that with God. We may not actually “see” Him, but we know that He has always promised to be with us because He has promised to never leave nor forsake us in His word.

LESSON TIME! Forty years have passed since the children of Israel first started wandering in the wilderness, and it is now time for them to march into Canaan and take possession of the land that God had promised to them. But first Israel needs a new leader. Last week we learned that Moses died, so now God appoints Joshua to lead Israel into the Promised Land. We will learn in this lesson that God is with us, so we don’t have to be afraid or dismayed. We never have to f e a r because God has promised to always be with us. J OS HUA 1:1-9 Af t e r t h e d e a t h o f M o s e s t h e s e r v a n t o f t h e L O R D , i t c am e t o p ass t hat t he LOR D sp ok e t o J oshu a t he son o f N u n , M o s es ' as s i s t an t , s ay i n g: "M o s es M y s er v an t i s d ead . N o w t h er ef o r e, ar i s e, go ov er t his J ord an, you and all t his p eop le, t o t he land w h i c h I am gi v i n g t o t h em ; t h e c h i l d r en o f Is r ael . " Ev e r y p l ac e t h at t h e s o l e o f y o u r f o o t w i l l u p o n I h av e gi v en y o u , as I s ai d t o M o s es .

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"Fr om t h e w i l d er n es s an d t h i s Leban on as f ar as t h e gr e at r i v e r , t h e R i v e r Eu p h r at e s , al l t h e l an d o f t h e Hi t t i t es , an d t o t h e G r eat S ea t o w ar d t h e go i n g d o w n of t h e s u n , s h al l be you r t er r i t or y. "N o m an s h al l be abl e t o s t an d bef or e you al l t h e d ays of you r l i f e; as I w as w i t h M os es , s o I w i l l be w it h you . I w ill not leav e you nor f orsak e you . "Be s t r o n g an d o f go o d c o u r age, f o r t o t h i s p eo p l e you shall d iv id e as an inherit anc e t he land w hic h I s w o r e t o t h ei r f at h er s t o gi v e t h em .

"On l y be s t r o n g an d v er y c o u r ageo u s , t h at y o u m ay obs er v e t o d o ac c or d i n g t o al l t h e l aw w h i c h M os es M y serv ant c om m and ed you ; d o not t u rn f rom it t o t h e r i gh t h an d o r t o t h e l ef t , t h at y o u m ay p r o s p er w h er ev er y o u go . "This Book of t he Law shall not d ep art f rom you r m o u t h , bu t y o u s h al l m ed i t at e i n i t d ay an d n i gh t , t h at you m ay obs er v e t o d o ac c or d i n g t o al l t h at i s w rit t en in it . For t hen you w ill m ak e you r w ay p r o s p er o u s , an d t h en y o u w i l l h av e go o d s u c c es s . "Hav e I n o t c o m m an d ed y o u ? Be s t r o n g an d o f go o d c o u r age; d o n o t be af r ai d , n o r be d i s m ay ed , f o r t h e LOR D y o u r G o d i s w i t h y o u w h er ev er y o u go ." After the death of Moses, God spoke to Joshua and commissioned him to be the new leader. He told him that every place the sole of his foot touched would be the children of Israel’s. God promised him the land of Canaan just as He had promised Moses. He then tells Joshua that as long as He is with him, no man shall stand against him. God says He would be with him all the days of his life, just as He was with Moses so He would be with Joshua. He would never leave him nor forsake him. What an awesome promise! Joshua was probably overwhelmed by being put in such an important place by the Lord. It was probably scary to look out at those millions of people knowing all the responsibility rested on his shoulders. But was Joshua to do it by himself? No, that’s why God promised to be with him and told Joshua not to be afraid. We never have to fear because G o d has promised to always be with us. How did Joshua know what to do? How did he know that he was making wise decisions? God said to meditate on His word day and night and not to turn from His word to the right hand or to the left.

In following God’s law he would then become prosperous and have good success. We as children of God, have the very same promise that God gave to Joshua. God will never leave us nor forsake us and God is always with us, so we need not be afraid. It says in Romans 8:31b, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” We never have to f e a r because God has promised to always be with us. How do we know what to do when we have to make a decision? We go to the word of God for direction and when we think about it, day and night, we will come to a place of knowing what God would want us to do. A person cannot just jump in and lead a group of people in his own strength. It first takes a person submitted to God, a person who will follow God’s word; a person who knows who God is and represents God to others. Joshua spent over 40 years watching God work. He spent years by Moses’ side humbly learning all that he could. He obeyed God and God’s law. Joshua was one of the spies sent to scout out the land of Canaan, and only one of the two that gave a favorable report (see Numbers 13:8, 16, 17; 14:6-9). God took Joshua through a school just as He did Moses, to prepare him to lead the people. God will take us through situations where the only thing we can do is trust God. He uses tough times to take us through a school of faith just as He has taken the great people of the Bible through the same school. But we need not be afraid, because God is with us and He strengthens us for the calling in our lives. We never have t o fear because God has promised to always be with us.

4-Ever Bracelets You will need strips of leather or string. The age group of your class will determine how much assistance will be needed to do the craft. Tie the strip or string around the child’s wrist according to the diagram below. Slide knots apart to tighten and together to loosen. As you are doing this activity explain to the children that their bracelet is in the shape of a circle. And like a circle that has no beginning or end, God has promised to be with us forever.

Example of tying knot:

J OS HUA 1:10-15 Then J oshu a c om m and ed t he of f ic ers of t he p eop le, s ay i n g, " Pas s t h r o u gh t h e c am p an d c o m m an d t h e p e o p l e , s ay i n g, 'Pr e p ar e p r o v i s i o n s f o r y o u r s e l v e s , f o r w i t h i n t h r ee d ay s y o u w i l l c r o s s o v er t h i s J o r d an , t o go i n t o p ossess t he land w hic h t he LOR D you r God is gi v i n g y o u t o p o s s es s .'" An d t o t h e R e u b e n i t e s , t h e G a d i t e s , a n d h a l f t h e t r i b e o f M an as s eh J o s h u a s p o k e, s ay i n g,

"R em em ber t h e w or d w h i c h M os es t h e s er v an t of t h e LOR D c o m m an d ed y o u , s ay i n g, 'T h e LOR D y o u r G o d i s gi v i n g y o u r es t an d i s gi v i n g y o u t h i s l an d .' "Your wives, your little shall rem ain in t he land t his sid e of t he J ord an. you r br et h r en ar m ed , al l and help t hem ,

ones, and you r liv est oc k w h i c h M o s es gav e y o u o n Bu t you s h al l p as s bef or e y o u r m i gh t y m en o f v al o r ,

"u n t i l t h e LOR D h as gi v en y o u r br et h r en r es t , as He gav e y o u , an d t h ey al s o h av e t ak en p o s s es s i o n o f t h e l an d w h i c h t h e LOR D y o u r G o d i s gi v i n g t h em . T h en you shall ret u rn t o t he land of you r p ossession and en j o y i t , w h i c h M o s es t h e Lo r d 's s er v an t gav e y o u o n t his sid e of t he J ord an t ow ard t he su nrise." Joshua now takes up the position God gave to him. He steps out in faith and gives commands to the tribes of Israel to prepare themselves for the conquest of Canaan. He also tells the tribes of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh that according to the word of Moses, they must help their brethren with their conquest of Canaan, for these tribes wanted to stay on the other side of the Jordan. This is an example of how we should always be willing to help others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus said that people will know that we are His disciples by our love for one another. J OS HUA 1:16-18 S o t h e y a n s w e r e d J o s h u a , s a y i n g , " Al l t h a t y o u c om m and u s w e w ill d o, and w herev er you send u s w e w i l l go .

"J u s t as w e h eed ed M o s es i n al l t h i n gs , s o w e w i l l h eed you . On l y t h e LOR D you r G od be w i t h you , as He w as w it h M oses. "Wh o ev er r ebel s agai n s t y o u r c o m m an d an d d o es n o t heed you r w ord s, in all t hat you c om m and him , shall be p u t t o d eat h . On l y be s t r o n g an d o f go o d c o u r age." Here we see the people promising Joshua their obedience, not only as a people, but as soldiers. You see, whenever we step into God’s promises for us, we must realize that we have a very real enemy who will try to do everything he can to stop us. And just as they said that they would obey in all things, without questioning him or murmuring against him, so when our “General,” the Lord, gives us a command, we must obey without any questioning or murmuring. The people cry “only the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses.” They again acknowledge the source of the power of Moses’ leadership, the Lord God, and trusted that God would also be with Joshua and lead him because God would be the source of his power. sfear because God has promised to always be with us. Then the people encourage Joshua with the same encouragement that the Lord gave to Joshua, “only be strong and of a good courage.” So, if we feel like our ‘enemy’ is attacking us, we too can take comfort in the same comfort that Joshua received –“to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

Memory Verse Reminder Refer to the enclosed artwork. Have the children cut out the memory verse rectangle with the memory verse on it. Have them color and cut out the sun, moon and stars disk, then attach with a brad to the back of the sheet with the window. Pictures should show through the cut out window to represent day and night.

As an option you can have them glue the rectangle to construction paper to make it sturdier. As the children are constructing explain that this wheel will help them to memorize their memory verse as well as be a reminder that God is always there for us, day or night, all of the time!

PRAYER Lead the children in a prayer to ask the Lord to help them always remember that He will never leave them nor forsake them so they have nothing to fear. If there are any children who have not yet responded to the gospel, give them the opportunity to do so.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:9

Template - Memory Verse Reminder

1. Cut along outer dotted line of rectangle containing memory verse and cut out inner window. 2. Color sun, moon, and stars. Cut along outer dotted line of circle. 3. Punch a holes where indicated on the rectangle and the circle. 4. Using a brad, attach the circle to the back of the rectangle aligning holes. 5. The pictures on the circle should show through the window representing day and night when turned.